So there I was, riding back home on my bike and thinking about today. And suddenly this word hit me from nowhere - Mandate. I had no idea why this orderly from the land of a million words with myriad meanings had decided to pay my cerebellum a visit. So I played along and heard him out. There was a proposition being made here. Supposedly, this word is very significant to a Man. This is one word which, with a bit of wordplay, can reveal the maturity a Man has attained. Think about it. Take me, for instance, when I was ten. When my mother served my favorite rice crispies, all I did was think "mmm" and gobble it up. So there's a Mandate for you - a "mmm-and-ate". Take a teenager who's found out he's attracted to his cute, little neighbor in his class and wants to ask her out. But what is his first thought?? Ask his Ma first and date her! There's a Mandate for you - "Ma-and-date". Take an adolescent who shares a special bond with another friend (guy) and his hanging out with his friend is often teased by others as a "man-date". There's a Mandate for you. And then there's the ultimate Mandate - the Mandate that puts an end to any Mandate the Man might ever think of dating for the rest of his life. The Man issues a Mandate to surrender his "remote control" at the feet of a Woman (real Mature eh?). So there you go, the different stages of manhood and its development, revealed by simple wordplay. As I shifted gears from fourth to neutral, allowed the beat cop to "yen samaachara?" me for traces of alcohol (it was pretty late in the night) and pushed back up to fourth again, I wondered if this orderly (not the cop, duh!) can actually reveal the stage of a man's life simply by how the man plays out the word in his mind?? Thinking about myself today - when I was out on dinner at this wonderful dinner stop, I was served these lovely veggie rolls and I thought 'mmm..' - and - ate. When I sat there with my friend, I could appreciate the ambience the joint had put togther and told myself I would appreciate it even better if this was a dinner with "her". And then my thoughts digressed to whether I should ask my Ma before I date her, so there was a "Ma-and-date" tonight. My partner-in-crime while we murdered those rolls tonight was a guy, so I could imagine myself getting teased on being out on a "Man-date". And I'm old enough, or so i think, to shoot myself in the foot, err, make a Mandate on "her". I had encountered all four wordplays of this orderly in a single night. Does that say anything at all about how mature I am, as a man?? As I pondered over this question, I realized that some questions in life are best left unanswered, but better when shared with other men and joked about years later. So if you're a guy and you feel this nonsense makes sense, I Mandate that you buy me a drink next time we meet!
