Schadenfreude

Schadenfruede is a german word which is used in the English language to denote the common human feeling of happiness over somebody else's misfortune.
Don't get offended. We all do it. Each and every one of us has at some point or the other had a semblance of that feeling. I have always had complete faith in humanity's enormous propensity to stoop lower than the lowest nadir expected of them.

If you ever go to a French restaurant , you will notice that the upper cover for the crabs is always kept open , prima facie that they aren't going to escape as they have a very strong feeling of schadenfreude.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that Let no man pull you low enough to hate him . M.L.K. Jr. himself detested Edgar Hoover , so much for  being non hypocritical. Even though Edgar Hoover did a great many wrongs in his life, he was not a hypocrite. MLK Jr. loved it when Hoover was having problems with the Kennedys . This man, known by many to be beyond reproach, an honourable and a "fine" example of a human being had enormous schadefreudic qualities. Hoover too, loved it when the Kennedy administration ceased to exist with Kennedy's assassination. Schadenfreude in action. I just love to see it in action. It is a rather jejunic reminder of Greek mythology ,with even the gods committing wrongs.
Gandhi, a man known to be an impeccable example of humanity , having perhaps the finest qualities a human could possibly have, played loads of dirty politics in his lifetime.
He didn't let Patel be the first Prime Minister of India due to two reasons. And no , they aren't the ones that he had stated. New documents and letters found ample evidence that he made Patel promise not to be the PM even though he had complete support from the party , unanimous support. The first reason for such malfeasance was due to Nehru being a closer follower of Gandhi and could be easily manipulated as per his whims and fancies. Ergo Gandhi could rule without a crown , typical Shakespearean twist isn't it ?  Exactly like Caesar , Gandhi refused the crown or in better words , spurned it. The second reason was that Patel himself was Gujarati. Gandhi couldn't bear to be upstaged by another Gujarati. Patel was much more strong willed & wily , and not easily fooled by tricks. Gandhi couldn't bear that. Patel was also a better organiser and  ruler. Gandhi too had schadenfreudic qualities. Yes ! The great Gandhi too. The expulsion of Subhash Chandra Bose from the Congress was carefully planned and Gandhi loved it when Bose failed to procure any help from the Fascists and had to flee to Japan and get killed in the process. He hated to be upstaged by anybody. This is not a mere whim of mine , there is documented evidence , in the books of Janardhan Thakur or Thakkar one of them , and a couple of others. The other books were bowdlerised by Nehru as a favour to his former mentor. And then we blame the British, the Americans , the French , the Germans , etc.. We are the worst of the lot. As we hide behind the shadows and masks , our hypocrisy shows through. But the fact of the matter is, that only we don't realise that we are being perceived like this in the world.
The human capacity to stoop low never ceases to astonish me . These are but a few examples. There are many more. History always repeats itself. It always shall repeat itself. I mean to say that great people arent that great. after all they are merely human , are they not. I agree that I too have a bit of schadenfreudic streak with me. But I would like to believe that I have contained it well enough. This post was just to show that there is no man greater than yourself. Dont follow other people's ideals, their belief systems. Nay, form your own . For that which is your own can never be corrupt for thine self. You know yourself better than most and thus shall you conquer the rest.
A very hypocritical quote will suffice.
Emerson says that "I hate quotations, Tell me what you know" .

Well , I know that this is going to cause a bit more than a rustle, but I don't really care now,  do I ?