Patience A Weapon

Patience A Weapon

1992 1-2 January-February Patience A Weapon (566) On September 6, 1980 a young woman by the name of Mrs. Kamlesh was walking along the road in Shahadara. Suddenly she was accosted by a man, who snatched her gold chain and made off with it. When the policeman on duty, Kishan Chand Tyagi, was informed of the theft, he immediately went in pursuit of the culprit to the Balmiki Mandir where, it was surmised, the chain snatcher had taken refuge. The moment the latter saw the policeman, he tried to escape, firing at his would-be captor with a revolver. His first bullet hit Kishan Chand just below the eye coming out from his neck. The wounded man shouted, “You got me once, but you can’t hit me again!” not realizing that the thief had a revolver. The man (later identified as Ashok) fired at him again, but this time Kishan Chand was alert and dodged the bullet. Undaunted, he kept following Ashok although the latter was armed, and still firing at him while he himself was not even carrying a baton. Finally, he reached a dead-end with the policeman hot on the culprit’s heels. The chase ended when Ashok was caught as he tried to scale the 4 1/2 foot wall.

Weren’t you scared chasing an armed desperado?” a reporter asked Kishan Chand. “No,” said the policeman. “I knew I would catch him when all his bullets were spent. The culprit had three bullets left, all of which he fired, rendering his revolver useless. That was when I caught him. (The Hindustan Times, September 7, 1980)

There is a big lesson in this small episode. It tells us how to face an enemy. Initially, we should render his onslaught ineffective by causing him to exhaust all of his “three bullets”. Then it is much easier to deal with him. Suppose, for example, that someone much stronger than you becomes angry with you. When he begins his verbal assault, do not meet it head-on, but just tactfully side-step it. In other words, as the Americans say, ‘Keep your cool’ until his anger is spent. Now you can indulge in rational talk with him. If you can exercise so much patience, you will be the winner. Having made him expend all his “three bullets,” you can face him with confidence.

Similarly, you will find that conspirators, who have come together to annihilate you; will remain united only so long as they perceive you as a standing threat. If you can remove that threat, possibly by removing yourself temporarily from the scene, their unity will fall apart, with the threat, as they perceive it, removed, they will have no excuse to rally under a common banner. The end result will be their dispersal, after which there is little harm that they can do.

The sight of an adversary provokes a man to attack. But, initially, he himself often becomes the victim. If, on the contrary, he acts with wisdom and exercises self-restraint, the first round will go in his favour, because he has avoided taking the brunt of the assault. Remember that the attacker does not have an unlimited stock of ammunition and it is soon spent. If you can manage to elude his “three bullets”, the tide will turn in your favour and allow you to make a successful counter – attack. This applies to all enemies. It is just a question of not losing your head.