Weakness more powerful than one's strengths....!

No matter what our many strengths, just one weakness can prove more powerful than all of them! Many filmstars managed to make fools of themselves on Karan Johar’s popular chat show, Koffee with Karan. Not only have they put their foot straight into their mouth, but have left audiences wondering at their frivolity and hollowness. Amidst all this, Karan sat, at times almost as if struck dumb, opening and shutting his mouth like a goldfish, covering his face in mock horror, or a show of embarrassment... But always smiling, like the cat who got away with the cream. Perfect host. Imperfect friend. As an industry insider and successful movie maker, he manages to invite star friends onto the show and makes them very comfortable and at home. And it is always from within a ring of security that we loosen up, let down our guard and say things we wouldn’t in our more alert moments. It is when we open our hearts that we are at our most vulnerable. A quietly encouraging presence can lead you smoothly into dangerous territory. And that is the mark of a perfect host for a celebrity chat show! So, Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor bitched to their heart’s content about past and present loves and professional contemporaries, forgetting themselves in the thrill of the moment as Karan egged them on. It was only when they stepped out of the studios and faced the ire of the industry that they realised the damage they had wrought with their irresponsible, runaway, catty tongues! Not many episodes later came the wildly giggling duo Rani Mukherji and Vidya Balan out to promote their release, No one Killed Jessica. Both actresses with fairly mature, dignified images, giggled like teenagers, touched each other incessantly and were almost incoherent with an overdose of adrenaline. At one stage, to the horror of many, Rani stuck her thumb in Vidya’s mouth and the latter started sucking it with gusto! Turning to Karan, Rani asked, “May we touch you Karan?” before dissolving into crazed laughter once again! Very different from these two episodes, and yet not any less shocking, was the one with Shah Rukh Khan. In an uncharacteristically low mood, SRK appeared vulnerable, uncaring, caustic and disillusioned. With none of the witticisms he is known for, he sounded more like a loser than the King Khan image would have you believe! That’s what a few unguarded moments can do to you! Recently, I noted a film dialogue, “Insaan ki ek dukhti rag uski har taakat se badi hoti hai” (A person’s single weakness is stronger than all his strengths!) A powerful dialogue and so true! Think about it. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, our strength is defined by our vulnerabilities, not our strong points. Not all the preparation in the world or intelligence can help you with any exam if you have an indecipherable handwriting that the examiner cannot figure out! Here your handwriting rather than your intelligence and hard work decide your future. Similarly, you may have worked out a superb project with deep research and smart inputs, but if your timelines are not worked out and you cross the deadline, it is those couple of hours of delay that become the decisive factor! Similarly, you may be a great worker and a superb professional, but your loose tongue at an inappropriate moment may put paid to the rest of your capabilities! And just like an intelligent chat show host, you will always find plenty of people around you not just willing, but eager to exploit your negative potential as displayed through that one weak link, that one vulnerability! There is a category of people who wheedle info after putting you at ease and assuring you they are totally with you. Most of us have had a brush, or several, with the office pseudo sympathiser who always emerges soon as he smells your moment of insecurity or misery. He always knows, for he is on the lookout. And sure enough, there he appears with oodles of sympathy and a smile, pumping you subtly for information. He gives subtle hints and encourages you to speak up. In a moment of weakness, you are most prone to let go and spill it all out. Satisfied, he runs back where he came from and uses the information to his own advantage before you realise! It is only later you realise he got you to bare all but never ever shared any of his or her own troubles! Your one weak moment could have done you a lifetime of harm! Consider the power of weakness! Even the power of a relationship it is rightly said, lies with the one who cares less…never with the one who cares more and so has more at stake! So the weaker your love, the more powerful you are to mould or manoeuvre the relationship and your partner as and how you wish to! And yet, what a miserable power when the partner’s weakest link, his/her strong love for you, would be the biggest weapon you would use against them! It is indeed our moments of weakness and weak points that we need to guard… it’s when you are most comfortable that you should be most guarded too. We are born with strengths that we can at best hone and understand, but an equally important task is to understand our weaknesses and work hard upon those. For these, our greatest weaknesses, if guarded and worked upon, have the potential of becoming our greatest strengths! Remember, the great Achilles was only as strong as his weak heel! Had that not been known, who could have killed him? Had it not been known that Bheeshma would lay down his weapons if faced by a woman and Shikandi not been used for the purpose, who could have defeated the mighty warrior? Had it not been known that Abhimanyu could pierce the chakravyuha but not find his way back, how could that innocent son of Arjuna been killed by the Kaurvas?