People Around Us

The Creator apparently believes in variety. He has filled the universe with a lot of variety. Variety in anything and everything. No two things are the same or alike. We say they are alike or similar. But on closer scrutiny it will be found that no two things are alike. It can never be. It is his will.

Is the above statement really true? Let us take the simplest of things. Leaves for example. Leaves of any particular plant or tree. There may be millions of leaves on a mango tree. There are some huge mango trees that yield more than a truck load of fruits every year. Even then, no two leaves are alike. Try your best and make an effort. If the shape is same, there is some difference in colour. If shape and colour are same, there is some spot on one which is not there in another. Even if the shape, colour and spots are the same, the spots are not in the same place. Go on trying till you get tired. At some stage you will accept that the above statement as true!

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Let us take fruits for another example. There are so many varieties of fruits. They come in all shapes, colours, sizes and flavours. There is a wide variety in their tastes as well. Some fruits are available allover the globe. Some are available only in some countries or continents. Some are available throughout the year, but many are seasonal. Consider the banana bunches. The number of fruits in a bunch differs from others. With great difficulty we may find two bunches with the same number of fruits. Even there, the shape of the fruits is not the same! Weights also differ, may be even in micrograms. 

Some fruits are so simple that you can directly pluck from the plants or trees and straightaway eat them. One may have to wash them for reasons of health and hygiene. That's all. Some fruits like Jack Fruit are even difficult to touch. Some can be handled in one hand and some, like watermelon, take both hands as well some extra effort to even lift them. Some others, like pineapple, need extra care while cutting them to bring them to an edible level. Fruits are indeed a very interesting part of our lives.

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While comparing the creative styles of various poets and their works in Sanskrit literature, the concept of "PAka" is often used. PAka means something that is cooked or more accurately, a "Syrup". Mentions are made of different types of PAka for easy understanding of the comparative styles used by different poets. The following PAka are the most commonly used ones, and in the order of relative ease of understanding the works by the reader:

• Ksheerapaka (Milk): Reading and understanding is just like consuming milk. Easy to drink and digest. Even infants and toddlers can comfortably consume and assimilate. 
• Drakshapaka (Grapes): Similar to the comfort of just picking and eating grapes. Easiest of styles and not much efforts are required to understand the contents of the works.
• Sharkarapaka (Sugar): Very similar to consuming sugar syrup. Easy to understand, but a little more effort required than the earlier one (May be to avoid getting messy!)
• Kadalipaka (Banana): Like eating a banana. Some effort is required, like peeling a banana. Even then it is relatively easier.
• Ikshupaka (Sugarcane): Like tasting Sugarcane. Much effort is required to remove the outer covering and requires crushing with teeth, but once that it is done it is all sugary.  
• Narikelapaka (Coconut): Toughest one to understand due to thick outer fibre, followed by the hard shell. Once these are removed, you get the sweet real coconut as well as the sweetest and purest water on earth.

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Poet and critic Kolachala Mallinatha Suri, usually referred as "Mallinatha", lived in the 14th-15th century period. He was a "Asthana Vidwan" of the Rachakonda Kings of Kolichelama (present Kolcharam in Medak district of Telangana) first and later during King Deva Raya of the Vijayanagar period. He was conferred with the titles of "Mahamahopadhyaya" and "Vyakhyana Chakravarty" or "Emperor among commentators". The title Vyakhyana Chakravarty was in recognition of his voluminous commentaries on various "Mahakavyas" in Sanskrit literature. 

He has discussed in his commentaries about the writing styles of major poets in their works. He has compared these works in terms of the above Paakas. He mentions that poet Bharavi's "Kiratarjuneeyam" is a classic example of NArikela Paaka. 

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That's about the works created by the poets. What about the human beings themselves, those who are recognised as poets as well as those who are not poets but normal human beings? (It is not to suggest that poets are not normal human beings!). Can we apply the same Paaka system to understand the people around us? It is quite possible.

Human beings are also different from each other. They differ in height, weight, colour, completion etc. Take the case of an identical twins. They are identical twins alright, but their mother can show you ten differences between them very easily. There is even more diversity in human behaviour. What is most perplexing is that the same person behaves differently, when the circumstances change. We can also see that the same person behaves differently on different days, even when all other circumstances are the same. We say "it depends on the person's moods". 

Given all the above differences between persons around us, it is possible to broadly  classify all of them into groups using the same Paaka system used for identifying styles of writing in literature? Some people are very easy to interact with. "He is a very friendly person", we say. Some others are "uncomplicated and easy to deal with" while it is said some others are very reserved and do not open up easily. "Oh, No. I don't want anything to do with him!" one may exclaim, when required to interact with some others.

The most interesting set of people are those who are classified as "Narikela type" or "Coconut type". They are also the misunderstood. They may appear very difficult to deal with. But once you gain their confidence or they gain confidence in you, they open up. Many consider such people are  most dependable and trustworthy. 

Which category do you belong to?