COMPLEXITY OF MIND

COMPLEXITY OF MIND

I agree with you, this is a nice topic for discussion, said John. On a rainy day, we all close friends sitting in the drawing room sipping a cup of coffee and chatting. Ramesh continued saying, mind is a complex thing, the acts of which are incredible and amazing. If a person is convinced, his mind visualises the things or persons and makes him to see them physically. 

  Yes, my friend, who is a Doctor, explained me that if a woman is convinced that she is conceiving a baby, who is not truly on the family way, could get all symptoms of a pregnant woman said John. He continued further, she experiences morning sickness, changes in body, and even physical change of expanding tummy. This is ridiculous said Shiva. Ramesh with his comforting and pleasant voice said Shiva; this is what complexity of mind means. Please keep your cool to share our experiences and explore them further.

It’s true, even Hypnotists admit it. I heard of an incidence that happened to a medical Student said Imran. The medico, about whom I am narrating, is sceptic and a disbeliever of rebirths, Ghosts, devils, and spirits. She (medico) was arguing seriously with her friends one day about the fantasy of Ghosts and spirits. After prolonged argument, they proposed for a bet that medico, who is a nonbeliever of Spirits, should go alone to a burial ground, secure a nail on a selected tree and return alone. She agreed very boldly.

All her friends accompanied her up to the burial ground on a dark night. She entered bravely and confidently in to it with a hammer in one hand and a nail in the other. She did not return even at the break of dawn. Her friends worried, entered in to the burial ground and saw to their astonishment that she successfully stabbed the nail in to the stem of the tree along with a part of her attire fixed with it, and found dead. How do you correlate it? John questioned.

Ramesh interrupted, the possibility here is that people do hear lots of things about myths since childhood. When one is alone, a doubt arises whether one is erring and by any chance the myth they heard is true. This doubt dominates ones willpower and brings in fear. I remember reading an article that people fear for the silence but not for darkness, when they are alone. Probably, she started getting a doubt, being alone that when the people around her believe the existence of devils, which may be true. May be this is the reason for medico’s death. This is an instance for complexity of mind.

Shiva said I am in agreement, I do visualise that persons known to me are approaching me when I am walking in a dark street but when they actually come close by, I realise that they are altogether different persons and even not familiar to me at all. 

Well friends, said Ramesh; I narrate an occasion, which was experienced by me, when I was living in a township, built for the employees of our project, which was away from a village nearby. I had the habit of walking for at least two to three miles after I had my food at night. One night, it was dark around; I took a torch light for my safety during walk.  I had to encircle a barren land while walking for reaching the Gate for the township.

When I was about to take a turn during my walk, I noticed an old woman was sitting in the barren land. I guessed she may be answering her calls of nature and might be not allowed to use the washroom in the apartment. With a sad note I proceeded ahead on my walk. It used to take one hour to reach the same spot on my return. To my surprise I could see the old woman was still sitting in the same spot. I puzzled for a moment thinking what might have happened to her. But the very next moment fear engulfed me with a thought that she might be a devil. Suddenly my legs were frozen, my throat was dry. I stood like a statue there and unable to move forward. After struggling for a couple of minutes, I could regain my strength rejecting all thoughts as trash.

I decided that I should not leave the spot without knowing the fact. I hesitated for a moment, thinking that it is bad manners on my part to flash light on the spot. Besieged hard with mannerism and at the same time curiosity prevailed for knowing the fact, I swung the light quickly on the spot and withdrew. To my surprise, I have not seen any person there but an old newspaper stuck to a dry bush.

Great, said all in chorus. This is a perfect example for the complexity of mind said John. We all parted to meet again on some other day.

Kasturi Subbarao,

Hyderabad, Telangana, India 

Reliability – Trait

       We come in contact with people around in our society. Among them we develop intimacy with some, remain reserved with some, dislike some, and try to keep ourselves aloof from them. These attributes are the reflexes of our mind. More often, certain traits are developed under duress, for instance, socializing among employees and co-workers is desired, to maintain affable atmosphere in any work place whether one likes it or not. What happens in such cases? Mind develops stress, resulting in imbuing artificial traits. 

This is an unsolicited situation, makes individual sick, and causes in developing more negative traits, there by one loses ones prominence and gradually ones positiveness dwindles and often become alone (rejected) in the society. One cannot continue to live in such situations, after all any indidividual in the society is a social animal and wish to live in the group. What is the solution to avoid this conflict in mind? Cheering up and train the mind to accept the positive behavior. Mediation is one possible answer to it. 

I wish to quote an example from my college days to perceive it with clarity. We, five of us, being day scholars, used to go to our college together in the morning and return together to our homes in the evening. All of us not alike in demeanor and had different traits. We had scholarships of merit, disbursed on different heads, which were paid at different months of the academic year. We all had a condition that Scholarship receiver should give a party (a sweet with something to munch with a cup of coffee), to the rest of four after receipt of the amount. Four of us got the scholarships for all the years of study in the college except one, who got it in the final year.

Complying with the condition agreed, all four of us used to give a party to the rest of our friends as and when the amount of scholarship is received. Among us the one who was qualified for scholarship in the final year, used to behave in a funny manner during the party. After the end of the party, at the time of paying the bill, he pretends that he would pay the bill. He used to keep his hand in his pocket and pretends to take money out of it. In the meanwhile the host pays the bill at the counter. He used to say every time, “You have not allowed me to pay” with a tone of annoyance. In the final year when he was qualified for a scholarship, he declared that he will give a grand party that all of us would never forget for the rest of the life. Of course, till date we had not attended any. 

    After observing it for repeated occasions, I decided to make him aware that this kind of act would make him unfamiliar when he settles in his life and he would become an acquaintance but not a friend to any in future. I had requested remaining three members of our group to join me to make him aware. Accordingly, I had arranged a party for all of us. In the usual way, at the end of the party, he put his hand in the pocket and said that he would clear the bill. I said alright and moved away from the paying counter. With all reluctance appearing on his face, he cleared the bill.

After sometime later, he met me alone and said that I had purposely made him to pay. I explained him that the closeness what we develop among friends during college days can never be experienced as we settle in life. So, one should remain as a true friend and not an acquaintance to get oneself accepted by society. He confessed to me and we all remained as close friends even on date.

KASTURI SUBBARAO, Hyd, India