Emotions — How to handle?

In common parlance, emotion is the expression of the vibe of ourselves, others and environment around us. Emotion is a complex psychophysical process that arises spontaneously, evokes either a positive or negative psychological response and physical expressions and subjective feeling associated with perceptions. It is defined as a state in which the individual is aroused and is aware of the bodily changes produced by the arousal. Changes associated with emotion are of three categories:

• overt expressions: Face, eyes, lips, and facial muscles show appropriate changes for anger, happiness, sorrow, etc.,  voice also changes; 
• physical responses: face turning red; increase in heartbeat, trembling, increased breathing, muscle feels tense; finally feel very tired; and, 
• psychological changes: internal – involving  feelings, thoughts, and perceptions. 

In 1960 Arnold proposed the theory of emotion based on cognitive appraisal that consists of four steps to explain the experience of emotion: 

Perception – The first step is the perception of the external stimulation, say for instance, of seeing a snake on a road
Appraisal – This perception leads to the next step known as appraisal.  Having seen the snake, the person would then evaluate whether it is harmful/poisonous or harmless/non-poisonous. 
Expression – This appraisal then determines what kind of emotion one should experience. This appraisal results in a sense of safety (if the snake is perceived as non-poisonous and hence not life –threatening) or fear (if it is perceived as poisonous). Next is the expression of this feeling of safety or fear. 
Action – as is appropriate in the form of physiological changes. These bodily changes then prepare one for a definite course of action. Thus the last step in experiencing the emotion is action —action of running away from there fast, if it is a poisonous snake or coolly walking away if it is otherwise.

However, subsequent recent research on the brain and emotion has shown that the relationship of emotion and cognition is not that simple. Cognition is defined as knowing a thing consciously. But we can experience an emotion without being conscious of it. So, many psychologists prefer to accept : one, physiological changes in emotion are a function of the cognitive appraisal that occurs in response to the arousal of the body; and two, cognition can also occur at the unconscious level. 

Antonio Damasio opines that “emotions are complicated collections of chemical and neural responses, forming a pattern; all emotions have a some kind of regulatory role to play, leading in one way or another to the creation of advantageous to the organism exhibiting the phenomenon; emotions are about the life of an organism, its body to be precise, and their role is to assist the organism in maintaining life.”  This group of scientists believes that emotions are critical to the higher reaches of human intelligence. They also argue that contrary to common belief, emotions do not ‘get in the way’ of rational thinking. On the other hand, they aver that emotions are essential to rationality. This group is of the opinion that people with damage to ventro-medial part of the pre-frontal cortex display gross defects of planning, judgment and social appropriateness, though they perform to a high level in most language and intelligence tests. In their opinion this phenomenon is a result of their inability to respond emotionally to the content of their thoughts. 

Emotions play a key role in the organizational life. People working in organizations too experience pleasure, sadness, jealousy, rage, guilt and love and display them to the varying levels of intensity and frequency. Secondly, people, in addition to monetary and social benefits, also work for emotional benefits. In a nutshell, all this cumulatively leads to the conclusion that for an individual to be successful in the society/organizations, it is essential to know one’s own emotions as also the emotions of people around him. 

Emotional wellness is derived through a "conscious choice" for, it is the thought chosen by an individual that ignites an electrochemical process in the brain that releases appropriate chemicals into to the body which ultimately prove to be either helpful or destructive to the body.  As Dalai lama observed, we “can overcome negative emotions like anger and hatred by cultivating counter-forces such as love and compassion.”

Choice is ours!

 

immortal Shakespeare's 450th Birthday Celebrations

 

… O Earth … O purifier … may we not injure thy vital or thy heart

The Indians of yore looking at the earth with reverence prayed thus:

Whatever I dig up of you, O earth,
May you of that have quick replenishment!
O purifying one,
May my thrust never reach
unto your vital points, your heart.
May your dwellings, O earth,
free from sickness and wasting,
flourish for us!
                                                Through a long life watchful,
                                                    May we always offer to you our tribute.
                                                                                                                   — Atharva Veda

Indeed, till AD 1500, the dominant world view was organic: People lived in small cohesive communities and experienced nature in terms of organic relationships, characterized by the interdependence of spiritual and natural phenomena and the subordination of individual needs to those of the community. 

