Memory Lane: Pulse!
******************
Dad was indifferent to our requests. This was one of his carefully plotted evil schemes that never failed. We huddled around him with our report cards – urging him to reconsider his promise he’d made less than a month ago.

“Katti kich kich gari ra! SLC siddhe pachi kinaula! ” He retorted with the famous line of defense every parent used when they failed to deliver their promise. Alluding to SLC, he had once more plundered our childhood dreams.

“K bhayo daddy? Kasto garechan yo pali?” Mom asked wearily after her long day at office.

We ran up to her and showed our report cards. Her face glowed with pride. She reached for her handbag and gave us two white-rabbits each. “Maami! Daddy lai bhandinu na! Yo paali ta “Deck" kinne bhanera” I held her saari. She stammered and took a furtive glance at Dad. I knew immediately that she was also involved in this grand design. “Kinula ni babu! Paila timi haroo ko SLC ta siddina de!”

I was enraged, stormed to my room and banged the door shut. Why did everything revolve around SLC? For seven mad god’s name, SLC was not even at my distant horizon. I hurled both the report card and the two candies with all my might. They rebounded off the wall while the card floated in the air teasingly before coming to a halt. At that age, all I cared was to have our own "DECK (VCR)" so that we could watch movies we wanted in weekends. Next door, I could hear maami and dad exchange verbal barrage. Be it a middle class plight, or the bulletproof mindgames of our
parents, I miserably failed to comprehend either.
***************

As the evening wore on, so did my hunger. It would have been easy if I went to mom then and let her win me over. I went on with my isolated rebellion. Instead, I searched frantically for those two white rabbits, found them and munched on them carefully planning my next strategy. I knew maami would come sooner or later to console me and this time I’d have none of it…..

To my surpise, I heard cheers of delight from my sisters who made their way into the room. “Oys! Chado aaija. Pawan dai aaunu bhacha! Disc antenna rakhnu bhako raicha.”
Pawan dai was our next door neighbor and I instantly understood why he had come. This was our last resort.

“La je sukai gara! Pachi padai sadai bigryo bhane malai nabhana!” my dad gave a semi wry smile at maami and a hesitant approval for installing the disc line.
“Ani kati euta channels aaucha ni pawan bhai?”
“ahile char euta aaucha! V channel, Z tv, Star Plus ra Star sports. Ani ma bida haroo ma naya filim pani lagaidinchu!” pawan dai was a perfect redemption for the evening.

It was only a matter of time -- we were hooked to “StarNetwork.” While my sisters inclined towards never ending serials of Z and music videos in V, I was blown away by Crystal Maze, Cluedo, Wonder Years, Raymington Steele in star plus and my first glimpse of Jordan in Star Sports. True to his word, Pawan dai informed us when he put on a recent bollywood blockbuster as well. Even Dad rejoiced at times gloating over the voices of singers he could recognize without even watching.
*****************
contd...

With time, like every other household with cable television, the fight for remote became a commonplace. Despite this, we children somehow found time to watch TV together for our unusual interest in horror shows. Why not? In a household, where superstitions and conspiracy theories spread like wildfires this was fitting, not to mention the thousands of ghost stories our grandparents told us during bedtime.

Thus, like every Sunday Evening, we glued ourselves to TV constantly switching between, X files and the Zee Horror show. As much as we showed our courage, the liver eating man of X files and the free willing hand that came to haunt in zee horror tested our threshold. We sat there nevertheless, with our legs crisscrossed, clenched fist, parched lips and dry mouth. By the time it was over, we even debated on who’d turn the TV off and who’d close down the open windows.

My fright had escalated to the next level by the time I entered my room and missed the hostel days where we celebrated Friday the 13th with pride. I was startled by the knock on the door. It was my younger sister."Oys! didi sutnai sakina! ta mathi ko sofa ma sut na hai aja?" My sister gave me some hope. Putting my best oscar winning coat, I said, "kasto dar cheruwa haroo! La la ma aauchu!” I grabbed my blanket and the pillow and headed upstairs with a big smile on my face. Hesitantly I fell asleep on the sofa and Yes! Then I had the nightmare of my life.
***********

The very same hand that had haunted the show, chased me from Handigaon to Sanepa, BhandarKhal to Kalopul, Chandol to Chabhel and back to the Gullis of Handigaon. I woke up panting and sweating like a fish. It took me a moment to realize where I was sleeping. The clock read 1:30 am. Suddenly, I felt something very cold on my chest. In the darkness, I used my left hand to probe the cold portion of the chest. An eerie chill ran down my spine. It was the very hand that had been chasing in my dreams! It was impossible.

