The BOOK of Emotions OTHER LOTUS TITLES Ajit Bhattacharjea Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah: Tragic Hero of Kashmir Anil Dharker Icons: Men & Women Who Shaped Today’s India Alam Srinivas & TR Vivek IPL: The Inside Story Amarinder Singh The Last Sunset: The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar H.L.O. Garrett The Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar Kiran Maitra Marxism in India: From Decline to Debacle M.B. Naqvi Pakistan at Knife’s Edge M.J. Akbar Byline M.J. Akbar Blood Brothers: A Family Saga Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo The Sinking of INS Khukri: What Happened in 1971 Madhu Trehan Tehelka as Metaphor Mamata Banerjee My Unforgettable Memories Mohammed Hyder October Coup: A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad Nayantara Sahgal (ed.) Before Freedom: Nehru’s Letters to His Sister Nilima Lambah A Life Across Three Continents S. Hussain Zaidi Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia Sharmishta Gooptu Revisiting 1857: Myth, Memory, History and Boria Majumdar (eds) Shashi Joshi The Last Durbar Shashi Tharoor & Shadows Across the Playing Field Shaharyar M. Khan Shrabani Basu Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan Shyam Bhatia Goodbye Shahzadi: A Political Biography FORTHCOMING TITLES Imtiaz Gul Pakistan: Before and After Osama bin Laden Preeti Monga The Other Senses The BOOK of Emotions Salman Akhtar Lotus Collection © Salman Akhtar, 2012 ‘Envy’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Love’ were first published in Housecalls in 2004. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the author. First published in 2012 The Lotus Collection An imprint of Roli Books Pvt. Ltd M-75, Greater Kailash II Market, New Delhi 110 048 Phone: ++91 (011) 4068 2000 Fax: ++91 (011) 2921 7185 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.rolibooks.com Also at Bangalore, Chennai, & Mumbai Cover & Layout design: Bonita Vaz-Shimray ISBN: 978-81-7436-953-6 To My beloved cousin NASSER HARVANI without some of the emotions mentioned in this book Contents Prologue: Why this book? Anger Boredom Courage Disgust Envy Fear Greed Hope Ingratitude Joy Kindness Love Mourning Nostalgia Obstinacy Pity Querulence Remorse Shame Tenderness Unease Vindictiveness Worry Xenophobia Yearning Zest Epilogue: What aboutAnxiety, Happiness, Jealousy, and Regret? Translation of Urdu/Hindi Poetry Acknowledgments Sources Index About the Author Prologue Why this Book? Practising psychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis for over forty years and being an avid reader of books pertaining to the human mind has convinced me that most good books in this realm are difficult to read for lay-persons. Matters are made worse by the fact that books that are readable succumb to oversimplification and glib advice-giving. As a result, the seeker of knowledge about the intricacies of emotional life finds little that is meaningful to read. It is this lack that I am trying to address here. Only the reader can tell to what extent I have succeeded in offering a textured, nuanced, and yet engaging discourse in these pages. Anger Anger is a pillar that rises from the floor of humilliation. Anger is not a ‘primary’ emotion. It does not arise de novo. It is a response to fear, betrayal, humiliation, and other sundry injuries to s