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It always intrigues me to see how some people's mind work. They think just the opposite of what is considered conventional wisdom but they still make lots of sense! You think it is politically incorrect and hence, must be wrong as most people say so, but still...
Two things that I heard over the past week highlighted the above fact. The first is the Biblical saying that is also known as the 'Golden Rule'. The dictum says, 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. In other words, do to others what you expect them to do to you! Herein lies the dilemma. How do you know what others want? We do not possess telepathic powers. Living in a society with many personalities, cultures, social mores and even biorhythmic cycles, different people have different needs and expectations. Take the simple example of walking into a lift. The person who walks into the lift would think that it is only courteous to have, at least a cursory eye contact, with the lone occupant of the lift as he enters it. His upbringing taught him that to nod to the temporary sojourner of space is the civil thing to do. And he does just that. The other person, on the other hand, just wants to be left alone. He had enough of small talks that lead nowhere. He might have just had a tiff, a bad day or in trouble deep. He just wants to be left alone! We just cannot use our yardstick to gauge what others really want. In this world where people are super-sensitive, we will only create more troubles than there already are!
The other lesson in alternative thinking is in the Tamil language comedy skeet acted out by Kollywood comedian, Vadivelu. Readers who understand the nuances of the language will appreciate the light-hearted view of the over-rated over-commercialised celebration of all time, Mothers' Day. In the name of appreciation of maternal sacrifice which has no boundaries, jumping into an ice-cold lake or walking into burning buildings included, the over-glorification has reached ad-nauseam proportions.
In the snippet, Vadivelu, an overgrown pampered son of an oversized mother, finds joy sleeping past noon. He responds to his nagging mother who laments about her ageing body, her hopelessness and complaints about her son's laziness. She reminds him of her innumerable sacrifices that she, as a mother, carrying him as a fetus in her gravid womb for nine long months. In Vadivelu's typical jocular whining manner, he tells his mother that his experience in-utero was no pleasure cruise. He, the fetus, was crouched awkwardly like a monkey, trapped in the dark with no idea whether it is day or night, no freedom of movements and basically in a living hell. He accused his mother, on the pretext of carrying a baby, gorged herself fat on the baby's behalf, used the excuse of pregnancy to don colourful sarees, beautify herself with bangles and jewels. So, there was no suffering on the mother's part!
Well, obviously this form of greeting card never made it to Hallmark! If not for the certificate for general screening, Vadivelu's scriptwriters would have gone a step further. He would have said that his mother's role was more of an after-effect of desires to satisfy carnal needs, societal pressures to fulfil the woman's role to procreate and his mother's adversity to be labelled barren!
Well, obviously this form of greeting card never made it to Hallmark! If not for the certificate for general screening, Vadivelu's scriptwriters would have gone a step further. He would have said that his mother's role was more of an after-effect of desires to satisfy carnal needs, societal pressures to fulfil the woman's role to procreate and his mother's adversity to be labelled barren!
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