Ang Laptop Kong Bungi…ka-partner ko sa pagbatikos at pagpuri

Ang Laptop Kong Bungi

…ka-partner ko sa pagbatikos at pagpuri

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

Wala siyang teklado para sa letrang “M” subalit subok ang tibay dahil kahit bahayan ng langgam ang mga kalamnan ay hindi sumusurender maski pa maghapong gamitin. Ilang taon din siyang nagtiis sa pagtipa ko sa teklado ng kanyang mga letra at simbolo, yon nga lang, pagdating sa bunging bahagi para sa letrang “M” ay kailangang maingat ang aking pagpindot. Malaki ang utang na loob ko sa laptop na ito dahil lahat ng mga saloobin ko ay kinakaya niyang ipunin…i-absorb, kaya siguro kung mayroon lang siyang bituka baka palagi siyang nagsusuka, o di kaya kung may puso, ay matagal na siyang na-heart attack. Kahit halos mamuwalan na siya sa mga pinapakain kong nakakasuka at nakaka-heart attack na mga isyu, ay hindi siya nanghihina man lang.

 

Ang problema lang ay ang colonial niyang mentality dahil may mga salitang Pilipino na pinagpipilitan niyang baybayin sa Ingles kaya kailangan kong basahin nang paulit-ulit ang mga naisulat niya upang ang “namin” ay hindi maging “naming”, o di kaya ang “hindi maging” ay hindi maging “hind imaging”, ang “letra” ay hindi maging “letre”, at marami pang ibang salitang Pilipino na tinatarantado niya….sutil kasi.

 

Minsan ko na rin siyang nadunggol dahil sa sobrang antok nang bumagsak ang noo ko sa kanya, subalit hindi siya nagreklamo kahit sa pamamagitan ng pag-kuryente man lang sa akin. Nalaman kong nasaktan ko siya nang maramdaman ko sa aking pisngi ang kanyang pag-overheat makalipas ang dalawang oras ng pagkakatulog. Literally, I slept on my laptop! Siguro kung nakakatawa lang ang butiki ay hinalakhakan na ako dahil sa hindi kalayuan ay may nakita akong dalawa na halos hindi gumagalaw dahil siguro nagulat, pero nagpulasan nang tiningnan ko sila ng masama.

 

Hindi mitsa ng buhay ko ang aking mahal na laptop dahil old-fashion siya, luma na kasi, kaya kahit bitbitin ko siyang hubad, ibig sabihin ay hindi nakalagay sa bag, walang magkaka-interes. Parang babae rin na dahil naitatago ng pagka-old fashion ang kanyang ganda, siya ay malayo sa posibilidad na magahasa! Kaya ang mga babae ay hindi dapat magpakita ng motibo o pag-anyaya upang magahasa…magpaka-simple o magpaka-old fashion din kahit minsan….maliban na lang ang mga desperada!

 

Para ring tao ang aking laptop na nag-undergo ng operasyon at pagtapal dahil marami na rin siyang diperensiya maliban sa pagkabungi. Ang dating ayaw pumermanenteng pagtayo ng screen kaya nilalagyan ko pa ng suporta sa likod, ay naremedyuhan ng isang doktor ng mga laptop – may ginalaw sa kasu-kasuan o joints nito kaya nakakatayo na ngayon nang tiyeso. Ang dating sugat sa gilid dahil nabasag ay natapalan na rin ng karton kaya ngayon ay buo na siya – good as new!

 

Ang kuwento ng laptop ko ay maihahalintulad din sa kuwento ng alagang hayop na pinagkakautangan dapat ng loob ng nag-aalaga dahil sa dulot nilang therapeutic relief, o di kaya ay iba pang bagay na napakinabangan para sa araw-araw na pamumuhay. May utang na loob tayo sa kanila. Hindi sila dapat binabale-wala nang basta-basta pagkatapos pagsawaan o kapag nagkaroon ng bago, lalo na ngayong pasko.

 

Hindi din dapat ganyan ang mag-asawa na pagkalipas ng maraming taon ay basta na lang makaramdam ng pagkasawa sa isa’t isa, kaya nagkakanya-kanya na sa pagrampa upang maghanap ng ibang mapagparausan. O di kaya ay ibang mga anak na pagkatapos iluwal ng ina at palakihin ng ama ay walang pakundangan kung sila ay balewalain o ikahiya sa ibang tao dahil walang pinag-aralan o di kaya ay hindi maganda o guwapo tulad ng mga magulang ng mga kaibigan nila, o di kaya ay amoy pawis dahil sa pagtinda sa palengke, hindi tulad ng magulang ng classmate nila na nagtatrabaho sa aircon na opisina.

 

Pairalin natin ang utang na loob. Magbago tayo….bilang pasalubong sa bagong taong 2016!

 

 

 

Agos ng Buhay….para kay Jose “Direk Joecar” N. Carreon

Agos ng Buhay
(para kay Jose “Direk Joecar” N. Carreon)

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Sa pagdaloy ng agos ng buhay
Hindi tiyak kung ano ang matatangay
Maaaring ito’y mabubulasaw, umalon-alon
Dahil sa mga bato’t bumabagsak na dahon.

