imagination

Barney is a dinosaur from our imagination,
and if you saw,
he's what you call a dinosaur sensation!!

barney live at alton towers, UK, 2000

how many times have we heard that chorus on TV & VCDs? & how often have the kids clap their hands in excitement to watch another episode? imagination is a powerful tool of the human mind which trespasses all physical barriers, to venture beyond & breech the virtual divide. so powerful that, even in kids' minds, the purple dinosaur & his friends come alive to play with them. how much more can the adult imagination achieve?

last nite i had a strange dream - isn't a dream similar to having an imagination while asleep? in it, i met 1 of my previous patients, one whom i've not seen for 20yrs. yeah, i know what you're thinking - 100's of patients & decades in practice, how come i remember this particular one?

well, this is one whom i became friends with later on. she was a teacher who came in for a tonsillectomy & we clicked from 1st of the the daily ward round. initially it was just friendly banter & social small-talk, but by the time she was due for discharge, we've started teasing & taunting, as if playing a cat-&-mouse game. we did finally go out a few times - yeah, i know this kind of doctor-patient relationship is an absolute no-no, but hey, i was young, impulsive & a swinging bachelor ruled by raging hormones - & this is the 1st time i've had a blast with someone of a different race & religion. yes, this could have been love but life has its own way of determining its path, turning the corner or expediting damage control. i got a job overseas & the distance put paid to whatever great plans we had. we wrote a few times & then there was silence across the physical divide.

of course, it would be nice to bump into her again but circumstances have changed but i'm convinced we'll remain great friends. there's this other girl i would have loved to meet again. we were introduced by a mutual friend after the MCE (now renamed SPM). she was the rich girl from the next taman. her dad was a lawyer, she lived in a bungalow, had a grundig colour TV & her mum droved a merc. oh yes, & she had the hots for me. she used to ask me help solve maths & physics problems for her - that's like asking johnny b goode to play the guitar! ha ha, some days i'd feigned difficulty, only to impress her with a spark of inspiration before conjuring up the answers. (actually, these were questions from past-year papers which i've already diligently prepared for the MCE - but would i tell, while basking in glory?!!)

but yet again, d i s t a n c e got in between. i did 6th form & she left for taylor's in KL to do grade 13 before going over to canada (rich girl, remember?). i still have her toronto address but she has since moved. this reminds me a lot of the movie grease - except that i'm not hunky like travolta, she couldn't sing like olivia & we didn't end up in the same high school. but we sure had hot summer nights!


so, koliza & kathleen, wherever you may be, may God watch over you always. thanks for the endearing memories & may you both live forever in my imagination.