It’s odd how the suffix ‘line’ somehow impinges on our lives in one way or the other. Who, for instance, doesn’t worry about a bulging waistline or a receding hairline or, for that matter, a hairline fracture on one’s extremities which can sometimes go undetected?
Corporate honchos, of course, are understandably concerned about the bottom-line in their balance sheets while our politicians miserably fail to rein in the soaring price-line, the bane of the common man who, if matters aren’t set right fast enough, will inevitably end up on the breadline or even below the poverty line.
In cricket we see bodyline bowling by fiery speedsters bent upon intimidating batsmen. The revealing creations of fashion designers — incorporating plunging necklines, rising hemlines and plummeting backlines — send them guffawing all the way to the bank while raising the eyebrows, and hackles, of prudes who underline the need for modesty in dress.
Of course, the clotheslines at home symbolise domesticity, pure and simple, while an angler’s fishing-line is the crucial link between him and a gullible fish, giving rise to the piscatorial greeting ‘Tight lines!’ World leaders have access to a hotline to deal with emergencies or to defuse a crisis while lesser mortals like us have a watered down, but no less effective, version of it that enables equally instant communication round the clock — the ubiquitous mobile phone that’s fast replacing the archaic landline.
Power-lines, of course, are a nation’s lifeline and we are all too familiar with industrial strikes that bring our production lines to a grinding halt. Our airlines offer competitive fares and there are laugh lines that crease one’s face, sometimes grotesquely, when one’s amused. Don’t we streamline a work system in order to meet a deadline?
Then we hear of political renegades who refuse to toe the party line and spies who work behind enemy lines. News reports carry a dateline and a weak storyline can ruin a novel. We scan the headlines daily in our newspapers and seek guidelines when in doubt about an assignment. No one ever likes to be sidelined!
At one time or the other we’ve all found ourselves in the firing-line with the boss or our elders letting off steam. Of course, the battle-lines are drawn when we’re ready for a showdown with our opponents or boss or elders, and who hasn’t scanned the skyline during the kite-flying season for those soaring and imaginative paper creations? Horse-breeders are known to be particular about the blood-lines of their stallions, and the medical fraternity is familiar with borderline cases of diabetes and other disorders.
Sometimes we are acutely aware of the hard-line stance a boss adopts much to our consternation, and it’s well known that our frontline troops often face the brunt when trouble erupts on our disputed and far-flung borders.
Lastly, in this age of advanced technology there are few among us who haven’t gone online. Taking the line of least resistance, perhaps that could be termed the punchline!