The Prom was special for Ross...
He was like a kid on a mission... All day long he was hyper... and everything he did was connected to the Prom...
I did not appreciate the uproar that much... It was just like a coming out party... The young kids were presented to the public... "Here they are... Now they are ready to take part in society..."
But the party is too glamorous and too noisy... and much exaggerated... I appreciated the enthusiasm of the youth... and appreciated much when one of the principals referred to the "red carpet" show off prior to the dinner and dance...
But Ross loved the noise... He wanted it to be louder and visible... It was just like his coming out party... The kid in Ross bubbled out from early morning. No one could contain Rossie... Not even Ross himself...
I was teaching in the same school for five years... and the students that I started with were graduating... At the time high school was five years... When I first started in that school... I thought the Grade niners... and on the fifth year I teaching the graduating class...
Previously Ross had tried, but in vain, to make me interested in the Prom... I always told him; "It's too noisy for my liking..." But that year he had an opening... "These are the kids that you raised... from Grade nine on...," he argued... and for a week he repeated his invitation...
"I do not associate much with the teachers...," I retaliated.
"But I will be there... and we may leave after they began to dance... later in the evening...," He attempted to ease my concerns...
Eventually I gave in... I had to pick him at four in that afternoon and drive to the Prom...
The "red carpet" was fun... The students taking photos... showing off their dresses... making arrangements for the after-prom party... some guys were almost drunk already... some were almost high... in the parking lot I could almost smell the weed... It was all colourful... and very promy...
The kids approached my for me for a photo or two... individually and then in groups... giggly and funny... Their way of saying; "Thank you..."
But,
Ross jumped from one flower to the other... from one bouquet to the other...
congratulating all... giving them a teacher's hug... and a smile... his happiness had no limits... He was indeed happiness without borders... There were no apprehensions... no holding back... societal norms were for those who are conscious of societal norms... Those were not for Ross... He had his own rules of behaviour... and no one could have imposed artificial rules and requirements on him... The man made rules were not for him... he was not just any men... The moments when Ross embraced Rossie... When the grown up man and the not-so-mature kid were amalgamated, he was out of this world... a fairy- Oberon and Titania and Ariel and Puck and Tinkerbell...
I watched the students...
I watched Ross...
I was happy for all...
Later in the evening, after the dinner... I and Ross were watching the kids dancing... their movements like the primitive humans in the jungle... Lovely and uninhibited... The kids can govern themselves...when the adults leave them alone... The adult rules ruin the party both for the adults and for the kids... The adult rules make a mess of the world... that's when the kids need a joint... maybe two...
A student approached me... he was very tall... he was the tallest in the class... and I am not that tall... in fact, I am height-fully challenged... The student wanted a Thank-you-and-Goodbye photo... and I said; "Why not...," But on that second Ross's happiness infected me... I pulled a chair and stood on it... now I was taller than the kid... and threw my hand on his shoulder... he had his arm around me too... and we froze in the moment... Others noticing the scene... crowded around and took photos...
I climbed down from the chair... some applauded my effort... But another group pulled me into dance floor... I stood there... not knowing what to do... Everything was gyrating around me... and I danced too... for a second... for few minutes... I was clumsy... very nerdy... a bit clownish too... It was not my type of fun... I was a middle aged nerdy stiff, after all...
Ross was ecstatic... He was a bundle of mirth and joy...
We left the Prom on very high note...
Had an after hour glass to rap up things...
***
Follow Up...from the Other Day...
My friend, sent the following information... As a follow up to the "walls"... and wrote...
"Walls create bantustans as they attempted in South Africa... Walls never solve a problem... They just create new ones..."
Note: As part of the Apartheid system in place in South Africa from 1948-1994, the South African government carved out these 20 territories as "homelands" for segregation of specific ethnic groups to create autonomous nation-states for these peoples to eventually separate them from South African society all together as independent states, leaving SA as a white-majority population. Only four of them were ever actually given independence, although they were effectively puppets of South Africa, and remained unrecognized by all other states except South Africa and themselves."And please check," he wrote, "the maps below...Check the creation of Israel and the dispossession of Palestinians... The evolution of the map... the creation of a modern day, 21st century Bantustan...The root of today's turmoil in the Middle East and Syria..."
But
it never happened and now that he is somewhere that I do not know...
It will never happen... Israel-Palestine has always fascinated me...
as the cradle of our civilization... Our visit would have been a
spiritual lift up... and Ross at times unleashing his imagination and
his fantastical exaggerations resembled Don Quixote... from
Cervantes... In those surreal moments he was amusing and a bit
clownish... He was a miracle of a kid... running amok...
You cannot built a wall around a conflict... You cannot isolate a conflict... The conflict in the Middle east has globalized... Just like everything in the world...
The locals are attacking the refugees in the "Jungle" at Calais... More and more attacks are reported... On the other hand the refugees are attacking French police... 5000 refugees live in the "Jungle" at Calais... Hoping to go to England...
The refugees created conflict in Cologne, Germany... Many sexual assaults are reported... The Middle east conflict is globalized... In this day and age WALLS cannot be built around conflicts...
WALLS are outdated and just tourist attraction...
New refugees are arriving at the Turkish border... May be Turkey should take them in... and settle them in Turkey...after all they have the same religion and customs... They will easily fit in Turkey instead of traveling to Europe...
Walls
are the racist way by nature and Ross once said...
"If money can travel without borders... So must people... If
economies are globalized, so will the labour-people... We cannot have global
economy and borders around nation states..."
"If
nation states are too narrow for the greed and profit of business,
then it is also suffocating for the freedoms of the people...," Ross insisted.
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