Skip to main content

Me with my foot in my mouth




My foot has this uncanny proclivity to get into my mouth whenever I am at a social event.  That’s why I took much effort to teach my feet to walk away from social events altogether.  Some heels were born to cool themselves in the cosiness of solipsism (or should I say sole-ipsism?). 

Source: Clarity Solutions
I have kept me to myself for nearly two decades now.  Like Ogden Nash’s Born Spectator, I stay far away from the field of action and watch with admiration socialites performing various acrobatics in order to win their much deserved accolades.  When it comes to the battle between the ego and prudence, the latter wins hands down in my case.

A few years ago, when I was in Delhi, a blogger from Indiblogger connection, a lady who wasn’t very active as a blogger, organised a bloggers’ meet in Delhi and sent me a personal invitation.  I was rather surprised because never in my blog anywhere at any time had I shown any interest in such meetings.  But I decided to conceal my surprise as well as keep my foot away from my mouth.  I gave her the excuse of a prior engagement.  Within 24 hours, the good lady changed the date of the meeting and offered to hold it any day that was convenient for me.  I knew something was seriously wrong. 

One of the blights I had to fight again and again in my life, without much success, is keeping benefactors away from my doorstep.  They came in hoards especially when I lived in Shillong, a small town with all the inconveniences of a village with none of its benefits.  Most of them benefactors were keen on making me religious.  The more they tried, the more I hated religion.  Eventually I quit the countryside benefactors of Shillong and found my shelter in the anonymity of Delhi’s vastness.  When a blogger who never even commented once in my space insisted on having me at a bloggers’ meet, I knew that benefactors were at it again. 

I now live in a small village in Kerala.  Mercifully the benefactors have left me alone until now.  It’s not easy to play the benefactor-game in too small a village where people know each other too well.  Too many games will reveal the identity of the godfather who pays the benefactors.  The village thus keeps me safely away from benefactors. 

Probably, I wouldn’t have detested the society if it were not for the benefactors and their godfather.  I have seen a lot of people who are comfortable with both their feet in their mouth.  Maybe, it’s not my foot that is the real problem.  Maybe, I’m bored with the benefactors who never revealed any trace of imagination. 

PS. Written for Indispire Edition 176: #CityEvent





Comments

  1. Pranju chakrapaniJuly 3, 2017 at 12:22 PM

    The favourite part in the Catcher in the rye was when Holden meets his English teacher at the end. I liked the teacher very much.

    He said something to Holden regarding how it is essential to identify the capacity of one's brain to sink in the information. I relate so much with that thought.

    To not put foot in the mouth is the sign of realizing that capacity. It is after all a matter of personal happiness and if we find it through solipsism then it is equally okay :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 3, 2017 at 1:41 PM

      Holden's creator, Salinger, chose to quit the society. Holden will be a social misfit whatever he does, whatever his counsellor may do.

      Our personal happiness need have nothing much to do with the society. In fact, the society is more likely to make us unhappy. I keep my cheer by being as far away from society as possible.

      Delete
  2. Roma Gupta SinhaJuly 3, 2017 at 1:07 PM

    Sometimes I behave this weird too. Has it got something to do with us writers??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 3, 2017 at 1:43 PM

      Writers are weird. But there are writers who walk that tightrope between personal weirdness and social adjustment quite easily. Some of us are condemned to be weirdos, perhaps :)

      Delete
  3. DominicJuly 3, 2017 at 6:58 PM

    Why are you so pessimistic about society? Why should the society make one unhappy? Many are the minds that draw their inspiration and subsistence from the society.
    If man is expected to be a social animal, some modicum of pretense and subjugation of one's ego will go a long way in making the social intercourse (with apologies to CBFC) 'happy' and enjoyable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 3, 2017 at 7:36 PM

      You said it! And it made me write the next post. The ecstasies of social intercourse are the prerogative of God's chosen people.

      Delete
  4. Purba chakrabortyJuly 3, 2017 at 7:29 PM

    I can relate to this post as I have also landed myself in such foot-in-my-mouth situations a couple of times. It was great reading this post, Sir :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 3, 2017 at 7:34 PM

      Most welcome, Purba. Maybe, we the foot-in-the-mouth people should form an association for our welfare :)

      Delete
  5. Gomati SekharJuly 4, 2017 at 10:21 AM

    Like always, enjoyed reading your blog. Looking forward to the next.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
18 comments
Read more

Dopamine

Fiction Mathai went to the kitchen and picked up a glass. The TV was screening a program called Ask the Doctor . “Dopamine is a sort of hormone that gives us a feeling of happiness or pleasure,” the doc said. “But the problem with it is that it makes us want more of the same thing. You feel happy with one drink and you obviously want more of it. More drink means more happiness…” That’s when Mathai went to pick up his glass and the brandy bottle. It was only morning still. Annamma, his wife, had gone to school as usual to teach Gen Z, an intractable generation. Mathai had retired from a cooperative bank where he was manager in the last few years of his service. Now, as a retired man, he took to watching the TV. It will be more correct to say that he took to flicking channels. He wanted entertainment, but the films and serial programs failed to make sense to him, let alone entertain. The news channels were more entertaining. Our politicians are like the clowns in a circus, he thought...
9 comments
Read more

Stories from the North-East

Book Review Title: Lapbah: Stories from the North-East (2 volumes) Editors: Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih & Rimi Nath Publisher: Penguin Random House India 2025 Pages: 366 + 358   Nestled among the eastern Himalayas and some breathtakingly charming valleys, the Northeastern region of India is home to hundreds of indigenous communities, each with distinct traditions, attire, music, and festivals. Languages spoken range from Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic tongues to Indo-Aryan dialects, reflecting centuries of migration and interaction. Tribal matrilineal societies thrive in Meghalaya, while Nagaland and Mizoram showcase rich Christian tribal traditions. Manipur is famed for classical dance and martial arts, and Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh add further layers of ethnic plurality and ecological richness. Sikkim blends Buddhist heritage with mountainous serenity, and Assam is known for its tea gardens and vibrant Vaishnavite culture. Collectively, the Northeast is a uni...
8 comments
Read more

The RSS and Paradoxes

The oldest racist organisation in the world is all set to celebrate the centenary of its existence. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925 with the specific goal of unifying the Hindus in India under a religious and cultural banner. The Indian Independence struggle that was going on in full force at that time was no concern of the RSS. Though it gave the liberty to its individual members to take part in the struggle, the organisation’s official policy was to stay clear of it altogether. That was only one of the many paradoxical ironies that marked the RSS which was a nationalist organisation that cared little for the Independence of the nation. Today, the Prime Minister of India is a man who was trained and nurtured by the RSS. Shashi Tharoor wrote a massive book on the paradoxes that underscore the personality of Mr Narendra Modi. The RSS and paradoxes go hand in hand, if we take Modi as a specimen of the organisation’s great achievements. Tharoor’s final asses...
8 comments
Read more