Bangladesh English Literature Professor hacked to death by religious extremists.

Posted on by Opher

Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was a professor of English at Rajshahi University. He was hacked to death on the streets on the way home with machetes. His crime – setting up a school.

This follows similar attacks on religious minorities and secular figures.

Bloggers who have stated they have no religion have been hacked to death.

People who have turned their back on Islam have been hacked to death.

People who belong to Ahmadi, Sufi or Shia sects of Islam have been brutally killed.

Westerners, Hindus, and Christians have been killed.

Are we looking at a new age of medieval barbarity? Is Bangladesh and Pakistan falling back into uncivilised ruin?

It is time the governments hunted down these sick individuals and eradicated them. There is no room in a civilised world for such disgusting animals.

These are my books – They are great, thought provoking reads – Why not own an Opher?

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IMG_6344 51+iXv1yf7L__AA160_ 51bYJ153qiL__AA160_ 51C99gwrvwL__AA160_ 51eVmaIwabL__SX331_BO1,204,203,200_ 51Ga16XoJmL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_OU02_ 51GKc+4W1pL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_OU02_ 51GXVbm-F7L__AA160_ 51jaCSAs8-L__AA160_ 51knkyElf4L__AA160_ 51Mlzh1UqoL__AA160_ 51MSgOL3XOL__SX331_BO1,204,203,200_ 51NrV3oNgqL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_OU02_ 51QC-PE-PZL__AA160_ 51QEAeOnU5L__AA160_ 51QRXwafs8L__AA160_ 51zDxqIaCiL__AA160_ 61GLyKHJF9L__SX331_BO1,204,203,200_ 61KYDzwGhyL__AA160_ 61qDTq70unL__AA160_ 61Q-YvWEPUL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_OU02_ 61rtWC4V6iL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_OU02_ 61U89AzgoAL__AA160_ 61xmXHYgJpL__AA160_ 513TJVojNZL__AA160_ 518qgSDEo-L__AA160_ BookCoverImage IMG_2110 IMG_2111 IMG_2113 IMG_2114 IMG_2115 IMG_2116 IMG_2117 IMG_2118 IMG_2119 IMG_2120 IMG_2121 IMG_2122 IMG_2123 IMG_2124 IMG_2125 IMG_2126 IMG_2127 IMG_2128 IMG_2130 IMG_2131

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Poetry – There was a boy – a poem about terrorism

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There was a boy

The news was reporting that Boko Haram were using young boys and girls as suicide bombers.

Like paedophiles they groom their innocent children victims, feeding them lies.

They point to the people who they claim are evil. These people believe differently. They are heretics, apostates and loathed by god. They are thoroughly loathsome. The Koran states that the unbelievers should be killed.

Allah demands that they should be punished for their crimes of belief.

They were required to do Allah’s will.

They would open their eyes in paradise.

They are not trusted with the button.

The man in the shadows presses the button, watches the outcome, and smiles as the nails and bolts fly among the organs, tissues and limbs.

There was a boy

There was a young boy

With a bomb

Strapped to his chest.

 

In the shadows

Stands a man

With a button.

 

All because of what

Is believed

And why?

 

They are waiting

For the innocents

To gather.

 

Hate and lies

Prejudice

And fury.

 

All in the pressing of a button.

 

Opher 14.4.2016

Prose Cons and poetry cover

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Religion and indoctrination

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Religion and indoctrination

I was struck by the first case of a British woman being tried for taking her young son to Iraq to join ISIS. Her claim was that she had to live under Sharia law or she would be doomed to hell.

I felt sorry for the sad indoctrinated lady. She had been brought up to believe that all who thought differently to her were doomed to be tortured in the fires of hell forever.

It is notions like this that led to the European conquests of America, Australia, South America and the rest of the world. Insane religious zealots set out to bring their faith to the ignorant savages and thus save their souls. In the process they did, incidentally, steal their lands, torture, and rape, plunder their valuables, enslave and practice genocide upon them – all in the name of religion. I am sure that all the millions of natives who suffered these depravities (even to agonised death) were eternally grateful. Their eternal souls rest in the ecstasy of heaven instead of suffering endless torment and torture while their free relatives were, due to their ignorance or wrong beliefs, endlessly damned.

