Mind is a jungle, let the lions play and keep the monkeys at bay
Aristotle’s remark on humans, ‘Man is by nature, a social animal’ has remained one of the most remarkable observations about our functioning as a society. However, when social animals tend to behave pathologically or when they go out of bounds and turn rogue, they end up whipping up havoc, a situation which understandably does not augur well with a civilized society, and in effect a nation built on its sound premise. As a neurologist, while analysing the current upheavals in the social milieu of our nation, I tried to make sense of our surroundings and its happenings by presuming our brain is like a jungle, full of life subject to simultaneous growth and decay. The animals, ghosts, demons and sages invariably become a part of the brain’s synaptic network, which comprises of both the green areas and areas full of deadwood. The next question in the line of thought that arises is: Who rules the jungle? Is it the lion, who with his courage, conviction and aura of authority, g