Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
May 30, 2015

I saw this stuffed fish on top of a fireplace and beneath it the caption read: If I had kept my mouth shut, I wouldn’t be here.

So damn true. Most of our hassles are caused by opening our mouths and saying the wrong thing to the wrong people at the wrong time with the wrong results.

Running off at the mouth and being indiscreet are the two things that get us into hot water. Think of the many times you have had to rue not shutting up. Is it that difficult to keep your own counsel?

We cannot keep a secret for more than an hour. We have to tell someone else.

Lose our job because we think bad mouthing the boss was a show of guts.

We fight as a couple and call the neighbors in to arbitrate, then we make up and hate the poor neighbors forever.

We hear a rumor and weave a huge patchwork quilt out of it.

Without even caring to confirm something we spread it like butter.

We lie about our status, our wealth, our purchases. If you travelled economy fine just don’t announce you travelled business, no one cares… except you.

We are lousy at timing and we cause so much hurt because we cannot zip it.

Our day is full of ‘If you ask me…’ and ‘In my personal opinion…’ and ‘from my point of view…’ and we never hear shut up already.

No wonder so many careers end up like the fish, stuffed and mounted and going nowhere in a hurry.

Learn the advantage of not opening your mouth and putting your foot in it. 

(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)