Monday, May 3, 2010

Gunther Wvivelhof

The mellow afternoon sun shone over Himmelsplatze,a sleepy little village nestled in the famed Black Forest of Germany and flanked by pristine snow capped peaks.

It was a very famous tourist destination and contributed a fair deal to Germany's coffers,but nothing served to destroy the tranquility and peace of the village.

This was what had appealed to Gunther Wvivelhof. He had been to this place many times on holiday as a child and had always wanted to get himself a small niche in this lovely place.

It was no wonder then,that he wasted no time in accepting the german government's offer of honorary citizenship and a cottage in this heavenly abode to atone for the atrocities they had inflicted on his family.

He could,however,never forgive the germans,Nazis to be specific for what they had done.They had destroyed his carefree,innocent,bubbly childhood..They had left an indelible scar on his psyche.. They had torn apart his peaceful existence and thrown him headlong into a terrifying abyss.. They had wiped out his entire family..

Memories came rushing back and overwhelmed the old man,as the events of that day unfolded viciously before his mind's eye,sending a menacing shiver down his spine.. He was a 10 year old lad then,living life to his fullest, oblivious to the mayhem the nazis were causing all over europe,and then,all of a sudden,the tragedy hit home..

He woke up That day to a cacaphony of wails and moans as his dad whisked him and his mum off to the cellar and asked them to hide underneath the floorboards.His tender mind failed to grasp the import of the situation,but did as he was told. His mum then told him,in the darkness,that the SS were rounding up all jews and sending them to concentration camps,and that they were safe where they were.Her words however,were drowned out in a deafening round of gunshots punctuated by screams,as the gunmen fired incessantly.. They had,somehow,chanced upon their hiding place.. Wvivelhof miraculously,survived..

What then followed was a flight for survival,as he somehow managed to escape to Great Britain,and many years were spent eking out a living doing odd jobs.. He however had revenge on his mind all the time,but could see no means of exacting the same.. It was then that he was reminded of a saying he had heard long back:The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.. A determined Wvivelhof hence channelled his hatred for the nazis into a stinging memoir:Beneath The Floorboards,and somehow managed to get it published,after enduring immense hardships.. The response was unexpected and unprecedented.. He became the face of the crusade against the diabolic Nazi empire,and his works fuelled the popular anti nazi sentiments..

In the summer of 1945,he was knighted.Gunther Wvivelhof had become an influential figure,in the movement against Adolf Hitler..

Thinking of all that he had done in his halycon days,he felt a surge of pride taking over his ageing body.. He had,in his own way made the Germans pay for what they had done to his family..

However,there was one issue which still didnt make sense to him.. It had remained a vexed matter all his life.. He somehow couldnt fathom how he had managed to dodge the bullets That day under the floorboards..

And it was then that the reason struck him,as he basked in the afternoon sun on his porch,a reason so simple and clear,he himself was astounded..

Sir Wvivelhof The Fittest...



ps:in case you are scratching your head with a ferocity reserved only for exams,this is my maiden attempt at a shenoyn :) Now,a Shenoyn is this long,labourious and construed story that ultimately culminates in an outrageous wordplay on a popular proverb/saying/phrase,like i ve endeavoured to do here:) Do check out Narendra Shenoy's blog for more awesome,groanworthy Shenoyns :)Needless to say,he is the pioneer :) You will find the link on my blog roll :) ta:)

pps:Please dont try and correlate historically :)

9 comments:

Sriram said...

Oh man!! Great start!! :D [Ahem, good reference to inglorious basterds too :) ]
nice template btw.. very soothing :)

totalliemeh said...

*giggle*..sathyam parayamallo..(what? i do that sometimes!) enikkadyam onnume ..i mean onnum manasilayilla. pinne neeyayathukondu kuthiyirunnu vaayichu. #tubelight.

when it struck-

LOL!!! good one!! i was wondering why you put THAT name!!

cool template btw- i mean, really "cool"..like tusky (duck) said- soothing.

\m/

how you guys think of such stuff- beyond me.

Vivek said...

Gaahahah I actually did an anagram test on that name. You will be sued by the guys who own the rights to IB ;). Wicked good ending. Haha!

Narendra shenoy said...

Your story telling skills are superb! Loved it totally! s

vanwinkle said...

@shenoyn thanks a ton sir:)greatly honoured :)

@sriram thanks macha:)ib reference is a tribute to qt :)

@vivek thanks for the legal advice mate ;)tat most definitely aint an intentional anagram;)

@meh chyech kidu comment :)u re equally proficient in cookin up cheeky posts and cheeky comments:)tweets also ;)

Srivardhan said...

Capital, capital! Way to go, buddy! :D

vanwinkle said...

@shrivardhan thanks schrei :)nice to have u drop in a comment :)

Anonymous said...

haha take totalliemeh chech's comment and ditto it for me.
Enikkum aadyam onnnnnnnume manassilaayilla but I figured I'd keep reading anyways. And the ending was totally EPIC!
You really are great at storytelling!

vanwinkle said...

@ariyathe vielen dank kid :)nice to have u as a reader :)