That Meghavati moment, if you take my meaning

No, I don't mean the third apsara from the left in a 1960s mytho-movie, in the scene where the two vidyadharas finally attain their celestial form after doing time on earth as an arjuna tree and a gazelle to work off some ill-tempered curse. Renuka Narayanan writes.

No, I don't mean the third apsara from the left in a 1960s mytho-movie, in the scene where the two vidyadharas finally attain their celestial form after doing time on earth as an arjuna tree and a gazelle to work off some ill-tempered curse (usually it's for snooping on their betters or yawning at inappropriate moments: the gods are very touchy about their rights and others' duties). I don't mean some undercover Cloud Princess whom Amar Chitra Katha missed by the most extraordinary oversight or a principled Rajput queen who cut off her head to be sent to her new-wedded lord as a stern reminder of duty when he took his time rushing to his suzerain's side to repel the invading army. And I don't mean the Indonesian lady either, Megawati Sukarnoputri; pretty name, that. So what's a Meghavati moment? Let's say you're less than pleased about something, in fact you're mad as a boiled owl. This ridiculous condition is eating into your sunny little soul and you don't know how to shake it off, its claws have dug into your subcutaneous. So there you are, a waiting volcano, wondering if you ought to change your name by deed poll to 'Chimborazo' or perhaps 'Cotopaxi': the next bit of boorish behavior to assault you and you will not be answerable for the consequences. This state of foul inner fizz particularly afflicts the oppressed denizens of my hometown, Delhi. (I do hope they won't make it 'Dilli', so annoying and we'll have to go on a tiring spite fling collecting signatures that actually it should be 'Mahajanapadamantralaya', you know, something with a spot of gravitas).

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All right, so what I'm saying is, Sri Krishna who just had Himself a birthday said it before I did and okay, we mere mortals do forget things sometimes. What He said in lovely Verse Two of Chapter 16 of the BG was that we need to tank up on 'ahimsa satyam akrodhas': non-violence, truth and non-anger. Oh God, not that again? So go on, look at all the tense, uptight faces around and ask 'Do we want to be 'Muqaddar ka Sikandar' and live laughing? Or crying'? We may in fact cry with relief when we choose laughter because everything that's otherwise awful just switches off in the temper department. Suddenly, it's like you stuck your finger in the good energy socket. Just so megawatty.

Renuka Narayanan writes on religion and culture