It is only when we stand back and view the savagery and stupidity of these actions that we can see the foolishness of religion for what it is – pure tribalism and power unleashed. It certainly sets a lot of bells ringing in my head:

If there was a god who behaved in this psychotic manner (punishing good people by torturing them for eternity for believing in the wrong religion or no religion) then one would have to say that this god was sadistic.

The Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims all assert the same thing: if you do not believe in my god and follow my religion you are doomed. Some even go so far as to declare that all non-believers should be tortured and killed.

This is clearly tribal insanity of the most primitive and savage nature.

So how are these primitive beliefs perpetuated?

They come to us from the dark ages of the dawn of civilisation when laws were arbitrary, life was cheap, women were subjugated and violence an everyday occurrence. Religion provided some semblance of law and morality.

We’ve moved on. Civilisation has arrived. We have better laws and more philosophically and psychologically based morality. We do not have the same need for superstition.

Yet religion persists.

The reason is quite clear – it persists because young children are indoctrinated and the seeds are implanted deep into their psyche. Once there they are there for good. The seeds implanted into the developing minds of our children are so deeply imprinted that there can be no escape. They are damaged for good.

We see this so clearly in the likes of the Rock ‘n’ Roll rebels such as Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis with their lives alternating between the extremes of wildness and religious fervour. The child indoctrination creates those extremes of behaviour.

It is sad to witness.

Yet the State aids and abets this abuse of our children. Parents are encouraged to enter into religious ceremonies – baptisms, marriage and worship. The media put out their programmes of religious worship as if this is what we all should be doing.

Worst of all schools in Britain have, by law, to teach religion to our children with daily services of worship to some supernatural creature who supposedly sees every thought and deed. We inculcate magic and superstition into our children. It is a wonder that it does not do even more damage to those young minds.

Then the religions have their input. They hold their services and are eager to get their hands on the young. They have their pomp, pageantry and magnificent buildings to create the fairy tale – so it must be true.

All the religions have their fanaticism, promote their intolerance and hatred and terrify with their stories of everlasting agonies to come. It must be a terrifying experience for children to hear these sorts of superstitions. It would implant itself deep into the psyche.

Yet all around the world the evangelists, Jesuits, Rabbis and Imams feed their noxious poison into the minds of our babes and we allow them to do it. Just imagine if we had similar institutions set up by the fascists, communists, republicans, nationalists, democrats, socialists or tories? If political groups were vying with each other to plant their evil thoughts into those open minds?

There is no difference.

Indoctrinating children is child abuse. It is far-reaching and has a detrimental effect for life.

The religious schools should be shut, religion taken out of schools, all religious education halted with the closure of Sunday Schools and all other religious ‘education’ facilities – the worst probably being the Muslim Madrassas.

Religion should come with a health warning and be treated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco – not for distribution to minors – except that it is even more dangerous.

Going back to that poor twenty six year old mother who was so abused as a child that she believed that taking her young son to a war zone was preferable to living in a civilised country; that she had to live under sharia law in order to be saved from hell; that only Islam had the right answers and all unbelievers were kuffars; that it was better to be martyred than to live; that murdering kuffars was demanded by her god; that there was a god and he demanded she lived her life according to the medieval writings of some semi-civilised culture from the dark ages.

What a sad, abused lady.

It is time that a civilised world put a stop to this indoctrination and abuse. There is no room for child abuse of this nature and scale. It is simply horrendous.

Here are a few of my books. They are available on Amazon in both paperback and on kindle.

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More Anecdotes – paperback just £7.29  Kindle – just £2.12 or free on Kindle Unlimited

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Hope – You’ve got to have hope!

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In life you have to have hope; you have to believe that things can get better and that there is a way forward.

That gives us something to work towards.

I have hope. That is why I write.

I believe we all add to the zeitgeist of the moment. We can alter the world with our unified psychic energy.

Some would see that as spiritual. I’m easy with that.

Here are my top hopes for the future:

  1. We realise that we are destroying the planet and stop (no more deforestation, poaching, slaughter of wild-life, pollution etc.)
  2. We limit the numbers of humans on the planet to a manageable number – about 3 billion is a sensible number (birth control, pensions, welfare and child mortality addressed)
  3. We wipe out ISIS and other pernicious, intolerant, barbaric fundamentalist religions.
  4. We put an end to war and use the United Nations (freed from control by the stronger nations) to bring peace and enforce its charter of human rights.
  5. We end inequality and ensure all people are equally valued.
  6. We value all living creatures and stop their ill-treatment.