“The image of the earth as a living organism and nurturing mother served” ancients “as a cultural constraint” restricting their actions.  As a result, they could not “dig into her entrails for gold, or mutilate her body.” Every destructive act against earth was indeed, considered as a breach of human ethical behavior.  

They firmly believed that the whole of mankind’s actions and desires are linked up with the existence of other human beings. The health of society was considered to be dependent “quite as much on the independence of the individuals composing it as on their close social cohesion.” To be ethical, it was believed that one’s behavior should essentially be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties and needs. 

But unfortunately, this medieval outlook changed radically in the 16^th and 17^th centuries— the cultural constraints disappeared as the mechanization of science took place setting decadence in motion. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine and the “world-machine” became the dominant metaphor of the modern era. 

Of course, it is this replaced world-view that is primarily responsible for the industrial growth that we are today witnessing. And the emergence of corporations as the models of business organization had only speeded up the whole process. Today, these corporations have even transcended national boundaries and became major global actors. The assets of many of these multinational corporations have far exceeded the gross national product of many nations. Their economic and political power had surpassed that of even some national governments. 

Competition, coercion and exploitation have become the core of the activities of giant corporates, all meant for indiscriminate expansion. “Profit-maximization” has become the sole objective to the exclusion of all other considerations. They undertake an intense search for natural sources, cheap labor, and new markets, unmindful of environmental disasters and social tensions that have emerged as the offshoots of this indifferent growth. In the process, many corporates have lost their human face.

Lack of responsibility towards fellow beings and pride in what one does, coupled with an insatiable greed for profit, have led corporates to pursue unjustified activities, such as: 

• Production of unnecessary consumer junk or weapons of war
• Production catering to false needs of unbecoming appetites
• Works that exploit or degrade the environment  
• Works that wound the environment or make the world ugly

There are companies that simply dump polluting waste products “somewhere else” rather than neutralizing them before releasing into environment, without caring that in a finite ecosystem there is no such place as “somewhere else”.

Our obsession with economic growth and the value system underlying it has created a physical and mental environment in which life has become extremely unhealthy. Perhaps the most tragic aspect of this social dilemma is the fact that the health hazards created by the economic system are caused not only by the production process but by the consumption of many of the goods produced and heavily advertised to sustain their economic expansion. 

The more we study the social and environmental problems of our time, the more we realize that the mechanistic world view and the value system associated with it had generated technologies, institutions, philosophies and lifestyles that are profoundly unhealthy and importantly unsustainable for long. 

Amidst this up surging calamity, Lovelock and Andrew Watson have, incidentally, highlighted an important idea, the idea of ‘hysteresis’ which states that damage once done to the ecosystem is very difficult to undo. This scientific idea obviously pops up an argument: “we are just one part of a larger system and are reliant on that system for our continued existence”. This thought process has only intensified the global concern for sustaining the “eco balance”. Indeed, every scientist of repute is warning the global powers: “We are degrading the environment beyond repair endangering the entire production platform of the planet”. 

The writing on the wall is clear: We are harming environment at our own peril. Yet, there are no listeners!

 Keywords: World Earth Day,   Lovelock, Andrew Watson, Gaia Theory

“Follow your spirit, and upon this charge / Cry, “God for Harry! England, and Saint George!” — thus lead the charismatic leader, Henry V

The political situation in 15th century England is tense. King Henry IV has died. His son, young Henry V has ascended the throne. The scars of civil wars that the country has suffered are there to be seen. People are still leading a restless and dissatisfied life.

Nor could the newly crowned King Henry V offer instantaneous solace to the citizens. Of course, people are slowly realizing that he is no longer Prince Hal: he has shunned his wild adolescent past—living with thieves and drunkards of the Tavern on the seedy side of London—and has become a sober-minded willing listener of advice with a strong will of his own. He, people feel, has at once become a King with high concern for his country’s welfare and honor.

To overcome the constraints and to show his royal mettle, Henry V, tracing his relation to the French royal family and using a technical interpretation of certain ancient land laws, lays claim to certain parts of France. But the young Prince of France repudiates his claim by sending an insulting message. This, obviously, makes Henry decide to invade France. Supported by clergy and the nobles, Henry mobilizes troops for war.

