The business of shaking them up

My sworn opponents have put me under a microscope from the very start.

Now I have put them under the microscope of a sort too. Not very visibly of course, but they are starting to feel the pressure. They are seeing phantoms from the past. Well this is not a one way ticket all the same. They have their techniques too. But at present they are a little less confident.

The problem is they have learned the techniques from books or from the west. But the Indian social milieu is so characteristically different from that of the west. Ours is a loose and colorful society. More effort is needed in this land to enact an ‘incident’ on a subtle scale. For instance the street theater. This can easily be done in the west. People generally do not mind others if they do not know each other socially. But in India it is not all that easy. It might elicit suspicion of other elements. Not all of them can be taken care of too.

You just can’t really imagine the dangers involved in such a situation. The poor preps might get man handled if they raise suspicion of any of the segments of the populace. People are divided on many fronts in this land, castes, communities, political party’s sectarian interests, a wide spread and developing underworld, and local interest groups. Every sect has different and violent groups within them. It is not easy at all. It could be dangerous to be caught in a cross fire.

This has been slowly entering into their one track minds. Their methods are failing of late. May be they were over confident about their initial success because of the lack of resistance on my part. The animosity they generated was considerable in the beginning phases. Because you are totally unfamiliar with the phenomenon you are stunned by the antagonistic reaction of people unknown to you.

I was a pretty overassertive person from my younger days. No one has yet stood up to me when I was in that kind of mood. I have curbed this tendency a lot since. But I can turn it on if I want. It is real bad habit. But it has its uses. You need to have absolute faith in yourself and unquestionable belief that your words would be obeyed to do that.

When I caught on to their game of belittling me with the help of others among the general public it was easy for me to take them to task. I just had to be brash and authoritative against any one I met anywhere. It has its drawbacks, but generally even the most confident of all people submit to sheer personal authority if it is exercised unquestionably. Most people would not dare to confront some one who seems to have his way wherever he is. It would create doubt in their minds.

You can stare them down. They would alternately go pale and red in the faces when that happens. There is some thought and imagination involved in the process too. You have to brutally impose your personality on them. Your words have to carry meanings that would make them squirm. Even the man with the greatest will would waver if you face them square on without allowing them to wander. In a social confrontation every man is alone with his adversary. Brutally challenge their courage; they would have to face you. If they run from it that feeling of having come second best would always stay with them. Fear would enter their hearts. It requires real strength to stand up against some one who is steadfast.

Like in everything else in life, a little play acting is involved in this too. It might engender a lot of animosity in those you are taking to task. But that would be the case even if you do not do it. Even the thickest skinned perp would flinch if you compliment them on their general demeanor. They would lose face and would have to meekly swallow your words. They can’t show their animosity outside, for it would give them away and all their arguments against you would fall through.

Hence if you know who your enemies are, shake them up real hard. There is nothing wrong in love and war.