My grandfather, on my mum’s side, did not like children and I am told that when we were small, we were kept at a safe distance from him.
So safe was the distance in fact that during our regular biannual visits to his house over two decades, I did not exchange a single word with him. But once he became aware that I had got admitted into a very coveted post graduate programme, he decided that it was time for us to communicate.
Needless to say, it was mostly a one-sided conversation because his cultured and refined baritone was completely alien to me, and his deep blue eyes, seen at close quarters, were an additional surprise. I had no idea that my own grandpappy was bestowed with such an unusual shade of indigo irises. And when that steady gaze focussed on me, I could just respond in monosyllables.
Therefore, I do not remember much of what was said, but one thing that stuck in my mind was the way he used the phrase ‘yawning gap’ in a normal sentence. There was a yawning gap, he had muttered, between how he sees the world and how the world sees him.
Right! The next several weeks were spent in retelling my two siblings about this unexpected encounter with my granddad – in its most exaggerated version. They never had the pleasure of such a chance, you see, which gave an additional poignancy to my own interaction with the old man. However, in my saner moments, I tried to comprehend the correct usage of the rich vocabulary I was introduced to by my smooth-talking ancestor.
With the passage of time, I mastered both the knowledge and the handling of idioms, but what baffled me totally was the concept of yawning. I mean, why do we yawn? When do we yawn? Is yawning contagious? And more importantly, why do we yawn at all the wrong moments?
So, the medical term for yawning is called oscitation (when one opens one’s mouth) followed by pandiculation, which is the act of sudden deep breathing through the wide-open mouth. It is interesting to note that an average yawn lasts from six to eight seconds only, that is all.
Now, yawning may occur in unborn babies, but contagious yawning does not start until a child is about four years old. Though clearly associated with sleepiness or boredom, paradoxically it is theorized that yawns are a reflex that the brain induces to wake you up or make you more alert. Conversely, where contagious yawning is concerned, it is believed that people tend to catch yawns from each other, but they have to be in one’s close circle of friends or family members, to be able to do so.
Of late, my problem is that when I yawn, my eyes water, and it appears like I am bawling away, but all I’m trying is to keep myself awake. Recently, at a party, the minute the host started his welcome speech, my first face-splitting yawn made its appearance. Before long, I was dabbing my eyelids.
“Don’t cry”, my spouse whispered.
“I am not crying at all”, I sniffed.
“Seems like you are”, he yawned.
“Granddad’s words are coming back to me”, I muttered.
My husband yawned in response.
“There is a yawning gap”, I quipped as another yawn hit me.
“Between how you see the world”, he yawned.
“And how the world sees me”, I yawned back.
By Nickunj Malik
|| features@portugalresident.com
Nickunj Malik’s journalistic career began when she walked into the office of Khaleej Times newspaper in Dubai thirty-one years ago and got the job. Since then, her articles have appeared in various newspapers all over the world. She now resides in Portugal and is married to a banker who loves numbers more than words.
