The Shibumi Tale ...

There I was trying to catch a couple of minutes of shut eye in my office (hey, I wasn't bumming off, it was lunch time, ok!) and I catch a whiff of smoke in my room. The first thing that runs through my blurry mind is ...

'Oh my God! The office is on fire!'

I bolt up from my chair, get ready to run but am confronted by this floating image of a genie amidst a cloud of smoke. I take a few steps back, reaching out for my trusty old baseball bat when the genie speaks ...

'Don't you dare reach for that bat, you imbecile! It's me la, the Genie Princess.'

Squinting my eyes to look through the smoke, I breathe a sigh of relief and say ...

"Oh, so it is you. Aiyoo! next time don't frighten me la, for a moment there I thought you were that no good Genie King who still owes me wishes and I was about to hit the louse over his thick head!'

'No la, he's still in hiding' the Genie Princess says. 'Owes too many people wishes and they're all hunting him down'

'Anyway, I've got something for you', says the Genie Princess and she hands me an award.

'Shibumi award? what in hell is a Shibumi award? I ask.

'You numb skull', The Genie Princess replies, 'don't you even know anything? Shibumi is a Japanese term which is used in the following context in a noun. Its meaning refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle and unobstrusive beauty."

'So you're trying to say I'm simply beautiful now, huh? I reply laughing ...

'Argggghhhhhhh!!! You're impossible!!! The Genie Princess screams. 'Here, take this and you'd better display it somewhere prominent or else you'll know what's good for you ..... !!!'

And with that, the Genie Princess disappears in the same puff of smoke from which she appeared leaving me to ponder upon the mysteries of the universe.

'Oh well, at least I still have another 20 minutes of lunch time left to snooze.'
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