Saturday, December 01, 2007

The wicked 'me'!

There have been incidents when I’ve been deliberately wicked. How did Itching to write ever come to know of it? The sixth sense at work perhaps? She’s tagged me to reveal the evil ‘me’ so here I go.

My husband once blasted me for not being able to find a comb to comb his receding hair or whatever was left of it. All the while the comb was lying right in front of him. I decided then that he should go without a comb for the rest of his life. I hid every comb in the house including the pocket combs that I got for Navaratri. The poor man cannot ‘see’ things that are right in front of him. From where would he find a hidden comb? He’d find my hair combed and tied up but could not bring himself to ask for one. He simply ran his fingers through his hair and looked around to see if by some magic a comb would fall into his hand from nowhere. I was certainly not relenting. This went on for 3 days when unknown to me he noticed me extracting a comb from my purse. The next day I saw his hair in place and realized that he had indeed outsmarted me. I still wonder why he didn’t go to a nearby shop and buy himself a comb? Wouldn’t it have been better than pulling a long face as if the whole world had turned against him. I would have done that if I had been in his place. Another gender rule I suppose. ‘Do what you want all your life, when things go wrong blame your wife.’

The former Principal of our college once withdrew the facility of using the telephone from her office even in emergency situations. We finally agreed to pay and use it. She kept a small ‘hundi’ near her table and staff members would drop two rupees into it before using it. Many self respecting staff members preferred to go to a pay phone booth to using the telephone in her office. Those were days before mobile phones had become popular. I’d deliberately go to her office, dial up a non existent number or insert a 25 or 50 paise coin and talk for at least 10 minutes.

When I first learnt to drive a car I used to get nervous when people overtook me without a warning.So when I gained confidence I’d make it a point not to give a pass to any one who wanted to overtake without indicating. ‘If you want to overtake, you better take my permission.’ I’ve gotten over that phase now.

When my brother in law visited us he’d listen to loud music of his choice on the internet till about two in the night. I deliberately disabled the connection and the poor man did not even suspect foul play. I felt lousy for being mean and enabled it after two days. That is also a problem with me. I start feeling bad for the target of my wickedness and end up relenting.

There have been other occasions when on an after thought I’ve felt that I should have retaliated in this or that manner when I was at the receiving end of atrocious behavior. But I never really have been able to do so. An acquaintance of mine often cites the following example-

A dominating relative of his would often visit them, have her way in everything, act mean to the entire family and leave everyone depressed by the end of her visit. The moment she left there would be a buzzing sound in the house. People would form groups and the conversation would be something like this-

“It would take me a minute to give her a fitting reply. I just controlled myself.”

“I almost said ‘this’ or ‘that’ but I kept quiet. Then what would be the difference between me and her?”

The truth is that most of us are happy being good. It is so much easier. We take the liberty of being wicked with those who are either very close to us or those who don’t matter at all. On the occasions mentioned above I did get a sadistic pleasure at least temporarily. It was like being someone else. Have I told you that I liked Ravan’s acting better than Ram’s in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan? I do hope the real Ram was not like Arun Govil’s lifeless depiction of the character. Remember, our mythological character was not only a good and just king but also a valiant soldier. And with his plastic smile Arun Govil hardly looked either of them!

24 comments:

Preethi said...

Nice one HHG... I esp liked the comb.. wicked wicked!!! :) And hey about liking Ravan better, I probably did too.. but fact is that I like villians better than heros.. I think they have more scope for acting.. For eg.. Prakashraj in every movie he acted in, Ramya Krishnan in Payappa... oh she was just too great!!

Lekhni said...

It's not wicked at all..just a different way of protest that does not involve shouting matches :)

Serendipity said...

Awww :)
U hid all the combs? How cute are u!

Vishesh said...

lol! everyone feels irritated and goes mean,i have the peculiar habit of testing my new friends a lot,by irritating them....

rajk said...

Just couldn't leave this site without leaving a note...
LOved this recent post...As for the character of Ram...we shd have a discussion about him sometime...It'll sure be heated!
And I don't know about the rest but I do think it's easier to be good than wicked.

aMus said...

aww..that was so clever!!!

coming to our epics, i wonder what you would have to say to this ...a friend's daughter complained that the epics are not really a propagator of values and morals -the good weren't so good...

Itchingtowrite said...

good ones.thanks for taking it up. loved the internet thing one. i hate such people. same goes for std calls on others fone. i lo ved it when the lines used to be down so that a particular relatie cud not make long callseveryday

Tys on Ice said...

way to go! now this is true protest like a true gandhian...but if mads, hid the comb, i wud hve just shaved my hair...tht wud get her goat...

as regard to the lousy relatives..iam pretty gud with them...i say things as it is, atleast thts the reputation i hve created for myself, so its kind of cool...i never hve any problem ...no gossips, no nastiness tht doesnt get a reprimand...i also dont get much visits, which is just as well...

dont u just hate those mentally retarded plastic smiles on our hindu gods? I saw the way shridi sai baba was potrayed in tv, with tht half closed , half smiling face like a dimwit...even jesus for tht matter...i bet these guys were remarkable men with more shades thn those shown by their portraits...

