A grouch is a winner all the time!

Cheeniya · Aug 27, 2012

My dear RGS
An excellent FB as usual! From moralising in the penultimate stanza, you move on to a very practical approach in the concluding one. I guess we all put up with them only for this reason. We get so used to their grouchiness that we continue to extend the same courtesy to them even after they lose all their use and clout!
Sri

PriyaKathiravan · Sep 2, 2012

Great observation ! And a thoroughly enjoyable piece.......it always amazes me how you take up some small incident, hidden in plain sight, and weave a delightful article out of it.....and always that little garnish of self deprecating humour that reels in fans by the shoal !

Its true that an old grouch always gets attention and pampering. But i think the second important operative word here is "old". A grouchy young person will be just yelled at and shown the door.
Momentary attention and pampering aside, what matters is that people "like" pleasant chaps and "unlike" grouches, though the latter went home with four Bakshanam bags and the former with just a beeda.

Cheeniya · Sep 2, 2012

Thanks a lot for your generous praise Priya. It always act like an elixir on my psyche!
Your distinction between the old and the young grouch sounds interesting. But when a young chap acts like a grouch, he is branded 'peevish'. It is the young peevish guy who matures into a grouch as he grows older. A grouch has got to be old to command attention. Peevishness over a period of time leaves its imprint on the facial features of a classic grouch. I can give you the example of Walter Matthau! But as you say, peevishness in youth is often mistaken for a grouch and he is inevitably shown the door. A thoroughbred grouch can never be shown the door. A beeda at a wedding is the equivalent of a 'Like' in IL!
Sri