Thursday, May 04, 2006

I am a Cling-on

With the immigration debate heating up in the country, being labeled an alien has never rung more truly in the United States. Given that Uncle Sam thinks I am an alien, and Uncle Sam is always right, what kind of an alien must I be? Should I own to up my actual entity and risk my green card process being damaged? I might as well.

With due apologies to all Star Trek fans, I am a Cling-on. Cling-ons are a rare species (or rarified when it comes to hair). Characterized by their ability to hold on to things they hold dear, cling-ons walk among humans in an indistinguishable fashion. Why, you may meet me and think I am an ordinary software engineer who did his engineering in India and a Masters in the US. One among the millions. Its just a guise, but the government is smarter than I thought. Its after us, and I might as well reveal the faces behind the masks.

Cling-ons are characterized by these traits and their tendency to hold on to them.
· Old memories
· Junk food
· Movies, everything from Ramsay to Ramu
· Loyalties to sportspersons
· Refusal to work
· Bad hand-writing
· Cricket
· Music

The list goes on, but I must take time out to reveal the main secret. The blog too has been a masquerade. The blog is used to reach other cling-ons in hiding. Are you one? If not, what kind of alien are you? If yes, what do you hold onto? Come out with your answers and trek with the stars.

7 comments:

None said...

If cling ons are people who hold their memories and contexts sacred, then I am guilty of being a cling on. But if cling ons are people who do not make new memories or who do not live in the moment, then, I am not a cling on. Which one are you hinting at? Rather, who in your definition is a cling on and who is not?

Parth said...

Well, a cling-on certainly is the former. The ability to live in the moment is dependent on your ability to stay happy. If your best moments happened in the past and the present is a series of 'unfortunate accidents', then you may cling on to the past. Me, I am in the former category, and hopefully life will allow me to stay that way.

Anonymous said...

There is a time for everything under the sun - A time to Klingon, a time to let go.;)
As for me, definitely Venusian - feminine, mysterious, iconic of love, and the pentaclular orbit. what more could you ask for?

Anonymous said...

Am an amnesic cling-on. yeah i know that's improbable.. but i'd rather cling-on to that :-). Endorse refusal to work, and bad handwriting - the latter rendered irrelevant by the wonders of the web. Would add an addiction to tea/coffee to the list of traits. Glory to cling-dom!

sd said...

Cling-on - definitely.

None said...

I'm not a cling on by nature...but I have all tendencies of being one and can be one if I allow myself to hang out with them or let them rub off on me. Or, I may have just metamorphosed from cling on to non cling on because time has (touchwood!) healed all my woes. :) Plus, if I take your checklist test, I love old memories (not all though), movies (again not all), and music. The rest of the categories, I loathe...and it's not even funny. So...not one, I presume. :) Cheers.

Parth said...

Wow you have one heck of a blog here. I was just blog surfing when I came across it. Liked the 'Cling-on' concept too. Believe me, it's just a coincidence that we share the same first name. This is great intellectual stuff you got here,, and keep it up, this is what blogging should be about. Intellectual skills rule the present world more than anything else if you ask me. This blog is sure to make it to the blogs of note and it's given me inspiration to renovate mine.:)