A draconian difference

Here I would like to relate one small incident. Many years ago, I think in the year 1981 or ’82, I was standing in the Trivandrum Medical College. My sister was a senior house surgeon there. However, I was standing in the queue where the common patients are made to stand. In a talk with a doctor, I used the word ‘Ningal’ (polite form of You, but devoid of feudal obsequious respect). I could see the violent reaction cropping up in the doctor’s mood. In those times itself in South Kerala, the word ‘Sar’ was the only word acceptable to any officer of the state government, as an equivalent for ‘You’. He immediately tried to snub me, while I held my own. In no time, he changed his word of addressing me from Ningal to Thaan (a lower form of You).

In a way, I was defenceless, for if I had addressed him back with Thaan, he would have probably called the hospital security and had me arrested for abusive behaviour. This type of mental attack is not possible in English, even though it is a very powerful social and professional method of crushing other fellowmen. Herein lies one of the most significant differences between English and feudal languages. Just a change of word level and the other man is held prisoner to some obnoxious level, from where he cannot fight back other than by being abusive.

If the doctor had not been able snub me with a lower grade word of addressing, he in a fit of despair would have exhibited many signs of schizophrenia. However, he got respite through the settings that allowed him to use such a word to me. If there was no such recourse, he would literally have gone into mental aggravation and possibly violence; especially if I too had retorted in a lower level indicant word level.

If this be the case of mental aggravation, how can the medical professional associate violence with mental problem, other than provocation, which arrives in forms that they can’t sense.

From here, one need to look at the ways provocations can arrive, other than what is perceivable. If it be true that a wrong indicant level word can provoke, what about the same word done at a distance which is physically afar? It is here that more inquiry has to be directed. For, words and information made at far distances can have their own affect inside the virtual code arena, wherein there are no real physical distances, other than numerical values that assign physical distances.