Hiding

Hiding is a fundamental human trait which we would have all attempted at some point of our life. It means preventing someone from knowing a fact, or seeing something.

If I consider today's online newspaper - the top two headlines are about hiding and concealment. The first headline says that one person bribed another person (a politician, to be specific) for a Million US Dollars. Now both these guys are concealing this fact from the general public for their own benefit.

The second one alleges that a little child has been killed by her parents. This allegation is made by the widow of the man, who was also their servant, and was also killed on the same night.

Here too you have a strong evidence that something is very fishy and concealment or hiding is being attempted.

While these are things which are being followed in the public domain, and are extreme cases (especially the second one), the situation is not different in our small personal life - our little world itself.

We would hide for a variety of reasons. 

Let's say that you are happy about something. Sharing your joy, they say, increases it. But then you don't share it with all, but only with a special few. Or with only your special one. And from the rest, you conceal.

The reasons for this are multitude. You may not want someone to share your joy. Or not want someone to feel jealous about your joy. Or maybe think that the person does not have to be privy to your joy itself.

The same thing can be said about stuff which hurts you. You don't want your loved ones to share the same anguish as you do. You do not want them to inflict them with the same pain as you are facing.

And in broader interests, you conceal something. You bury that thought deep in your heart. You keep them away from such situations to isolate them. 

It can also be said about things which you proudly possess. And you don't want others to have their prying eyes rest on your valuable assets. 

You would hide them completely so that those glaring eyes don't have a look at them. Like the gold, silver and other precious ornaments and valuables that you keep in the safe lockers.

Let us consider things from the perspective of someone from whom something is hidden.

If you consider the first illustration of the murder, it results in a deep sense of hurt and helplessness for the close ones of the people on whom the crime was committed and the society in general.

Moving onto simpler situations - like the one where the joy is hidden from you. In the aftermath, I bet you would consider yourself foolish to even think that the person should have shared his or her joy with you. It's like falling flat on your face.

And if something which was concealed was done with the intent of preventing the hurt, you would feel a deep sense of anguish. A tornado of torment would run through your mind - making you think on whether you could have done something to reduce or eliminate the reasons which caused the hurt.

Oh my God!! Is this such a complex trait? Does this have such resounding impact on the lives of people??

And if you are confused between hiding or showing - you could give a small hint. A small clue would keep that someone thinking about what you are hiding.  And make you exceedingly alluring.

This thought is beautifully conveyed by the lady below.

It was this advertisement, featuring Natalia Vodianova, for Idylle by Guerlain perfume, which got me thinking about this offbeat topic. (It's another matter altogether that it has taken me approximately two months to compose thoughts on this subject)

So when did you hide something the last time? And from whom? And why did you hide it? And was it for good or bad? Just contemplate.