I grabbed the hand with my left and shouted at the top of my lungs, “DIDI! Maile haat samaten. Batti baal chado!” They jumped out of their beds and turned on the lights. I jumped off myself still holding the haunted hand. What a comedy of errors. I was holding my own right hand. Apparently, I had slept pressing against the right hand, perhaps pressed a little too hard to diminish its blood flow. The fear and panic turned into crazy hysteria, and then the laughter continued: throughout the night, into the morning and to my deepest fears, onto the Tangal bus stop.

I sat by the “Chattre Ganesh” shocked and embarrassed. Here came the mob! My sister and her bunch of airheads. They showed me their hands and asked if it was the hand of my dreams. I constantly turned into a ripe tomato. From a little distance, Shivani came along with a set of her well-braided ponytails flapping on her shoulders. I gave a
stern look at my sister to spare her of the drama. Why would she? She filled her in one breath. Shivani looked at me, shook her head exhibiting her exquisite ponytails and laughed out aloud.

“Doosro ko kya kahe? Apno ne hi Marwadiya!!!”

Life is built upon small things: Some to rejoice, some to cherish, and some to forget. I scorned at my parents because they were uncannily right about things. I should have listened to them. I should have waited till SLC. It didn’t feel like a distant horizon anymore— only half a decade away.

Greetings to the Master of Memory Lanes! :)

An event presented with a great style. Your aptitude of capturing small details always amazes me. Such a rhythmic flow in the presentation! For a moment I thought I was a part of the event itself!

Yes, like yourself I made a habit of staying up late just to watch X-files. I even imagined of being one of them, Agent Moulder and Scully. :) On the other hand, I fantasize myself being a classy player like Sampras, Seles, Sachin ( I know you are an anti-Indians) and many more. Even dreamt of being a ball girl (if that is the appropraite term) who usually runs after tennis balls in the court or the 12th man in the cricket squad. Such an influence of media had on me. You could say I was basically a couch potato, who would watch test match for five straight days.

Welcome back oys and thanks for taking back to our memories and don't you worry, this is superb like your past memories. :)

wc bak oys jyu!!!
hajur ko darshan paaunai garo .....

Feri Nostalgic banayo, n m lovin' it... LOL!! Hyaa mula, baaki khoi ta? :D

That hand incident happened to me too, like 3 months ago, I was like wtf, whose hand is this :D But your incident was indeed funny since it happend right after you watched the Horror show...

Zee horror show, ehe, remember an episode where this mad scientist proves that your body dies but your brain doesn't? :D

Aru ni jaawosh bro, dherai busy hunu hunna mula, hya!! :D

meticulous writing! like always an excellent one. I liked the part where your cleaver folks replaced the "deck" promice for cable !

How do you do it??.. just how do you do it??? i read your memory lanes in sajha writers guild.. all in one go! i can relate to almost everything that you write. well, im sure almost every single person here can, in one way or the other. you ability to go to depths through simplicity is just extraordinary! youre an awesomw writer!! have you ever given publication of your memory lanes a thought? you should. you really should. do keep writing and gracing sajha! really looking forward to it. and if you have more of the memory lanes apart from what is published in the sajha writers guild.. please put it up hai.
looking forward to hearing more from you.
have a great sunday!

zee horror show ko "teen mundi wali chudel"! :O :O aajhai daar lagcha.

nice one mr. k lab ji hehhe the first one i eva read urs n its awesome ,,keep rollin it....peace

* raises a hand* Oys!! is this the hand that chased you from handigaon to chabahil and back to your room? he... he... funny..
I would have never imagined of a dream that permeates through to the reality.

Life is built upon small things .. well said....
white-rabbits... zee horror shows..... X-files... early days of NBA and Cricket influence in kathmandu ... these little things leave marks in the time and the life .
But when you retrace the memory lanes as a adult, you see things you failed to see when you were there in reality.........
Be it a middle class plight, or the bulletproof mindgames of our parents, I miserably failed to comprehend either. See!!!

Oys,
As always, I also enjoyed this piece thoroughly. The inclusion of trivial details makes the story more interesting. The similar social, economic and cultural circumstances render it easy to potray myself in your place. I grow more nostalgic every time I read a new story of yours!

Oys bro,

Oys, the Hadigaule bro, enjoyed the piece again. It is so refreshing to read you.

aru ni jawos ---

oie mula....oys that is.....tyo star sports thiyena hola...primes sports thiyo hola...tyo bela tyai ta hunthyo ni suru suru ma......hgehehe....nyways gr8 stuff again man.... keep it up and i can't wait for the witch of 'galaxy' story man.....ur biggest fan....hehehe ma keti bhaako bhaye talai kisses ni pathaunthe hola

Yea, i remember watching crystal maze. Very captivating game show where players had to go through different levels, and test their skills to get one crystal. man i loved that show.

