SABBATICAL NOTES. 23 MAY 2014. FRIDAY. N2. Going misty-eyed over lunch. For Sarath, Sarak Sarith. Go, and conquer the world, sir! HE BROUGHT me to the Banteay Srey on his tuk tuk. The temple is 37 kilometers away, on the speed of a tuk tuk, from the Siem Reap central area. Since I flew in on May 21, he has come for me, at my beck and call when I needed him to go around and see both the seen and the unseen in this ancient place of the Khmer. Even as that night that I came in, I knew he had some unnecessary weight he was carrying in his soul, and having been a teacher for so long and having been a father of three children, of them grown-up, I have come to understand the complex meaning of dreams and our inability to chase them. When I got to the airport--it was a breeze, really, with no questions asked--I looked for the driver (I was expecting a van, a shuttle, or a car befitting a hotel, jeez!) and scanned the names hoisted by skinny men, and at first glance, I did not see him, or my name. I kept moving and there, I saw this young man who could have been my son as well, in this life or the previous lifetime if we can go over what Jim Lichauco calls hypnotic regression. My full name printed in bold letters on a regular bond paper, I saw him with that restrained smile, and I knew right there and then, there was weight in his soul. I offered him a meal for the supper. Lets go to the street eatery, not the fancy one, I said. Yes, I know one, close to your hotel, he said. Lets go then. We bring first your things at your hotel, sir, and then we go. Good, I said. And then we went to that street eatery and we partook of our first meal of beef noodle soup together. And then he began to tell his life story, opening his soul to me as if I was his confidante and father. Yesterday, over lunch, he told me: I have been serving tourists for so long and this is the first time--ever--that I have been treated with respect. The fact that you have invited me to have a meal with you and sit at the same table with you means a lot to me, sir. I looked at him. I felt a tear forming in my tear duct. BANTEAY SREY/22 May 2014
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 02:35:56 +0000
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