OK – that will do for starters.

I’m an idealist. I’m an optimist. I believe that we have to work towards these things over time. They are aims to strive for.

I am a pragmatist. I realise that the juggernaut of the huge capitalist/religious power-base does not want these things.

But I believe there are millions of us who think like me. We have the internet and zeitgeist. It is up to us to create a better future.

There is hope! We have to work for it!

Here are a few of my books. They are available on Amazon in both paperback and on kindle.

Anecdotes – paperback just £6.95  Kindle – just £1.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited

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More Anecdotes – paperback just £7.29  Kindle – just £2.12 or free on Kindle Unlimited

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My other books are also available. There is some unique to suit most tastes if you like something thought provoking and alternative.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opher-Goodwin/e/B00MSHUX6Y/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1459501044&sr=1-2-ent

Poetry – Money down the drain – a poem about the insanity of war and religion.

Posted on by Opher

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Money Down the Drain

Everywhere I go around the world it is the same story. There are citadels, fortresses and castles, an arms race, defences, warfare and violence.

Most of our resources are put into war and weaponry.

All over the world we are building civilisation and knocking it down. We squander all our resources. We burn and destroy.

Everywhere I go around the world it is temples, mosques, synagogues and cathedrals, as each religions tries to outdo its rivals in lavish splendour; as if they need to prove their story is the best. It must be right because you only have to look at the wonder of that huge edifices built in whichever god’s name.

The hours spent in worship. The sacrifices made.

We never learn from history.

Germany and Japan, reduced to rubble, rose as pacifist States who, instead of squandering their resources on armies and weaponry, put their wealth into their economy.

Once we have outgrown the primitive notions of tribal nations and superstitious religion, we can begin to build the glorious architecture and art of the future.

It is time for us to think globally – one people – one world – one solution.

A world governed rationally. Our resources used to solve problems instead of creating them. An end to hatred, racism, sexism and poverty.

A global protection of the environments, peoples’ rights and freedoms.

We need to stop throwing money down the drain. We need to stop the power-mad religious leaders and politicians leading us into division, hatred and war.

One world – one people – one solution –

 

TOGETHER.

Money Down the Drain

 

Fortresses missiles and castles,

Armies, tanks and planes –

What a waste.

 

Armour, bows, lances and bombs,

Nations, tribes and religions –

How stupid.

 

Instead of working together

To solve problems,

To build a better world,

We channel our resources

Into war,

Into defence,

Into hatred, worship and violence.

How ridiculous.

 

Power and politics,

Deceit, territory and ownership;

Rhetoric and rabble rousing,

Fascist supremacy –

How sad.

 

Why don’t we put all of the rubbish aside

And use our energies for better purposes?

 

Opher 29.1.2016

If you enjoy my poems or anecdotes why not purchase a paperback of anecdotes for £7.25 or a kindle version for free.

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Anecdote – Damned and cursed – a tale for the religious to avoid

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Antitheist's Dictionary

Damned and cursed

Liz had this nice friend called Lynne who she used to go to dance classes with. Lynne had a husband called Richard who was not so easy. When the girls went off to dance class Richard came round to visit with me. It was a bit of an imposition but I didn’t mind too much at first. Later on it became a major problem for a number of reasons.

The first reason was that Richard had a habit of staying until the early hours of the morning. That wasn’t a problem for him as he wasn’t employed. I was teaching and that meant I had to be up early in the morning. While I was used to getting by on little sleep when I was writing a novel or going out to a gig I resented losing precious sleep to entertain Richard. Besides, I knew he’d been laying around in bed to gone midday. He was a lazy bastard. Lynne did nearly everything and he hardly lifted a finger. Besides, if I had free energy I liked to spend that with my kids or doing something creative or with my friends. Richard was not one of my friends and never would be.

But Richard was not good at taking hints. The girls would come back and Liz would go to bed and he’d still be nattering away. In the end I had to be rude and shove him out. It was increasingly annoying.

Secondly he always came round and drank my beer. Back then teacher’s pay was not good and we managed on very little. Beers from the supermarket were a real luxury. It was irritating. He never bought any of his own. This was a one way relationship. I was being used.

