Respect.

Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that came before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.

- George Orwell

I stumbled upon this quote while visiting the Wikiquote homepage today, and I couldn't help but notice how true this was, especially after finding out that the man who said it had died in 1950. This statement is one for the ages - it has always been true, and perhaps always will be. Unfortunately.

Indeed, having spent time in a boarding school I know quite a bit about how applicable Orwell's observation is in real life. Juniors rebel against their seniors, while said seniors try to put the juniors in their place. These kind of situations are very common, and arise in hostels all over the world.

However, being an open-minded person who'd spent three years in a regular secondary school, I never really saw the point of it all. Not at first, anyway. I mean, back at Bukit Indah it didn't matter how old you were and which Form you were in, everyone was treated equally and talked to in the same way. And suddenly, on my first day in Rembau the younger kids called me 'Abang'. It was something that took some getting used to.

It took me a while to realize that, socially, things were going to be different. It seemed that, by virtue of being born a few years earlier, my batchmates and I were the kings of the hostel. The juniors would do our every bidding without question. It was as if we had some divine right to order the younger ones around. This was the way it was supposed to be, as I was told by friends who had lived in hostels before. They had once been slaves to their own seniors, and now they were enjoying their new positions in the social hierarchy. This new system was one that taught all those who came through it that in life, you have to start at the very bottom before you can make it to the top.

Of course, every system has its rebels. As did ours. They simply did not understand the system, the very same one that is, and has always been in practice in pretty much every single boarding school in the country, maybe even the whole world. They disobeyed orders, mocked their seniors, acted with disrespect, and in short challenged the whole concept of seniority. It was a rebellion that created a rift between us and them, one that neither side seemed intent on fixing.

Yes, we tried to patch things up. At least I did, anyway. Treated them like mature adults, I did. I was friends with them in those early days, and we had a healthy rivalry on the football pitch. We talked, we joked. I even taught one to solve a Rubik's Cube. You could say that I kinda saw them as my own younger brothers.

But I was wrong to treat them like mature adults, as it turned out. Mature adults would respect a person's right to a good night's sleep. Mature adults would know that rules exist for a reason. Mature adults would know that when the nice guy is seriously pissed at you, it means that you've really done something wrong.

I'm a fairly mild-mannered person myself, but the one thing that really gets my goat is when people disrespect their elders. That's one line I would never cross, unless I really have to.

Anyway, solving the problem was simple - I simply stopped caring. There was no more we're-all-mature-adults-here crap, I just considered the rebels to be young, immature children who didn't respond to reason. And I was happy. They could all get struck by lightning and I probably wouldn't have cared in the slightest. If   I had viewed them as my own flesh and blood before, you could say that I'd now disowned them. But not caring anymore didn't mean I felt nothing - never before had I felt so betrayed in my entire life.

It all seems like such a long time ago now. Apologies have been exchanged since then, and no matter how forced and insincere they may have seemed, they were at least something. However, completely forgiving them may still take a while yet. The wounds have mended, but the scars still remain.

Round and Round.

"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."
- Anonymous

I lost a good friend today. It was, of course, quite saddening, but I managed to cheer myself up by watching some Youtube videos of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' sketches.


No, no, he didn't die. He just departed from my life, for the time being.

You know how sometimes you feel a certain connection to someone, even if you've only just met? I've only had that a few times throughout my life so far, and this was one of those times.

And today was the last time I'll be seeing him again, at least for the next six or seven years anyway. He'll be off to Russia in September to study medicine, and from that point on the only way to contact him would be through Facebook. Oh well, that's still better than nothing. All the best to him, then.

****

Life is like a wheel. Yes, it's an often-used simile. Cliched, even. But you have to admit, it's true. One moment you're on top, and the next you're right there at the bottom.

The thing is, once you find yourself at the bottom, you need to find your way back to the top. A wheel won't turn unless a force is acting upon it, and likewise, if you don't do anything constructive about your problems, you're never gonna solve them. 

That being said, I bid thank you to Drew Carey and his cast of comedians. They've just helped me to solve mine.

Moving Forward.

"Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

 - Albert Einstein

You know how people say that time flies when you're having fun? And sometimes they even say that time crawls when you're not. It's somewhat of a rarity for someone to see the passage of time as going at its actual pace, one moment at a time.

For instance, I've been going to Nirwana College for over a month now. And that's exactly how long it's felt like. Time hasn't exactly flown by, but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying my time there. And it hasn't exactly crept along, neither, but that doesn't mean I've been bored out of my mind. Maybe it's just me - hardly ever willing to exaggerate.

*****

Just the other day, we had pizza for dinner. We placed our order through the phone, and waited for the delivery guy to arrive. Sure enough, in about half an hour the doorbell rang and I went outside to meet him. 

What I hadn't expected, however, was to be pleasantly surprised - the delivery guy was none other than one of my old classmates from Form 1. Sure, we had never been that close but we'd always been on speaking terms. He did seem in a bit of a hurry, but we did manage to exchange a few words before going our separate ways.

I hadn't seen him in years, and he seemed all grown up now. He wasn't the only one - I'd met a couple of old classmates from primary school recently, and they both looked so much more mature than before. It has been six years since we last met, after all. 

Anyway, all this helped me realize just how far I've come. Just how far we've all come. Young people making their first forays into adulthood; going to college, doing part-time jobs, et cetera. Gone are the days of carefree youthfulness. Gone are the days of blissful innocence. The potentially crushing burden of responsibility has finally caught up to us.

I look at the younger ones, many of whom are in such a hurry to grow up. Well, they are clearly very ignorant in these matters. Back when we were in our school days we had been told to cherish our school days, as they would be the best of our lives. Now the time has come for us to do the same, to warn the younger generation of the dangers of the future. And of course, many of them won't heed the warnings. Just as it was with many of us.

Oh, well. Just like ourselves, they can't say they weren't warned. Enjoy yourselves while you still can, kids. I know I did.