Ways of expression

We have our own way of saying things, don’t we? We adjust our words or expressions to suit the occasion and the audience, don’t we?

I went through a preventive health check-up recently. I thought this is essential for two reasons. 

First reason, any study published tells you that what you have been eating thinking it’s good is no more good. It can bring in any known and unknown disease. It took just couple of minutes for the authorities to identify the element, Lead in the “two-minutes” noodles sold in the market. I can understand if they deposit a bit of highly radio-active Uranium. At least it would have given high energy throughout our life, how much ever short it could be. They selected this stupid, dormant, Lead, the last in the radio-active chain reaction which is normally dumped in the deep sea. No wonder they are asked to call back the product from the market.

Second reason, I believe in doing something that saves tax or life. Thanks to government, spends towards preventive health check-ups are tax exempted. Though one may not find relief seeing those mysterious values on the report it would surely give some tax relief! So kill both things (tax and disease) in one shot by going through a preventive check-up, much to your dislike. 

The consulting doctor had his own way of expressing things. He wrote down in the observation sheet “Mild central obesity”. Had he written “Slightly pot-bellied” I would have been offended. How much ever slight it is – a pot is a pot ! – those harsh real words would have made me start looking at the most important part of my body more often and it would have made me stop going to that doctor again. No doubt, his soft and kind words saved him!

Once I landed in a small town near my hometown. In search of “Pallikkunu Bungalow” my friend’s ancestral place. “Just ask anybody once you get down the bus stop, all know that place well there” was the only direction given to me by my friend. Yes, I did get down from the bus and asked the first person about the directions to the Bungalow. I expected him saying something like – “go straight, turn immediate left and then turn on the second right and ask somebody else there” !  But what I got from him in that 4-way junction was “Walk for 5 minutes towards east, you will find a road going towards south another 10 minutes on that road you will find the place”. I was not sure how to proceed as the hot sun was exactly above my head as it was close to 12 noon! (This is old story. Things have changed now. I do have a compass now on my new mobile phone which tells me where the North is. I like these mobile phone manufactures more than the phones, they know the damage their product makes – makes people directionless by excessive whatsApping and FBying – they do damage control by providing at least one direction - the all important North on the phone itself!)

There are instances when mere words will not suffice. One needs action. One foreigner the other day got frustrated while watching an IPL cricket match. There is no wicket or cricket in the country which he belongs to, so his interest would have been watching those cheer girls when some important event (of which he might not have any clue about) happened during the match. He was hugely disappointed when the match was abandoned half way due to rains. He didn’t shout. He didn’t utter a word though he was angry. He chose to do a streaking which no words could explain. 

My uncle had come down to get some advance tests done at St John’s hospital for his little daughter. He belongs to a place where mosquitoes out-number humans by a good margin. If somebody’s only goal to donate blood is with the belief that it will remove some bad blood from his body and new fresh blood will be generated, he does not have to do anything there. The mosquitoes will remove ample quantities of blood ( bad and good as well ) from your body by one good-night’s stay there! Uncle found a few mosquitoes sitting on my recently painted wall. He took a newspaper, rolled into a shape of a nice stick. I could see the size of the mosquito and if it is hit on the wall itself, it will leave red graffiti on the wall definitely not to my taste. So before my uncle could think and act, I demonstrated, I just closed my hands close to the wall but not touching the wall but catching only the mosquito. Uncle got the message and he didn’t pursue further his mosquito catching drill, obviously he didn’t want to dirty his hands.

I was not rich enough to own a car those days. I was not even rich enough to put a new battery for the stolen one on my bike. No battery, no horn - so I didn’t think it was safe to take mosquito-catcher uncle and his daughter on my bike through the city roads noiselessly! We hired the three wheeler auto. While traveling in the auto, I realised the bike would have been much safer. It was sheer luck that all three of us were not taken in to any nearby hospital dead or alive.

Auto driver over shot the first gate and reached the second gate of hospital, no wonder this happened considering the speed at which he was driving. Later to realise that we needed to go back to the first gate. Without a second thought or look he just turned to the right to take a U turn hitting a bike rider on his right. He skidded and fell down. Before we realised what happened, the person coming on another bike from opposite direction seeing all this commotion, just stopped as we alighted from the auto. He had his own way of conveying things. He just slapped the auto driver as hard as he could. Auto driver vanished with his auto at double the speed. The slapper resumed his journey on his bike. The skidder just brushed aside his bruises and continued his journey. 

I am still trying to locate the unknown auto driver and pay him the charges with due interest. All I can do now is to express my words of gratitude through this blog, for taking us to the hospital for free of charges, though a bit dangerously! Knowing fully there is no remotest chance of that auto driver reading this and trying to claim his dues!

Having said all these, is it not powerful at times to keep quiet? No words, no expression, no action - can be more powerful in certain instances. Do I need any words to drive this point? each of us would have used or experienced that power someday or other.