Sunday, October 26, 2008

Humming beyond humilition

Saurav Ganguly finally decided to take retirement from his cricketing career. This most successful test cricket captain of the country went through pretty troubled and controversial times in the recent past. The various forms of humilation he had been subjected to made him finally quit something he loved to do. All he hopes now is to have a decent exit. I relate with Saurav on the humiliation part and understand what humiliation can do to a person psychologically ,especially the talented and successful ones.

         While appreciation is like the caring sunlight under which the seeds sprout, flowers blossom and fruits ripen. Discouragement is like a dense cloud that shrouds the sun . Still this cloud has a silver lining and the chinks in the cloud would let the sun in sometimes. Keeping the hope alive. Demoralization is like dense clouds covering the sky and raining hard making it impossible for the sun to get in. Humiliation on the other hand is something that negates the validity of the seeds , the potential of the flowers and worth of the fruits. It sucks  the inner strength of the seed  leaving it  with an echo of  painful emptiness. The inner sense of worth is murdered .  The dead do not hope.The dead parts of body always necrose and shed off.So after being humiliated for a long long time one cannot expect to stay the same.Deep injuries heal by  ugly scars but most heidious is a mind scarred by memories of humiliation.

           However the beautiful  thing is that time heals all scars and as long as the soul is true .No amount of external psychological torture can disintegrate a strong willed spirit. Humiliation in essence stems from  a false belief of an intolerant person or group.They strongly attack the mental and emotional strength of another person in pursuit of this false belief . The greatest example that comes in my mind is the incident that transformed an Indian lawyer to become the torch bearer of the Indian independence movement. The bitterness of being denied a first class compartment, despite having the tickets,, and being pushed out of the train ,on protesting, changed an ordinary man into a Mahatama.

           Humiliation is always bitter. But one has to take care that it does not  end up making one poisonous. Easier said than done. Why do people humiliate others? I believe that it stems from the feeling of superiority and even a deep seated insecurity. Women have been physically and emotionally humiliated due to male dominance. Aparthied existed owing to the false superiority of white skin. Discriminatory behaviour basically provokes people to humiliate others.

            I may sound poetic at times and at times impractical but with my first hand experience with humiliation there are a few things I have learned. Humiliation cannot kill till one lets it. No one can reject you except you allow them . No opinion can be stronger than a person’s will. Life in essence moves on and one should do that too. Let pain carve deep in you not to contain the poison of bitterness but more and more joy. So for Saurav it’s time to move on . For me it was just a realisation that I have actually moved on from that period in my life .
[written on 9/10/08]

No comments:

Post a Comment

Would love to have your comments/suggestions....