| 2:05 PM (7 hours ago) |  | ||
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(3 November 1939 - 21 October 2023)
Boxer did, that Simon and Garfunkel sang about.
Yet others sought some alleviation of their
apprehension and doubt in the worship of
Bacchus, the god of wine, although it was arrack
that was used as a substitute.
Now that I found the word, one person who was anything but
nonchalant was Vignarajah, Vigna for short. He was at that time a
teetotaler and although not a misogynist, one not generally known
to take particular delight in female company. It was the Path/Bacterio
part of the Third MB, considered the most formidable section to
pass, that he had sat for, and the results were to be out the following
day. Because of the anxious anticipation of the possibilities, Vigna
hadn’t slept a wink the previous night and was now pacing the
corridors on both floors, entering rooms and waking sleeping
chappies to tell them that he can’t fall asleep. Having got summarily
chased away by most, he happened to call on a fellow who had earlier
been in a similar predicament and had been helped by Freddie. So,
he advised Vigna, “Go and see Freddie.” And that’s exactly what Vigna
did. The persistent knock on the door around 2 am woke Joe who
occupied the lower segment of the bunk bed. Having uttered a profane
interjection for the intrusion, he opened the door, but softened no sooner
he saw the desperate look on Vigna’s face.
However, sleep, ‘tired nature’s sweet restorer,’ was evading Vigna
like the dickens, and the deprivation of this restorer was taking its toll,
making him pace the corridors yawning like a baby hippo and banging
on the doors to explain to the chappies who had been rudely woken up,
how he cannot understand why Freddie’s sleeping tablets are not working
even after an hour of taking not one, but two of them. Coaxed back
into his room, despite the assurance given by Freddie, Vigna would
not fall asleep at all for the whole duration of what was left of that
night. He continued to be wide awake as he went to the notice
board the next morning and saw that he had passed!
Returning to his room, he couldn’t yet, even then, as much as close
his eyes as an inducement to sleep. Rather, he stayed fully awake
for a full forty eight more hours.
Ironically, it was left to Freddie himself to unravel Vigna’s perplexing
pharmaceutical aberration. In his half-awake state, instead of
phenobarbital that was his intention to dispense, Freddie had mistakenly
doled out two tablets of amphetamine, the strongest psychostimulant
we had at the time!
