Porosrikatarata: Worse than jealousy

Maswood Alam Khan
“Porosrikatarata” is a Bangla word. One who feels terribly sick at someone else’s wellbeing suffers from “porosrikatarata”, a psychological phenomenon prevalent in Bangladesh and is rare to find in people outside of India-Pakistan-Bangladesh subcontinent.

Envy or jealousy is not an appropriate English transliteration of the word “Porosrikatarata”. One feels jealously unhappy to a reasonable extent when one wishes he or she had something that somebody else has. Envy or jealousy rather drives one to work harder to attain what somebody else has achieved or flaunts, while “porosrikatarata”, instead of enthusing one to compete, makes one pale and sick, kills one’s sense of direction and saps one’s energy even to work normally. No attainments even if those are far more in number or way better in value than what caused the envy in the first place can relieve the sufferer of “porosrikatarata” of his/her pains resulting from someone else’s peace and happiness. “Porosrikatarata” is a disease, a corollary of unhealthy upbringing, a ramification of sadistic attitude of the mentally weak—an infectious malady, rampant especially in a poverty-stricken society, which may pass over to the progenies if preventive measures are not taken.

“Porosrikatarata” can better be exemplified with an amusing joke about a conversation between God and a Man, full to the brim with jealousy: Man: “God, I’ve tried my level best to please you, I have never skipped any prayer throughout my life and I am sure you are happy with my deeds too.” God: “Yes, dear. There is a reward awaiting you after your death.” Man: “Can’t I get a special reward before I die, God?” God: “Well, what do you want?” Man: “Anything you grant.” God: “You will get whatever you wish on one condition: Your next-door neighbor will get just the double of what you will receive from me. Mind you, there is no limit to what you can ask for as rewards from me. You may now ask for anything of any quantity.” Puzzled and full to the brim with adrenaline at the thought of his neighbor getting the double of whatever he would receive, the Man crazily beseeched God: “Please gouge one of my eyes out; I would be content with only one eye.” The joke however did not conclude whether God accordingly did gouge out one eye of the Man and two of his next-door neighbor.

It is known to all and sundry that Bangladeshi people in general who don’t have much work to do and public officials in particular who mostly idle away their office time to misuse public funds traditionally spend their time day and night with the simmering pain of jealousy. People in the upper strata, especially political leaders in the upper echelons are burning in the fire of “porosrikatarata”. Flinging themselves on the thorny beds of envy, they are only giving way to miseries. They have lost their sense of direction. Their main job is to fret over politics of “porosrikatarata” and find ways and means of how to punish their political rivals. Taking revenge seems to have been their only passion leaving the younger generations to learn how to use newer tools of harsher vengeances.

More time of most of the people’s representatives in Bangladesh is now spent on having their palms greased and hatching their ways to take revenge upon their rivals than on development works in their own constituencies. They are too busy with their passion for “porosrikatarata” to spare time thinking about the future of Bangladesh. They don’t care how they will be read on the pages of history. Their only goal apparently seems to be to rob others of their possessions.

If such “porosrikatarata” is thus ingrained in our culture the day perhaps is not far away when Bangladesh may be known to the world as an atypical country full to the brim with ‘porosrikatar’ people and ‘porosrikatar’ leaders. And the Bangla word “porosrikatarata” may soon gain entry into the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary of Etymology for lexicon lovers all over the world to learn a new meaning of a new word emanated from Bangladesh.

Maswood Alam Khan
From Maryland, USA
E Mail : maswood@hotmail.com

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