The end of the May rains – farewell my concubine

Farmers by nature like to give things a gender. It’s a way of getting a handle on things I reckon.

A tractor for example is always referred to in the masculine, unless of course it has oversized headlights, then it’s natural for everyone to give it a feminine tag. Cows are always referred too in the feminine even when they happen to be males, unless of course they have a habit of wandering around all by themselves. As for the sea, she is always a woman. As since the moon affects her and so when she kicks up a storm from time to time – no one really curses her, as that’s really her nature. She is a capricious. It could be said, in the known universe of the farmer, there is no such thing as a metrosexual or homosexual, that is a concept that cannot possibly exist…as things either fall into male or female and that’s it – the rains that usually come in mid March and last till April is always referred to as ‘she’ and ‘her.’ As the since March monsoon is comparatively milder when compared to it’s other fiercer male counterpart, the Oct Monsoon….it’s almost natural for all to refer to these rains as ‘she’ or ‘her.’

During these times just when the rains begin to wane and bow out to another season – it’s not uncommon for me to feel melancholy. I am fond of the rains in Mid March as unlike the Oct monsoon that has a habit of slipping away like a thief in the night without even so much of a goodbye – the April rains usually end with a characteristic siaow Charbor bang! It’s as if she wants everyone to know, she going off – and so just before the rains come to abrupt end….there is usually a couple of days of heavy deluge and plenty of thunderstorm…then true to the form of a prima donna par excellence…the curtain will come right down.

Farewell my concubine….see you again next year.

‘Ships, like and I imagine vases, generally symbolise femininity because they are all vessels. I guess that could be why a woman’s essence is referred to as a box or drawers – they’re all supposed to contain stuff like the notion of the womb, supposedly that’s a woman’s defining characteristic, the strength lies in their ability to contain….to even provide an immersive experience where one is transported and cocooned in an alternate reality..it is this aspect of womanhood that is most powerful and definitely most attractive to a man.

But you have to understand all this is occurring at a subliminal and primal level where most men are not even conscious of it – but be in no doubt, mystery is furiously at work. That is why my enemies regularly deploy women as spies to undermine me – and that is why I must be conscious of this chapter of the art of war – as since all men are really only fixated on projecting the flipside of the vessel and only seem to be really only interested in earnestly assuming jutting form of the phallus which are traditionally embodied in spires, mountains, pyramids, towers, skyscrapers and gravity defying structures – they all lack the essential ability to contain – that to me is a form of weakness – as hardness to a certain point can only be brittle – so to me, a man even one who comes across as macho, decisive and manly is the direct opposite of a container or vessel – he is intrisincally weak and really just like King Kong. Do you know what did in that monkey – a woman! A peacock with bright and showy feathers, who struts around with his chest pouting out that in essence is what the art of manliness is all about – I am not saying that’s not important for a man – it is, and it’s certainly especially pertinent in an age when the boundaries of gender and sexuality is increasingly blurred – only to me, this whole idea of manliness, if it’s not complimented with softness and even feminine attributes can really only amount to a showy personification of power, it is not real power – it is simply the seamless illusion of power. As real power is something that can completely overwhelm all your senses and even immerse you in a total experience…and only a vessel…womb…container can accomplish this…that is why women will always be stronger than men in so many ways. As while we men like nothing better than to nurse the belief, they are inferior creatures, women can very well do without a man…the same however cannot be said about men. Having said that, it doesn’t discount the fact, we have certainly managed to convince the world and ourselves that it’s possible for men to do without women. Do you see how conceited the thinking man is – he is really his worst enemy….that is why to me….it is so important for men to cultivate daily softness and to even cultivate an interest in womanly things like flower arrangement, music, poetry etc etc. I think a man who does not take all these things seriously can very easily end up being a sort of jungle man…a King Kong of sorts…and to be that is to be weak….very weak.’