Nine thoughts

When harassed beyond endurance, my thing is slamming doors, slamdunking into the wastepaper basket or, if circumstances permit, swearing a b...

When harassed beyond endurance, my thing is slamming doors, slamdunking into the wastepaper basket or, if circumstances permit, swearing a blue streak to make even a Dilliwala crimson under his God-given tan. What8217;s yours? But oh, the blessed relief of a cussword when the muffle8217;s off your mouth, though the inviolable rule is that you can8217;t speak rudely to the socially disadvantaged and to those who serve you. Violent words are for your peers and for the situation in general. I collect them in all languages: I think my favourite is Kashmiri, ahead of even my darling Punjabi, despite the robust appeal of rustic terms like 8220;Pha vaddo!8221; Cut his throat. Now scripture takes a very dim view of such unladylike proceedings. Top of the tut-tuts, in my book, is old Patanjali8217;s Yoga Sutra, in which he says: 8220;The mind becomes tranquil and pleasant by the cultivation of friendship, compassion, satisfaction and indifference respectively, towards the happy, the unhappy, the blessing and the blight.8221;

Oh, pooh, you think, when the BG Bhagvad Gita raises its haughty head, expectedly very stern and contemptuous about the following eight deadly sins: 8220;The doer who is unbalanced, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, indolent, despondent and procrastinating is of a raw nature.8221; Crawling away from that indictment with such rags of your self-respect as may be left clinging, you stub your toe on the grand old Aitareya Bhramana Rig Veda, that says disdainfully: 8220;Speech that is haughty or mad with fury is demoniac rakshasa vaak8221;. Oh Lord. Can8217;t anybody out there show a little understanding for stressed-out souls at the receiving end of all kinds of rubbish? Fat chance. In clumps that uber-grump, Thiruvalluvar, pillar of ancient Tamil pride, glorious root of India8217;s other classical tongue, scolding, 8220;Girls are supposed to be shy by nature: real shyness refrains from a mean act.8221; In fact, he divests himself of a triple whammy with two more aphorisms on the subject: 8220;The plant betrays the soil, and speech betrays the person of birth;8221; and 8220;A smiling face, a generous heart, sweet words and no scorn are said to mark the well-born.8221;

Give me Babaji, Guru Nanak Dev, who smiles down kindly with gentle encouragement: 8220;Mane jeetai, jag jeetu, puttar8221; he seems to be saying Who conquers his mind-heart, conquers the world, while Kabir8217;s honesty is a reproachful tap on your tossing head: 8220;Bura jo dekhan mein chala bura na miliya koi/Jo dil khojo aapna mujhsa bura na koi8221; I went about looking to find fault but found nobody bad/When I looked within my own heart, none was worse than I.

Rounding off this japmala against your own tamas is Bapu: 8220;True ahimsa means complete freedom from ill-will, anger and hate, and an overflowing love for all.8221; Zanaan zanam chu shikast.