Colours we adorn

 This is a guest post by Mr. Menon. Here he has  analysed Human behaviour. He  keenly observes the peoplwho come in contact with him,whether at home or outside. Whenever he goes out, he carefully  watches people  interacting and arrives at  a conclusion about their nature.I find that  in 99% cases his  observations are correct. Read on........

 Colours We Adorn
I have always been fascinated by human behaviour. While it may require a scientific study to ascertain why a person behaves the way he does, there is nothing to prevent us from undertaking a study  at the grass root and mundane level. I will not abide by  the  conventional categorisation of people.That I will leave to psychologists and psychoanalysts.  I will go out of that format  and try to analyse people as I have observed  them.Let me warn that this approach  has limitations and may be controversial. Not that I am anxious to get into any such unenviable situations. I admit that there can be hazards but life will not be  exciting  unless there are challenges. Now I will attempt to enumerate some broad headings which cannot be exhaustive but may be exhausting!! These are as follows;-
1.Smooth talker  
 Smooth talkers occupy a predominant position  in the lives of men and nations. To name a few, ambassadors and diplomats come under this category. It is not, however,confined  to them.They do not hold any monopoly over it.
I will go back to my college  days.  It was the year 1951 when I was in the senior Intermediate class.As is the wont  with teenagers I also had my own share of prejudices and predilections.  I was diffident and vacillating. I had a vacuous expression. It was at this juncture that I was  introduced to Dale Carnegie's  book  'How to stop worrying and start living'. One thing led to another. I chanced upon another Dale Carnegie  classic 'How  to win friends and influence people'.This book acted as a catalyst in my life. From a shy  timid teenager, I overnight  blossomed into  a self confident and persuasive adult.I shed all misgivings and inhibitions.I wanted to practise some of the formulas  explained by the author. I started spreading my charm all around.The next logical step was to concreting  my strategy. Then I struck! My first victim was a hotel keeper. Except for an  occasional travelling talkies, there was no scope for entertainment in my hamlet. Only the district town     situated  about  thirty kilometres away  had a few cinema halls. Once my friends and I decided to go there for watching a late night movie.Those were the days when bus service was in a rudimentary stage.Nerve-racking and bone-breaking ramshackle buses used to ply on decrepit roads. The preferred mode of transport was therefore generally walking. My friends and I walked to the nearest railway station located five kilometres away  from my village. After viewing the movie ,  when we came out of the hall, it was the unearthly hour of 2.00 am. No trains, no buses. Walking at midnight through dense tree laden and flooded fields was no option. Beside, it would have been a risky venture.It was then that we decided to spend the night in a cheap hotel.Money was hard to come by those days and together we could not afford more than one room. We were four and only two occupants were allowed in each of these small  dingy  bug and mosquito ridden apology of rooms.It was then that I directed my charm on the hapless hotel keeper.I took him aside and harangued him. I do not recall what transpired between us. However the miracle happened. All the four of us were allowed  to spend the remaining part of the night in one room on condition that at the crack of dawn we should make ourselves scarce.This episode brought me laurels . Overnight I became a hero among my friends. They could not decipher how I cracked the nut of an  obstinate hotel boss . They believed in my invincibility and ability to influence men and events. I indulged in some more experiments in the heady days  of my youth. However to put the record straight  I am no crook and I have not duped anybody.. In my work place and else where I have encountered past masters of this art who could simply gobble me up. Here I would like to salute my wife.In reverse gear, she practised this art on me when I was totally bewitched by her. 
 On the positive side, if viewed properly, this is a noble pastime with all the trappings of divinity. This has helped me to understand myself and others better. This knowledge has benefitted  afflicted and stricken people to alleviate and sometimes even overcome their maladies. I am still a practitioner of this art but instead of targetting fellowmen  I have now directed it towards the God Almighty  whose grace I require in abundance  in the evening of my life. 
