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Elephant In The Room

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by HariLakhera, Oct 26, 2018.

  1. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Elephant in the Room
    If you really want to enjoy this please read up to the end.
    The title should justify itself at the subject of an article. Sometimes it can have no relation with the subject or so the reader may say but the writer knows what prompted him/her to name it as such. It is quite possible after a lapse of considerable time, the writer may also not recount the reason but that is just natural of human intellectual limitations.
    But then here it will be perfectly in order if, friends, you want to know the reason why I have titled this way. We all know that big writers and novelists give synopsis of their work in a few lines which may or may not reveal the actual subject but will certainly induce the reader to buy the book. You can trust me on this because I have been victim of such entrapments many a times when I bought some books just because their title promised some revelations or the synopsis promised wonderland.
    So, you want to know why “Elephant in the room” and why not something else? As I said reader read customer, is the king and his wish must be fulfilled. Fact is there is nothing in a name though the opposite – there is everything in a name -is equally true. If you have any doubts, ask any daughter who could persuade her Dad to take the family out to watch ‘Gay aur Gauri” and ‘Hathi mere Sathi’ because the names suggested that the movies would be harmless for her growing darling daughter. He was fully convinced that both the movies were about animals and why we should love and protect them.
    If you are still not convinced, let me give me some more examples of what is in a name. I will start with myself. I have no virtues for the name I carry (Hari-the God Almighty) and have all the vices of his staunch adversary the Satan. There are many such examples like-Lakshmi who begs on the road side or Sita who runs a travel agency or Sunayana who is blind.
    I have digressed from the subject. Blame it on the Blue Label which is making me off balance. Blue, Black or Red or even country yellow or white they are all the same after two on the rocks. Coming back on the subject, let me confess that I will speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We should give credit to the original writer and should stay away from plagiarizing, cut paste from internet included. This article was conceived when I was in a sober mood. I hope this will not be termed as plagiarizing. Talking of conceiving I am reminded of a joke. There was this speaker who somehow could not find words to complete the sentence and struck at ‘I conceive……I conceive…….I conceive……………….’ When a woman got up from the audience and shouted at him saying ‘Mr. we women conceive once and produce a child and you have already conceived thrice and produced nothing. You can just imagine the audience applause and speaker’s embarrassment.
    I have again digressed. It always happens with me in the morning after my Wedding Anniversary.
    Where were we?
    So you wanted to know why I have titled this story as “Elephant in the Room”. In fact I wanted you to ask this question, though you have every right ask any question and I have every right to reply or not to reply. In this case my option is limited to answering your questions because I am standing by the podium and you are in the audience. I expect the same when the positions are reversed. When among the audience, I have often faced this dilemma of asking or not asking, if asking- what asking, if not asking-why not asking. What if I ask a stupid question and others laugh at me? What should be the most brilliant question that would stump the speaker for answer? In the process others asked the questioned that I had been thinking of leaving me aghast with envy. Before I could think of another brilliant question, the speech was concluded. Pretty soon I realized that the most stupid question is the one that has never been asked.
    Talking of questions and answers, I admit that the more the questions are raised, the more the answers are vague. There is no direct question and there is no direct answer. Some questions have never been answered. Answers to the question change depending on the person who is answering and the time when it is answered. ‘Who am I?” “Where from I came”? “Where shall I go?’ have been replied differently by Krishna, Mohammad, Jesus. Until 18th century we were known as Vaishnavites, Saivites, Tantrics or Saktos and so on but Hindus. Even today our Shankaracharyas represent competitive school of authority. We neither have a Founder nor a Mecca. Called upon to define Hinduism, we look for an answer and hide under the offbeat answer-Hinduism or now Hindutva. Even in modern times answers change depending upon who is replying and when. We see it every day. Political parties in particular change answers to the similar question when they are opposition.
    OMG what is happening to me? Why can’t I stay on the subject? Am I tipsy? ‘No way’ as my GD would put it or ‘I don’t care’ as my GS would say with left hand wave... How can I be tipsy early in the morning and that too on my wedding anniversary? Getting tipsy is not in my genes. Besides there are many other forms of tipsy people like tipsy rich, tipsy beauties, tipsy intellectuals, and tipsy upper cast or even tipsy colored. So there is something else.
    But what is that? You may try to distract, I will stay on track. If I have titled the blog as it is named there has to be some reason. With a little help from you I will find out from your comments or lack of them. I also know God helps those who help themselves.
    To cut the long bluffing short, even there can be layers within a layer like onion, let me tell you why I named this as I named it though I am not obliged to tell you because you have not asked and replying without any prompting is considered unnatural or unbecoming of a serious person who has thrived upon beating about the bush when there is neither a drum to beat nor a bush anywhere within sight reminding me of a some olden times story where a blind man decides to buy an elephant , not exactly knowing what an elephant looks like other than that it has four legs and more importantly why he needed it any way, but to show the world that a blind man can too own an elephant and therefore visits the animal fair moves around declaring ‘I need an elephant’ is approached by an elephant seller, goes round and around touching the elephant from all approachable angels and parts, shaking his head in disapproval, seeing which the elephant sellers anxiously asks ‘what’s wrong’ and is faced with a question ‘okay, okay it does have four legs but which is the head and which is the tail?
     
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  2. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Hari ji, with lots of aasha clicked on thread. Wanted to read till end, but no blank lines between paragraphs is straining the eyes. :pensive:
     
  3. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanks for trying. Well just trying to control the thinking process and controlling the monkey.
    Yes it is a bit long and cannot be edited now.
     

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