Trying to outsmart one another is the favourite past time of human beings. It is an extremely interesting activity depending which side you are on. It is like a reality game that is constantly on air. Everybody is perpetually ready for action. And the score is continuous. What makes it interesting is that in this the whole being is involved.


Words are perhaps the single most important tool used in this endeavor. It is truly awe inspiring what a collection of some seemingly meaningless letters positioned in a correct order to form words can do to a human being. Or sometimes to a collection of human beings. Four words ‘I have a dream’ moved a gigantic black sea in a Tsunami like turbulence that brought a nation of oppressors to attention. And the world is still ringing.
Next was a nationwide turbulence with two simple words ‘Quit India’. And what followed is history.


Another two words that never fail to get instant attention is ‘xxxx you’ but in a lesser periphery. Mostly one to one. Both statements are containing two words but the effect is different.


Sometimes same words used in different circumstances can portray different states of the mind. ‘You are looking gorgeous’ can mean something else when someone says that when you are just up from Malaria/Typhoid or Pox or some dreadful disease or when your loved one says the same thing when you are going out for the evening.


Millions and millions of words are used everyday to shatter millions and millions of people round the globe. People taking their own lives, breaking away from marriages, friendship, resigning from jobs; hurt by poison arrows of words. Murderers trying to convince people that it was self-defense. People justifying their extramarital affair. I am using words right now that are queuing up inside my head. Making their exit not through the mouth but through fingers on the keyboard.


Besides these two exit points the only other body part that words can make an exit through is facial expression.


When you are young and coming home late, fathers have a particular facial expression that can be worse than a million words (mothers are generally more vocal thus giving less importance to facial expressions). I remember.


Or when you catch your spouse cheating on you….. so many expressions.


Or when I bought the first bike for my son, the expression in his eyes.


As humanity has evolved words too have evolved. New words are seeping in to express new situations. ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’. New word. To express an embarrassing situation that have been taking place frequently. Particularly memorable is the global warming associated with a partial globe show in some pre football match musical extravaganza. Even Google search has introduced pages in this topic.


Another relatively new word is ‘Body Language’. It is a wordless language but the effect can be lethal.


A cricket team would possibly be a prime example. One can win or loose a match just by sheer arrogance. Well almost. Just imagine the moment a batsman gets out the umpire raises a finger. The index one. And the batsman has no option but to walk out of the giant field with a particular body language. But at the same time the bowler who has turned the batsman out raises his middle finger at the batsman and the effect is totally different.