I was in a Quagmire!
by Arul Subramanian

It was October 28th & 29th; a Tuesday followed by Wednesday of 2008 was exactly when I met Frank in Marlow, England, who is the father of, no, no, it may not be fair to call him the father of Provocative Therapy - instead I would prefer to call him the 'Grand' father of Provocative Therapy. He is definitely the grand father in many ways. Grand father not just because he has got this excellent mastery; not because he his damn quick in scanning people; not because he is so witty and sarcastic; not because he has got this ability to speak his truth; not because he is 70 years young; not because all that years of wisdom is influencing you and me; not because he knows exactly what you would say even before you knew it - that's exactly what had happened when I was with him on the other side. Oh my God! He was awfully awesome and amazingly terrible! You got to see him! Truly unpredictable!

I still hear those laughter and giggles from the audience. They were not okay with that silence. Some of them were restless. Few were, in a way, cheering me as though they would do to a horse on the track. It was a long silence. It was Frank who had put me into that state of silence. At one level, he would ask me a question and at another level he would push me to that edge. I was a puppet and he had my strings. I was in a trance. The audience definitely thought it was moments of silence and not happening. It was different. There was a lot going on for me. At one point of time I even tell him to not to be silent. There was a lot going on for me. I can neither tell him a yes nor a no. I was slow. Not quick in responding. I was in a quagmire. Don't ever meet him. Some of the audience came to me in the lunch to ask, "Why on earth you did not answer his question?" I don't know. I told them, "If you sit in that chair, you will know".

Sitting in the chair with him I continuously laughed and laughed and laughed. I had not laughed so much about myself. Initially I felt inappropriate about it and managed to control my laughter. I pulled myself back in the chair and said, 'sorry' and he immediately said, "don't feel sorry for laughing, men shouldn't feel sorry for laughing". Then I again went in to the laughter. There was a lot going on inside, more than laughing.

I am really happy that I met this genius. Some people say he is outrageous. Some say he is rude. Some say he is awful - I would say that he is all the three. He is mind blowing. It is an opportunity that I met him. Thanks to Sue for making it possible. I now see my life, specially my issue in a new perspective and that's making such a big difference. I have a new path. Those 25 minutes with him is really life changing. It happens, when you want it. It happened for me. Happening for me!

All capably yours,

Arul