Ceiling Fan and what's there to learn from it !
The other day I was bored. Plain and simple. Bored. Yes, I didn't even feel like lifting my little finger. The entire universe seemed to had come to a standstill because I was just not in the mood. Just about every breath made me realize the futility of that day. It was a sort of day when your mind would like to believe that it was better being fast asleep and present in a land where melted chocolate flows out from the taps and the greatest joy of life is to....... ( I would leave that to your mind to finish, Dear Reader, if you exist, that is!) The day when you just feel like plonking yourself on the bed as if a thousand weights of boredom have been tied to you but not before turning on the ceiling fan. You see, I was bored but not hallucinated to forget to turn on the fan and sweat on a hot sultry evening!
Now, it is very hard to describe. People say that dogs make for terrific friends but I would like to declare that there is nothing more loyal than a ceiling fan.The ceiling fan kept on whirling, true to its usual self and I suspected that it had finally come to terms with its life's mission - just to go round and round, without even the hint of dizziness, so that someday, when a human will stare at it blankly while lying on the bed, it will reveal the easiest to know but hardest to accept fact of life - just to go on and on and on and on..
For me, the sound of a ceiling fan just doing its chore is the most therapeutic of all. This sound can silence the most gregarious of minds and put them in an almost zen like zone. Even while you are reading this, somewhere above, a ceiling fan is staring right back at you. Have you ever wondered that a ceiling fan, never ever disappoints you, save for a power-cut? Just press the switch and there goes the fan, literally! Why is that we never appreciate and acknowledge the omnipresent ceiling fan?
Partly because, we simply take something as ordinary as a ceiling fan for granted -
"Its just a fan, for heaven's sake!!" or "As if the humans were not enough, now I have to care for a fan as well!".
Kindly wait, till the ubiquitous fan stops working and you break into a pool of sweat.
"Hah! I have an air conditioner mister. A ceiling fan is so last century!!"
In the ceiling fan's defense, think of an examination room, in the sweltering heat of May, where air-conditioners are unheard of and lukewarm water served by the peon is the only source of comfort along with the warm air being brought forward by the laborious blades of the fan, in between writing your answers and pin-drop silence. Nothing can beat the serenity of a ceiling fan in such a room, where it is just going about by its business, and making little squeaky noises every now and then.
Just like any other object of human use, even a ceiling fan has been given a contemporary look and feel over the years. First there were the big, bulky and masculine ones that would take some while to acknowledge the sudden wave of electricity flowing through and would finally relent to make a move. They were functional but failed miserably in the glamor department. Then came the younger lot, with a riot of sober colors (can a term like this exist?) and speed regulators numbered usually from 1 to 5. Now the speed regulator and the fan always have a rocky marriage. The fan often acts on its own whims and fancies with a complete disregard of its better half, the regulator's choice of speed. Come 1 or 5, once started, the ceiling fan never bothers to act accordingly. And the electrician, much like a marriage counsellor, provides temporary relief from such a mismatch, but not for too long.
Every self respecting domestic diva would take pride in the sparkling blades of her home's ceilings fan. The husband or the maids would be made to stand on a long stool after every quarter, just to clean the ceiling fan's blades of its accumulated sticky dirt. Any cleverly avoided dusty patch of the blade by the already stretched hands of the cleaner, is duly pointed at by the hawk's eye of the Mrs.I-run-the-house. You see, turning on the light and fan are the first two gestures while welcoming a guest and God forbid, should the fan shower the occasional cloud of dust and let the social reputation of Mrs.Cleaner-than-your-house rest in dumps forever.
Rain, hail or sunshine, the ceiling fan, much like Raj Kapoor's show, must go on and on. And this what life is also about.
Now, it is very hard to describe. People say that dogs make for terrific friends but I would like to declare that there is nothing more loyal than a ceiling fan.The ceiling fan kept on whirling, true to its usual self and I suspected that it had finally come to terms with its life's mission - just to go round and round, without even the hint of dizziness, so that someday, when a human will stare at it blankly while lying on the bed, it will reveal the easiest to know but hardest to accept fact of life - just to go on and on and on and on..
For me, the sound of a ceiling fan just doing its chore is the most therapeutic of all. This sound can silence the most gregarious of minds and put them in an almost zen like zone. Even while you are reading this, somewhere above, a ceiling fan is staring right back at you. Have you ever wondered that a ceiling fan, never ever disappoints you, save for a power-cut? Just press the switch and there goes the fan, literally! Why is that we never appreciate and acknowledge the omnipresent ceiling fan?
Partly because, we simply take something as ordinary as a ceiling fan for granted -
"Its just a fan, for heaven's sake!!" or "As if the humans were not enough, now I have to care for a fan as well!".
Kindly wait, till the ubiquitous fan stops working and you break into a pool of sweat.
"Hah! I have an air conditioner mister. A ceiling fan is so last century!!"
In the ceiling fan's defense, think of an examination room, in the sweltering heat of May, where air-conditioners are unheard of and lukewarm water served by the peon is the only source of comfort along with the warm air being brought forward by the laborious blades of the fan, in between writing your answers and pin-drop silence. Nothing can beat the serenity of a ceiling fan in such a room, where it is just going about by its business, and making little squeaky noises every now and then.
Just like any other object of human use, even a ceiling fan has been given a contemporary look and feel over the years. First there were the big, bulky and masculine ones that would take some while to acknowledge the sudden wave of electricity flowing through and would finally relent to make a move. They were functional but failed miserably in the glamor department. Then came the younger lot, with a riot of sober colors (can a term like this exist?) and speed regulators numbered usually from 1 to 5. Now the speed regulator and the fan always have a rocky marriage. The fan often acts on its own whims and fancies with a complete disregard of its better half, the regulator's choice of speed. Come 1 or 5, once started, the ceiling fan never bothers to act accordingly. And the electrician, much like a marriage counsellor, provides temporary relief from such a mismatch, but not for too long.
Every self respecting domestic diva would take pride in the sparkling blades of her home's ceilings fan. The husband or the maids would be made to stand on a long stool after every quarter, just to clean the ceiling fan's blades of its accumulated sticky dirt. Any cleverly avoided dusty patch of the blade by the already stretched hands of the cleaner, is duly pointed at by the hawk's eye of the Mrs.I-run-the-house. You see, turning on the light and fan are the first two gestures while welcoming a guest and God forbid, should the fan shower the occasional cloud of dust and let the social reputation of Mrs.Cleaner-than-your-house rest in dumps forever.
Rain, hail or sunshine, the ceiling fan, much like Raj Kapoor's show, must go on and on. And this what life is also about.
Comments
But Yes... the look of clean fan blades would evoke my passions to no extent! i could stare at the fan for hours...mmmmmm.......actually... i could stare at the fan even with the sticky dirt. It was the perfect setting for deep introspection. A million musings have been fanned over my head during the times when the fan was in reign. Now days, the only musing-periods are in the mornings, provided, you wake up early and get more than 2 minutes to sit on the 'think-pot'. And god forbid, if sllep takes the better of youm then say goodbye to your 2 min of introspection/pondering / preparing-for-the-worse-but-not-having-the-guts-to-actualise-plans time.
Lovely piece of work Rishi!! Cheers!