Didn't watch much Zee tv and horor shows. but i remember first horror show, Monty...monty.... the case where guy kills his wife, buries her in his basement, and marries new wife...

Anyways, very good writing, felt kinda too short..ended very quickly. but was enjoyable nonetheless.

As very few of us have noticed, not many, but few - that some of the writers here write because they are passionate about writing, some write to create "a buzz". Oys, you know what you are! :)

Thanks Raatu. I was trying to remember what "Crystal maze" was but somehow couldn't figure. Yes, you explained and now everything is as clear as crystal. Crystal Maze, The small wonder, Lost in space and other tv programs became daily soap for us. I can still hear the robotic voice of Vicky.

** Diving into the nostalgic world**
Thanks for sharing oys. :)

man! oys,
You seem to have a knack in writing the memories of yesteryears in utmost gusto interweaved with emotion, respect and love for your beloved ones. I still remember your "handigaon chronicles"--the potpourri of heart rending incidents that drenched my eyes in emotion.

Needless to say, this one teased me to travel through my own memory lane. How I fought with my sister to watch my favorite sports channels (watching 7 straight hours a day of cricket against the liking of other members in the family was never less challenging), how we all in the family sat together to get the chill in our spines watching the horror shows, sundays filled with shows galore viz. Spiderman cartoon show, Street-Hawk, the German Didi's comedy show, Buniyaad-the indian series initially on Doordarshan, then, Crystal Maze, Guiness Book of World Records, X-files, Friends on Star TV...all started screening right in front of my eyes. Ahh....those days, alas! will never come again!

Keep up the good work, dude! I see a writer in the making...

i used to watch all them shows.

Crystal Maze, Spin City, Wonder Years, Small Wonder, Lost in Space, M*A*S*H, Star Trek, The X-Files, The Addams Family, BATMAN(POW, WHACK!)[Will BATMAN SURVIVE THIS TIME? , Beverly Hills 90210, Baywatch....

ahh! :-D

Nice one Oys,
I remember the antenna days before cables came, my brother used to try fixing antenna on the terrace and ask "Aayo?" and we used to shout "Aayo ... Gayo.. Aayo Aayo" from the ground.
Even if the reception was of low quality (jhar jhar jhur jhur) we never missed "Chitrahaar" and other shows. :D:D

lau lau! thanx everyone...I am so truly humbled!

Flippy..talking bout ball girl, I also always imagined being the guy who gives Jordan drinks during breaks! :) and being a express bowler who bowled Sachin Tendulkar over and over again :P

Thapapjyu, how about Zarokha this sunday..Sakhyat darshan dinechu :). Unless the owner again takes us for immigrant nepalis looking for work :) but that's fun too!

Kalanki bro, you have horror shows too? we should plan for jamming up again in November! ....if someone makes pork like last tyam :)

Crus bro, that was nothing.....Once when I demanded Sunnies, my mom was even able to get a fake Dr's Certificate with her signature saying sunnies are bad for eyes, and i bought her

ABCDE, before you make such flattering comments let me know next time. I will get a vernier caliper or a foot ruler to measure the gauze of my nose :D

Angeleyes, aren't you in making of a labrat yorself? all the best!

sUNNYdEV, Quite an observation and reverse enlightenment for me. thank you!

World_Map, maybe i should start writing about Maitighar days...perhaps u will find it even more fitting :)

Deep bro, jai hos! you're da true inspiration! The "Chattre Ganesh", Dabali and Shivani, I dedicate them all to you :)

Illusions, nice catch..it was indeed called prime sports. Yes, Galaxy "witch" trial is next :)

Redstone, the funniest part if u noticed was they always had the same kinda night and the same house in those horror shows :). that really created the "BUZZ"

Hunk_inGrave(what a nick), thank you for your words. Yes, combo of Mithun and Streek Hawk's Jessie, I asked for those boots and leather jacket as well. This time, i didn't even get it after SLC :)

Pretty, oh the antenanna Saga! The He-MAN on sundays with favorite ads of Nirma and Complan boy and complan girl :D. Besides that, i despised my antenna in autumn with all my beloved kites got stuck there. One day, with the help of my friends, i was able to dismantle it and put it in bari for the day and forgot about it. Imagine, the wrath of my dad that night :).

and FINALLY TMA bro, looks like you changed your emails. I have been compelled to comment here cause i couldn't send you an email as it got returned. I absolutely agree with your observation of untimingly of the character shivani and those names. Memory is not a truth serum, merely a relative. But thanx again for your constant support over the years. Btw, the pic you have put up, is that of GREAT OCEAN DRIVE? seems like i took a picture on similar location. Could you confirm your email again?

As always, u created a charm and nostalgia among us readers......

Niceeeee piece! liked it thoroughly!!

keep it coming

a silent admirer