People are often alarmed when they encounter it. Yet, there are rituals in which you abuse a deity. It is called ninda-stuti. You use the foulest of words, the choicest of insults. Rationally, the exercise is meant to serve as a catharsis. Get the negative energy out of your system. God can take it. Psychologically, it’s a safety valve.

Foul language has been on my mind for a few days as the newspapers and social media is abuzz about (allegedly) well-educated, well-groomed, mature, male adults from ‘good’ families (allegedly) abusing (allegedly) well-educated, well-groomed, mature, female adults from ‘good’ families in public spaces.

Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik

I say allegedly as the event which took place in public has no witnesses and no camera recordings. Such selective loss of data and memory happens whenever celebrities are involved. So no one is particularly alarmed. I also say allegedly as really as assuming quality of education, grooming and maturity and the very notion of ‘good’ families is a term much favoured by Indians, when a man abuses a woman verbally (Was physical pushing and shoving also involved? Who knows? Certainly not the people who were there at that time!).

But what exactly is a foul language. To understand this, we have to appreciate the difference between nature (prakriti) and culture (sanskriti). In nature, anything goes, and there are no judgements, and so no such thing as ‘foul’ language. In culture, however, there are judgements, and some things are acceptable and some things are not. Many things are foul and rejected. Sanskriti domesticates us, and the language we use. Domestication is about control. We suppress our emotions and our real feelings, because we want to be good. More importantly because we want to look good because appearances matter.

But then, the boundary collapses, and nature overwhelms culture. This usually happens when we are angry. All pretensions of civilisation collapse. The wild beast surges forth, baring its fangs and thrusting its claws. The reins break. The dam bursts. All that is bottled within, breaks out. All that was forgiven before is unleashed. We reveal what we have always seen but never shared out of courtesy. We say things we know will hurt the other. We specifically release missiles that hurt the other
the most.