Wood Turnings By Andreas Ritzen

The most notorious tourist destination is Paris, France. Not because of the country, or its President, but because of its language. The French do not seem to care about whether or not their tourists understand what is going on around them. They have this insane idea that all people should learn how to communicate in French, and not the other way around. Unfortunately, this reverse psychology works.

I guess we are really masochistic in nature. When it comes to French, that is. We love everything French: fashion, desserts, bags, and the language. Nothing could be sexier than the French language. It is also very hard to learn, if you are like me who cannot even imagine any other language other than English.

High School French made it easy for some, but for others, like me, I learned it by rote memorization. I just could not figure out the breath techniques. It twisted inside and came out anything but French. The professors said I had no ear for it. I guess it’s true, if I had an ear for it I would not find it difficult.

But what if I had to go to France? I would be forced to learn how to speak French, right? Not only on how to look for food or choose food in a restaurant, but basic things like, looking for the bathroom, or giving instruction to a cab driver to the hotel I am staying at and pronouncing the name of my hotel properly. How about, shopping for the right souvenirs? What if I don’t know how to speak a little French and I end up with vegetables instead of a doll for my niece?

There is no way but learn the language of the place that you are going to visit, even for such a short time. French, they say, is the language of love. So go and fall in love with the language, then you should probably know how to say the words properly. And maybe, just maybe, the French will take pity on you and speak to you in English. But then again, I am just dreaming.

Have you ever seen a craftsman do his work on wood turning? There is such concentration etched into every single part of the body that you would think any untoward sound can make the hand slip and have an accident. It happens, I guess, to those who are just apprenticing, but for master wood turners, this hardly ever does.

Their focus is fascinating to look at: the posture of the body is as taut as a rubber band about to split, and yet what comes out from their hands are works of art. But all that tension can lead to some form of strain. When I talked to a local wood turner the other day, I was having a bed carved for my daughter; I asked him questions on the complications of having to turn wood affect his back. He said it was nothing really. There was no hard work involved, it was just a matter of knowing what design to make on the piece of timber in his hands. He said that constantly being tense over the revolving blade made him concentrate so hard, that he unconsciously does not move a muscle while working. It was only his hands that were moving, and slight movements at that.

I got to thinking that if it continues, he would be permanently hunched over when he gets older. He laughed and said that he had been in that profession for 30 years and his back was still straight. He said, the only way to prevent the hunching over, is to constantly remember to straighten the back when a particular piece was done. No pieces are worked on for more than 15 minutes. And so every 15 minutes, he straightens out his back and moves around. He also moves his arms to ease the tension between the shoulder blades as well. It also helps, he said, that his wife massages his back every night to ease the tension. And that he said is the secret preventing back injuries, for any profession other than wood turning.

Looking at him, I guess he’s right.

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