ANGRY AND SAVAGE

Anger is an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage. It is accompanied by physiological and biological changes like other emotions, your heart rate and blood pressure go up.     –   CHARLES SPIELBERGER

Control anger before it controls you is what we often say, because we all have felt it whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage. It is a completely normal, usually healthy human emotion. It is only problematic when it gets out of control and turns destructive. It is then a real problem and it can lead to many disputes at work.  It will spoil our personal relationships, and it stands as real problem in the overall quality of our life. Then it can make us feel as though we are at the mercy of a this powerful emotion..

People use both conscious and unconscious processes to deal with the angry feelings. The three main approaches are expression, suppression, and being quiet and calm. Expressing our angry feelings in an assertive manner, but not in aggressive way is only the healthiest way.

We are often angry with petty faults of people. It is very common. But we face some mistakes of people in society look like crimes. If somebody smokes in a public place and disturb people who can not bear the smoke and can not breath normally, is it not a crime? If someone demands abnormal prices for normal commodities of our daily need when it is in demand (like the rates of onion and vegetables) how you feel? Don’t feel it like a crime?  And when Auto Rickshaw driver demands double the normal fare and you have to go somewhere in time, like reaching in time to catch a train or attending a job interview, don’t you think this like a crime?

We compromise in many occasions like this and these things are not viewed that much seriously by many people. But not all, some people will not compromise taking things like this as petty common thing?

It has been late in night and I am in night duty. I have been transferred to this police station. It’s far from a city where I have my family and I often think to resign the job to be with my family.

Here the scene is different. I have one constable and me in this PS. We feel this PS is looking better for using it as a residence also, as no house for rent here will be as peaceful as Ps in this village. I read to spend most of my time.

We will have a cup of tea any time here, even in midnights also. Tea is very healthy! It keeps us warm and it makes us feel happy.  Our canteen owner is a old man whe keeps a pot of tea all the night. He is Raghav.

“Shall I order for two cups of tea?” Johnson asked me.

I smiled as I know he wants a tea. I nodded my head and in other few minutes we have tea before us.

Just then, the telephone stated ringing. It is a wonder for us. Who will call us at this midnight? It may be a wrong call, somebody may speak in Bengali or Oriya, Marathi or Hindi, Telugu or Kannada. I laughed at this thought. Number of missed calls I have attended and they start speaking in any language. Even when we say that it’s a missed call, many people even do not know what is a missed call will be and they continue speaking in their language, think the number they dialed is correct, so they are speaking with the right person.

When phone is ringing continuously, Johnson attended and started talking with due respect. And he gave me the receiver.

I found that someone talking from the other side is a sugar factory owner and he is in a full drunken state.  He is very angry for something, done by a man working in his factory.

I know that when someone tries to hold in his anger, it can be suppressed and then converted or redirected. Just we have to stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. The danger of any anger not allowed as outward expression can turn inward and cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression.

This fact may be known to that person. He is very angry expressing it very freely as if he is showing his anger on us and though we are not related with this, sometimes, we have to bear this. Most people do not show their anger on every one, but some people do feel that anything they can do, because they believe that their popularity will control anyone and everyone  and make them to obey them, as if always too.

”Who the hell are you?“ he asked very angrily.

” I am … SI here. What can I do for you sir?”

“I see, I am coming there to lodge a complaint.”

He said this in a commanding voice. He roared like a rampant lion. What for? It is simply to say that he is a top leader or a rich man who can control anyone in this world.

He thinks, police people dance on their finger tips for the bread pieces they throw. It is so because he saw many in police department like this. He never bothers for the fact that all people are not alike and a few exceptional people may be against him or his bread pieces thrown.

He said that his servant did a very big crime and it cannot be overlooked. He gave me a piece of information that he knows the entire police department very well and all higher officials respect him.

He said in a voice of thunder cloud that I have to take his complaint immediately, without any question, now and right now.

”It’s already midnight sir, can you come in the morning?“

But he is not for my words. He insisted that he is coming now and I must wait for him.

I was silent. As if he is my boss whom I cannot resist.

In half an hour or so, a costly car stopped before the police station. Two people came in. One is the factory owner and the other is a laborer working in his factory.

The owner is in good dress and there is a long bottle of foreign whisky in his hand which is half empty. The laborer is also holding a long bottle of raw arrack which is half empty.

The owner is stout with eyes closing frequently and the laborer is a bundle of bones with burning eyes.

The face of the laborer is simple, he looks like a very agreeable man with his plain face, but nobody can judge the face of the factory owner as it is clearly unreadable.

They both sat on the old bench available in the PS and they put their bottles on my table. It all looked like I am trying a different cocktail.

The owner said that he has many fruit juice and sugarcane factories in the state and his friends call him with the name sweet fruit. He granted me a freedom to call him with that name if I like.  He educated me that people know him easily only with that name.

The owner called ‘sweet fruit’ started narrating about the crime, done by his laborer whose name is Bun.

“I came to this village few hours back to celebrate the annual function of our sugar factory. This is a laborer called Bun, working in my factory here.”

While the sweet fruit is speaking, the laborer Bun is staring at him with blank face. Sweet fruit continued.

“I have finished my speech in the annual function and came back to my rest house. I am taking this costly whisky in a leisurely mood. All of a sudden, this man called Bun entered my room and alarmed me.”

The sweet fruit stopped a while, took a long breath and he again continued.

“I am alarmed because, this place is new for me and I don’t know about this man well. This man calmly sat before me and he put his bottle of arrack on my table without creating any problem. Then I thought, he did not come with any bad intention of stabbing me or hitting me. But he is a criminal. He poured four drops of his arrack in my costly whisky and asked me to drink. How dare he is to do this crime? For this crime, he must be arrested. This is my word. “

I saw the brand of the whisky. It is a Cleveland Whiskey, Black Reserve Bourbon.

