Henry was down for a fantastic cause this weekend and I was ecstatic. Although he said he never really bade a proper goodbye when he left earlier this year to find fame and fortune back in his homeland, I told him I didn’t really expect a final notice of departure. It’s a quote I read off some inspirational calendar – Goodbye is forever. I don’t wish to say such to him. Not Henry; because I know I’d want to see him again.
A weekend of How-have-you-been is a funny thing. Once not too long time ago, we were on a journey to self discovery; establishing our adulthood by this thing called ‘individuality ‘ born out of too much past time and great big debates. Last Wednesday we spoke of music we listen to these days. The Henry I knew then, loved his own brand of 80s inspired rock bands and albums by angry young women sits in the front sleeves of my compact disc book. Have we sold out to commercialism today being contented with singles after singles of Black Eyed Peas? How about the Pussycatdolls?
Doncha wish?
I beg for you to understand that I do have a reason; and that I have not sold my soul to the company store. From being daddy’s child to standing on our own; lesser time to think of thoughts; unwillingly sucked into the metropolitan whirlpool, amidst the rat race – in a labyrinth of reality; chasing after the scent of money to make our stand in this society where you are ‘Marilyn, from 141’ instead of just Marilyn.
Its ironically hilarious; that being an ocean apart, we have the same mp3 tunes in our downloads – The hilarity comes out of the fact that our work has taken so much of our time; that we may have failed ourselves and struggle to reconcile with the probable truth. In chasing after material gains to establish our mark in the market – we let go of the time to think after working hours. The luxury of self-thought proved too exhausting – Colin calls it work-itis. It’s when we wake up knowing that the dream we had few hours ago was about W.I.P. – Suckered into abbreviations and jargons that made our monthly income.
Henry left this morning back for Jakarta with promises to return back to us here. No, he’s not changed, he is still Henry – From thai pants and smart-assed one word shirts to long sleeved collared prints, he blossomed well. No we have not sold out, just giving ourselves a break. All these petty things will run its course and when we find our stable ground – we’ll find that individuality again. It’s just part parcel of this thing called life.
Everything will be a-okay…
And that, my friend – is a definite promise.