The mobilization of troops for invading France, however, affects the common people. Many from the Tavern side, with whom Henry spent his time as young Prince but disowned them after becoming the King—such as Bardolph, Pistol, and Nym, the common lowlifes and part-time criminals—join the troops. As they are getting ready for the war, the news of the death of an elderly knight, Falstaff, the former closest friend of King Henry, makes everyone unhappy.

As Henry is all set to sail to France, he comes to know of a conspiracy to kill him. The trio involved in the conspiracy at the behest of the French plead for mercy. Ignoring their plea and ordering their execution, Henry sails out for France. 

Against many odds, his troops fight their way through France. The English troops, being motivated by the inspiring speech of Henry, conquer the town of Harfleur. As his troops, who included men from all parts of Britain, march forward winning one battle after another, Henry, learning that Nim and Bardolph have been looting the locals, orders their execution. Such is his commitment for forthrightness even in attacking the French. 

The war comes to a climax at Agincourt. Here, the English troops are outnumbered by the French by five to one. The night before the final battle, Henry, disguising himself as an ordinary soldier, moves around his camp, meeting soldiers to learn how they perceive the day’s battle, level of their spirit and their expectations about the outcome. At the end of his rounds, sitting alone in the dark, Henry soliloquizes: “What watch the King keeps to maintain the peace, Whose hours the peasant best advantages.”

As the day dawns, he prays to God; and before setting out to attack, he gives one of the most powerful and inspiring speeches ever to be given by a leader— We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. / For he today that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, / This day shall gentle his condition. / And gentlemen in England now abed / Shall think themselves accurst they were not here, / And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks / That fought with us.”—to his battle-set troops, and leads them from upfront. Miraculously, they win the battle. The proud French ultimately surrender to the English.

Finally, the peace negotiations result in: Henry will marry Catherine, the daughter of the French King and Henry’s son will be the King of France.

SitaRama Kalyana Vaibhogame …

Year after year, on every Sri Ramanavami, my mind simply goes straight like a missile to my native place, Tenali and fondly roams under the pandillu  (temporary shelters from Sun erected by roofing with Palmyra leaves)  erected for about a kilometer and a half or even more... all the way from the market abetting the three canals that are flowing like Bhavabhuti’s gad gada  Godavari … a massive assemblage of people under that sprawling pandiri … waiting for the priests to bring Rama and Sita from the Ramulavari temple in procession to the kalyana mandapam….  crawling through that massive crowd assembled to watch  SitaRama  Kalyanam …which is all set to double up by the Kalyana mahoortam...

and fearing the crowd... present and the prospective ... if one crosses that flood of people by walking along the margins of the gathering,  of course, under the pandillu through the main bazaar right up to Gandhi Chowk and beyond … up to the end of medical shops… that are decorated nicely … ceiling false-proofed with white cloth, sides adorned with garlands of mango leaves, there in the middle colored ribbons, paper cuttings… crisscrossing the roof … here and there chandeliers …  the whole road packed with people—male and female, children and aged moving slowly like a stream… speakers blaring out all kinds of sounds…. including the song of the day—Seetha Ramula Kalyanamu Choothamu rarandi.... 

petty vendors , coming from different regions, selling all kinds of fancy things under those pandillu spreading their ware before the shops … all within that narrow strip.. some even placing their goods on the wooden planks placed over the drains and dancing to balance themselves while reaching to pick out a little away flung items … some shouting in Telugu, some in half Telugu and half Tamil, yet a few others in Hindi… indeed it is Hindi vendors who attracted everybody’s attention, for their anxiety to speak Telugu made everyone amuse heartily … indeed I learned my first few Hindi words under this pandiri from a vendor when he cried rhythmically: “Bacchhonki khel neki  cheese hai .. bachhe ki sath bap bhi khel sakathe hai, do ane me donombhi khelsakte hai…then translating himself into Telugu  he would yell : “pilla adochhu… pillaki sath talli bhi adocchuu.. beda me iddaru adochhu… child can play, dad too can play, in two annas both can play” and that was pretty amusing to listen for everybody …

and as we move further down we come across flower vendors… and the mighty intoxicating fragrance of sampangi.. jasmine, kanakambaralu … maruvam… then the cloth shops… book stores, and finally the Raju Soda Fountain and his badam palu, Soda, ice-soda and all other kinds of chilled beverages… in the mirrored enclave that reflects the whole of Bose road, of course, in awkward shapes… nevertheless interesting to sneak a look....

