In between watching some guy pick Adam Levine as his coach
in The Voice and playing with her new puppies, my wife hollered “Mahal, hasa!”
as I was tapping away at the laptop. I have
been waiting for the ambulant maghahasa for the past week to sharpen my bolos
which have seen some brisk action with my bamboo projects over the past few
days.
It was almost noon in a cloudless summer day and the sun was
bearing down on any animal, plant and man caught outside of a shade. I called on him to come inside our gate as I
showed him my three dull blades.
I asked him if I could get him a glass of water as he began
to work on my first bolo. In what sounded like a reply and cough emerging as one, he gruffly said/coughed “Wrr-rrr-inom-hrrhhh-sa-isang-bahay.”
The offer, though turned down, was sincere but it did not
dampen my interest in knowing more about the man. You see, anyone whose line of work is not
shared by more than 99% of people I know is interesting to me. So I attempted more small talk, “Nakakailan
ho kayo sa isang araw?”
“Hwrrr-paiba-iba-hwrrr-din.”
I could tell that he was not much of a talker, or maybe he
was simply making sure that it was the blade and not his fingers that he
grinded against the emery wheel. Either
way, he was the one holding the blade and I have seen enough of a scene in
Indio about men with issues with a blade in their hand to convince me to hold
back my curiosity.
At a Holy Tuesday (or was that a Wednesday) airing of Indio,
the character played by Bong Revilla was being trained in swordplay by the
warrior protagonist portrayed by Aljur Abrenica. In what would come down in Philippine
cinematic history as one of the most inane combat training sessions ever staged
by man, woman or animal, Bong and Aljur deftly sliced one hapless banana trunk
after another with their sharp blades; making it appear that only men with
superior courage and strength can do such feat – as lesser men and women
portrayed by lesser actors and actresses clapped their hands as they ogled the
limp banana studs strewn about. Surely,
they could imagine the bad guys acted by mestizo-looking (or bleached) actors
going the same route as the bananas should they encounter the mean blades of
the heroes.
I don’t follow Indio so I didn’t really know what’s going on
in the story. Thankfully, Bong’s
character who looked worried, confused and lost all throughout ably kept me at
speed. Apparently, there was an
impending revolution which he was being groomed to lead. Credit Bong’s extensive experience at the
Senate for his convincing portrayal of the lost, confused and spaced-out
soul. Bravo! Woot…woot!!!
So as I ponder the fate of the banana trunks, little did I
know that Mr. Hasa was on his third blade – my favorite, which was a jungle
bolo of some sort, with cool jagged teeth that did nothing but ruin the bite of
my blade on wood, leaving unsightly marks that cried for additional whacks to
finish the job. It was cool but
ultimately inefficient as far as cutting goes.
So I told the man to ground out the useless teeth, which seemed to
please him as I recall that he volunteered
to do the same the first time he encountered that blade some months back.
I wanted to ask him more questions. Kapag may away, ano ang
gusto nyong sandata na hinasa nyo… gulok, kutsilyo o nipper? Pabor ba kayo sa pag-awit sa videoke ng makailang ulit
nang Pusong Bato?
Ano po ang mas malakas ang kita niyo, kapag tag-ulan kung kailan mapurol ang mga pantabas o kung tag-araw kung kalian
mas marami ang gustong magpagupit ng buhok?
I held my tongue. Afterall, he now had
three sharp blades beside him.
I gave him a glass of cold water before I handed him the 100
bill which accounted for our transaction.
He took both with a smile, and he was off, in the heat of the day.
I find some part of me in the man; we both believe that
sometimes you have to shut up, focus and get your hands moving to get things
done.