2. Self adulators 
 Self adulation is a trait  which we observe in people who lack confidence. I am slightly twisting a common saying to mean that a worker is known by  his work. If he is an intelligent and efficient worker, no form of tom- toming or advertisement is required to bring him into the lime light. Only people, who are deficient in qualities  of head and heart and which fact is reflected in their performance, resort to outpourings of self praise.They will appropriate, rather misappropriate, achievements of others  and project them  as their own. As the saying goes one cannot fool all the people all the time. The day of reckoning will come  and the hollowness of their claim will be exposed.
3.People with wicked disposition
 They act overtly or covertly. People who adopt stealth and deceit in their dealings  come under this category.  Those who act overtly or under public gaze  may be less dangerous than those who operate covertly. It will require a discerning eye to size them up. We come to know about their intentions only when we suffer at their  hands. Such persons , irrespective of their gender ,have demonic or satanic  propensity. We should be wary of such people and avoid befriending them. Such persons can appropriately be compared to poisonous cobra whose mere hiss will be blood curdling what to speak of their fatal sting.Once we are trapped in their stranglehold, it will be difficult to extricate ourselves from their vicious grip without any harm or damage.They display iniquitous tendencies and are seldom amenable to correction. 
 While writing this piece, I felt that evil was creeping on me.In utter fright, therefore, I stop further delineation  on the subject. 
4.Boasters
  Boasters hardly require any elaboration. We come across such people  in daily life. These pompous species  are not of  any use to the society or their fellow beings. You may conclude that they are inveterate liars  and can safely be written off as not of any consequence.
5. Bores
  Such people are a great nuisance. The general tendency is to avoid such persons.They think that it is their fundamental right to impose themselves upon  others and inflict on their  unsuspecting victims with meaningless rattle and prattle.Those who are regular train travellers might have come across such  people. They will warm up and catch  your attention at an unguarded moment. You can escape them only  when you reach your destination . Make sure that they are not following you.
6. Hypocrites
      Classic example of this category are some members  of the political class.They mesmerise people  by the sheer weight of their logic and rhetoric.They are high on promise and low on practise.All this they perform with such a finesse that the incredulous  keep gaping in disbelief .
7. Pretenders
  Pretenders can be equated with impostors. Even impersonators may come under this category.
8. Pedigree hunters
  After the abolition of royalty and privy purses, such people can now be seen  tagged on to industrialists and politicians.  They may not all be perverse but can adopt ingenious methods  to achieve their goal.
9. Gentle, kind etc.
    People  coming under this definition can broadly be classified as 'gentle,kind,considerate,loving and affectionate'. In one word, can we  call them gentlemen in the true sense of the word?In brief they are the good Samaritans of  society, the torch bearers of our civilisation and representing all that is great and noble. How do we explain such people? Are they endowed with all these qualities since birth or acquired  them in the course of their life's journey?  Some might have got transformed or reformed due to some cataclysmic episode in the torrid waters  of their life.
 Even though it is said that all men are born equal, I cannot buy this thesis. I will say that  it is fallacious and does not satisfy the touchstone of reality. There is a popular belief  that circumstances and environment alone make the man. It may be partially true but cannot be the whole truth. Men and women born  of the same parents, brought up in the same environment and attended  same or comparable   educational institutions exhibit  different personality traits.How can this phenomenon be explained? In  several people goodness is an inborn and inherent quality  which gets nurtured  and cemented in the course of time. Irrespective of the circumstances , they continue to represent all that is good and noble.Some may not have been born with these gifts. But it is not a hopeless situation. There is something that is called 'Purusharth' in Sanskrit.Our scriptures say that we can change our destiny.Sincere, dedicated and unflinching effort is the hallmark of such persons. It should not be half hearted . There is no halfway  house to attain glory. One has to go the whole hog to attain it.History is replete with instances where the ordinary folk  have changed their destiny and come to assume  the  mantle of glory and greatness.
 In the end ,I may stress that it may not  be  possible or justified  to compartmentalise people. The embodied beings  possess  some or  all of the these qualities in some measure.