Why whine

We all complain -- some loudly, some very loudly. Some others just murmur as if they are whispering something.

 

It is just March, and we in Bangalore are already whining that “it is so hot”. I don’t know what we’d say in May-June. When there are these freak showers in the night, as we have been experiencing during the past few days, our problem is: “O! What a time to have rain.” A friend told me today he was woken up by the sound of last night's pounding rain and the bolts of thunder.

 When monsoon is delayed our worry is: “No rains, no rains.” But the moment it starts pouring; we change the wordings to: “Fed up of this rain!”

 Weather is just an example. We all seem to have a problem with most of the things and people around us.

Computer is slow.

Autorickshaw driver is rude.

Dal has too little salt.

She is deceptively malicious.

Power keeps going off.

That guy is arrogant.

Tea has too much of sugar.

Why should he always ask me, how are you.

Of course the frequency, tone and tenor of these complaints vary from person to person and from time to time; and that determines how tolerable or acceptable the whine is. Some say these outbursts are just a harmless habit that needs to be ignored. There is a also a theory which says it is a stress-buster, like cursing, and it needs to be encouraged to make this world a better place to live in.

But, I have noticed that querulous people are the ones who are generally well off. They actually don’t need to whine the way they do. On the contrary, people who are really deprived don’t complain; they just live their lives the way it comes. Finally, they are the ones who get everything they need in their lives. And, they always have a smile on their faces. This is not an across-the-board generalisation, but just an observation.

This world is made up of all types of people and things. Ultimately, what matters is the way we look at our lives, what we do in our lives and how we interact with others -- irrespective of who we are and what we have.