FC #106 on Freedom & Independence resonated with many, particularly with regard to the plight of rural women and children. Thank you readers for your comments.
Lynn Weiss from US says:
"The US has a major setback for women and their rights. We have turned the clocks back and can only hope the future will not be as dismal. Our democracy is fragile at the moment and not sure we learned from the past."
Dr. Naina bemoans the plight of women and says:
Patriarchy still prevails in many parts of India and the Malayalam movie “The Great Indian Kitchen” brings it out clearly that in a highly literate state like Kerala, where women are equally literate, they are reduced to becoming home-makers without pursuing their own dreams of a career. And even if she dares to walk out of such marriage to get her independence, nothing changes for the men as she is replaced by another woman going through the same motions and grind of pleasing the males of the house with no change in their mindsets.
Note: Please watch the movie with English subtitles on Netflix. To know more about the movie use this link:
🐈 Curiosity Killed The Cat
It is said that cats are curious by nature, and they tend to get into situations that might harm them. I think this may exclude pet cats, which are somewhat homebound - their curiosity is limited to exploring things within the confines of that home. I say this based on my own observation of the pet cat of my daughter-in-law in the US. Zed (my nickname for him) is rather shy, and he goes into hiding until he gets used to new people in the house.
He and I hit it off once he found out that I can be tricked into giving him treats, which were basically pellet-like cat food. He would look at me imploringly and let out a feeble meeooww as if to imply that he would faint if I did not feed him. Zed was content curling up in different places, but curious he was not. I suppose domesticated cats who don’t get to venture out of the house are not that curious. I do miss him.
Closer home, in our apartment complex, we have Maya, our community pet, who is very curious. She quite often has landed herself in places from where she cannot come out. Of course, the community responds to her wails and gets her out.
The original phrase was apparently “care killed the cat” where the word ‘care’ did not mean ‘concern’ but ‘worry’. If you worried too much, it might harm you. Curiosity is an inquisitive behaviour, and too much of that may land you in some trouble -- in some cases even dangerous and life-threatening situations. The idiom points to the consequences of the inquisitive behaviour of human beings and implies that we should not be curious cats!
‘Care will kill a cat’ is said to have appeared for the first time in 1598, in the English Playwright Ben Johnson’s play ‘Every Man in His Humour’. The modern version of the phrase appeared as
“Curiosity killed a Thomas cat” in ‘The Galveston Daily News’ in the year 1898, and it appears that ‘Thomas Cat’ was an allusion to ‘Tom Cat’, a male cat that fights over its territory. Galveston is a county in Texas. Remember the famous cat & mouse game played by Tom & Jerry?
Today’s version of ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat’ appeared in 1912 in a Pennsylvania newspaper, ‘The Titusville Herald’. It actually read, "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back." The meaning of the latter part of the sentence is unclear, but some have deduced that it may have a reference to the belief that a cat has nine lives.
Speaking of 9 lives, it appears it is more of a belief in the US. A publication in the Belleville News Democrat says: "The cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays." It is said that in Turkish and Arabic cultures, cats are said to have six lives whereas Spain, Italy, Greece, and Germany, recognise that the cat has seven lives. Be that as it may, the idiom ‘cat has nine lives’ has gained lasting recognition, so much so in the 1992 movie ‘Batman Returns’, Catwoman is seen surviving eight near-death experiences, implying that she had nine lives if you include her first cat resurrection.
There’s a comic book called “Garfield: His 9 Lives” which has an animated adaptation. Its theme song goes like this:
Cuz I'm a blues cat
And I'm broke from paying my dues
Cuz when you got nine lives
You got nine ways to lose
If you are a Garfield fan, please visit Garfield: His 9 Lives (Comic Book) - TV Tropes
According to Wiki, Curiosity Killed the Cat was a British pop band that achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s. If you are a fan of pop music, you could visit: The Very Best of Curiosity Killed the Cat Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
Let me see how the idiom relates to humans. Curiosity aka inquisitiveness is a good trait if it is in pursuit of knowledge and research. Curiosity is a person’s desire to know something, and it is an essential factor in learning. There is a lot to learn in this world, and the more curious you become, the more potential knowledge you can attain. There is no discovery without curiosity, and life isn’t much fun without it. This resonates with what Albert Einstein said: "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
If curiosity is misdirected to ferreting out information or intruding on others’ privacy, it can have serious consequences. I have often seen ‘nosey parkers’ who relish asking probing questions to people, even if they are unwilling to answer. When pushed to a limit, the nosey parker will be told off, and it is likely he will no longer be welcome. There is nothing like nine lives, meaning nine chances. Most people prefer to keep their personal matters to themselves. The curious tom cat feeds on sensation. If someone is ill, he would want all the graphic details, even if it is a medical condition that is not to be discussed or made public.
Oscar Wilde said: “The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.” More often than not, people get a thrill or vicarious pleasure in poking around and extracting information that is of no particular use to them.
The kind of curiosity that Einstein talks of is productive or positive curiosity. People may have seen an apple falling, but it was Newton who wondered why and developed the law of gravitation. The kind of curiosity that Oscar Wilde talks of is negative or idle curiosity. Like that of a person who surfs the Facebook page to know what his friends are up to. Idle curiosity is also the reason for people to aimlessly surf the net.
Privacy is not something we have learned to respect. We consider it an affront if the information is not shared. If I went to the US and did not publicise it, some relatives would accuse me of being secretive and not wanting to share information about my travel and how I spent my holiday. As if they have RTI i.e. right to information. Rumours make people curious. In the process of unearthing information, people add new layers to the rumour and soon the people around start believing it to be the truth.
Curiosity can also lead to disastrous consequences. Imagine a boy attending a party due to peer pressure and out of curiosity, he takes drugs. It could be fatal or lead to addiction. We must remember that we live just once, and we need to ensure that we do not succumb to curiosity that can have deleterious effects on us.
I remember an anecdote of a lawyer’s neighbour who used to walk across to the lawyer’s house uninvited to get information on cases that he was handling, not because the information was relevant, but because it was fodder for gossiping. The lawyer of course cited privilege and refused to discuss his cases. When the neighbour persisted, to stop him from coming, the lawyer put up a board at the gate which read “trespassers will be prosecuted”. The neighbour now miffed with the lawyer, not to be outdone, put up a board at his gate which read ‘prosecutors will be trespassed’. That was the end of their neighbourly relationship, a price one paid for being vicariously curious.
Worrying too much can have adverse consequences. It can kill a person. This is exactly what was implied by the original idiom ‘Care will kill a cat’. All of us have our worries, but we also learn to cope with them. There are people who find worrisome situations insurmountable, particularly if it involves parties who are inimically disposed. You have come across many instances of people resorting to suicide or suffering an attack due to their inability to meet their commitments. One can keep worrying till one gets ulcers or other pains that manifest due to stress. Blocked arteries are an example of how worry and stress can play havoc. Paranoia and hypochondriac can also lead to serious consequences.
Here’s a joke for you:
A guy is walking past a mental asylum and hears some guys chanting ‘five, five, five’. Out of curiosity he peeps through a hole in the wall and a finger springs out and jabs his eye, and as he rubs his eye, he can hear the guys chanting ‘six, six, six’.
Dear Readers, I would be curious to know what you think of this edition. Please do write in.
Until next week, take care and be safe!
👌😊
Business is good as long as it is yours that you mind. Interesting and well written Prasanna.