Tuesday, April 1, 2014

No-Nonsense Chayaisms -Animals...Ambition...Anger


        Animals:
 I love animals- that is why I am a vegetarian. What amazes me is that activists who cry hoarse against cruelty to animals are perfectly comfortable carving into a piece of Turkey! Animals have a right to live as much as we do and just because we have the intelligence to trap them and train them, we have no business to kill them and eat them. It is also heartrending to see animals dragging a cartload of goods, without proper nourishment to give them the strength. The civilized world continues to revel in sports that involve animals, with no sensitivity to their comfort. Animals don’t harm human beings unless provoked or hungry. Why do we then cheat them of their right to peaceful coexistence, just to satisfy our palate? There is so much hue and cry about preserving tigers and panthers. Why not the same about chicken and sheep? Ah ha- there goes a good meal!
    Ambition:
At 13, I had a burning ambition to become an actress. I imitated my favourite Nutan and Vyjayantimala and used my box camera to get my picture taken, dressed like them. I dreamed of winning the Filmfare award and signing autographs. At 19, I got married and at 21, became a mother of two. But my ambition still nestled somewhere in me. At 45 I got an opportunity to act in a Kannada film for just about 10 minutes, as a doctor! It happened when I was compering a film awards function and an actor/ producer who was present, chose me for the role. If we aim for the moon, we may get a star. But that is what ambition is all about. Be passionate enough about a purpose, the means will come. This again proved to be right about my ambition of starting a women’s organization. A well wisher gave me the funds to launch it and progressive business houses have been supporting it. Then I had this ambition of starting a mobile health/ counseling centre to reach out to the underprivileged at their doorstep. A casual acquaintance during my morning walk, liked the idea and he gifted the van and necessary funds for the project! Ambition is good, as long as it is not aimed at depriving others of what they have. Like Macbeth whose ambition to become King, caused so much devastation.
 Anger:
 It is good to get angry-once in a while-at your own folly! Anger is a useless form of hitting back at the one who is the cause of it. Cool! That is the most effective retaliation. The angrier you get, the less you must show it. Smile and swallow. Shift your anger from persons to issues. Corruption, violence, falling social values, failing education systems… there are enough reasons to get your blood boiling. The best way to vent it is by involving yourself in movements that can set them right. Raving and ranting does not help. A valuable tip-when you are angry, eat something. Sometimes, anger could be the result of hunger! The best way to deal with anger is to shut yourself in your room and write a nasty letter to the person you are angry with, pour out your wrath and then, tear the letter into bits. This improves your handwriting and spelling too! The other way is to take a soft toy and imagine it to be the person you are angry with – punch the toy till your hand hurts. It is better to flush your system this way than resort to verbal or physical violence. Exercise is a great way of getting anger out-it takes away the negative energy, converting it to a positive activity. It is said that when you feast on anger, you are the dish.  

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