Abuse

“Did they too ... used to abuse each other?”

...

That grand lady never expected this question, and was a little taken aback!!

...

I would not give up ... 'Please granny... I persisted.... tell me.... '... I ran after her hurried steps, carrying the heavy load of just-washed-brass vessels indoors... my tiny legs hardly able to keep pace with her... Amazing, ....her performance... pretty old, a little hunch-backed even, and this heavy load of ancient style-thick walled brass vessels seemed to defy logic... It hastened her pace instead of retarding it... (Later, I was reminded of this gait of hers, when I saw that physics experiment at school science-exhibition 'the roller that defied gravity'!!)...

...

She settled down, first pounded the betel nut, rolled it up into that betel leaf, tucked it into one side of jaws, and said 'You are so stubborn'... she gathered me onto her lap, and proceeded 'Well, Yes! ... they too abused children and even elders, when somebody committed a stupidity' ... but not like now... 'Their abuse was for good!'... 'How?', I asked.... then she explained with a couple of examples... “Nasha-mathhu... Po?” she quoted, and her version was 'May you never perish!'...

Another one was 'Kurutham-Piddikyattum to you',,, Now it is 'You are kurutham kettavan' ... kurutham in a popular sense is 'good-fate' or 'destiny'... something like 'well-fated'.. you have to earn that kurutham, by receiving blessing, obeisance to elders etc... so 'kurutham-may it accrue to you' became later 'a fellow depleted of kurutham'.... (I look at it as 'Guru-twam'... which might have got diluted into a dialect)... Okay.. ... I thought.... sane fellows, those ancients.... kept their cool even while abusing....

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At school, we were prohibted from uttering 'bad-words'.... We were uninitiated into the art of 'abuse' (we knew, .....'use, misuse, improper use, less use, more-useful', etc... a bit earlier... so 'abuse' was not yet within our reach!)... But it was not entirely without problems.... we had to keep a good stock of 'bad-words' if we were to outwit others... sometimes, we had to request our friend to prompt us..... 'arey yaar, give some new bad words... his list is exhaustive'... I was the unfortunate fellow, when one day, I tried to defend a friend of mine, when the matter came up to that teacher... and said “Teacher, he does not know Good-bad-words...”.. She burst into a laughter... (I kept wondering.. what was wrong with what I said... “Good” was what elders said when we do well, so that “quality” bad words ought to be “good-enough” to demolish the opponent flat! ..... Then why the hell did they misguide me with that movie “The Good, Bad and the Ugly”... all were bandits... just that one was better than the rest at 'banditing...... bandature, or bandaging... whatever...'.... So, a good banditor, bad banditor, and ugly one!!! Even there, the stupidity of incessantly abusing was so beautifully picturised... One bandit, who got the first shot said “When you want to shoot, shoot... don't talk!”.. (the recepient of those fatal shots, had the gun already aimed, but was busy pampering his own ego, by hurling abuses at his victim who was in the bath tub... This idiot had spent almost months, just chasing the other one to 'shoot' him ...)

.....

I cannot hope to get away easily with wah-wah like last time, where quotes from famous people carried the 'show' when I wrote about 'quarrel-in-style, when inevitable'.....

But....

This time, I hope I am on time.... the heat is on... (tawa garam hai... abhi bhi..)! Last time somebody blamed me for the delay about 'quarrel-in-style... when inevitable'... Hope this is atonement.. (No stone, I left unturned to get an exact word for 'atone-ment' in desi language... Praayah:Chitta, Pashchyat-taapah, etc did not seem that-exact, from spiritual point of view, though for day to day purpose, all these, and even 'parihaar' etc seemed okay.)

psn(26^th June, 2012)