Day 227 & 247-OM

Pic taken in Aug 2009 after a hard day's work..

Remember OM? 

...of building table, daybeds and other furniture for the Fair  

No, not the ashram Omm but OM or Old Man who is ironically, the most hardworking character in the village although he is hardly ever seen in anything but a supine position. 

This was OM when we first met two years ago and I have yet to find another I love more. I was smitten at first sight despite his awful stone blue chaise lounge-village style. And I spared no expense  for love. 

OM and relatives in front of what was to be The Rolla House-12 Aug 2009

Not only did I have to pay for him and his three generations worth of relatives plus family priest and pet (he refused to go home with me without them), I also had to give him carte blanche for the building of  the Rolla's home. 

OM at the Family Store 2009

Two years and an almost completed Rolla House later, I decided it was time to broach the subject of the chaise lounge with OM. I remembered that day clearly. It was a nice bright Saturday morning in February i.e. Day 229 and I found OM under the big tree just outside the house in his usual position, eyes half closed. 

Hello OM, I started, taking yet another break? 

I am planning the building of a ladder. 

I need it to clean the alcove here...OM grunted

Yes, of course, another challenging project?

But I am sure you will figure something out.

Silence from OM, eyes almost fully closed.

And you have done such a beautiful job on the house too.

Slight snore

Now that the house is almost done

I was thinking we should maybe get you a new chair....

No! No! No!

plus a few unpleasant threats with eyes wide open.

 I stormed off in anger but about 15 minutes later, this is what I saw.

OM has somehow in that 15 minutes, managed to make his chaise look even older and dirtier.

As if that was not enough to drive me nuts, he had also laid a torn and filthy strip of bamboo mat over the seat. 

I stood flabbergasted as OM told me with a wicked twinkle 

Let me introduce you to my new chair, Sans!  

And that was my 1st lesson on : Do not TRY to tell OM what to do if it is not what he wants to do. 

20 doll days later, I learnt my 2nd lesson. It started with me asking OM maybe he should think about getting some  new clothes, even a haircut. He then asked me for some fabric. Something sexy, he said. 

I took out from my stash a colourful piece of ribbon which I thought he could make into a really *hot* and skimpy singlet. I also handed over some fake fur (nice hat?) and a  strip of horse hair ( sassy bow tie?) which I had saved from a pair of broken DKNY shoes.

And this was what he did with my precious ribbon. He put the cloth over his lap and cut out enough of it to cover his knees and feet. He then rubbed the cut piece in mud and soaked it in water, to soften and comforta-fy (a word he invented from its root word comfortable) the fabric, he claimed. 

While the cloth was still wet, he put it over his knees while lying in his new chair, closed his eyes and slept. When he woke, the cloth had dried and miraculously, it had folded and stiffen , without losing its softness mind you, to form around OM's lap and feet like a 2nd skin. 

When I next saw OM, he was as usual relaxing in that chair of his, this time in what appeared to be a new cotton shirt and sarong . He even had a towel thrown over his right shoulder but because he had worn them to clean the alcove (yes, he had already made the ladder) , OM's  new clothes already looked suitably seasoned.  

OMee-heavens, is that hair on OM's head and face ? ? ?

No wonder he could not tell me when  I asked him what happened to my fake fur and horse hair. 

You laugh now, OM told me with a shrug.

One day, all the best and greatest will want the OM Look.

You just wait and see.

You think OM was right?