man and machine ~

The cello is a wonderful music instrument. To me, at least. I still remember the moment I held the first cello, which eventually became my very first cello. The smell of the wood, the surface of the finger board and the feel of the cello strings. Then there's the bow - a simple piece of wood with horse hair. From that moment on, I knew in my heart it was going to be a start of a very long relationship between man and machine.

I am blogging via mobile while on my way for a gigue in Alor Setar. As I am on the road, it becomes a good time to just watch the road go by and have some flashback moments.

I still remember clearly trying to play my first few notes. It was definitely tougher than it looked despite the fact that I already have music knowledge from learning the piano. But whe i finally got the basic notes right, the sound of the cello was simply amazing. It was bold yet gentle. It was strong yet refine. Simply amazing!

Till this day, many people ask me, "Why the cello?". No particular specific reason per say and quite honestly I really think it was love at first sight. But the first thing, one word i can use to describe the cello - "personal". The very moment the cello is placed between my legs and i let it lay on my chest, it's just so similar to hugging a teddy bear. I can easily wrap my arms around the cello. To me, because I am so physically close to the instrument, it's like being able to speak thru the music i make by playing the cello. It's like being emotionally connected to the cello.That's as personal as music can get.

Although i started off my music education on the piano, the cello quickly became my major instrument. That's just goes to show how close i am to my cello.

As i am travelling up north for this gigue, i am all excited to perform. Not because i want to show off my skills but i want to show people what the cello is all about. Man and machine in harmony...... a machine not that of speed, power or design but a machine that of audible beauty.

Finding it in his heart ~

There was an old chap I met at the physiotherapy centre where dad visited quite a fair bit after having undergone a total heap replacement. This old chap was on a wheelchair and doing some physiotherapy workouts. I observed him for a while doing some light weights while on the wheelchair and I saw the look in his eyes. It was not that of rage, anger or despair but that of resolve. A tremendous amount of resolve to strengthen himself despite being bounded to the wheelchair for the rest of his life.

As I was leaving, I had to settle the bill and this old chap rolled out with his wheelchair, panting from all the workout he was doing. I guess he had to settle his bill as well. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Tough workout eh?"

"Phew... tell me about it. Being on a wheelchair is a whole new experience for me."

"What got you on the wheelchair?"

"Motorcycle accident. Was riding my bike home one evening, next thing I new someone rammed me from the back. By the time I woke up, I was lying on a bed in this hospital with my wife beside me."

"Sorry to hear that. Did you know who hit you?"

"Yea, he owned up to it. He did pay me compensation but that doesn't change the fact that he placed me on a wheelchair!"

"Sorry to hear that..... You must really hate the guy."

"I did hate the guy up until this morning when I woke up and finally realised hating that guy isn't going to change the fact that I am stuck to this chair on wheels. I found it in my heart to forgive him."

I found it amazing because I don't think I would be capable of forgiving someone who caused me to be on a wheelchair. Especially for someone like me who is so active in sports. Taking away the use of my legs would be a cardinal sin!

He had one simple reason - "I realised I could have been the one on the wheel and cause another to lose the use of their legs. I still have my life and I still get to be with my family. That alone is something I should be thankful for".

Forgiveness, compassion and a kind heart are attributes that are slowly depleting in the current age of modernization and burgeoning world of commerce, where time waits for no man and all that matters is money matters...... this old chap made it look so easy.......

hope, faith, charity

It was a simple act of not accepting the cash. A simple answer of, "No, I am not going to accept your cash, keep it." It was when Jo bought a mini generator set for his uncle who suffered from muscular dystrophy. A damaging disease that literally robs you of your muscular abilities. His uncle had to survive on a life support machine to keep him breathing. Every time his housing area had a black out, his wife had to literally rush him to the hospital nearest to his home and there was very little margin for error in timing.

That's when Jo decided to get his uncle one of those mini generator sets to power the life support systems if in case of a black out. The ones you see night market stalls using. Jo contacted me because my dad could get slightly cheaper prices for one of those generators.

On the day we went to get the generator and took it to Jo's uncle's house to set it up and sort of just let the family members know how to run the little thing. That's when I saw the first case of muscular dystrophy. He was really skinny and there was life support machine by his bed. The muscles in his body was depleted so badly that he could hardly move even his arms when he spoke to Jo and I.

When we were about to leave, Jo's aunty wanted to pass him the money for the generator. "No, I am not going to accept your cash, keep it. The genset is for uncle. He took care of me as a kid, he deserves it." His uncle was so happy for what Jo had done for him.

They say there are those who survive from hope, faith and charity. I say there are those who live hope, faith and charity. Jo had hope - hope for a man who took care of him when he was young, a good man who became bedridden due to muscular dystrophy. Jo had faith -for he was a strong believer in the Bahai' fatih, a religion that believes strongly in unity and he believe God was telling him that his uncle needed the mini generator to keep surviving. And Jo showed charity - an innate ability to give without looking back, to give without require something in return, to give because he wanted and because he knew it was the right thing to do.

And that, my dear readers (if there are readers out there, that is), is hope, faith and charity epitomized in our current world.........