Sunday, February 25, 2007

Pont-ification*

Walking home today across one of Cairo’s bridges the usual scene of marauding packs of pubescent boys, flower sellers, and ambulant lovers was interrupted by an unusual sight.

Standing perilously on the edge of a the bridge’s railing, one arm wrapped around a lamppost, was a young man clutching two placards bearing a scrawled entreaty to ‘release the detained Al Azhar students.’ Parked in front of him were two navy blue police pick-up trucks, while at his feet plain-clothed policemen milled around bearing aloft their walkie-talkies as if they were talismans. Over on the other side of the bridge the one or two people who had stopped to impassively observe the proceedings were urged to move on my more walkie-talkie bearers, their arms waving back and forth, in the manner used by farmers herding geese. Their concern about the protest attracting attention - or even worse participants - was entirely unfounded of course, and cars, lovers and horse carriages clattered past with indifference as above their heads the lonely defence of freedom staggered on, risking at any point to topple into the murky blue depths of the Nile, or the even murkier blue clasp of the police vans.

As I was standing there some old geezer mumbled conspiratorially in my ear as he went past, ‘the government are coming behind me’ - presumably a warning about the giant blue truck trundling along. It was actually carrying army recruits, and the old fella might have been slightly bonkers, but the USSR-Big-Brother-is-watching nature of the exchange delighted me.

I ended my observation of the happenings when I could no longer stand the rocking motion caused by traffic moving over two ill-fitting pieces of the bridge. My memory of the hoo-hah surrounding London’s swaying Millennium Bridge makes me almost certain that such structures are not meant to move, certainly not to the point of inducing a waterbed sensation, and as much as I wished to stand (preferably without moving involuntarily) in solidarity with the brave protestor, I was very conscious that falling off a collapsing bridge would bring together my least favourite ways of expiring: great heights, water, and being in the vicinity of a horse and carriage driver who, even as we plummeted down, would doubtless spend the descent assuring me that I really do want a ride.

* Ladies and gentlemen, bilingual wordplay of this calibre surely deserves some kind of international recognition, possibly in the form of a Nobel prize. Hear me roar, world!

6 comments:

Forsoothsayer said...

i don't get the wordplay...pont?

Seneferu said...

Loved the imagery at the end.

fully_polynomial said...

i think you should have stayed and gave the guy a hand. the police wouldnt have done you harm because of your british passport. but then again, thats easy for me to say.

Ki said...

That Croyden school did a good job with you. I will tirelessly campaign on your behalf with the Nobel prize people.

Scarr said...

Forsooth: Pont = bridge en francais.

Senefru: Thanks :-)

Fully P: The guy didn't need a hand...He was happy protesting and the police weren't doing anything to him. I'm certain that he wouldn't have appreciated some English girl barging in giving it the 'you cant touch me old chap I'm a Brit. Now leave Johnny alone and prepare my dinner suit, it's almost cocktail time, what.'

As far as British passports go, they don't always provide protection. Particularly if like me you are a dual national.

Ki: Thank you lady :-)

Hebe said...

brilliant indeed ! i doff my hat to you !