Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sharp blades, Indio fight scene and a summer noon encounter


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.



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