The Be(a)st within you .....

Many times I have wondered how Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian Freedom Struggle could silently face all the violence and retaliate with non-violent means to subdue the then British rulers.

Sometimes I wonder is it humanely possible?

When I look into the various situations in life, I realized I am perfunctorily a gentle person who has taken decisions many a time hastily. Sometimes reacted violently. But I never had it in me to use my physical abilities on anyone. If I have hurt my sisters I know I have cried equally when I hurt them. My actions would primarily have been out of frustration that they never understood what it was that I wanted them to change or what mistake it was I feel they should realize and correct.

The other day I was listening to the many stories where heroes were born. What made a hero?

Like I said in one another article of mine, “He is someone who does extraordinary things when faced with extraordinary situations....”

I had reached home one late night, saw that the electricity at home had tripped. I parked my car and that is when I saw for the first time a scorpion in my car porch. I mistakenly had come close to stamping it and it sensed it and had its tail up in a flash and was rotating with its tail ready to strike. I moved a step behind. I switched on the headlights of my car and waited at a distance fearfully watching its every move. I was ready to run as far as needed! After sometime the scorpion calmed down but ran under my dad's slippers..
Scorpion: If not similar, some what the kind of scorpion I saw in my car porch when I switched on the lights. Though tiny, it looks vicious..

If it had run anywhere else I would have let it go.....

But then I realized, if I let it remain, there is no assurance that it would come out and leave. What if my dad tried to wear the slippers next morning and get hurt?

I guess that thought was alone enough to spur me into action. Suddenly I forgot my fear. There was a calmness in me which I could not fathom, but it was there.

“I did not go to its home, it came to mine and its my duty to protect my family!”, my mind said aloud.

I rushed to my door, found the key and went inside, with one thought; “The iron rod I keep for barring the door!”

Got it, rushed out and I guess at 3 am at night, the fear in me was replaced by coldness. I waited patiently for the scorpion to make the first move. As I saw its first leg come out, I hammered the claw and it broke apart. The scorpion now moved backward and I saw its tail come out of the back ready to strike. In a jiffy, I had the iron rod clamped down on its tail. That too was cut off and I then lifted the slippers, exposing the wounded and helpless scorpion . I cut out its other claw too. Finally I splattered what life remained in it without remorse. Did it feel bad, yes! I had for one moment admired its beauty, felt sad I was taking a life. But there was no choice, it was either me, my family or “It”. I chose “it” to should perish. Darwinian theory came to the fore again....

Does this deserve so much space? Its a joke for many and there are people who live with scorpions . For me a city boy, sheltered from such creatures, brought out one major realization.

“Three years of Karate training, countless hours on the football field representing school, college,club and university with all those strengthening exercises, never made me an aggressive person!”

All it took was that one thought of someone close to me was going to get physically hurt and I became cold and calculating. Having good relations with people right from the top of society to the so called thugs, I have realized in real life, any person who gets cornered will fight back with whatever he has.

Even one blow is good enough, but fight back it will! At the end of the day, what is the purpose of all our lives, to survive. If anything attacks this basic instinct, its the only choice to retaliate. When you have nothing to lose, you fight the bloodiest...

Mahatma Gandhi , was in his non-violent ways showed the true power of a nation standing together, but for an individual when faced with unreasonable people, non-violence is something one cannot fathom. I respect the “The Father of Our Nation” on his birthday, this October 2nd , but I have to choose my path when the necessity arises...