Flattery

-
"The ego is a leaky balloon, forever requiring helium of external love to remain inflated, and ever vulnerable to the small pin pricks of neglect."
~ Gurcharan Das, The Difficulty of Being Good

We all claim to be sane. Not engrossed in ourselves. Not influenced by flattery.
But we all are. 
I think most of us realize once the other person is overdoing it.. but till then, it's all music to our ears...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Death and the ones left in between

-
How do you tell a 9 year old that her father is no more.... As adults, most of us grapple with the thought and logic (if any) behind a dear one leaving us... and I was suddenly left wondering what to say to this 9 year old !!! For the first time in a long time, I was left speechless, not because I didn't want to say anything, but simply because I didn't know what to say.. Does it make sense if I tell you that all of a sudden, I became the child with a rubbery tongue, and the 9 year old had turned into the adult, trying to respond sensibly and sensitively. I was stumped by the questions thrown at me.  I felt so insufficient in my responses, but the child took even that in her stride. The strength of character in facing not just the reality but also fighting each dilemma in her own sweet way left me in deep thought for some time to come. I hope no one has to face what this child did...  PS: I was faced with this recently when a close friend lost her husband, and I was told to tak
Read more

...

-
Image
that thought in my head... it doesn't seem to go.. when i should have said what i'd known... but couldn't seem to find the right moment to do.. now life has given me a moment's grace.. to say what i want to..  so i don't take it to my grave.. my mind is doing a somersault... 'coz i have time enough, just to mention 'em all... and that's what i deserve in the end... something i wanted to say, but was left stuck in my head.. PS: This is another masterpiece by MC Escher
Read more

Anger & Entitlement

-
For most of us, a bout of anger can happen often - with or without visible reason -  depending on what our mind/subconscious is saying to us. To the recipient of the harsh words, it may feel uncalled for. But irrespective of the cause, the impact is sobering of mood, dulling of enthusiasm, and a feeling of distaste (even if temporary). But what/where does anger stem from? The more you mull over this question, the more answers you'll find. The most common reasons are ofcourse dissatisfaction, discontent, a feeling of disparity (notice how all the common causes start with dis-). But I'd like to dwell on two causes I've noticed, which are often not highlighted, maybe because we choose not to dwell so deep. The first being guilt and the second being a sense of entitlement. Anger stemming from guilt is easy to identify, especially in the corporate world. Lots of folks use the technique of offense is the best defense  when it is actually their work that is lacking. Aggression se
Read more