We hear of accidents happening because a car, bus or truck went out of control right? Maybe brakes failed, or too high a speed or a sudden pothole! But when men and women go out of control, all we can cry out is why?
“Why?” we cry out to rape- accused Karnataka politician MP Revanna, grandson of Deva Gowda tarnishes the electoral chances of the JD party.
A few moments losing control and everything is lost forever. One moment a loose fist and you’re under the hangman’s rope for murder, one moment of lust, and prison cell beckons hysterically, a moment of greed at customs and days in court.
It’s that moment when you lose control when all’s lost in a split second.
There’s this rather tragic story of a man who was polishing his new car, saw his four-year old son pick a stone and scratch lines on the side of the same car. In anger, the father took the child's hand and hit it many times; not realizing he was using a wrench.
At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father, he asked, 'Dad when will my fingers grow back?' The man was devastated; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times. Full of remorse and sitting in front of that same car he looked at the scratches; the child had written 'Love You Dad!'
The next day he committed suicide.
Looking at the scandal in Karnataka, what’s there for us to learn?
That there’s a bit of an animal in every one of us: That it takes just a moment to shatter a world we’ve invested in, just a word from our lips to break a lifetime of love, just one angry retort that can slice a loved one to bits. After which you can try and spend another lifetime making amends but is it ever the same? The one you’ve hurt looks warily at you, not sure how you’re going to sting or lash out this time.
Control your tongue, control your temper and control all those uncontrollable thoughts that could make a saint a monster!
A boss looks at his secretary’s tempting legs a little longer than needed and destroys his life forever.
A father sees his car scratched and wrecks his family in a fit of rage.
A wife starts getting closer to an office colleague and breaks up a family.
Put that animal on a leash; bind your tongue, relax those fists, pacify your lust; the repercussions of losing control, the horror of where it could take you, the dread of what could happen to loved ones should instantly shock you into disciplined control.
Or, cry and weep with only prison walls to hear your sobs…!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
