A BRIEF
HISTORY of the disease and its etiology: It is doubtful if man can ever wipe
the scourge of sycophancitis off the face of the earth. Unlike, say, conjunctivitis, bronchitis and
sinusitis, sycophancities is extremely deadly in that it eats into the very
vitals of its victim’s conscience and psyche, and reduces him/her to a servile, boot-licking lackey. Its
vice-like grip is so tenacious as to stymie, in most cases, even the
possibility of its victim making a sincere attempt at rehabilitating
himself/herself by regaining his/her lost identity and self-esteem.
Sycophancitis assumes its most virulent form when it co-infects the victim
already suffering from hypocritis. In this case, it enslaves the victim’s
faculty of logical reasoning and condemns him/her to the ravenous vortex of
self-deception.
The high-risk categories:
·
Petty, thick-skinned
politicians seeking votes or favours.
·
Greedy
corporators/industrialists who are forever lured by lucre
·
Film producers
bending over backwards to have the top hero/heroine sign on the dotted line.
·
Unscrupulous
bureaucrats seeking plum postings
·
Corrupt police
officers involved in clandestine and nefarious dealings with influential
politicians and/or underworld dons.
·
People in jobs
seeking out-of-turn promotions and other favours from their bosses.
CLINICAL
FEATURES: Shifty, watchful eyes; deceptively sweet tongue, adept at lacing the
conversation with juicy adjectives. Extremely elastic jaw muscles that can stretch themselves into an
ear-to-ear smile with the same ease with which they can contract themselves
into a serious-looking pout. Highly flexible neck muscles which allow the victim
to nod both horizontally and vertically with equal felicity, as dictated by the
idiosyncrasies of his/her master. Extraordinarily supple spine, and jelly-soft
knee joints ideal for the frequent genuflections.
PROGNOSIS:
Sycophancitis threatens to tear asunder the universal social fabric. Viewed
from the macro-level, this prospect assumes dangerous proportions with even
groups of nations being at risk of catching the contagion to the collective
detriment of all.
There is an urgent need for
soul-searching towards cleansing the mind of all base feelings, and thus being
able to live a full and healthy life.
But for this, man must learn to stop deluding himself. He must set aside
his blinkers and start looking at reality.