About Me

I have done a lot of things in my life and have also worked in many different jobs to make a living and to experience life. This blog is just some of my musings, sometimes funny, sometimes inspirational, sometimes sad, sometimes angry, sometimes simple but all the time, it's just me.

Friday, August 8, 2008

The education of Kuppusamy Butterfly


The education of Kuppusamy Butterfly starts with a humble beginning.

Very much like The Education of Little Tree.

In The Education of Little Tree. the plot is about the fictional memoirs of Forrest "Little Tree" Carter begins in the late 1930s as the protagonist is given over into the care of his Cherokee grandparents, at the age of five years. The book was originally to be called "Me and Grandpa," according to the book's introduction. The story centers on a clever child's relationship with his Scottish-Cherokee grandfather, a man named Wales (an overlap with Carter's other fiction).
The boy's "Indian thinking" 'Granpa' and Cherokee 'Granma' call him 'Little Tree' and teach him about nature, farming, whiskey makin', mountain life, society, love and spirit by a combination of gentle guidance and encouragement of independent experience.
The story takes place during the fifth and sixth years of the boy's life, as he comes to know his new home in a remote
mountain hollow. Granpa runs a small whiskey operation during Prohibition, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. The grandparents and visitors to the hollow expose Little Tree to supposed Cherokee ways and "mountain people" values. Encounters with outsiders, including "the law", "politicians," "guv'mint," city "slickers," and "Christians" of various types add to Little Tree's lessons, each phrased and repeated in catchy ways. (One of the syntactic devices the book uses frequently is to end paragraphs with short statements of opinion starting with the word 'which,' such as "Which is reasonable.")
The state eventually forces Little Tree into an orphanage, where he stays for a few months. At the orphanage, Little Tree suffers from the prejudice and ignorance of the orphanage caretakers toward Indians and the natural world. Little Tree is rescued by an old Indian friend who intimidates the Reverend in charge into allowing Little Tree's release.



The education of Kuppusamy Butterfly on the other hand starts in Miri. Kuppu is much smarter than his looks but still young and sometimes blur , reminds me of my old friend in DHL whom we had nicknamed Blur Blur. I know I am contradicting myself but if you know Kuppu, you know what I am saying.

The good thing going for him is that he is genuinely a good person with a good heart, blur sometimes, and therefore, may unwittingly do something that hurts his friends especially Anjali.

We, as in Anjali Mack and myself and hopefully with some help from others, have a plan to make Kuppu Kuppu from a Kepompong to a butterfly.

Just like Little Tree in the story/documentary, we plan to teach him about nature, farming, whiskey makin' (well drinking anyways and maybe some Tuak making), mountain life, society, love and spirit by a combination of gentle guidance and encouragement of independent experience.

Coming from the big city but not being exposed to the evils of the big city, Kuppu is rather Innocent. However, with his camaraderie with us, Anjali Mack has exposed him to nature through hikes on Canada Hill, visits to Lambir and Mulu and farming (well fishing maybe) over the Gawai holidays. I guess that covers the mountain life part as well.

We have also been teaching him to drink various types of "Tea" like Long Island Iced Tea; Scottish Chinese Tea ... :-)

We do not want him to become an alcoholic but want him to experience different drinks, relax, loosen up, do something different, get drunk so he knows what it feels like, be exposed to different types of drinks like wine, whiskey, tequila, vodka, champagne, rum etc.

Just like little tree we want him to experience society, love and spirit and how more to experience this other than to mix with society, different types of people with different experiences and exposure in their lives.

And you know what, the best part is, I think he is quite open to these experiences, quite willing to try things out, and therefore, quite a good student. However, there is more to being willing. He must be firm, confident, assertive and therefore, not accommodating all the time. At the same time he must be gentle, polite, charming, well mannered gentleman.

Our plan is to expose Kuppu to foreign movies, artsy fartsy movies, life, drinking, dancing, being a man and so on and so forth.



Hmm, a male version of My Fair Lady / Pygmalion. "The rain in Miri falls mainly in Luak Bay"

There is so much more I can blog about Kuppusamy but then again, most people who read this blog, already know him too well.

The education of Kuppusamy Butterfly - oh Anjali and I will be so proup when this boy becomes a butterfly. However, after all this effort he still thinks that getting a butterfly tattoo at the back, on his lower waist, up his arse is cool, then we would have failed.

Take care and be well.

4 comments:

macK said...

....and one day we'll have to release the young butterfly to seek the world on its own....

Nil said...

... I hope that we are not keeping the butterfly too close, he may never learn to fly if we do not allow him to flap his wings ... so if every now and then we should allow the butterfly to go to some fancy smancy birthday party or something like that ... but of course with respect for others.

macK said...

true also, kena buat evaluation whether we did a good job or not

macK said...

hah! ini dia!

When you love someone so deeply
They become your life
It's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside
Blindly I imaged I could
Keep you under glass
Now I understand to hold you
I must open my hands
And watch you rise

(all together now!!!!)
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were meant to be
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly

I have learned that beauty
Has to flourish in the light
Wild horses run unbridled
Or their spirit dies
You have given me the courage
To be all that I can
And truly feel your heart will
Lead you back to me when you're
Ready to land

(louder!!!!)
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were ment to be
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly

I can't pretend these tears
Aren't over flowing steadily
I can't prevent this hurt from
Almost overtaking me
But will stand and say goodbye
For you'll never be mine
Until you know the way it feels to fly

(again!!!!)
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were ment to be
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly

(one last time!!!!)
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were ment to be
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly
So flutter through the sky
Butterfly
Spread your wings and fly
Butterfly