Emotional Atyachar

The title was borrowed off a colloquial(Nice word!) phrase which was turned into a song in Dev D, Not very meaningful but if the cap fits why take it off?!

This idea had occurred to me before so it was just a matter of making hay while the sun shined, so from the throes of a saddened heart (You’ll see why) comes the following:

1.     Pure Elation:

I’m not in throes of Extreme Happiness now but this is just a note. This emotion is expected tomorrow but not very excited about (I should be, it is my birthday!).Anyway, this emotion is totally one of the most elusive and sought after (Through clothes, Facebook, hoarding, thievery, whatever) like Felix Felicis (The potion in Harry Potter!)

But there is nothing like it once you have it. You feel lighter and younger and your tummy and heart give excited little squeezes in between.

If it is of the stronger variety, you feel you’re walking on air...

Yes, people in love experience all these symptoms and the effects continue as long as the subject is in the company of the object of love. It is known to fade in most cases after a certain length of time called the 'honeymoon period' but in extremely rare cases it remains as long as the couple is together. Recommended to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

This emotion is experienced in various other situations too but for a shorter duration and with less dramatic symptoms but the joy remains the same nevertheless!

2.    Medium Happiness:

Could sometimes be called Fake Happiness(The symptoms can be replicated easily hence comes in handy when you want to fake it like when you're jealous!)

This emotion causes one to smile (Ranging from a 32-tooth display (If you’re a clown) or polite little lip-curving in between), sometimes jump around a bit and its effects last for short periods of around a minute to a day (That is, for yourself. If you are happy for another person or thing, the period every time you meet that person or see that object).

So, this happiness can be sometimes called a Residual Shared Happiness because it usually is when you’re sharing or being a part of someone else's pure elation (Sometimes sharing it can make you super happy too).

3.     Ashamed Happiness:

Is seen especially when you have to share in someone’s extreme grief out of duty when you're happy (More on sharing grief below).

Or you’re happy at someone’s misfortune (Which is a very bad thing to do, but might happen unavoidably; like when you and your friend both wanted the first rank in class).The proper reaction would be to comfort the other person and never rub your own happiness in their faces (Happens a lot, I know...make them read this!)

Symptoms would be a smile threatening to plaster itself over your face and you controlling your urge, turning it into a grimace (Ideally you should use your handkerchief) or this constant fluttering in your tummy while you shake your head sorrowfully or comfort the other person.

Experience: Hasn't happened much something I remember at the moment would be when I scored the highest at school, people would be jostling me jovially and I’d be explaining lessons to someone who failed so it would be uncomfortable (Not) to react, I’d be happy inside and quickly suppressing my success not to sadden the unfortunate girl (Needless to say my besties always caught me!)

4.     Extreme Sadness:

Your heart starts throbbing painfully and feels so sad that you feel you’ll just shrivel up and die and sometimes wish you could. Meanwhile your eyes start streaming and get all puffy...

Reason: For trying to be funny and laugh at daddy’s posh English...needless to say, it backfired. And here I am a sorry soggy faced lumpy girl on the eve of her eighteenth birthday.

P.S. In Retrospect: I needn't have over-reacted.

5.    Selfish Teary Sadness:

You know you've received more than you deserve and hoped for and your parents can afford yet this sick germ of self pity in you makes you so sad for yourself and you cry, you don’t want to but you do and this germ makes you so teary that people end up seeing you all weepy and then you tell them in this crying voice why. Gosh...nothing's worse and embarrassing....I mean who wants to admit they’re crying because they didn't get baby pink shoes instead of bright pink ones?

Reason: I got two pairs of jeans today. More than I hoped for, but they’re not branded...so silly me started crying about how cheap poor me has become...no good dresses when everyone has nice things and all.

I mean, I know daddy cannot afford it...my fees aren’t paid yet...still...stupid me.

P.S. This type of reaction is not expected from those rich-daddies’ precious daughters(No offense meant whatsoever)who have the full right to shed precious saline H20 over their eagerly awaited Gucci’s turning out to be cream instead of ecru!

6.    Medium Sadness:

Similar to Medium Happiness, seen when you share in someone else's grief...effects range in the same limits as before:

Short or up to a day or every time you meet that person or see that object reminding you of it.

Medium Sadness should never be twisted and turned to resemble extreme grief because the person's actions will reek of falseness and is tasteless...Show what you actually feel in cases where this kind of grief is seen in public and help the person in pain(Physical or Mental).They need it.

Reason : I have undergone this type of emotion often but a memorable event would have been Len's mom's funeral...I'm not sure if even saying this is in very good taste, Anyway, I was very saddened about aunty going away definitely but another person’s true grief doesn't spread to you much though the aura of grief does. I'm not saying aunty going away didn't make a difference to me and I don’t care but I couldn't cry and beat my chest, there simply wasn't enough sadness for that(And we don’t have to display all that grief in public unlike some other communities anyway) so I tried my best to help Len come out of it and on that day tried to share in the family’s sorrow and help as much as I could.

7.    Little Sadness and Little Joy:

Interchangeable, because, in my case, I'm incapable of these unless I'm in a bored, listless and melancholic mood(which is often enough).Happens when you have a very small ,possibly negligible happiness (Any good happening to you should not be taken for granted of course however small it is, Count your blessings!) or sadness. You don’t take it very much to heart or anything, just acknowledge them, sometimes say a word of thanks for it and you’re out of the emotional cycle.

In case of small sadness, They could be triggered by very small happenings common to everybody like not getting the paper on time, This emotion is not very great on its own but leaves a bad aura in the mind like a sudden smell of shit in an otherwise normal train journey (Think Dharavi!) which can prove to be a trigger for more obsessing over sadness and lead to something bigger....

Ok...since all the biggest parts are out of the way...it is time for a little question.

If all these emotions happen only on certain triggers, which emotion do we experience  most of the time normally?

Answer: I would say that these triggers are happening constantly causing small injections of either a positive or negative emotion, which builds up toward a final state of mind, which leads to a certain output, or reaction, which ascertain the individual’s emotional state for a longer period.

Not all the above might seem to make sense but it has not been copied out of some large, dusty psychology tome I assure you. It is all straight from my heart (and brain!).

Another issue with the article might be that the range of emotions mentioned is tiny compared with what you might get if you Googled 'list-of-emotions’. What I have discussed here is the extreme positive (Happiness) and the extreme negative (Sadness).Every emotion connects to one of these; Yes even anger, which, if you think about it, is a manifestation of sadness, no person is going to get angry if he’s happy...so be careful you don’t ruffle anybody’s feathers or emotions and you’re guaranteed a beautifully happy life!