Words fall short, tears tell all : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Broad Strokes

Words fall short, tears tell all

In his work ‘Arms and the Man’, George Bernard Shaw described the character of Captain Bluntschli, the ‘chocolate-cream’ soldier, who is brave but afraid to die.

Words fall short, tears tell all

Prime Minister Narendra Modi consoles ISRO Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan. FILE PHOTO



SANDEEP SINHA

In his work ‘Arms and the Man’, George Bernard Shaw described the character of Captain Bluntschli, the ‘chocolate-cream’ soldier, who is brave but afraid to die. There are only two kinds of soldiers, old and young; while the old soldiers carry food, the young ones carry ammunition, the book says. But Captain Bluntschli is different. He carries chocolate bars along with cartridges in his rucksack and gets scared. A Swiss mercenary, he has decided to fight for Serbia in the war against Bulgaria because Serbia came first on the road leading from Switzerland. The thing about Captain Bluntschli is that he acknowledges his weaknesses and inadequacies and endears himself to the woman whose chamber he enters as a fugitive.

The acknowledgement of weaknesses is also a kind of strength and it shone through when the ISRO chief was moved to tears with the Vikram lander failing to land on the lunar surface. The wistfulness of that proverbial slip between the cup and the lip was evident in those moments and in those lachrymal drops. The lander was lost but a nation was won over, enough to keep hopes alive and keep trying. The pain of debacle in the 1962 China war tugged at Nehru’s heart-strings, moving him to tears on hearing “Mere watan ke logon.” More recently, we saw on television Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu crying when his friend and colleague Arun Jaitley died. Tears are said to have antiseptic value but they do come out on different occasions to convey different emotions. We have tears of joy and of sorrow. When Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash, Mrs Indira Gandhi had put on dark glasses and no one saw her tears, she making a point to visit first the family of the co-pilot who had also died in the crash. LK Advani had tears in his eyes when he went to commiserate with the family of a Parliament terror attack victim.

It has been interesting to read “men cry after the ISRO incident”. As Amitabh Bachchan famously remarked in one of his films, “Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota.” But the truth is that tears do come out and they are not about just hurt but varied emotions. Hindi poetess Mahadevi Verma wrote, “Abla jeevan hai tumhari yehi kahani; aanchal mein hai doodh aur aankhon mein paani,” while describing the state of women in contemporary society. Traditionally, men wept only when they married off their daughters. Lalu Prasad Yadav won over many of his detractors when he wept openly at his daughter’s ‘bidai’, showing a human side to his personality.

For scientists who spend their life discovering new things, disappointment is natural. Sir Isaac Newton’s dog Diamond knocked over a candle and the fire destroyed many years of his research, making him say, “Thou little knowest the damage thou hast done.” Things might have gone wrong but sight of Dr K Sivan with his eyes wet is also an acknowledgement of the pride he takes in his work.

Lachrymal drops

The acknowledgement of weaknesses is also a kind of strength and it shone through when the ISRO chief, Dr K Sivan, was moved to tears with the Vikram lander failing to land on the lunar surface. The wistfulness of that proverbial slip between the cup and the lip was evident in those moments and in those lachrymal drops. The lander was lost but a nation was won over, enough to keep hopes alive and keep trying.

Top News

Relief for Delhi CM, High Court bins plea for his ouster

Relief for Delhi CM, High Court bins plea for his ouster

Special court extends Kejriwal’s ED custody till April 1