Nov 15, 2005

Just Think About It!!

What if we could read each other’s thoughts? Like the thought clouds that top people’s heads in comic strips... A scary and catastrophic line of thought… ahem... pun’s unintended. A funny prospective if taken in a lighter vein...

I was mulling over this after I gave the first conscious artificial smile of my life today. Saw someone and grinned heartily while muttering under my breath “what a jackass!!”...

The corporate world would be one hell of a circus, (not that it’s any better now...) if thought bubbles started emanating from everyone’s head. Cos the work place is where one encounters sweet caramel coated smiles as often as one inhales. And the probability of most of them being genuine is accurately zilch. Take for instance the silent skirmishes between the in-laws of a big family; all hell would break loose if thoughts were to buzz around like mosquitoes… Imagine the tradition worn cushion supported political discussions on coalition conundrums, if the criss-crossing thought arrows did make their mark, wouldn’t it mean chaos manifold, than what it already is?
Masters behind the camera have often toyed with this possibility, movies being made on men reading the thoughts of the fairer sex, and people being able to comprehend the language and thoughts of animals... Invariably they became being hard to resist rib ticklers.

I once had a conversation that was exhausting, literally and metaphorically, with a friend on how everyone’s thoughts travel in the form of waves. These metaphysical undulations send vibes about one’s personality even before the first words come out. The positive aura that surrounds someone, or the inexplicable prejudice you might harbor on someone else, all find a near plausible theorization in this.

There is one fable in ancient India that is an allusion to this hypothesis. There was once a righteous and just king who was of the habit of doing rounds of his Kingdom, masquerading as a commoner, in the shelter of the night. His wise and able minister unfailingly accompanied him on such nocturnal visits. On one such occasion, the King chanced upon a man sitting under a lamp post deep in thought. The King was troubled by incomprehensible ill-feelings for this complete stranger. Disturbed, he confided in his minister. The minister bought some time from the King to investigate into the matter.
The very next day, the minister put forth a proposal to buy a lot of sandalwood furniture and other articles of sandalwood for the Palace. Though baffled by this sudden scheme, the King approved it, out of his inane trust in his aide. A month or so passed. The King again chanced to run into this strange man on his nightly visit. This time, he had equally perplexing tender thoughts about him. Absolutely confused, he sought his minister’s counsel. The minister’s explanation was thus:
“My Lord, the stranger who had vexed you to such an extent, is a sandalwood merchant. When you first set your eyes upon him, his business was in doldrums. He was ardently praying that you should die, so that he could sell his ware to cremate your body. Who else, in this nation would use sandalwood for cremation?? So naturally, his negative thoughts sowed seeds of hatred in your mind. I investigated this, and placed that bulk order for sandal wood in his shop for all the articles we had planned to procure, for the Palace. This caused his business to boost, and not a day passed in this man’s life without singing your praises, and wishing for your longevity, so that he would get more orders from the Palace. And that explains the pleasant thoughts that filled your mind when you chanced upon him the second time.”

Our thoughts are not only ours to claim. They influence our lives as well as others. Agreeable feelings and thoughts not only guarantee our peace, but also make a better place of our surroundings.

My once alarmingly long hate list has now become almost vacant, once I started applying this tenet to my daily life. It does take time and patience to deploy such an utopian stratagem, but it is definitely worth the pains in the long run.

9 comments:

Subramanian Ramachandran said...

sukkks intha post sooooooooper...... u are back to what you are best at ...... and have done it so wonderfully :) positive thoughts niraya irukku...and very much unlike ur other blog post

keep it up sukku and come up with more interesting posts such as this

Good luck :)

Dalaharp said...

nice point to remember...and good story that.

johnny boy said...

Thought provoking!! Nice.... If that sort of bubble display started showing each person's thoughts, right over their heads -> That would put an end to peace in the world, whatever little of it is left that is :) Hey maybe it might put an end to the world too! If u think deep, its consequences are deadly!!!
Hey wanted to ask - You mean to say today was the first ever time u gave an artificial smile??? Never before u have done that??

~SuCh~ said...

@rsu: Thanks for finally approving of my blogging style !! :-)
@vishnu: Thanks again for concurrin :-)
@Johnny Boy:I have tried hard, but havent been able to muster that phoney smile that covers up ur antagonistic thghts. Always ended up walking around with a grim face, when upset with sumun. But it is a useful thing, the fake smile.. :-) And i finally managed it !!

johnny boy said...

"But it is a useful thing, the fake smile" -> Understatement of the year !! :) Very very useful.. To learn to master it, join an IT company immediately... hehe.. (ie. For those who aint in one already)

swas said...

So what I had suspected was right!!! "Sukku..", Not many people call Sukanya that, do they? Besides not many "sukkus" have the same "Rsubras" as friends, right? !!! ;)
Hey aqua,thanks for the Diwali wishes and to you too Subbu ;) And if you're wondering who I am.. :)
Take a wild,wild guess!!!
Nice meeting you guys again! :)

swas said...

You know,when I smile at my colleagues, I wonder why I don't do that with people i meet on the train,on the road,on the two-wheeler in front of me.. ? If I am rude to someone at work, everybody knows about it. It would reach my PL,APM,PM and I would be disqualified to be a potential lead, I wouldn't get the support I need. I would be the subject of universal aversion.But I don't care about all that when I am outside office.. :| Sad! I am trying to change myself.. Who knows one of those people I don't care about, could be my future mom-in-law!!! :O Scary!!!

Anonymous said...

Surprisingly its just not the
humans who are affected by the
power of thoughts even the plants
have to power to decipher the
thoughts and their behavior changes accordingly. Extensive
experiments on this subject has been conducted by scientists around the world and have been
proved with enough evidences. Mr.Bose one of the indian scientist infact went a step ahead and tried coming up with a instrument to read the behaviour of plants when they interact with the subjects around them. If you
get chance to get your hands on
the book "The secret life of plants" ..read that. Its pretty
interesting and informative.

One of the old belief perhaps
what other call as superstitious
act quotes about having a aquarium
in the house especially the fishes
which has the power to soothe
one's mood from confusion, chaos
and unsettling thoughts.

~SuCh~ said...

@so-hum: Yes.., the brain/mind 's functioning remains an evergreen enigma.. how thoughts are generated, how they propagate unconsciously are things everyone has the cognizance of but are not able to articulate to their own selves.. i have observed plants grow well when i read out from joke books to them..