suddenly as we enter the Bose Road … coming under the sweltering Sun and walking on the baking cement road … jumping up and down in discomfort for a step or two … then, of course, the anticipated  respite—respite from the bright sun and frying cement road… for we are already under the pandillu  in front of the Central Cooperative bank …stretching up to anjaneyaswamy temple ... a huge mass of people sitting under it … fanning with whatever they had in hands—pavitachengu,  palmyra fan, uttareyam, doesn’t matter, even Vishalandra paper, indeed anything that comes to hand—all eyes pinned on the stage where the idols of Rama, Sita, Laksmana and Hanuman are placed on a decorated pedestal… with priests all around with their bright bellies draped in zari-bordered white silken clothes and

their reciting of the mantras in a rhythmic style of their own which of course listened to devotionally though understood nothing of it… and finally the whole mass cheered hysterically as the main priest raises the mangalasutram for the bhaktas to stare and revere …  the pious ornament that Lord Rama is going to tie around Sita’s neck, of course through his agent, the main priest…  at the prescribed—muhoort… auspicious minute ….  accompanied by nadaswaram and the mantra ghosha—both go so well with the occasion that it sways everyone under the pandillu into a kind of ecstasy of their own… With everything thus coming to a happy ending … suddenly everyone becomes conscious of the nauseating sweltering and comes out of the pandillu heaving “ush” “ish”, all kinds of haas and ohos  and then begins the struggle for snatching a fistful of vadapappu (splits of Greengram soaked in water for four-five hours) and a glass full of panakam (made out of mixing jaggery, crude form of sugar and pepper powder in water)…  and finally as people walk back home in groups of their own… there on the way… so many datalu, philanthropists serving the tired masses with glasses and glasses of panakam … perhaps to enable people quickly assimilate the required glucose to walk back alright without dehydration and fainting, perhaps… safely walk back even long-distance  under that sweltering Sun with a little comfort…"a good deed in a naughty world"... how many such dispensers of Panakam!… all those rich people perhaps thinking they would get rewarded by god come out with these servings all through up to evening… walking back in droves narrating one’s own experiences of watching the kalyanam … as the whole town is still echoing with recitations of Vedic mantras—chanting—associated with SitaRamakalyanam …

and from the opposite side you would encounter the stream of incoming people who had been just offloaded by the train coming from Repalli side … that was another interesting scene to watch for as many people as there are inside the railway compartments, would be there on the roof-tops of the compartments too … for us, all that looks like cinematic daredevilry… … 

indeed many of these people from villages come mostly to watch Edla poteelu —cattle competition shows conducted in the big stadium-like enclave erected temporarily in the fallow land abetting Repalii railway track, near the outer signal of Tenali station, in which rich farmers from the nearby districts too participate in the competition ... entry was, of course, against the purchase of tickets ... betting involving huge sums was so common; winners were presented with silver cups/shields, besides a share in the booty... in those days it was a kind of crazy activity among the farming community... indeed they look forward to these competitions year after year... ...   

or to watch the newly released cinemas… see all the four shows and then fly back by late night  … again on rooftops of trains.. and you know what .. without buying ticket too.. and in those days that’s another great wonder for us … something interesting to chat about next day in the school … either in the drawing class or citizenship class … as teachers of these subjects merrily sleep out  ... some of the boys who have been studying the same class for second time or third time used to share their experiences about their visiting these cattle competitions… drawing of 150 lb slab or a 250 lb slabs …that too in sand pits … … or something like that … they gloat about even their betting on a particular Ongole bull’s  and winning a fat sum but who knows what the truth is … … you know we have to simply listen … not only merely listen  but must listen with wonder about their greatness otherwise … … looking back … for us, who cannot yet decide independently to even go out of the house … all these things sound pretty exciting, no doubt… 

mere recalling of those memories is a dear delight … no matter, how many years, indeed decades have since elapsed … but this nostalgic trip on every SriRama Navami is something that I could not but undertake…