October is here. The month of ghosts, ghouls and spooky
stuff. Ideally, this slot should have had a spooky story, a chapter off the
‘Book of the undead’ but sadly, I have not heard of any bootha scenes in a
while. Except for maybe the random creepazoids I meet in the bus or whatever.
Usually I keep an ear out for some of these ‘old wives
tales’ or scenes that happen to known folk so as to keep ‘things real’ and not
make believe. If you haven’t noticed already, ours is a culture that is
entwined with amazing spooky deals, a noise here and a shadow there, devils
masks and hooniyan joints, kattadiyas dealing with prethayas and the locals
kalu kumarayas vs mohinis. So there are a lot of things that go bump in the
night and makes shivers go up your spine, if you’ve got the spunk to
tune in to it.
Seeing as how this is the month of all things creepy, I
figured I oughta write something related to spooks. “think think think” a voice
replicating Pooh bear’s goes off in my head and a light bulb goes ‘bing’ on top
of it. Seeing as how I’m writing on teen page, who more to relate to ghosts and
ghouls for kiddies, teens and young folk all around than Scooby Doo!
Aye, the gentledog of the hour, Scooby Doo himself! For us
teens, Scooby is probably one of those many loving cartoon characters that
connect us to those fond days of yore. Those were the days when the soul-soothing
sounds of Saturday mornings we’d voluntarily, mind you, get up, snuggle up in
our compfy jammies, hug a plate of warm kiri bath or pancakes, turn on the telly,
and watch hours of deliciously gorifying Scooby Doo.
To brush up a bit about the cartoon series itself, Scooby Doo
has been an integral part of the childhood of many children around the world
for over forty years now, since 1969 actually. Close to half a century a gang
of young, smart, vibrant individuals plus their trusty 70% linguistic steed have
been driving around town in their very own themed vehicle the Mystery Machine,
chasing ghosts and catching bad guys. There were werewolves, vampires, mummies,
pirates, zombies, giant cat ladies, vile sea monsters, demons, phantoms, creepy
clowns, scarecrows, headless horsemen….You name it, they chased it.
How exciting is that?
The writers of the original series Scooby-Doo, Where Are
You! Joe Ruby and Ken Spears along with the producers Hanna-Barbera, had it
all planned of course. We’re talking about the meanest, scariest, nastiest
paranormal creatures ever to walk/crawl/glide/ the earth but targeting young
children? How did they pull that off? Simple
and ingenious. Make it so that the nasty
creatures turned out to be humans in disguise. These villainous individuals or
groups running around causing havoc are actually nasty dudes in masks and
costumes who are upto to no good. The gang however frightened and intimidated
by the creeps in costume, follow the clues, glues in the puzzle pieces, solves
the mystery and swoops in or stumbles upon them and saves the day.
Amidst the havoc and pandemonium, here are some things that
I learned from watching Scooby Doo.
·
“Let’s split up, gang.”
There’s a lot that we can do on our own. But sometimes
‘dividing the work and multiplying the results’ is the way to go. Freddie’s
saying “Let’s split up, gang.” doesn’t necessarily mean that just because
people aren’t physically together, they can’t work as a team. Now, Scooby and Shaggy tend to wander off in
search of a fridge, and who knows what Daphne and Freddy are up to half the
time, but for the most part, the gang does a good job of searching hard for
clues. They’re also ready to jump into action if they hear danger-prone Daphne
scream for help. Part of being a team is working together and helping each
other, but another part of it is getting your assigned task completed, and
trusting your teammates to do the same.
·
Zoinks, a moh moh moh monster!
Each and everything that goes bump in the night could very
well be out to get you. BUT that doesn’t mean you gotta shriek and run
the opposite way. Just because things are a challenge in life, doesn’t mean
you drop it like it hot and call it quits, no matter how scary or frustrated
that situation gets. You got to have a general plan (although plans often
change), gut up and chug onward.
·
Everyone needs a Scooby Snack. –
In the spirit of Scooby himself, a Scooby Snack is something
you would do anything for. Your Scooby Snack might be a
group of people—friends, family. It might be a career or a value
you believe in, but it’s definitely not a material object. Life can be hard and
stressful, especially towards college and later on. But no matter what
challenges lie ahead of you, you will defeat them for your Scooby Snack. It may
take two to convince you, but you’ll do it.
Some other things Scooby Doo taught me
- Everyone has something to offer. If you're not the muscle, the brains or the money of the group, you're still important . . . you're the bait.
- The villain is always the last person you'd suspect.
- Every haunted house has the ingredients to make a really big sandwich.
- Nearsighted people are funny.
- A hippy, a jock, a debutant, a nerd and a gigantic talking dog can live and work together in harmony.
- Don't anger the Tiki god.
- If you wind a dog's tail really tight, it can be used as a propeller.
- Scooby Snacks probably contain hallucinogens.
- Elaborate plans always fail _ random acts of panic don't.
- Werewolves wear pants.
- Kids are pesky.
- There's no such thing as monsters. Most of the time.
Until next time, here’s to a month of gory encounters,
chilly nights, spooky beasties and Halloween madness. Send in your plans for
the ensuing days of countdown to All Hollow’s Eve.
P.S. I really want to go interview a cemetery keeper and see
if anything has stirring down and under the gravel. I bet the he should have
some interesting insights to life amongst the undead. Anyone willing to tag
along for a ride? Email us with an interesting story you hear and I’ll be happy
to interview you.
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