Tear-jerking

All of us indulge in crying at one time or other; I am not talking about the babies crying for food, or when they lose a game, or when they get a whack from their parents or friends. I am talking about adults shedding tears, in silence, and in public out of overwhelming pain and agony. There are many adults who are not initiated to crying in public, even when their life-supports are snatched from them; when they lose their dearest ones, when they lose all fortunes due to ill-luck. I feel sad for them, because there is no greater catharsis than by shedding the burdens through tears, and no wonder for most of us, it comes so naturally.

Women are said to be more prone to shedding tears, at the slightest excuse, but researches show that men are no less. In some societies, men shedding tears is considered sign of cowardice and unmanly act, and so even when they go through untold agony, they are to retain not only their emotions under control, but also their tears. I wonder how these men are able to suppress all their vital emotions and still be able to go about as if nothing on earth has ever happened in their lives, and I would not be surprised if these people suffer from not only grievous psychological, but also physical ailments. The unexpressed emotions will have to find a suitable outlet in some form or other.

I don't think we all should imitate the Rajasthani women, 'rudali', the hired cry-girls, who are often invited to cry during the death and funeral procession of persons. These are professional women, who can cry convincingly and courageously for a price, as if they had lost their own dear ones. These people probably may have an extra dose of lacrite enzyme which secretes far more tears than most of us. Scientific researches have also shown that there is no better way to clean the eyes than by shedding tears; there cannot be a better eye drops to “cleanse” the eyes, than the tears of one's own eyes.

Many of the Indian films are often dubbed as 'tear-jerkers', and if that be the case with popular films, then probably the Bengali films might win the first prize for tear-jerking. Every ten to fifteen minutes, the audience are presented with a crying scene, which may impel the audience to join the crying hero or heroine. But such films do faithfully what the Greek tragedies, and to a certain extent Shakespearean tragedies too, had done, to provide scope for catharsis, purging of one's emotions, so that at the end of the play the audience is able to go home with a sigh of relief, that all that happened on stage were only imaginary.

Another great consolation for those who find it hard to control tears, even at ripe old age; I understand for women it comes more naturally, but for the men it may require some effort. The consoling factor is that the Gospels say that even Jesus shed tears; though John makes that pithy sentence about Jesus weeping for his friend Lazarus (And Jesus wept! Jn 11:35), Jesus is also described to have shed tears for Jerusalem. We know Jesus also would have shed silent tears as he spent the long hours of night along with His Father. It is not that we need to invite tears for no reason, but when they do come, it may be to our benefit, not to stop them!