Marutham said...

Awesome & yes very true indeed...
Every person have acted wicked one time or the other! :)

//A dominating relative of his would often visit them, have her way in everything, act mean to the entire family and leave everyone depressed by the end of her visit.//
LOL... Been there :)

But every time i realise i had been wicked or may be just bad to someone..i never think twice to let them know i am sorry. :)

Marutham said...

LOL!! Just now my sis started searching her comb :P

NOT ME

Anonymous said...

I can't stop laughing at the comb incident. I think all these incidents just reflect that the child in you is still dominant and active, which is very good.

Unknown said...

Wicked HHG . I wonder whether any of your students are reading Mam's blog ? !!! And yes good thing you hid the combs - I shall also think up something drastic like this for AG !

Sumana said...

LOL HHG the comb idea is excellent. Once in a while spice in life is a necessity.

Prats said...

Evil woman!!!!! lol....It makes me want to do such things more often...cos now I don't have to feel guilty at all...

And I did like Ravan...I think more for his consistency in being evil...heheh nah, but he was a man after his dreams wasn't he...and we have been told to chase our dreams...


***The truth is that most of us are happy being good. It is so much easier


So true so true....

Hip Grandma said...

preethi:I too liked Ramya Krishnan's Padaiyappa.So we all have a streak of wickedness in us don't we?

lekhni:Yes a different way of expressing our protest.And it is satisfying to see our targets upset without one having uttered a word.

serendipity:I haven't actually given the full account.The confused look and the expectation that I'd offer him the comb....It was simply great !!

vishesh:Yes I suppose it is a natural reaction.

rajk:I've tried to be wicked in the
real sense but have failed miserably.Just a forlorn look of a wronged person is sufficient to soften my stand even in a logical argument.It IS easier to be good.

thinking aloud:Thank you.
As for the characters in our epics it is true that the good ones aren't all that good including Ram who has a lot of answering to do.How old was this friend's daughter?Some observation I must say.

ITW:It was okay for him to listen to music once in a way.But to carry on till past midnight was too much.People don't seem to understand.

tys on ice:If my husband had shaved his hair I would have declared 'kitchen bandh' and he hates hotel food.I agree with you on the unnatural depiction of our Godmen

marutham:First time here?welcome.Each family has at least one such irritating character and they are the ones that are highly criticized.I wonder if they realize this.BTW did your sis find her comb?This seems to happen in every household.

joy:Sometimes my husband's behavior is so childish that he understands only a childish response.

eve's lungs:I don't think my students know about my blog.Try it out with AG and let me know his reaction.

sumana:Incidents like this do add spice to our otherwise dull life!

prats:Let me not set a bad example to you young girls!Ravan's character had several good sides to it.He spoiled everything by coveting another man's wife.As i have said earlier tho' we all feel like being mean at some point of time,for most of us it is never possible to remain so for long.

Hip Grandma said...
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Hip Grandma said...
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Hip Grandma said...
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Usha said...

hahahahahahah... I hope none of your students are reading your posts!
The comb thing was really funny - ya. why didn't he go and buy one in stead of sulking? They make it appear that even combing their hair is a chore they do for our sake huh!

dipali said...

Loved your wickedness!
You are tagged.

The Talkative Man said...

HHG,
LOL@the arun govil comment. History has it that Govil fought Arvind Tripathy(Ravan) in a latter day election...so he was not all that inanimate for long :)

Hip Grandma said...

usha:I don't think my students know about this blog.When kids were young they used to be blamed for every missing item.With them away I am the one who misplaces everything in the house.And he only 'accidently' misplaces unimportant things like his PAN card passport and share certificates.I deliberately misplace important items like the safety pin,comb or the nailcutter.After all don't we need these each and every day of our life?OMG when will these men grow up??The way we quarrel at times would put children in their pre-teens to shame :D!

dipali:Checked out your tag.will take it up.Thanks

the talkative man:I always felt that way about Arun Govil's acting.BTW did he win the election.Knowing the Indian mentality I wouldn't be surprised if he had. After all Nitish Bharadwaj who played Krishna in Mahabharat did become an MP(worthless) from Jamshedpur

Tys on Ice said...

u r my muse for my latest post...btw , its a tribute in my own stupid way...iam tht sort of kid who used to pinch the face of my mother whn iam over flowing with love ...

Madhumita said...

You always make me smile :-) and its refreshing to read from someone who is as candid as you are. May I blog roll you btw?