Woh kehte hain na, sabr ka phal meetha hota hai.
Jhooth kehte hain!
[They say that the fruit of patience is sweet.
They lie.]
By most measures, this last week has been miserable.
For one, the eye situation is no better, although I _have_ gotten responses to my digital scans from some Doctors whom my friends contacted for me [HUGE thanks to them]. But nothing greatly positive. And then there are other, crazier things, about which we shall not talk here.
But I guess the part that has been bothering me the most are maxims such as the one above, which make very strong claims, which are not true, at least not to the extent they claim.
For example, there indeed _are_ instances when too much patience can mean you lose out on an opportunity, for no fault of your own than this "virtue" of patience.
As another case, take the following
Good things happen to good people.
or its much stronger cousin
Bad things do not happen to good people.
WTF?! That is _such_ a strong claim. How about saying
Bad things can happen to good people, but usually they have a strong social net of similarly good and understanding people to rely on, and that helps reduce the recovery time.
which, in my opinion, is much closer to the truth than its simple, absolute version.
Yes, I understand the above is hard to fit on a bumper sticker or a motivational poster, but some of us here are trying to lead more logically rigorous lives!
Well, enough of my rant. Have _you_ seen maxims that you think should be altered/improved/deleted?
And to end, I leave you with the song of the day, my favorite one from Ek Chalees ki Last Local (must watch, for desis and non-desis)
These Maxims are mere "FATTES" given by those people who probably have not even gone through that pain!
ReplyDelete@Devender: I believe that they have been over-simplified for consumption by the 'aam junta', and make more sense when the nuances are presented. E.g., What do you think about the modified long version of the maxim I presented?
ReplyDeleteTrue...modified version looks more appropiate and rational to me. And first maxim (shbr ka fal) cannot be used universally. It varies with situation. I think, fruit of patience along with dedication is more suitable. But that is irrevelant for your's case :(
ReplyDeleteGet well soon bhaiya :)
READ: Bad things happen to good people.
ReplyDeletebecause they have the capability to handle them.
@anon: Nice way to read the maxim.
ReplyDeleteAn updated attempt at making the original maxim on the top of this post a bit more thorough:
ReplyDeletesabr ka phal meetha hota hai, if
a. The tree in question gives sweet fruit in general
b. You don't over-wait and thus get a rotten fruit, and
c. Some other creature does not steal that fruit from you as it ripens
What say?
Who says bad thing do not happen to good people? I feel that it is good people only who turns out to be the most sufferers.But as it happens their patience and believe in god helps them to sail through the difficult times.
ReplyDeleteDid you try at Shanker Netralaya at Chennai?It is ne of the best eye hospital in India.
seema mami
@seema: Mami,
ReplyDeleteWhat if the person has goodness and patience, but no belief in God? :-)