MARRIAGE NO. 1:
FLYING KITE
Marriage
is likened to playing kite. How the
comparison was told, the following are the stories:
My
brother and I received a wedding invitation.
It was from our cousin, Imelda Francia Ferandez Salcedo. Imelda’s mother was the youngest sister of my
deceased father.
The
marriage ceremony was officiated in my home town. It was attended by relatives and friends of
both the bride and the groom. Reception
was held lavishly. There was a dozen of
sponsors. Three priests officiated the
wedding ceremony and the church bells continued ringing for several
minutes. In my hometown, the continuous
ringing of the church bell was called ‘repeke’ and denotes big celebration. It was indeed a big reception.
The
church was filled and not all people had a seat. The rented auditorium was also filled that
the space outside the building was occupied.
Before
serving the meals, some of the sponsors were asked to deliver their words of
wisdom. The bride and the groom listened
ardently. One of the sponsors’’ talk
caught my attention. He said that during
the Japanese occupation (1941-1944). He
lived in La Opinion, Nabua, Camarines Sur, were the bride also grew. During the said period, he learned how to fly
a kite. He learned that flying kite was
likened to a married life.
He
said that in flying kite (boradol, bicol dialect), one has to study the
significance of ‘toros’ and ‘kawikaw’.
According to the speaker, ‘toros’ means loosening of the kite while ‘kawikaw’
meant holding it back. Both the bride
and the groom should know the art of ‘toros’ and ‘kawikaw’. For failure to loosen and holding back the
kite, it will drop to the ground.
In
other words, both the bride and the groom should not be too possessive or too
loose in their relationship. The success
of their marriage will depend upon the ‘toros’ and ‘kawikaw’.
The
words of wisdom.
January 2015
MARRIAGE NO. TWO:
FISHING
I
am now retired from my gainful employment.
But, I can still remember the days of my youth. I still remember that after graduation from
the elementary grades, we skipped schooling (this was applicable to us, three
elder brothers) to help financially our parents.
During
the school days, we helped our parents in tending our ‘sari-sari’ store. But, we spent our free days (Saturdays and
Sundays) enjoying fishing. We lived in a
residential area fronting or town’s secondary school. At the back of the school building were
‘gabi’ plantation (bil-ang in Nabua dialect or ‘lin-sa’ in Bicol – Naga). In between the gabi plantation were shallow
canals. The place had plenty of fresh
water like ‘pampano’ and ‘atas’ (Puyo in Bicol-Naga). We caught by hand (we called process as ‘upog’)
the boundaries between the gabi plantation were wide and deeper bodies of
water.
The
story is focused on this wide bodies of water which were abundant with fish of various
species. There were plenty of ‘atas’ or
‘puyo’.
One
Saturday, we went fishing. Our cousins
told us that there were plenty of ‘atas’ in the fishing grounds. We got our fishing rods and sinker and plenty
of earth worms for our bait. But to our
surprise, we already spent at least two hours fishing and we caught nothing. For several times, the fish seemed to pull
our bait but when we pull up the rod, there was no fish.
Meanwhile, several meters away from us, there was an elderly woman. She, too, was fishing. To our surprise, whenever she pulled up the
rod, there was fish. She had a basket
attached to her waist and there was already a number of fish inside. We asked her of any technique on
fishing. We even asked her if there was
a magic. She told us that she had a long
experience in fishing and told us that she learned many lessons. These are:
1.
Be calm.
Don’t get too excited. Treat
fishing as a hobby. Make your fishing
your happy experience.
2.
Do not raise your pole quickly or you lose your
fish. If your sinker or bait goes to the
right, let it be. If your sinker goes to
the left, or away from you or near you, let it be. If you feel that the bait goes to any of
these direction, it meant that the fish had already swallowed your bait and you
can raise the pole. Presto, you had your
fish.
3.
Fishing is just like the relationship of husband
and wife. If any of the two felt that
there is something wrong in their relationship, do not raise hell
immediately. Give yourself the time to
discuss the matter with your partner.
4.
If after your friendly dialogue, your partner
does not stop, raise the wall.
Remember that
there was a saying that went this way:
‘It would be a fine
world if all
man showed as much
patience
All the time as they
do
while they’re waiting
for a
Fish to bite.’
END
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