The third irritation was that Richard was a born again Christian. He went to this very wacky church and was full of it. I didn’t mind but he kept trying to convert me and get me to go along. We’d have these long arguments about religion. I told him I wasn’t interested; I thought it was all a man-made power-game, but he was having none of it. We went round in circles. Now normally I don’t mind an argument. I don’t even mind it getting heated, and everyone agreeing to disagree but Richard had a habit of making it personal and becoming surly if I did not acquiesce, and I did not like that. It was as if he was on a mission to convert me and would not let up. His ears were blocked. It was relentless.

Fourthly Richard, who had five kids with Lynne, delighted in pointing out that he took home more money than me simply by being unemployed. It wasn’t worth his while getting a job – then he’d be as poor as me! That rankled.

It all came to a head one evening when he worked that seam of fatherhood a little further.

Liz went off with Lynne and Richard pitched up. He put his bike in the hall and settled in for the evening. The evening got off to a really bad start. He started off with a run through of all the things he could provide for his family simply by avoiding work. That was annoying, but then he started telling me that he was better father to his kids than me. He was there to play with them and he had all the energy to put into it. He was crowing. Seemingly I came home from work knackered and hardly had any time for my kids.

I had to bite my tongue. I suppose there was an element of truth in it. He did have the time and energy but only because he was skiving and sponging of the likes of me. He could only do it because my taxes were paying for him. It made my blood boil. I knew that if I started in on him I’d go too far – best to keep quiet. Well, probably in hindsight it might have been better if I’d launched in right at the beginning. It might have ended things a little bit quicker.

As it was Richard had the bit between his teeth. He started on about Jesus and how much Jesus loves me. I was angry and in no mood to silently sit back and listen. He’d enraged me. I started to pull his strings. I told him mockingly that was good to know but I didn’t know anybody called Jesus. He thought I was winding him up and I was. He went on about the church and what joy it was to sing and praise god. I told him, looking him right in the eyes, I didn’t do tambourines, or praise fictitious fairies.

He should have stopped there and then. He could see the mood I was in.

But my needling had annoyed him and I could see the hackles rise. My eyes narrowed and a little smile played across my mouth. I wanted revenge.

Richard began to extol the virtues of his god and how he was always willing to save sinners like me. That if I wanted to go to heaven I had to repent and put my trust in Jesus.

I told him bollocks. I think I’d prefer to be in hell where they had the good music rather than in heaven sipping tea with Cliff Richard and having to listen to a bunch of angels singing for eternity.

I was enjoying myself in a cold, calculated, and not very nice way. I knew all the buttons to press. All the long term aggravation, inflamed by his mocking of my fathering role, came out in a nasty targeted drawl, accompanied with a smile that I knew would annoy him.

Richard began telling me about all the agonies of hell and damnation and getting himself very worked up in the process. According to him I was doomed. I was to be burnt, tormented, skewered and roasted forever.

So I calmly, and in a very reasonable voice, asked him if he really believed that any god would inflict such agonies on anyone for eternity for simply not believing in him.

I think that really I’d had enough and wanted to put an end to this charade once and for. I was utterly fed up with him coming round belittling me and relentlessly, regardless of all my entreaties, trying to convert me to his little cult. I couldn’t be less interested. I was past being polite. This was my home and I did not need to be harangued here. I was looking for the coup de grace and knew exactly where to thrust the sword. I was outwardly controlled, but inwardly seething. I had my nuclear device at the ready. I knew Richard.

‘Yes. That’s exactly right,’ Richard argued. ‘All you have to do is believe.’

‘So it really doesn’t matter how you spend your life?’ I replied innocently, setting the trap. ‘You could be the biggest bastard going and if you believed in god and repented at the last minute you were saved?’

Richard nodded. He thought I might be catching on at last.

‘Where if you lived a blameless life helping others and doing good things you were still doomed?’ I asked in feigned shocked disbelief.

Richard confirmed that this was correct.