“Not four drops sir, just three.” Bun said very sincerely.

“May be three… but all my costly whisky is spoiled with these three drops of your local stuff.”

The sweet fruit argued. Bun also countered with his argument.

“It is you who encouraged me to do this.”

“Me?” he questioned. Sweet fruit saw him seriously

“Yes.. it’s you, you and you!”  Bun said in an affirmative voice.

Sweet fruit is looking amazingly that what Bun will say. Bun is looking at me and said that how sweet fruit has encouraged him.

*****

The sweet fruit is speaking with a lot of emotion in the annual meeting of the sugar factory. Group of the workers of his factory are there, sitting in the meeting. Whenever sweet fruit says some thing in praise of the workers, they start clapping in applause.  They are hearing what sweet fruit is saying. Bun is also one in them to clap loudly at times Sweet fruit praises the workers.

“Dear friends! I Call you as my friends, because I know, you workers in this factory as daily laborers supported this factory as if it is your own factory.  I was amazing at the great success of this factory which is not just mine. I looked at your nature of work and I saw number of times how you people are working here.  I know, your commitment and dedication made this factory stand as No.1 in this area.  I tell you one thing that we are all same. Don’t think that I am a owner and you are workers. Yes, you are not just simple workers. You are all like my close friends. I tell you one thing. I can come and eat in our home sitting with you and you can dine sitting with me as my friends.”

The sweet fruit said andthe workers are very happy. All of them are moved with a great spirit of oneness and they applauded sweet fruit in many flattering words they know. Many of them came forward after the speech is over and they shook hands with sweet fruit.

Bun also came like a typhoon before the sweet fruit and he also shook his hand with sweet fruit  heavily with a lot of emotion, but sweet fruit did not recognize anyone of them or their feelings. He simply rushed to his car as if nothing new happened and he vanished like the bright moon covered under the clouds.

******

Sweet fruit looked Bun seriously and asked him one question.

“How old are you?”

“Forty four,” Bun answered.

“Are you forty four?  I am just forty three!” sweet fruit said.

I am looking at sweet fruit and thinking why he asked that. Sweet fruit told bun just like a preacher or saint. He thought, he can be a preacher even though he is not an elder to Bun.

“See Bun, you made a big crime. I will speak rubbish in meetings! This is our art. How can you think that everything we speak is truth? You know I never speak truth. I speak only rubbish like many big people and all this to promote our business, you must know.”  

“Rubbish? Not truth? How it can be with such emotion?” Bun asked.

“That is real art, Bun! You cannot think everything you hear is truth. You cannot think that everything you see is truth. You cannot think that you can speak anything you like. I think, you know the story of THREE MONKEYS. Don’t see bad, don’t hear bad and don’t speak bad. You must be like the three monkeys who deny to see bad, who deny to hear bad and who deny to speak bad. But we are not like you, because we are rich and power carriers. We are against you common people. We feel you people more rubbish than what we speak and do.  We are exceptional and we are exempted people in the society. We are always eligible to see rubbish, hear rubbish and speak rubbish. So we speak rubbish, nothing else, you must know this fact.”

They are not worried about my presence and they started in their word fight against each other.

Sweet fruit is really angry on Bun and Bun is like a ball of fire ready to fall on sweet fruit.

They both are hostile and uncontrollably angry on each other. They are just like ANGRY AND SAVAGE.

I see them as savage, uncivilized and barbaric beasts, trying eat each other and weak always will be the prey.

“I don’t want your bloody work in your factory. You are the  cheat of the most worst cheats! “

Bun is angry and irritated, he said in high pitch of scolding voice.

“How dare you call me a cheat? Hold your tongue. Nobody speaks with me like this? You know, you are finished.”

Sweet fruit said with the same anger. He is unable to bear the fact that his worker is calling him a cheat before a new person, it is me.

Now, both looked at me as if they suddenly knew that I am there hearing about all the dispute. Sweet fruit ordered me to arrest Bun. Bun requested me to arrest sweet fruit.

I simply said,I am not arresting anyone of them.

The anger creates problems like depression by spoiling good personal relations, seems perpetually cynical and hostile. People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything, and making cynical comments have not learned how to constructively express their anger and not surprisingly, they are not likely to have many successful relationships.

It is true that sweet fruit lost good relations with me as well as with Bun.

Sweet fruit looked at me as if he will stab me if he has the favorable place here. He can shoot me if he has gun in his hands. He is angry to such heights. He swallowed words and looked like a cobra under the point of stubborn stick in the hands of a hefty man and struggling as he cannot move this way or that way.

“Nobody declines my word. You did a mistake. Now I forgive Bun as I know, he is really innocent.  You are arrogant and headstrong fellow, now I know. I will not excuse you.”

Sweet fruit showed his full anger and he threatened me.

“See my dear SI… you are finished! Now, get ready!”

He did not wait a minute. He stood taking his bottle of whisky and proceeded towards the car. Bun also took his bottle and followed sweet fruit and in another minute, the car started at the gate of PS.

Johnson is more disturbed. I simply smiled at the anger of sweet fruit.

***

After few days, I forgot this incident completely as it has no importance for me.

One day, I received my transfer order from my department.

I am transferred. This transfer is an award in disguise as It is dear to me. Why you know?

I am posted again to my old place where I have my family.

I am happy for I will be playing with my sweet daughter in three to four hours.

I cannot forget the face of  sweet fruit who is angry and savage. If he controls his anger, he will be very sweet forever.
-THE END-