The Grand Parade of Pride

A parade of Pride

I was taken aback by the pompous display of the arrogance of a self proclaimed gentleman dressed in a dark blue suit, red tie and gold cufflink shining against the black coffee mug held in his hand. Sitting in front of me on a coffee table, he continued with his vulgar spurt of vanity and vainglory. Inebriated by the concocted ambrosia of power, imperium and self righteousness, his tone and tenor were not very different from an idiosyncratic feudal lord of the medieval world.
I felt disheartened and disappointed at the behaviour of my host wearing all tangible attributes of the modernity and  elegance on his sleeve .Without wasting much time, I gulped the black bitter coffee, excused myself for another meeting and rushed out of the restaurant immersed in the green light emerging from the beautiful curtain of the evergreen shrubs

Pride and Arrogance - Virtue or Vice

Bitter taste of the coffee was gone , vitriolic leftover of the presumed pleasant conversation continued  burning  my senses - I got into my car  switched on the music and  got lost in the mystique aura created by the divine voice of Abida Parveen:

  “Aap apne dekhane ke vaste        ham ko aina banaya yaar ne
  Apne ik adana tamashe ke liye    ham ko Sooli par chadhaya yaar ne”

I had to rush to the conference venue for meeting my old friend Ranjan who had come to Delhi for presenting his research paper. The magnificent red brick structure of the university auditorium surrounded by the sprawling lush green lawn reminded me of my student days at Aligarh Muslim University campus. Delegates and volunteers proudly armed with the colorful badges were engaged in the ritualistic intellectual conversation punctuated only by the sips of the flowing tea. It was a planned ‘Tea Break’ and I could find the familiar face of Ranjan holding a white tea cup in his hand, surrounded by the people wearing colorful ties and suites and some socialist intellectuals donned in kurta, white trouser and Nehru jacket(perhaps ‘Suite’ for them is a representation of the oppressive class) .Ranjan introduced me to a middle age professor of psychology talking loudly to his fellow delegates. Professor Sahib, just fitted into his apparently marriage suite (at least 30 years old, if not more), holding is burgeoning belly in the right place with great difficulty, responded to my greetings with the warmth and affection.

Conference was in full swing, I was listening to a young speaker arguing ardently about his views on the human behavior in the modern world before an urgent message forced me to come out of the auditorium. Surprisingly, Professor Sahib (yes, with the large belly and little blazer) was sipping coffee in the corner. I seized this golden opportunity to share my ugly experiences with him to explore and understand his perspective on the subject. His eyes sparkled with the joy of finding a student who could listen to him for hours without an iota of unstated complaints. Sitting in the lawn outside the auditorium compound he explained the concept of pride and arrogance-  Arrogance and pride are the metaphorical twin brothers – One symbolizes the vice and the other one ‘Pride’ is the darling of many successful souls though abhorred by the multitude of mortals.

Unruffled by the sting and irritating buzz of the prowling mosquito march-past, he continued sharing the views of Aristotle, GB Shaw and Thomas Aquinas. I was astonished and attracted by the sharp contrast between the spectrums of views on ‘pride’ narrated by professor sahib with the perfection of a story teller. Aristotle identification of the Pride as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity, temperance, and humility is an antithesis to the theory propounded by the medieval century theologian Thomas Aquinas – It states that the Pride (inordinate self-love) is the cause of every sin. As the respected delegates started coming out of the auditorium, he concluded with an emphatic assertion that - There might be cogent arguments in favour of the pride being celebrated as ‘profound virtue’ or rejected as ‘capital vice’ but there is no similar disagreement between various schools of thoughts about the ‘arrogance of power.

While going back I shared the interesting story of Professor Sahib with Ranjan whose mysterious smile befuddled me. Well beyond this intellectual debate of virtue and vice, I never appreciate the ostentatious display of one’s pride or greatness, even though ‘feeling proud’ of the accomplishments is necessary for motivating the hardworking souls. Appreciating self in seclusion is different from the loud orchestration of the accomplishments for the friends and companions to shower eulogies. On various occasions, I felt baffled and badgered by the monologues of glory and gratification by the people whom I used to hold in very high esteem. I did not express these thoughts simmering in the crucible of mind after Ranjan’s inconclusive and uninspiring smile and silently drove to the 'Pandara road’ for the delicious delicacies.

While relishing the ‘kakori kebab’ ,Ranjan finally broke his solemn silence on the subject of pride and shared  his valuable experiences of life(perhaps a ‘Kebab Effect’).With the final scoop of  ice cream melting in his mouth, his voice touched the acme of  the intensity  to assert his belief -Arrogance is not necessarily a byproduct of glory and accomplishments, it is indeed a human trait  but the ramifications of the explosive arrogant behavior of the powerful educated class is far reaching.

Interactions of the memorable evening with my megalomaniac host, mercurial Professor Sahib and mysterious Ranjan taught me an important lesson of life- ‘Do not overestimate the successful people; they may have the ‘feet of clay’.