‘Then,’ I told him slowly and with a great deal of conviction, opening the bomb doors with smooth efficiency. ‘If I ever came face to face with such an evil god as that…..’ I could see the horror taking shape on his face. I’d actually called his god evil. He was already realising that I was setting him up. This was blasphemy of the first order. He seemed to know what I was going to say. I built it up deliberately. It wasn’t just the Jesus thing; it was all the anger that had been building up over the course of all those weeks of having to watch him drink my beer, lord it over me, and bore me rigid with his evangelical prattling. I fixed him in the eye. ‘I’d have to tell the Motherfucker to Fuck Off!’

That was it. I had crossed the line. There was no going back. I don’t think even Jesus could save me now. I could see the mushroom cloud rising in his eyes.

Richard was far too angry to reply. He was struck dumb. His face darkened and he sat for a minute raging inside. He could not believe that I had said it. I had really said that. Then he got to his feet, grabbed his bike from the hall and stormed out, slamming the front door behind him.

I watched him as he strode across the road in absolute fury, shaking his head. It was as if he needed to put some distance between us. As if being in my vicinity might condemn him to that same hell he was so good at describing to me. On the other side of the road Richard stopped and turned. He actually shook his fist at the house. His face was all screwed up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as angry.

I watched him.

I went upstairs to bed. ‘I think I’ve finally got rid of Richard,’ I told Liz.

If you enjoy my poems or anecdotes why not purchase a paperback of anecdotes for £7.25 or a kindle version for free.

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Or a book of poetry and comment:

Rhyme and Reason – just £3.98 for the paperback or free on Kindle

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My other books are here:

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Poetry – I am an accident – a ode to the wonder of life

Posted on by Opher

I am an accident

My never ending fascination with reality continues. I love everything to do with the universe, life and infinity. It is amazing.

I have found no answers. I do not think there are answers in any of the holy books. They seem to me to be men (very few women) trying to find answers to the perennial questions of life and death. I suspect there are no answers. I see verses of poetry, moral instruction and political rhetoric from millennia gone by. Teachings that are meant to illustrate life and answer our questions and fears concerning the after-life. I do not find them convincing. What I do see is the way they are used by politicians and religious leaders to gain power and influence, accumulate wealth, live in luxury and control others. Religion is not about providing answers so much as creating prestige and raising people up. It is a weapon of the establishment to control the masses.

The reality of space, time and life is far stranger than anything written in holy books from semi-civilised times. We are only now piercing the world of quantum mechanics, subatomic particles and the mysteries of the Big Bang. There is an underlying chaos within the order. There is a conundrum.

Humans love mystery. I am human. Rather than create creeds to indoctrinate children with and foster hatred I would prefer to appreciate the wonder of a sunrise, the splendour of a creature or the beauty of a landscape. If there is such a thing as spirituality then I believe it is within those things, plus a little love and friendship – not any book of words.

I believe the universe, and life, is the result of random chaos, chance and a few basic physical laws. Nothing more. We are all accidents worth celebrating. The fact that we are here and able to appreciate it is as near to a miracle as I’m ever likely to get. If that isn’t worthy of celebration what is?

I am an accident

 

I am a single accident

In a universe of accidents.

Each moment is a complete new universe

To experience and explore,

Loose within the fabric of organised chaos.

No one thing is left to chance;

Everything is left to chance.

My mind churns through the possibilities

Seeking answers

All I see from humanity

Are lies, deception and disease.

We taint the purity

With the halitosis of our words.

Even the holiest words

Become profane abuse

To facilitate power

Rancour and hatred.

The mystery of chance is encapsulated

Between the lines.

That is where the truth of eternity lies –

Between the lies

Between the lines

Between the signs………

 

Opher 23.1.2016

If you enjoy my poems or anecdotes why not purchase a paperback of anecdotes for £7.25 or a kindle version for free.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anecdotes-Weird-Science-Writing-Ramblings/dp/1519675631/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457515636&sr=1-3&keywords=opher+goodwin

Or a book of poetry and comment:

Rhyme and Reason – just £3.98 for the paperback or free on Kindle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhymes-Reason-Opher-Goodwin/dp/1516991184/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457515636&sr=1-4&keywords=opher+goodwin

My other books are here:

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Buddhists and Quakers

Posted on by Opher

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Buddhists and Quakers

It seems to me that human beings are psychologically hard-wired to relish ritual and pageant. We are enthralled and impressed by it. The ploys of fancy dress, high hats, big thrones and sceptres always work. We apply ourselves to ritual washing and ostentatious prayer, chanting, singing and reciting with gusto and find it reassuring. We take the ornate palaces, cathedrals and mosques as proof. We see the Castles, Palaces, and pageant as evidence of unassailable power.

