Read the intent

Sitting with my uncle in his electrical parts shop in downtown Delhi, a known dealer from the market asked for fifty inductors. “No, I don’t have a single piece”, proclaimed my uncle. Ignoring what my had said so seriously, the visitor grovelled, “I direly need it, a long time customer is waiting in my shop; I know you alone can help!” My uncle’s 'no' thawed, “You don’t deserve it, you didn’t settle last three payments despite several reminders.” The visiting dealer admitted the lapse, “our own payments were held up. Also, huge funds were spent on my mother’s treatment, the entire market knows.” After some more arguing, the dealer returned with the stuff he wanted, attesting that sometimes a 'no’ may include ‘yes’.

What we hear is half the truth. Apropos of Tennyson’s line, “Words like nature half reveal and half conceal the soul within”. Most children understand that ‘no’ to their demand shall turn to an okay if pursued full-heartedly. With poor vocabulary at their command, many pour out whatever poor substitute occurs to mind in the heat of the moment. I recall a father flaring up after being repeatedly blamed by his hostile son, “you want both of us to die?” Not knowing how to respond, and knowing respond he must, the nonplussed son bursts out, “yes, I do!” The arrow had been shot! After this, the parents latch on to the point, “he doesn’t want either of us to survive anymore, he himself said so. Ask him?”

The other day, a cousin who lived nearby gave me an SOS call to appear and help settle a violent outbreak allegedly created by his wife. Without loss of time, as I reached, the lady burst into tears, yelling, “It’s me who had to put up with a man of this ilk all these thirty years; no one else could have tolerated such a rascal! It’s too much now, and I feel suffocated to stay on with this man any longer.” With my usual cool, I asked for a glass of water though didn’t really need it. Then I reprimanded both partners for ignoring the normal courtesy of inviting me in. In an hour-long moderating monologue, interspersed with several examples, I passionately pleaded with the both of them to cease any further argument, to understand one’s own self first before making the other understand, and always remember that our days are numbered.

I thanked God when the storm subsided. The lady went into the kitchen and returned shortly with three cups of tea on one hand and plate with raw vegetables to be cooked in another.