Ya Right !

The precious pearls rolled down her cheeks. As she wept, giving way to her pent up emotions, I thought- ‘he didn’t do the right thing.’ And there it was again…..back like a cyclic redundant error- the ‘Right’ thing!

Right….
a very interesting and versatile word. Its usage as a prefix and suffix is omnipresent and universally abused. We wait for the right person and right job; try to follow the rules right; use and abuse our rights; try to do the right thing in the right way at the right time; wait for the right season to bring out our quilts and right reason to join a revolution. We wait for the right pair of denims and shoes; wait for the nonexistent right to defeat the left in Bengal; the right moment to trip the shutter; the right age to vote, drink and have sex. We also wait for the authorities to take the right actions; fight with a fellow passenger to establish our birth-right over the window seat; ponder about the right way to kiss and wonder at times when the world looks blurred- if our optician got our power right!
In short- we have a right complex. It’s our moral irresponsibility.

The ‘Right’ related obsessive compulsive disorder is as unique as your nose or my bald pate. My cousin once asked his mom, ‘Now that I am in class six, is this the right age for me to use slangs?’A friend of mine with a habit of screwing up often complains, ‘But I tried to do the right thing this time!’ My dad it seems, is obsessed with trying to prove that he is right (and more importantly- that I am wrong). I wait for the right time to do things……(probably a side effect of my romance with the camera). My epitaph should ideally read- ‘And the right time came.’ My friend T, who’s totally in love with her boss, measures the right words for the sweet nothings she exchanges through sms. According to her, she fails miserably.

In Gregory Robert's Shantaram, we meet Abdel Kader Khan who does ‘the wrong things for the right reasons.’ After that introduction, probably for the first time in my life a lot of things fell into place. Morality as preached by the holy scriptures or our elders has a strange tendency to lose relevance in the real world. In antithesis, the words of the wily old don add meaning and purpose. The failure of the proposed morality probably stems from the fact that it sees life in two colors- black and white- Right or Wrong! However in reality, life is all about the multitude of greys. Choosing between right and wrong is easy. Picking the more right from the plethora of wrongs- now that’s the bitch.

As I sat there, trying to console her, I realized I was both sad and relieved. Sad because of the obvious reason…but relieved? Let’s face it, no matter whatever I said, I am human, I am imperfect….I was insecure. So when he bungled….was it too wrong for me to feel relieved? But I also did feel petty for feeling so relieved. And while the devil preached- ‘to hell with it, enjoy while it lasts’; the strange voice that we like to call conscience asked, ‘was that right?’

Photograph : Yours Truly