Floods, accidents, illnesses and personal tragedies often strike like a guerilla fighter- when we least expect them. Whenever we start taking smooth sailing for granted, fate takes the wind out of the sails of our life.
Fortunately, there are many mechanisms to help us. We can open out to friends and relatives, especially the ‘agony aunt’ types. Social media is even better. A year ago, a friend of mine, who is a bachelor by choice, announced on Facebook- I am feeling depressed today. He was deluged with comments. Later, he revealed to me that there were quite a few messages in his personal messenger too- though he refused to divulge further details about them.
In fact, disasters bring out the best in people. So, a person in one’s neighbourhood, whom one has always thought of as kutta kamina, may wade through waist deep flood water to help. A person who habitually defaults on loans, may jump into water to save a stranger who is drowning in a canal.
Belief in karma theory helps most Indians take bad happenings in their stride. People also pray to God, often with inducements in the form of pledges to pray more in future (humans never take the risk of committing to shun deceit, jealousy, bigotry and show off). We can even complain to the almighty because there might be some element of guilt and ‘crossing of limits’ is quite likely to be condoned. There are some hard-hitting lines from Hindi film songs.
Kya mil gaya Bhagwan tumhen dil ko dukhake, Armanon ki nagri mein meri aa laga ke
(God, what did you gain by causing mental distress to me and putting a full stop to my aspirations!)
Another one goes a step further.
Saaf kyu na kahun, tu khushi se meri darr gaya (God, I have no hesitation in saying that you couldn’t digest my happiness!)
Those who get ‘dhokha’ in love often hit the bottle. But listening to sad songs and ghazals is a healthier way to mend a broken heart. Of course, the use of humour, especially the self-depreciating type, is highly recommended for different issues. An iron trader named Neetu Shutteranwala polled a small number of votes as an independent candidate in the parliamentary elections from Jalandhar constituency in Punjab. But he became a celebrity because of the video in which he was seen crying bitterly. When asked the reason for that, he revealed- I have come to know that my family members didn’t vote for me. The video went viral.
The ultimate defense mechanism- The odds of being born as a human are extremely low. We could have been born as a laboratory mouse, sewer dwelling cockroach or pubic louse. So, all of us are already winners.
Life is never going to be perfect. Our happiness will depend upon our coping mechanisms!
Jas Kohli is a noted humour writer. He is the author of three bestselling humour novels, ‘Lights! Wedding! Ludhiana!’, ‘Lights! Scalpel! Romance!’, and ‘Anything to Look Hot’.