Words Are Freudian Slips
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
29 November
2023
"Dil Ki Gahraiyon Mein Jo Hota Hai
Barbas Zubaan
Pe Aa Hi Jaata Hai"
Bahadur Shah
'Zafar'
(What's in
the depths and crevices of heart/ Tends to surface on the tongue)
While
browsing through my old Persian diary, I came across a startling thought and
stopped to mull over it: A wound on the tongue gets healed fast but a wound
caused by the tongue never gets healed. Tongue is indeed made of loose leather
and seldom do we think of using it carefully. Words stab deeper than any piece
of iron or steel can ever.
Differences
caused by intemperate tongue can seldom be reconciled. Hadn't Draupadi uttered
"Andhe Ke Andhe Hi Hote Hain " (Blind begets blind),
Kurukshetra would never have taken place and so many lives would never have
been laid down.
French poet
Charles Baudelaire wrote to his beloved, "Kill me if you want, but speak
not sardonically." Words smart you till you die.
However
seemingly stoic an individual may be, it's difficult for anyone to forget the
sarcasm of words and the damage caused by a rapier tongue. We can forgive a
person who has hurt us but seldom do we forget the words that caused a
difference, a gulf.
Words are
double-edged knives. They can heal as well as peel; peel your skin off. And why
do words always make such a drastic and debilitating impact? Words are often
rooted reflections of our mind.
They're
Freudian slips, involuntarily and unwittingly revealing what you really think
of a person. A blow may taper off but a word cannot. Though at times, sarcastic
words can galvanise you to do your damnedest, but their bitter impact cannot be
mitigated. Words are always taken as premeditated actions with an intention to
hurt a person.
Words can
even change the psychology of a person who happens to be at the receiving end.
An extensive medical survey in Indian social and familial context way back in
1967 revealed that when mother-in-laws scoffed at their daughter-in-laws for
not bearing an issue by calling them ‘Baanjh' or 'Vandhya'
(barren, arid), they actually went barren because of the negative impact of the
word and would never conceive!
We all are
so casual, nay frivolous, with words that we never think of their lasting
consequences and ramifications. We hurt people and they hurt us in return,
thanks to words, which could have been spoken with so much sensitivity and
empathy.
Tongue
indeed causes festering wounds. To quote Salaam Machhlishahri, "Beshumaar
Rishte Bigade Hain Zubaan Ne / Dar Ke Maine Apne Lab See Liye Hain" (This
tongue has spoiled many a relation/ I've, therefore, sewn my lips). True. Lest
you should speak out something for which you repent later, you had better keep
mum.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/words-freudian-slips/d/131210
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