Dear readers, Down Memory Lane fetched a few interesting comments:
Lynn Weiss from USA says: “As I approach, what would have been my anniversary this coming month, I embrace going down memory lane with gorgeous memories despite a horrific hurricane that altered our wedding day. We travelled in a caravan for three hours to high ground so we could marry despite the flooding. I will always remember the spirit of those, who, with great determination to join us, celebrated our joy despite their anxiety and fears of their unknown loss. The stories that followed will be lasting memories, as everyone had a story of the day. It was beautiful and understated, the way we both would have preferred.”
Damandeep says: “I watched the movie Inside Out yesterday with my daughter. It’s a movie about preserving memories and how they get destroyed over a while if you ‘stop’ walking down memory lane or forget to reminisce etc. This post resonated so well with me coz umpteen times every summer or winter break when we go on vacation and I end up clicking pics for memory's sake, friends and family cry and call me crazy. And those are the ones that were looking back at a picture of 10 years back and getting nostalgic! It’s amazing how we can now capture every moment on our phone camera but forget about them. There's nothing like looking at an album. It reminds me to print and fill the album with more pictures, so I can walk down memory lane when I open it! Thanks for always giving us food for thought and making us better human beings with your filter coffee!!”
Shahji Jacob says: “I recall the lyrics of ‘Season in the Sun’ where it talks of the good old days as the days that would never end. Or ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ where it talks of the past days with nostalgic feelings. Come to think of it, most songs do talk of great things that happened in the past.”
[Readers: I am sharing the link to the songs that Shahji refers to: 🔗Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun (Official Audio) 🔗Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy (Lyrics)]Another reader, Amar, also suggests: 🔗The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More (INCLUDES LYRICS)
Tarun Kunzru: “When it comes to memories, I try to cherish the good ones and mute the bad ones. Learn from the mistakes. Having said that, old people talk mostly of the past and young people mostly of the future. So to stay young is to create new positive memories!!”
❓The Inscrutable Sphinx
Many moons back, we were on a Nile cruise. It was a unique experience. The cruise covered:
1. Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It is more known as the home of the renowned Giza Pyramids.
2. Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes. It is well known for the Karnak Temple, the Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings etc.
3. Aswan has the well-preserved Philae Temple, the unfinished obelisk. From here one can fly to Abu Simbel, well known for an ancient temple complex originally cut into a solid rock cliff in southern Egypt and located at the second cataract of the Nile River. The two temples which comprise the site were created during the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279 - c. 1213 BCE)
4. Edfu: Less known than many other ports in most Nile River cruises, this city is home to the Edfu Temple, built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Upper Egypt and still nearly intact.
The Sphinx is located southeast of the equally famous pyramids of Giza. A mythological creature with a lion’s body and a human’s head. It figures prominently in Egyptian and Greek art and legend. The Greek sphinx had the head of a woman and was generally considered evil. This inference is perhaps based on the fact that Sphinx comes from the Greek word Sphingo – which means, to strangle.
The Egyptian sphinx had a male head and was viewed as benevolent. The body of the lion represents strength, while the head of a human symbolises intelligence. Some scholars view this combination as a symbol of strength, dominance and wisdom.
The Greek Sphinx is said to have terrorised the people by demanding the answer to a riddle:
“What is it that has one voice and yet becomes four-footed, two-footed, and three-footed?”
It is believed to have devoured the person who answered incorrectly. Eventually, Oedipus, the King of Thebes, gave the proper answer:
“Man, who crawls on all fours in infancy, walks on two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age”.
The sphinx thereupon is said to have killed herself and from this tale grew the legend that the sphinx was omniscient, and even today its wisdom is proverbial.
You may have also heard the expression ‘inscrutable like a Sphinx’. This colossus has intrigued archaeologists for ages. The mighty Sphinx is nearly 5000 years old, but its exact purpose seems buried forever in the sands of time.
The word ‘inscrutable’ is considered mysterious and has an enigmatic aura. It is an adjective that describes something difficult to understand or interpret due to its mysterious or obscure nature. It implies a sense of impenetrability, leaving the observer perplexed or unable to discern the true intentions or meaning behind a person, object, or situation. This enigmatic term is derived from the Latin word ‘inscrutabilis’, meaning, something that is difficult or impossible to understand or interpret.
While the core definition of ‘inscrutable’ remains constant, its meaning can vary depending on the context in which it is used. It can be associated with individuals with a poker face, making it challenging for others to discern their true feelings or thoughts. This type of inscrutability can be both intriguing and frustrating, leaving observers perplexed.
If you have a poker face you could be told that your face is like that of the inscrutable Sphinx, but it could be an indication that you might be, but not necessarily, internalising feelings and suffering or rejoicing silently. The face is just an outward feature, but the mind behind the face is what matters when it comes to dealing with emotions.
Some smile when you say something, but what that smile means is as inscrutable as the smile of Mona Lisa. You could read that smile to mean indulgence, when in fact it could be one of amusement. Eyes can be inscrutable. They may seem expressionless but deep within lies an emotion that is not palpable.
Some research scientists, astronomers, and mathematicians use complex formulae or propound theories that befuddle the common man who finds them inscrutable. But inscrutability is an attribute that feeds into curiosity and prompts the urge to unravel the meaning of the enigmatic nature of such matters.
The lack of understanding of the meaning & purpose behind various rituals accentuates their inscrutability. I studied Sanskrit in high school and even with my imperfect recollection of the meanings, I can relate to some of the words uttered by the priest in any ceremony be birth, death, marriage or any other occasion. It is not as if they do not have any meaning. What we cannot comprehend is what makes them inscrutable. Imagine watching a movie in a foreign language which you don’t understand. It is lost on you until the subtitles flash across the screen, dispelling the inscrutability.
Anurag Mathur’s hilarious novel ‘Inscrutable Americans’ describes one year spent by an Indian student on a small university campus in the US. His English is comically Indian, and his initial notions of America are absurdly inadequate and stereotyped. The theme of the novel is his comic discovery of America, and his growth and maturing through the diverse adventures he encounters. If you haven’t read it, look for it on Amazon.
The Chinese were considered inscrutable because of the way they talked and responded in conversations, which were viewed with ambivalence by the Western writers. But, inscrutability is often just another way of saying that the face-to-face interactions between the Chinese and other nationals did not coincide.
As a South Indian, I have been considered inscrutable in the past when, during my early interactions with Westerners, they could not make out if I was saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because I neither nodded nor shook my head but shook my head in an arc (like in Bharathanatyam) uttering at the same time ‘ok, ok, ok’.
In a lighter vein:
What did King Tut say when the Sphinx scared him?
“I want my mummy”
Dear readers, hope you enjoyed this not-so-inscrutable narrative on inscrutable. Do write in and tell me. The next week’s edition is a milestone - FC 200! Wish me luck. My mind is blank! Ciao!
The closest I have experienced unscrutable has been my wedding mantras which I blindly followed and accepted. It's not for nothing we say love is blind!
And I actually physically successfully succeeded when some others failed - I was asked to unscrewtable legs of a portable table, and I did!
I can relate to the unwitting inscrutability we present to Westerners with our typical Indian head bob of side to side. I grew up in an armed services environment. So, I learnt the very clear up and down head bob for yes and side to side for no. But I find our Indian-style head bob charming!