Anger games

It is easy to find angry people around you these days. There are so many of them, seething with rage, that it is a wonder our planet has not gone up in smoke. Scenes of anger are visible everywhere, whichever way you turn. 

On the roads: the horn-tooting motorists whizzing past you, sometimes overtaking you from the wrong side. In the airports or on railway platforms: If the flights/ trains are delayed or cancelled, the passengers hopping in sheer indignation. In shopping centres, restaurants, movie halls, hospitals, hotels and even educational institutions, the sound of fury is unmistakable. 

Anger, as defined by the dictionary, is an emotional response related to one’s psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged or denied. It is a feeling of great annoyance or antagonism as a result of some real or perceived grievance. 

So, in other words, a whole lot of people are antagonistic because of false interpretation? And if the wrong perception is corrected, they will cool down? 

Honestly, I don’t know the answer. Personally when I was younger, I did not encounter too many wrathful persons. I was raised in a small town whose inhabitants had patience and empathy in large doses.  The closest I came to the term “anger” was when one Indian movie by the unlikely name of “Why does Mr. Pinto get angry” was released. Where quirky named films go, this one was a sure winner. People flocked to the theater just to see the answer to the query that the picture posed. 

My parents were cheerful and mild-mannered folks. Our mother was the stricter one, but she was more firm than furious while disciplining us. Our father had all the time in the world for every inane inquiry, and each discussion was laced in humour. I remember going to him with a math question when I was seven years old. He looked at me in complete surprise and absent-mindedly asked me when I had started school. He then drew a large kitty in my book and wrote my name on top of it. You go and colour this picture, he instructed me. The time for problem solving can wait. 

It was only when I started living in big cities that I encountered rage like never before. The weirdest part of this was the anger that strangers exhibited towards, well, strangers. 

Subsequently, I was informed about the term “fake fury”. Loosely described, this is apparently something that people indulge in to get themselves out of a sticky situation. You know, for example, if you are caught speeding and you exhibit a hyped version of this condition, there is a chance you might be left off without a ticket. 

I took this information with a pinch of salt and did not believe in anger games. But the other day I surprised myself. I had stopped my car in a no parking zone. The traffic warden was at my window in an instant. 

“That green van took my slot,” I accused even before he could say anything.

“Driving licence please?” the cop requested.

“Why don’t you fine the van driver?” I asked frowning. 

“Don’t teach me my job,” the officer said firmly.

“You are yelling at me? You see an innocent lady driver and want to fine her because some awful inconsiderate man bullied his way into her parking?” I screamed. 

“Oh, Ok! Just go, go,” he waved me away. 

“It works,” I muttered, hiding my smile.