A NEED GREATER THAN FOOD AND WATER

 



“If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody,

come, sit next to me.”

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

 

I don’t think, that any other animal on this planet indulges in gossip… as the most evolved one – humans – do. Perhaps, this weird irony made Steve Toltz remark: “Sometimes, I think, the human animal doesn’t really need food or water, only gossip.”

The latest gossip, which has kept the human animals busy and amused in our country, is the divorce of Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao.

When my wife broke the news to me the night before last, I felt like yelling at her… But, then, for the safety of our own marriage, I pretended as if I was deaf… The night passed, and, yesterday the hot news - ‘Tumne suna hai? Aamir Khan aur Kiran Rao ka divorce ho gaya!’ – was everywhere. So, how many gossip-mongers could I yell at?

My mother, who hadn’t gone to a school and a college as her sons did, would, always, yell at us when we brought gossip home: “Tho thachen lekh ditolo.” Translated from Konkani, “He will give his account (to God).”

So, who were we to judge others?




Interestingly, as Bertrand Russell said, “No one gossips about other peoples’ secret virtues.”… Everyone gossips about other people’s mess in life… It’s as though we are desperately waiting for our fellow-beings to falter, mess up their lives… Yes, indulging in gossip seems to give us that strange kick!

But, let’s be honest: Are we, too, not humans who falter? Are we not here with our own flaws? And, when we live in our own glasshouses, what a dumb idea is it to throw stones at others’ glasshouses?





Hope, we find something fruitful to focus on, today… One of them, may be, our own marriages!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. www.rediff.com 2. pixabay

Video: Pushpa jijji

 

 

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