who in the land is ugliest of all ?
And the truthful answer is us. The Grimm brothers might not have envisaged their folktale being applicable so many years after conception, that too in such a negative way. Grim it is indeed. For those who are unfamiliar or wish to refresh their lore, here is an outline of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unlike the queen who used the mirror as a tool to pander to her vanity, we ought to appraise and uprise ourselves.
<rant>
This thought entered my mind when I was penning the cell-pain post, but I didn't want to take a detour there. So what exactly is my latest screed ? Simply put it is the amount of ignorance, indifference and insensitivity we seem to spew knowingly or otherwise. I'm not talking about incidents of political unrest, regional divide ,communal discord, environmental apathy, corruption or any such largescale and generic factors affecting public at large. My grouse is about the small things that are very much in our control but which we carry on without impunity and compunction.
There is absolutely no consideration if we are inconveniencing others, or worse, not caring even if we realize it is an inconvenience. Roads, restaurants, movie halls, offices, airports, trains. You just name it and we have at least half a dozen ways to behave callously at each. If we are behind the steering wheel, we have no respect for signals or lanes or pedestrians. In a restaurant, we don't feel the need to rein in our children so that their racket doesn't annoy other patrons. In movie halls we don't care if we are disturbing everyone with cell-talk in the middle of the screening. In office it is acceptable to shout and talk loudly or put our phones on speaker at our desk. We have complete disregard for queues and rules everywhere. When traveling in a train, we assume that playing songs on speaker is entertaining to other passengers.
If all this sounds like an utterly cynical view of life and making a mountain out of a molehill, you aren't obviously subjected enough to these. Yes, in a way none of these are follies of such magnitude as to deserve this tirade. But what was it about little drops of water making the mighty ocean ? The simplistic remedy would be to spread awareness, but like I mentioned earlier, at times we seem to relish annoying others. What else then will work ? May be we should follow the lead of the queen's red hot iron dancing shoes.
</rant>
And the truthful answer is us. The Grimm brothers might not have envisaged their folktale being applicable so many years after conception, that too in such a negative way. Grim it is indeed. For those who are unfamiliar or wish to refresh their lore, here is an outline of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unlike the queen who used the mirror as a tool to pander to her vanity, we ought to appraise and uprise ourselves.
<rant>
This thought entered my mind when I was penning the cell-pain post, but I didn't want to take a detour there. So what exactly is my latest screed ? Simply put it is the amount of ignorance, indifference and insensitivity we seem to spew knowingly or otherwise. I'm not talking about incidents of political unrest, regional divide ,communal discord, environmental apathy, corruption or any such largescale and generic factors affecting public at large. My grouse is about the small things that are very much in our control but which we carry on without impunity and compunction.
There is absolutely no consideration if we are inconveniencing others, or worse, not caring even if we realize it is an inconvenience. Roads, restaurants, movie halls, offices, airports, trains. You just name it and we have at least half a dozen ways to behave callously at each. If we are behind the steering wheel, we have no respect for signals or lanes or pedestrians. In a restaurant, we don't feel the need to rein in our children so that their racket doesn't annoy other patrons. In movie halls we don't care if we are disturbing everyone with cell-talk in the middle of the screening. In office it is acceptable to shout and talk loudly or put our phones on speaker at our desk. We have complete disregard for queues and rules everywhere. When traveling in a train, we assume that playing songs on speaker is entertaining to other passengers.
If all this sounds like an utterly cynical view of life and making a mountain out of a molehill, you aren't obviously subjected enough to these. Yes, in a way none of these are follies of such magnitude as to deserve this tirade. But what was it about little drops of water making the mighty ocean ? The simplistic remedy would be to spread awareness, but like I mentioned earlier, at times we seem to relish annoying others. What else then will work ? May be we should follow the lead of the queen's red hot iron dancing shoes.
</rant>
2 comments:
some wise man also said, Charity begins at home.
what is it about the queen and the shoes ?
Nice one, especially the elevator manners which we are subjected to every morning. The part which annoys me the most, is that well-educated good people are behaving in such a manner! Its indeed annoying.
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