THE FEELING THAT I AND YOU SHARE
I just want to share with you about a particular human emotion that
almost everyone on the earth does have. (including the space scientists
who are all not literally on the earth now) It is not the so called
"love".
Had you attended any public speech, you could have come across this one. A small story will help me to explain this quite clearly.
You're reading a book in which you come across a puzzle - a very interesting one for which you can't find out the answer. After a few minutes of mental struggle, you give up your attempt and look at the answer and you're really surprised with a tricky answer. ( E.G. What was the pun used by the man - who got into the bus with a wild animal - to the bus conductor? ANSWER : Bear with me!)
The next day, you go to attend a speech delivered by a celebrity. You're seated among the audience. In the middle of his speech, the speaker asks the audience the same question that you read the previous day. Now comes the test for your composure.
On seeing the facial expressions of your neighbours, you will be tempted to the core to buttonhole them to reveal the answer. I don't have any idea what makes us think that we'll feel superior if we reveal that answer even before the speaker does. Obviously, it is not at all a great achievement to know the answer beforehand, for anyone who has already read that particular book can do that. Having said that, it is true that we ('we' here refers to most of us) yield to that temptation. We, in a hurried way, reveal that answer to our neighbour who could have otherwise enjoyed it being expressed by the speaker himself.
In the name of proving ourselves superior, we spoil the enjoyment of our co-spectator, thus proving ourselves inferior in front of others. Just imagine a situation where your neighbour in the theatre reveals you the unexpected scene that is going to happen next.
When I attended Vairamuthu's speech in Gobi, I witnessed a same kind of incident. The poet was brilliantly speaking. At one point he shared with us a brilliant question asked to him by one of his fans.
The question was, . . . . .
"Sir, in one of your songs, you've written like this. In the place of a husband to his wife ,
'Love! I will embrace you without crushing your sari'
I find a mistake in this lyrics. How can a husband hug his wife without crushing her sari? Is it a hug?"
This was the question asked by the fan. Everyone started thinking what could be the poet's reply. Now, a man in the row before us literally punched his neighbour's shoulder with excitement. In a fast way, he was telling something in his ear. (It was actually not 'something'. I clearly heard what he told. Just not to break the suspense, I didn't write the exact words he used.)
The neighbour gave him an innocent look in response as if asking him, "then, why the hell I paid to attend the poet's speech?"
But, our man, I suppose, might have taken that look for an appreciation.
According to me, the most toughest thing to control is the temptation to reveal the answer beforehand. That is what we do when we watch quiz programs in TV. If you can control it, believe me, you're a saint. I'm trying it. In case we control it, (i.e. we do not yield to the temptation) then, after the speaker reveals the answer, if our neighbour looks at us and ask, "Excellent! isn't it?", there, we should have more mental toughness not to say, "I know it already". Just try it once. It'll be challenging. By the way, the reply given by the poet to the question asked by his fan was, "The sari will be off when he hugs her so that it won't be crushed". Excellent! isn't it?
Had you attended any public speech, you could have come across this one. A small story will help me to explain this quite clearly.
You're reading a book in which you come across a puzzle - a very interesting one for which you can't find out the answer. After a few minutes of mental struggle, you give up your attempt and look at the answer and you're really surprised with a tricky answer. ( E.G. What was the pun used by the man - who got into the bus with a wild animal - to the bus conductor? ANSWER : Bear with me!)
The next day, you go to attend a speech delivered by a celebrity. You're seated among the audience. In the middle of his speech, the speaker asks the audience the same question that you read the previous day. Now comes the test for your composure.
On seeing the facial expressions of your neighbours, you will be tempted to the core to buttonhole them to reveal the answer. I don't have any idea what makes us think that we'll feel superior if we reveal that answer even before the speaker does. Obviously, it is not at all a great achievement to know the answer beforehand, for anyone who has already read that particular book can do that. Having said that, it is true that we ('we' here refers to most of us) yield to that temptation. We, in a hurried way, reveal that answer to our neighbour who could have otherwise enjoyed it being expressed by the speaker himself.
In the name of proving ourselves superior, we spoil the enjoyment of our co-spectator, thus proving ourselves inferior in front of others. Just imagine a situation where your neighbour in the theatre reveals you the unexpected scene that is going to happen next.
When I attended Vairamuthu's speech in Gobi, I witnessed a same kind of incident. The poet was brilliantly speaking. At one point he shared with us a brilliant question asked to him by one of his fans.
The question was, . . . . .
"Sir, in one of your songs, you've written like this. In the place of a husband to his wife ,
'Love! I will embrace you without crushing your sari'
I find a mistake in this lyrics. How can a husband hug his wife without crushing her sari? Is it a hug?"
This was the question asked by the fan. Everyone started thinking what could be the poet's reply. Now, a man in the row before us literally punched his neighbour's shoulder with excitement. In a fast way, he was telling something in his ear. (It was actually not 'something'. I clearly heard what he told. Just not to break the suspense, I didn't write the exact words he used.)
The neighbour gave him an innocent look in response as if asking him, "then, why the hell I paid to attend the poet's speech?"
But, our man, I suppose, might have taken that look for an appreciation.
According to me, the most toughest thing to control is the temptation to reveal the answer beforehand. That is what we do when we watch quiz programs in TV. If you can control it, believe me, you're a saint. I'm trying it. In case we control it, (i.e. we do not yield to the temptation) then, after the speaker reveals the answer, if our neighbour looks at us and ask, "Excellent! isn't it?", there, we should have more mental toughness not to say, "I know it already". Just try it once. It'll be challenging. By the way, the reply given by the poet to the question asked by his fan was, "The sari will be off when he hugs her so that it won't be crushed". Excellent! isn't it?
I had a huge smile on my face when you revealed the feeling the title is about. I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteWhile I read the question posed by an audience to the poet, I immediately knew the answer and my eyes were racing to find the answer and yet i controlled myself. Oru nappasai kooda irundhuchu, whether you will ask us readers to guess it. See that's the essence of what you've written.
While i was very young, i had the temptation to say the answers before it was said. But now I have good control over it. Hope I've evolved. But you know what? The below one seems bit tough, not to reveal that you already knew.
"we should have more mental toughness not to say, "I know it already". Just try it once. It'll be challenging. "
Very relatable writing.