Days of Innocence

I overheard a few girls gossiping this morning, and I suddenly remembered days of yore, when the boys were innocent and gentle teasing was as far as they went. One of the girls recounted this tale. A guy she passed by greeted her with a salaam, then said, "Ha, jawab salam gatal, tak jawab berdosa!" The silly situation brought a smile to my lips. The girl rightly exclaimed, "Then what was I supposed to do?" It was a Catch 22 situation, isn't it? Albeit a silly one.

I hardly noticed it, but it's evident that in our culture, gentle teasing is the norm for showing interest. The boys would tease and tease until you can no longer keep a straight face and break into a smile. I remember one time I was coming back to KL, sitting next to some guy from some maktab. He was trying to chat me up, and I was trying not to succumb. A few of his friends joined in with their nonsensical chatter until by the time we reached KL, I just had to smile and say a few polite words. I wasn't exactly thrilled at being a target, but neither was I upset at their forward behaviour. The teasing was gentle and they were actually funny!

More recently, a bunch of us were sitting in the pantry having breakfast when one of the guys walked in to make his morning cuppa. Some of us started ribbing him about the way he made his coffee, and he responded with the sort of cryptic remark that could be a double entendre, yet totally harmless in itself. Something in the lines of "we should start with something sweet", supposedly referring to the way he put in the sugar first. It takes intimate knowledge of Malay culture and norms to grasp the hidden meaning behind such a mundane pronounciation! I think I fell a little bit in love with him after that :D

Sometimes I wish I could go back to the days when the boys were pleasant and caring, to have my Abang2 behind me. But then, we all grow up, grow older, deal with responsibilities, become jaded and different. I do wish I could have more of such gentle humour around me, life is so stressful and bland sometimes. I guess things like this can't be forced, we take whatever we can find. Even staid old Pakcik has moments when he goes all silly for no good reason. Whatever it is, sure is nice to have some honest laughter in your life :)