“I Can Jump Puddles” is an
autobiographical account of a child who wins over his disability. Set up in
Australian background, Alan is inflicted by polio at the age of 6. How he
starts riding again despite everyone thinking of him not being able to ride as
the most obvious thing is what he has written about.
I seem to enjoy those jokes the best which are said with a straight
face. What is special about this story is similar. Alan describes an incident/
achievement with a straight face- no extra emotions, not wanting extra emotions
from the reader, reporting as it is and trying to give a reason sometimes to
his actions or thoughts.
When I first read the book, I understood the storyline. When I read
the book the second and third time, I understood a lot more things, between the
line meanings, smaller meanings that I have missed out, linking up different
things. The literary circle has been a help in this regard- a lot of things/
details that I missed out on during my first read, I kept a keen look out for
them in my second read and made more connections. It was interesting to note
different interpretations. While I was reading it, such interpretations didn’t
even come to my mind thinking that no other interpretation is possible.
Another major thing that I had not realised while reading the book,
which was raised by Sanket in the literary circle meet, was the lingo of the
book- there were many words like trot, canter, etc., which were specific to
horse riding world. Of course, they were English words but somebody who has
ridden a horse before, would understand them way better than somebody who has
not. I never realised how easily it came to me, and that the words didn’t seem
foreign to me at all. I had completely ignored the strong language base that
was needed to understand the story, let alone relate with the word.
The story starts with the father asking Alan about his day, if he got
a chance at the reins of the horses. The conversation shows how Alan excitedly
talks about horses and as a reader, we feel, how naturally “horsing” comes to
him. Alan notices that his father had stopped talking about horse-riding and
for the first time after a lot of years, mentions to him that it is okay if he
cannot ride. What I also noticed is the way Alan presented the conversation
affects how a reader thinks about it; he could have written that conversation
in any light and the reader would have been blinded by it. It is difficult to
not take situation in a negative manner. People find it easier to blame
circumstances but Alan here has dealt with his situation differently.
It is a little hard to point to the exact reason that instigated him
to start riding horses again. The group talked about various things like-
Starlight being the attraction for the star horse that it was, proving to the
father that he can ride, or his love for horse-riding. Here, I think, it is up to
the reader as to what he/she relates to the most or how much evidence has the
reader collected while reading. For me, it was his love for horse-riding; the
passion and love for horse-riding seems to be dripping off the first two pages.
Though I do think that the statement by his father that he won’t be able to
ride again in the future was like a slap on his face which catalysed him riding
again. A very interesting thought was the horse being used as a crutch. Alan
talks about venturing into unknown territories with the horse and the horse
being the crutch which he was not afraid of being slipping. This did give rise
to the doubt if this was the reason for him into riding the horse again, but
the reason that these feelings rose after Alan started riding again, made me
dismiss it as a reason to start riding again. But it was a beautiful thought. I
try to imagine- how would it feel when I dance beautifully, my legs are
amputated and I can’t dance anymore, and when I get artificial legs, the
feeling of dancing again, or the hope to dance again. It is a feeling beyond
expression. It is an altogether different feeling from not having the ability
since birth. The feeling overwhelms me and I hope that readers let this feeling
sink in.
The major chunk of the story describes the ladder steps that Alan had
to climb before he reached the pinnacle. How careful he had to be about
everything, how every small thing would be as if it was under a microscope and
it would look huge. This also reminds me of the story of the spider where he
kept on going until he succeeded. This story makes me realise, how we take
things for granted- the ability to walk, the ability to sit, the fact that if
we are hurt we don’t need to necessarily always wait for someone else. These
are such small things which we don’t even realise in daily life. It is only
when an ability is snatched away from us do we realise the value. Does that
also not relate with everything else- human relationships too? It made me think
a lot about how much I not value things- relationship, abilities. Does it make
me any more sensitive towards other people? I don’t know. I sure hope so.
He expresses his anger towards his body, how his body doesn’t support
his thoughts, how his mind is so ahead of his body. The feeling is so
realistic. He realises his disability at every instance. He realises that other
children run over puddles but he has to reroute because of it; how for others
it so easy to sit on a horse, but for him not; how he always wary of the
ground- in case his crutch slips, uneven ground. Did you, before reading this
story, ever think of such small things?
This story makes me realise about perception. It depends on every
person to person- how they choose to look at things. In the whole story, Alan
has not talked about pitying looks. It is only in the scene with the woman does
it come up- “...looking at me with tragic
eyes”, “I saw so much of this sadness
in grown-ups who talked to me. No matter what I said, I could not share my
happiness with them.” It is truly
Alan’s beauty that he makes the world around him look beautiful. He has always
described everyone around him so beautifully and also even the lady. He wants
to comfort her as well. He notices the tears in her eyes. Alan in himself is
such a happy person, realising the happiness at small instances. He wants to
give happiness to her as well. This sort of feeling is sometimes overwhelming,
knowing that there are such happy people in the world. And that I need to find
my happiness in the smallest of the things, as if I don’t need a reason to be
happy. The smallest excuse is enough to be happy.
This is a very different sort of inspirational story for me. For me
it is the happiness that Alan represents. The way he looks at world is so
different. And then I realise that everything is how we make meaning of it.
Anything can be turned happy as long as I look at it in that manner. I wonder
how the story would have turned out if instead of being autobiographical, would
have been a biography.
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