Meenas PoemsThere is a range in behaviour,
Too hot and too cold,
Which holds good to temperature,
Too high and too low.
Hot denotes anger,
A fuming and frothing fury,
Cold represents an indifference,
A disrespect and contempt.
High calls or a burning scorch,
Rendering an incessant heat,
Low shows a freezing level,
Emitting a biting cold.
The extremes propose a variation,
Both in attitude and climate,
Creating an unpleasant trait,
That resolves into a difficult plight.
I am always thrilled to hear this phrase “Nothing doing.”It may sound very authoritative, and may invite displeasure. It has a negative connotation. But ,I have got used to this usage right from my childhood.
I was born to a strict mother. her discipline was not anything simple, but more rigorous than a military perception. A day always began with her tough routine, Right from waking up in the morning, to my retirement in the night , I was subjected to a severe schedule.The day started with completing my homework, practising my musical notes, followed by working on my bharatanatyam jathis and bhavas. Then ,I was pushed to have a quick bath. While coming out ,I was dragged by my mom to do up my hair, powder up my face , stuck bhindi, then placed flowers in my short plait. I was led into the dining hall, made to eat my breakfast, gulp some hot milk,and was put in the car ,driven by an aged chauffeur,to school. Any remission or commission would be discarded with a phrase “Nothing doing”
Again in school, I had to undergo similar prescriptions. The teachers and nuns were my mother’s good friends. So the behaviour was as much oppressive as it was at home. A little distraction would bring the roof down. A little slip in the rank would create a pandemonium. A little truancy would bring hell. “Nothing doing ” would be the chant of my school teachers.I completed school in harsh terror.
College , I thought would have a different environment. It would be a place for more liberties , more personal development, and more individual outlook. But , my feeling was dismally wrong. My college days were even more suffocating than my school days. My Principal , happened to be a dear friend of my mother, very close to our family. There was no escapade from her watchful eyes. her eyes would be following me, wherever I went, even when I had to go to different buildings in the college ,for different classes. I preferred to sit in the back benches, and was up to some pranks for a a fortnight, when the Principal was out of town. Once she came back , I was summoned and given a stern sermon, The favourite phrase ” nothing doing”, crossed her soliloquy often. I came out of her office with down cast eyes . On my return home, I was taken to task by mother.” Nothing doing “, she cried at the top of her voice.
I walked out with saddened spirit. What have I done ? Why this ado about nothing? My mind kept prodding, my heart ached , and my eyes glistened with tears, I bit my lips, in anger . Blood oozed out.
Looking back after 30 years , I feel sorry for my ,mother, my teachers and my Principal. Why did they act so hard, so harsh and so severe.? They earned the dispeasure of their wards. A kind word, a pep talk, a jovial shimmer, a twinkle in the eyes would have brought immense results. Nay , these were not there in their lexicon.
Infection is a terrible word. It connotes the detrimental colonization of host organism by foreign species.There are umpteen infections which terrify us.Chest infection, lung infection, viral infection,urinary infection,,blood infection are some of the common pathological viruses that affect the normal man.These infections affect the physical stability .
The mental composure is also susceptible to certain infections.The body inconvenience can be cured by dosage of medicine and corrective surgery. The equilibrium of mind undergoes a difficult illusion ,if it is attacked by emotions-either good or bad. Happiness embraces the being and the balance is tilted forward. Sorrow engulfs the mortal and the neutral position is pushed backward. Happiness and Sorrow are two generalised terms that compound many more abstract feelings and sensibilities.
These palpitations agitate the mind both eventfully and erroneously.The result is one of cohesive progression or contemplated deterioration of the mind. The hallucination leads to a break down and disintegration of human status. The sudden upheaval throws the mind out of control and drives it to projected eccentricity.
This highly irreversible impact crystallises into lunacy or in all its force into an radical debacle of deformation.. The handicapped symptom paralyses the mind and leads into a mental fiasco and falsification of the maturity.
There is no prescribed drugs for this illness. A constant usage of tranquillisers ,keep the mind at temporary inertia.As soon as the power of the drug fades away, again the frothing takes effect. These are, but transitory applications. Seeking a permanent solution , is the exact effort to which we have to apply our mind and do research.
Practising a never say die attitude, taking everything as it comes, ignoring humiliations and insults, and shooting out then and there when faced with oddities are some of the essential co ordinations that we have to adhere.Bottling up emotions and controlling tempers have a devastating effect on the human mind. These have to be carefully avoided.
Tolerance is a negative virtue. We come out with advices, with preachings about the quality of Tolerance. We emphasise ,that this quality is essential for each individual , as it leads to harmony.
Getting deep into the world at large, and perceiving the deceit and treachery around us, this virtue seems to be out dated.
In yore, when there was peace and contentment, adjustment and accommodation, love and friendship, tolerance was a priced enterprise. Today, we find brothers cheating brothers, parents being partial to the children, governance favouring the elite, authorities expounding rashness, audacity ruling the regiment, and conceit magnified in all expositions, endurance cannot be located.
If the age old principle of tolerance is practised , we will land ourselves in a wretched platform and fall on deep connived ambush.Manipulations, and scheming are in great demand. Perfidy and selfish dogmas take the pride of place.Venom and lust overwhelm the rapport. Stinking qualities appear predominant.Excellent ,blooming selections are lost in the milieu.
As such , if we remain silent and sullen, the fierce wave of snobbery and nauseating furore of fermenting wrath would displace the virtuous and prohibit the genuine from coming up in life.
Great care and eventual attention should be put forth to bring about coordination . Restraining reaction will endeavour much harm and solicit great risk at the wake of any uproar.
Histrionics in theatre is a common emblem.
Histrionics in politics is a new found etiquette.
Histrionics in life is an unpalatable ethic.
This perception is gaining momentum in daily activities.
This has also enhanced privilege and perks during the course of enactment.
An excessive show of emotions pull the string, work merits, and buy credits to the actor.
Prattle undue, flattery utmost, boisterous guffaw, propaganda cheap, mercy undemanded, tears crocodile and break down unusual earn a marked profit to the proposer.
Gibbering gains popularity, excessive compliments win laurels, laughter aloud stimulates benefits, publicity promotes rapport, sympathy unwanted usher relationship. weeping uncalled heralds awareness, and unassuming collapse enhances the gravity.
Histrionics in real life is a gift ,which not many possess. Those of whom who have researched the subject and engage in performing overwhelm the sincere and straightforward in wealth and and in admiration.
The camouflage of the self, the disguise of the individual, the cover up of the apparent qualities, the digression of the extensive symmetry lead to a world of make belief, and proclaim an onslaught of epochal fame.
Histrionics is a personal disorder, pronounced by a pattern of attention seeking behaviour and emotionality.
Meenas Poems 