Why does man complain?
By Vishal Sharma
The Vedic texts speak of a mother sparrow, who laid her eggs in a nestnear the sea-shore. The sea, extending his powerful arms, transcendedthe boundaries of his shore and took her eggs away. The sparrow askedthe sea to return her eggs. But there was no response. She then warnedthe sea that if the eggs were not returned, she would drink up theentire sea! But there was still no response. The sparrow afterall wasinsignificant in front of the sea. Undaunted, she commenced drinkingthe sea, one drop at a time. Her steadfastness attracted the attentionof Garuda, the transport of Vishnu. On being informed as to the reasonbehind her strange act, Garuda did not ridicule her. Instead, he nowwarned the sea, that if the sparrow`s eggs were not returned, he, Garuda, would drink up the sea. Garuda being powerful, his warninghad immediate effect. The sea returned the sparrow`s eggs to her. Noone evaluates this event and infers that it was foolish of the sparrowto make a nest near the sea-shore. But we identity the sparrow withher determination to undo the wrong done to her by her efforts, ratherthan sit, cry and complain over the loss of her eggs.
Why does man complain? A complaint is a consequence of feelingaggrieved. The desire, to have the grievance addressed, manifests intoa complaint. The pre-requisite in the process is a superior authority,possessing the ability to address the grievance. However, such abilitymust be accompanied by a desire to exercise it fairly, and in anacceptable time period. The judicial system is one such redressalfacility. The process of complaining, hence, involves three parties,one the aggrieved, the other being the perceived perpetrator of thegrievance, and the third the redressal authority.
The Vedic texts speak of a mother sparrow, who laid her eggs in a nestnear the sea-shore. The sea, extending his powerful arms, transcendedthe boundaries of his shore and took her eggs away. The sparrow askedthe sea to return her eggs. But there was no response. She then warnedthe sea that if the eggs were not returned, she would drink up theentire sea! But there was still no response. The sparrow afterall wasinsignificant in front of the sea. Undaunted, she commenced drinkingthe sea, one drop at a time. Her steadfastness attracted the attentionof Garuda, the transport of Vishnu. On being informed as to the reasonbehind her strange act, Garuda did not ridicule her. Instead, he nowwarned the sea, that if the sparrow`s eggs were not returned, he, Garuda, would drink up the sea. Garuda being powerful, his warninghad immediate effect. The sea returned the sparrow`s eggs to her. Noone evaluates this event and infers that it was foolish of the sparrowto make a nest near the sea-shore. But we identity the sparrow withher determination to undo the wrong done to her by her efforts, ratherthan sit, cry and complain over the loss of her eggs.
Why does man complain? A complaint is a consequence of feelingaggrieved. The desire, to have the grievance addressed, manifests intoa complaint. The pre-requisite in the process is a superior authority,possessing the ability to address the grievance. However, such abilitymust be accompanied by a desire to exercise it fairly, and in anacceptable time period. The judicial system is one such redressalfacility. The process of complaining, hence, involves three parties,one the aggrieved, the other being the perceived perpetrator of thegrievance, and the third the redressal authority.
One can feel aggrieved by practically any occurrence. However,complaining does not always help. The ancient seers of India havecategorized human grievance into three groups, and called them,`Aadi-bhautik`, `Aadi-daivik`, and `Adhyaatmik`. The `Aadi-bhautik`grievance is caused by perceivable beings like fellow men, animals,and so on. The `Aadi-daivik` grievance results due to naturaldisasters, and unseen powers. And the `Adhyaatmik` grievance resultsfrom one`s own mind. The first grievance can be complained against andhas a relatively easy redressal system. The second grievance isresolved fatalistically using the `Hand of God` phrase, while the lastgrievance makes man a prisoner of his own confusion.
In life, when things go wrong, and they often do, when obstacles come,and they often do, when the mood becomes gloomy, and it often does,know, that what differentiates a successful person from a loser, ishow he handled his suffering. As repulsion is the true test ofmagnetism, similarly, managing one`s suffering is the true indicatorof success. For everyone suffers, everyone faces obstacles, andeveryone`s mood becomes gloomy sometime or the other. However, noteveryone sits and complains about the unfairness of life. It is thevictimized who protest, the weak who shout, and the children whocomplain. When a child falls down on the ground, he cries andcomplains to his mother. The mother, just to make the child happy,stamps the ground, as if she were beating it. But one day, the childmust grow up and know that the ground is not affected by any beating,it is the now grown-up child that must not fall!
So you have not got good marks in the twelfth grade exams, not made itinto the IIT or IIM, or even the IAS, or messed up your SAT and CAT.It is not the end of the road. It just means you didn`t study hardenough or in the correct manner. Take a break, have patience, evaluateyour weakness, persevere, and search for alternatives. Albert Einsteinis perhaps the greatest of the scientific minds of the last century.They don`t enumerate his contributions to Physics. They say herevolutionized it! But few know that the great professor AlbertEinstein had failed in his tenth standard mathematics` exams, did notspeak a word till he was four years old, and was consideredsub-intelligent by his teachers. But no one ever heard Einsteincomplaining about his scholastic performance.
I know of a person, whose eighteen year old son committed suicidebecause his girl-friend left him for someone else. Someone`s marriagemay have broken down for some flimsy and obscure reason. Don`t cringeand complain over such momentary and frivolous losses. Never judgeyourself for these reasons. If at all you want to be a judge of yourpersonality, then see yourself from the eyes of a poor beggar whomyou`ve just fed food, or from the eyes of the old woman, for whom yougave up your seat in a crowded bus or train, or from the eyes of agrateful puppy, whom you comforted in the rain. A wise adage states,`It takes one woman twenty years to make a man out of her child, whileanother woman takes twenty minutes to make a fool out of him.` Whyjudge yourself from the unqualified eyes of such a woman or man whohas scorned you? Instead, judge yourself through the proud eyes of aparent, who has taken care of you all these years, and then you willhave no reason for complaining.
There was this farmer`s son who tried his hand at business and failed.Contested elections and failed. Then went back to business but failedyet again. He suffered a nervous breakdown, came out of it, andcontested elections repeatedly for many years but failed again andagain. After nearly thirty years of trying, he won, and became a greatPresident of the United States of America. He was Abraham Lincoln!
Did Lincoln complain and give up? Surely, your defeats and losses werenot more than Lincoln`s? Surely your ridicule was not more then whatEinstein must have faced. Don`t complain and frown, but stand up anddare to dream again, dare to walk again after falling. It hurts, yes Iknow, but you are the child of man, you must not give up, but fightintelligently. If at all one has learnt anything from the harshness oflife`s lessons, it surely must be to fight on, despite reversals, foryou never know when the Garuda in your life would come and take yourside, empowering you with unprecedented strength and success!
With regards to vishal sharma vasan
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