This week is Ask Us Anything (AUA) week.

Jessie Martinovic asked what the strangest request was so far for the Dedes. I didn’t have to think hard, but I have to go back a long way. It was definitely when Arindam asked the Dedes to do a dharna, indian style. So what happened then?

I had discovered the blog of German artist Jürgen Küster who writes together with his alter ego art figure Buchalov. Unlike the Dedes, Buchalov is very supportive of his artist and acts like a mentor. The two have deep and meaningful conversations. I aired the wish I would love to have similar conversations with the Dedes, but they are not intellectual at all. Of course this blog post offended the Dedes big time. (There are four consecutive posts to the story). Bad Conscience got involved and it got a bit messy.

The next day, our reader Arindam said I should apologise to the Dedes and if not, they should do a Dharna. Neither I nor the Dedes knew then what this was, but the Dedes looked it up on the internet and figured out a Dharna is a way to show the world that somebody had treated them in an unjust way. It involved sitting on the offender’s doorsteps until they get justice or die.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to the latter. Witch and I negotiated the end of the dharna, as it started to drizzle (The Dedes can’t stand rain). I certainly didn’t want my behaviour to cause the demise of the Dedes.

Thanks Jessie for your question. It was fun reading the story again :)