From coal to cool

Life is petty and whimsical. It can desert you in a moment, without any notice, and turn you into a chunk of rotting flesh, wrote my friend Joy Raphael on FB alluding to veteran Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra’s death. No, Joy is not a philosopher, just another street-hardened journalist of Mumbai. “So when life is in you, be level-headed. See even a ragpicker or scavenger as your equal and treat him humanely,” suggests Joyananda.

I couldn’t agree more with him.

I feel more often it is anger that turns spoilsport. One friend of mine in Mumbai who broke the spectacles of my boss in a fit of anger lost his job. He was a friendly, jovial colleague. But that split-second anger cost him heavy.

As Buddha rightly said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else.”

You must have read this joke:

‘When I get mad at you, you never retaliate. How do you control anger?’ a husband asked his wife.
“I clean the toilet bowl,” she replied.

“So what!”

“…with your toothbrush.”