Words inspire, words hurt ! - Raj Bahadur Yadav

    Words inspire, words hurt !

                                                            - Raj Bahadur Yadav

 In my childhood, I was an innocent witness to family squabbles in our village when the elders scolded an abusive young man,"Jabaan sambhaal kar bol!"[ Guard your tongue].In the heat of the moment, the rustic people said a lot of things they regretted later on. The harsh words always leave a bad taste in our mouths, whereas the polite and pleasant words build up an ambience of mutual trust and selfless attachment .Now when I have turned 59 year old, I find  humming softly to myself the most popular lyric"Ek din bik jayega matee ke mol" sung by Mukesh Chand Mathur better known mononymously as"Mukesh" in  the legendary filmmaker and producer, Raj Kapoor's film,"Dharam Karam"[1975]. In my humble opinion, this is one of the most melodious and soul-stirring songs the Indian cinema has ever produced . Let me recite its opening lines," Ek din bik jayega maati ke mol/ Jag me reh jayenge pyare tere bol"[ One day, you will be sold for the price of clay/ All that will be left in the world will be only your words". I cannot help sharing with the readers another inspiring line of the lyric," Koi nishaani chhod phir dunia se dol"[Leave a mark, then depart from this world].

                                                                                  On getting the congratulatory comment,"Shabash"[Well done!] from my school teacher in my notebook, I felt greatly elated and would show the written remark in Hindi to my father at home in the evening. I felt inspired to study with more enthusiasm when he patted on my back saying," Bahut achcha, Shabash!"   In 1978, as a student of Government College, Hisar,  I was jubilant to see 80/100 marks on the front page of  my answer-sheet of English paper with a  special compliment ," Very, very good", from Prof Balhara, who taught us the famous novel,"Animal Farm"[ 1945] authored by George Orwell in B A--I [Arts]. Some of  the toppers and brilliant students from four sections of our undergraduate class had applauded me,"Quite excellent. Keep it up!" Such kind words of my teachers and classmates kept me inspired for decades together  to burn the mid-night oil and  become a diligent student and teacher.

                                                  There is a well-known English proverb,"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue/ Keeps his soul from troubles". The words spoken by reckless and thick-skinned people pierce our hearts. They can hurt us beyond description, make us forego our meals and sleep. Once a villager visited his maternal aunt. The peasant woman prepared"Kheer"[rice boiled in milk with sugar] for him. When she had served him the food, she asked him,"How does it taste?". Instead of answering her question, he put a counter question to her,"How many buffaloes have you got, dear aunt?" She gave a plain reply," Only one". The fool in him became active," If this buffalo does, what will you do?' She got alarmed at his unexpected query yet she told him," We shall buy a new buffalo, my son!" But the country bumpkin in him did not feel satisfied with her honest answer and blundered into the avoidable folly," If that buffalo too dies because of some disease?" Now, the old lady seemed to have run out of her patience. She picked up a bamboo stick lying near her to teach him a lesson," Thahar paaji, abhi maja chakhati hun"[ Wait a moment, rascal, I will teach you a lesson! ]. The youth stopped enjoying the sweet dish and made  a rush for the exit door.The sweet liquid in white was  trickling down from his shirt. Somebody standing in their courtyard asked him," What is this dripping down from your shirt?" The fool now felt ashamed of his thoughtless words and could acknowledge his folly," This is the juice of my tongue!"