Overcoming timidity

Most of us must be familiar with a certain type of people who are timid to the point where they allow the domineering to walk all over them. While we cannot discount the fact that they are the tribe who are responsible for the little peace we enjoy on earth, we must also not forget that we are punishing them with untold trauma for being good-natured.

A tale from the repertoire of stories from the Ramakrishna Ashram suggests a panacea for diffident denizens. There once lived a cobra in a little hamlet. He was feared by everyone.

One day a saint came to the village. The cobra noticed the contrast in the attitude of the villagers towards himself and the saint. He approached the saint and spelled out his observation. The sage told the cobra to follow austerity.

The snake, who was determined to garner admiration, gave up hunting and lived on leaves shed by the trees. When he became noticeably meek and amiable, even little children in the village picked him up by the tail and swirled him around just for fun. The serpent put up with this ordeal, to achieve his goal. Sometime later, the saint visited the settlement again. He heard about the saintly cobra.

The good man visited the emaciated serpent and told him that being nice did not mean accepting rude or violent behaviour. In fact, no one should ever accept an onslaught on their self-esteem or accept discourteous behaviour, especially when they have done nothing to merit it.

The Samaritan told the cobra to continue to be affable but also draw the line when others tried to take advantage of his goodness.

When the reptile wondered as to how he could straddle both the situations, the saint told the cobra to unfurl his hood and hiss to frighten the mischief makers. He need not necessarily harm them, but threatening to do so could keep them at bay and also ensure his sanity and serenity.