Freud, Krishna and All the President’s Mein

While linguists are still trying to figure out the meaning of the word ‘covfefe’ that US President Donald Trump used in a late-night tweet a while ago, psychological analysts are mooting allowing members of their profession to publicly comment on the mental equilibrium of the President.

The 3,500-member American Psychoanalytic Association (APA) has suspended an unwritten rule that restricted psychiatrists from pronouncing on public figures. Explaining why the rule was being rescinded, the APA president said it was because ‘Trump’s behaviour is so different from anything we’ve seen before’.

What with vicious infighting among his staff and his plan to scuttle ‘Obamacare’ stalled, Potus might well be in need of counselling on the assumption that when your id is at odds, a Freud in need is a Freud indeed.

The president has another option: the Bhagavad Gita. Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr K K Agarwal claims Lord Krishna became the world’s first psychological counsellor when he treated Arjuna to an 18-session therapy course before the confrontation with the Kauravas.

Not a few of our own netas, entangled in scams and imbroglios of various kinds, might also benefit from a similar exercise. However, Krishna himself might well have baulked when faced not by a Kurukshetra but a veritable Crook-shetra.