Ano man ang humarang sa agos
Dike man ito o saplad, akala’y maayos
Hindi tatagal sa agos, nagpipilit, umaalma
Parang taong naglalabas ng mga nadarama.

Yan ang buhay ng taong matalino
May matingkad sa pagkabusilak na puso
Tahimik man at matipid sa mga pananalita
Walang yabang, kaya mahal ng kanyang kapwa.

Buhay na payak, kanya’y nilakhan
Hinubog din sa maaliwalas na tahanan
Bihira ang ganyang taong hinog sa panahon
At, yan si “Direk Joecar”… o Jose Nadal Carreon!

(Halaw ang tula mula sa kuwento nina Gene at Maggie Asuncion…
At alay din ng “MIGHTY MITES GROUP” ng University of the Philippines High, Class ’60)

(Posted in facebook, penpowersong.wordpress.com, and penpowersong.blogspot.com)

Look beyond a person…to discover more about him

Look beyond a person

…to discover more about him

Apolinario Villalobos

The title of this share, actually, is a derivative of the saying, “do not judge a book by its cover”. A not so pretty or handsome face for instance does not necessarily mean that the person has a mean attitude. Also, we should not judge the financial status of a person by looking at his or her face. This is in line with the impression that the more exquisiteness it is, the better chance that he or she is from a well-off family, because “rich people are beautiful people”. This also goes with the way some people dress up.

One Saturday, I befriended a guy who sold “buraot” items or junks on a sidewalk in Divisoria. Every time I saw him on Saturdays, he was wearing the same tattered dark brown shirt and oversized basketball shorts. I just presumed that they perhaps, consisted his Saturday get up. Sometimes his two children would be with him. One time, I endeavored to befriend him, and broke the ice by buying many of his cheap items. I was thankful that he entertained my queries, until he accepted my offer to buy snacks for the three of them. I pretended to be engrossed in our conversation so that I could patiently wait until it was time for them to pack up their wares at ten that morning. With apprehension, I asked if he would allow me to see where they live, to which the guy acceded. We walked our way to a shanty of discarded tarpaulins and plywood boards by the bank of a river. His wife was out, collecting junks from garbage dumps.

Inside the shack, I saw a framed photo of three boys between a man and a woman, obviously, a family portrait. When asked, he told me that the smallest boy was he, and those with him were his parents and brothers. I found out that he came from a well-to-do family in Mandaluyong, with the name even sounding familiar. Without waiting for my questions, he volunteered that he left their home to elope with his girlfriend, the daughter of their laundrywoman. He had to do it after learning that she was two months pregnant with their baby. His parents did not approve of their relationship ever since. Rather than give them reason to fire the mother of the girl, the two opted to just go away.

The guy was 22 years old and his wife, 25. Their elder child was 4 years old and the younger, 3. He added that his wife had already undergone the so-called clinical family planning operation, or ligation. He was in his second year college when they eloped. His wife finished high school and was working as a sales girl in a mall. Her contract was not renewed, forcing her to work in a sidewalk carinderia as an all- around assistant. They had bright plans for their kids, even showed me four mineral water bottles heavy with coins, and a purse full of folded bills. They planned to enroll their elder child in the barangay/DSW-sponsored prep school three blocks away from their shanty.

When I learned that both kids were not yet baptized, I asked if it’s okay to have them undergo such rite in Sta. Cruz church or Binondo church, expenses on me, including lunch afterwards. When he agreed, I told him to look for two sponsors, a male and a female, to which he excitedly suggested his friends who were also selling junks in Divisoria. He told me that he and his wife still had decent clothes for such occasion. From the shanty, I went to the Binondo church, the nearest to where they lived, to inquire about scheduled baptisms and make the necessary arrangements. When everything was in order, I went back to my friend and told him to alert his wife and their two friends for the set schedule on the following Sunday. Eventually, the two kids became Christians. We shared a simple lunch in a sidewalk carinderia afterwards.

For the undiscerning, the unkempt appearance of others who eke a living from the refuse in dumps, can be revolting, and they are perceived as a hopeless lot. The story that I have shared shows that it is unfair to make hasty judgments based on the external appearance of a person. Behind the unkempt appearance could be a fervent desire fuelled by perseverance to live decently. The guy whose story I have shared, showed that in this world, anything is possible, and that a happy life does not always depend on money. In other words, behind unkempt appearances could be dreams!

The family I met was a picture of happiness, living on discarded vegetables and overnight-old sometimes burnt rice asked from carinderias, and drizzled with coffee or broth of vegetables and instant noodles to make it palatable. Despite their hand-to-mouth existence, he and his wife still had the courage to make plans for their two kids. They have been painstakingly setting aside a portion from what meager earnings that they derive from the junks they sell for their future. And, for all those, they do not even harbor a bit of hatred towards anybody, much more, the guy’s parents.

The guy told me that he still loves his parents, and he plans to bring his family to them on December 20, his birthday, to seek their blessing, especially, for the kids, but has no plans of living with them again. For him, it is important that his parents will know that he and his family are doing well.