No connection between the two, but the name Boxer’s day invariably remind me of Boxing which invariably leads to the down memory lane of two stories that haunt me all the time, in fact, on many a cold dark and despairing nights, I have thought of “The Mexican” and found a new meaning of life which gave me the fuel to fight for another day when everything seemed lost and the war was almost over. I remember the days when I also used to see the “ten thousand rifles” in the faces of the onlookers and the whole world and this hallucination kept me going, trying to take the tired exhausted bloody myself to the ring again, to survive another bout of ruthless beatings. Did I have the same aloof face with only “the eyes” that burned” ?
The other one was “The four beef steaks”, also by Jack London, in fact this story was the first that I knew of him, beautifully narrated by Mr. Deuri, our suave, neat and classy class-teacher in Standard 10. The darned good storyteller had mesmerized us with the story of the master. The story talks about a champion boxer on the verge of his last bout (and end of the career if he loses) and desperately looking to win the match that can earn him some money – he needs to feed his family. To win he needed the four beef steaks as he always did – but this time his sunny days are over and so nobody will even lend him any more money. He fought bravely but at the time of the knockout punch, he lost his force as he remembered he did not have the required steaks. He lost, broke down in a sob and then, after so many years, suddenly realized why the champion he snatched the crown from also broke down in the same way. This story does not inspire me as the other one, but serves an even more important purpose. It pins me firmly to the ground – makes me even more humble when, sometimes, I shine a lot and wear that maroon and gold cloak
Saturday, December 27, 2008
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