Thels Talk

Archive for January, 2008

An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bible. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

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Diane is a good friend of mine. She’s never done me a favour in her entire life, neither have I done any for her, we argue and quarrel, but we still can’t get rid of each other. But thankfully this story is not about Diane. It’s about Ravi, Diane’s boy friend, and his ‘window cat’, Cleopatra.

Now, Ravi is the kindest guy I’ve ever met, the sweetest. Talk to him for ten minutes and you’ll become a diabetic. I was over at their place this evening, and couldn’t help listening to them talk about ‘Patra.’

“Did Patra come in today?” Ravi was asking Diane.“Yes, she was here,” Diane said. “Who’s Patra?” I wanted to know.“My clandestine friend,” Ravi responded uninvited, trying to bring in some mystery.“Oh, she’s my window cat,” Ravi said.“Oh, I see… ” I said, not seeing at all. “Window cat?” “Yeah, she comes in to say hi at the kitchen window every morning.”

“Hmmm,” I nodded and kept quiet. Must be something about wanting to pick up some food. Quite a natural thing to do, I guessed. Ravi turned and looked at Diane. “Guess what she was up to this morning, honey,” she said.“What?” Diane said, lighting a cigarette watching football on TV. “Patra left a half eaten mouse on the window sill, meowwed me and left,” Ravi beamed. Read the rest of this entry »