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Revenge, a two-edged weapon

Civilisation is the conversion of poaching into fighting

Revenge is a two edged weapon. It is a blade without handle. It is always a reaction. It requires an action replay for refreshing the memory and aggregating the acrimony. It is an imitation. In "tit for tat", one reciprocates and never discovers. The protagonist also gets affected.

Revenge is self destruction. Every thought for avenging causes organs to orchestrate heavy secretion of fluids and the excess strain leaves a stain. Vengeance is not a welcome venture. It is neither original nor creative. It is always secondary and borrowed, tutored by others and watered by hatred.

History is revenge retold and rebuttal recollected. It repeats itself due to the inexhaustible spirit of retaliation and vindictiveness.

Abomination breeds revulsion, anger hatches wrath, injury induces bruises and they are elements of a vicious circle.

It is an afterthought and becomes an acquired quality transmitted through generations. If we dig the earth after a few years, blood would spring, instead of water. Civilisation is the conversion of poaching into fighting. Hunting for flesh substituted by hunting for power. Decapitation is adopted as the short cut for capturing the capital.

Men act in haste with a feeling of repugnance reigning over the senses. Reprisal is often referred to as upsurge of animal's instinct. Animals never avenge and do not harbour animosity. All riots arise with a priority to prove physical power. Revenge has so many faces. It can be a simple verbal exchange. Quarrel and altercation are its alternatives. Rebukes, rebuffs, retorts, repudiation are all vengeance verbally vent out. A few cross words and leave them there.

Many cross swords, continue the contention and aggravate enmity.

At times scurrilous language is more wounding than swirling sword. Vituperative tongue lashes more than what a whip injures and bleeding of the mind never clots.

A misguided missile

Revenge can be a misguided missile. It misses the culprit and targets the innocent. The victims are not even onlookers. Students rag the fresher for treatment meted out to them by seniors. Generally, the arrows are blamed and the archer goes scot-free. The feeling of bitterness never subsides after eliminating the target. It does not rest as it has an insatiable appetite and unquenchable thirst.

Revenge is the function of ego. We assume supremacy and presume, `holier than thou' attitude. Our relations are equations that never balance.

We want our balance sheet always to be lop-sided with more assets and less liabilities. One who knows that man is not a static phenomenon does not nurture any ill feeling.

We do not deal with the same individual twice. What was once a rock could have got sculpted into a carving and what was once mud could have bloomed into a lotus.

There is nothing called non violent revenge. The very thought to attack is violent. Pregnant anger is worse than delivered action. Our senses dim and brain paralyses by channelising all our zeal into irksome emotions. Very often, only the proximate persons turn into deadly rivals. Revenge comes back in speed post.

Biographies proclaim that one who handles the gun will be gunned down sooner or later.

Some are so timid that they restrict their retribution to mosquitoes. Mahatma opined that rats can hardly think of forgiving cats. When condoning comes out of strength, it inflicts more pain than punishment.

Recapitulating the good moments we spent with the objects of our aggression and nice gestures they extended can ameliorate our urge to react with the same amplitude.

Real revenge lies in extending a bouquet when a dagger is expected. Causing to get reformed is better than cutting to bleed.

Fire cannot be extinguished by fuel. Seed of hatred remains dormant till the correct moment comes and it is like a potential volcano or a tickling time bomb.

By love we can nullify hatred and by compassion we can neutralise wrath.

Man appears beautiful when he laughs. At that moment, he overflows with innocence.

Even Miss Universe would look ugly in the grip of anger. The grace of the great is due to love that radiates from their eyes.

We should make this world filled with the music of laughter and joy and not with noise of wails and travails.

V. Irai Anbu

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