We are gullible and easily duped.

The same tactics rarely failed in the past. The planet is festooned with abandoned pyramids, stone-circles and mounds that are testament to past religions that have blossomed and perished. Ruined castles, sacked fortresses and toppled statues are testament to power overthrown.

Religion is about power. We have a need to feel that someone is in control – ultimately god, but in the meantime the imams, bishops, priests, cardinals, caliphs, popes and shaman will do.

Psychologically we need to feel our life has purpose, death is not the final curtain and the universe has meaning. That is understandable.

I too feel the power of the mystic around me even though I reject all religions as man-made power bases.

If I were to adopt a religion it would likely be one of two – either I would become a Quaker or a Buddhist.

Recently I have been having conversations with Quakers. I am impressed with their gentleness, kindness, tolerance and love of nature. Those are characteristics that I greatly value. I find it hard to tolerate fundamentalist extremists of any complexion. Their intolerance and viciousness appals me.

Likewise my experiences with Buddhist monks are the same. They were happy, pleasant, friendly people who were tolerant of other views. They projected ‘loving kindness’ to all sentient creatures. Their aim was personal peace, harmony and understanding. Their beliefs were flexible enough to accommodate differing opinions.

What a contrast that is to the dogmatic beliefs of evangelical Christians, fundamentalist Jews and ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban and all the other fascist mobs and breeders of hatred. When I listen to those insane Southern fundamentalists quoting scripture at me on their god-induced mission to save the world from the devil I am filled with a mixture of amusement and horror. They really believe that horseshit.

Religion can be a source of great cruelty and evil.

If I was going to follow any religion, which I’m not (I can’t fully believe in the things in front of my eyes, let alone medieval scriptures I’m supposed to take on hearsay), I would settle for being a Quaker or a Buddhist. Those I am attracted to pantheism to. The pagans had some great ceremonies. Perhaps I’ll settle for being a non-practicing pagan. Those witches, warlocks and druids all look a bit silly, don’t they – dressed up in their fancy costume. But then that’s not much different to all these bishops in their big hats, the women in burkas, men with big beards, priests in robes Jews with funny hats and locks of hair, Sikhs in turbans, and the rest – all clinging to their medieval garb as if their god gives a damn.

No. I’ll stick with the antitheism. If it turns out there is a benevolent god and paradise it will be a bonus. Any god worth his/her salt wouldn’t hold my views against me. Any god who behaves in such a mean-spirited way is simply not worthy of the position

Anecdote – The 11+ Interview

Posted on by Opher

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The interview

My Primary School was situated in a big house. Half was divided up into three classrooms and a communal room, which was equipped with a piano for music and singing. The back yard was tarmacked and used as a playground and for PE. We weren’t allowed to run in that yard in case we fell over and grazed our knees. That was pure murder for me. I was a ‘lively’ boy whose normal mode was ‘full speed’. The rest of the house was off bounds. It was the Headmistresses’ home. Miss Gates was old, wiry and shrivelled as if she had been dried out in a mean wind. She was so ancient that we wondered how she could possibly still be alive yet alone maintaining such vigour. For vigour she had in plenty. She patrolled the corridors with fearsome strides and brought the edge of her ruler down on your knuckles with venom. Yet that mummified tyrant unbelievably actually had a mother who she cared for in that other part of the house.

None of us had been there. What was behind those doors remained unglimpsed. In our minds it was the den of the dragon.

Yet it was to these rooms that we were directed for our interviews. Billy went in first and I sat outside on my own staring at the door and wondering what was the other side.

Finally I was ushered in by the Headmistress in a stern, matter-of-fact manner. Inside the room there were three interviewers and a solitary chair in the centre of the room. They sat apart with clipboards, watching me. I was motioned to sit down on the chair. I was tiny and dressed up in my best uniform. I sat on the chair with feet dangling and nervously looked from one to the other. They asked me questions and I stammered my answers. I have no recollection of what was asked. All I remember is having to turn from one to the other. They were sitting so far apart, in corners of the room, that I could not see the others while I answered any one of them. I could feel their eyes on me though. I could see them scribbling notes.

Then it was over.

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