Hats off to all the unreasonable people!

“I wont stop for you … I can do without anybody. I have … my own spark of divine fire. I care for life, for humanity; and you are a part of it that has come my way and been built into my house. What more can you or anyone ask? If you can’t stand the coldness of my sort of life, and the strain of it, go back to the gutter.”

Many people consider these words of Prof.Henry Higgins, the fascinating and adorably arrogant character in Pygmalion, spoken to the flower girl, Miss.Elisa Dolittle as truly reflective of the character of its author, Bernard Shaw himself. He was one writer who was as much disliked as he was adored! The hatred even assumed murderous proportions as seen in the following limerick:

There was a young man of Moose Jaw
Who wanted to meet Bernard Shaw;
When they questioned him, ‘Why?’
He made no reply,
But sharpened an ax and a saw.


He was disliked more for some of his hard hitting home truths as "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man".


You don't have to change your views just because G.B.Shaw says so. I didn't change mine either. But after reading Shaw, I ran through my mind the pictures of all the unreasonable men and women that I had encountered during my turbulent voyage through life and, to my utter surprise, found how correct he was. Some of the most adamant and most unreasonable friends of mine in the college are making waves now in India and abroad. At the time we were in regular contact, these people were a constant source of irritation to me and other "reasonable" guys. They always made the most unreasonable demands and were able to get what they wanted. In fact, looking back today, several improvements in the amenities provided at the hostel and the college were solely due to their persistent and unreasonable demands. I now realise that if my college had only chaps like me who took the most reasonable stand on every issue including the ‘needle-gone’ vadai (as the time-barred vadais were known as in those days!), no perceptible improvement would have come about.


In Tamil there is a saying that only a crying (unreasonable?) child gets the milk. We often tend to confuse complacency with reasonableness. If you tend to accept everything, whether you like it or not, without an iota of protest, you are called a reasonable man. If union leaders, for example, get the best of bargain from a management, they call the management very reasonable. But if the management acts tough and puts the Company’s corporate goal ahead of every other consideration in arriving at a decision, they are branded unreasonable. A ready-yielding management called "reasonable" or a tough-acting one branded "unreasonable". Who will take the company forward? It is a logical conclusion. Isn't it?

The other day I was watching a movie at one of the much talked about multiplexes with my family. It was a late night show and around the middle of the movie, the air conditioners were switched off to save on electricity bill. The rising temperature was causing quite a discomfort but no one seemed bothered by it. Suddenly some burly man down the rows stood on his seat and shouted at the top of his voice to switch on the air conditioner. Soon a few more joined him while some of us in the upper rows were more bothered by this ‘unruly’ behaviour than by the discomfort caused by the switching off of the air conditioners. One of them behind me remarked that it was such rowdyism that discouraged him from coming to a theatre to witness a movie and he preferred to watch it in the comfort of his house. To give further vent to his ire, he added that none of the guys shouting below would have even a fan at home! But the theatre owners were obviously unnerved by this demonstration and quietly switched on the air conditioners.


In every sphere of life, a demanding person gets more attention. There is always a flurry of activity around such people whether it is an aircraft, restaurant, theatre or saloon. But considering the overall improvement he brings about, it is a small price to pay to be branded "unreasonable". What say you?

Dear Cheeniya,
You are right that only crying babies will get milk and only if you make demands will you get noticed. It is not enough you work you need to make the boss take notice. Your MIL is not satisfied if you quietly go about your work, unless you tell her what you have done for the day.Unless the husband gets a taste of bad outside food, not so good food at somoene's else's place he will never appreciate your effort.
Coming to your encounter at the multiplex even otherwise many are like that, they pretend to be something they are not and demand basic necessities outside home which are luxuries at their own home.
Colleagues of mine who chat and while away time at office get increment and promotion , because seniortiy matters, and I cannot confront the boss about this ,when I did he said that he also knew about it then,
what happens to hard work???
Anubhavam Pesudhu!!!

Dear Sri,
I think, one should not be “consistently” complacent ! Then you are taken for granted, very often!

The saying goes that empty vessels make noise. But to be heard, some noise has to be made or you are just “walked over”.

A few days back, Vish & I had been to the passport office to get my passport renewed. Since it was the Senior Citizens’ counter, youngsters had come with the elderly parents and consequently there were more “aides” than the passport-seekers. No need to say, there was chaos alround the place. A gentleman appeared from somewhere & at the top of his voice issued instructions to the youngsters, to stand at a distance, not make the queue longer by standing with elders. Ofcourse, there was mumbling and grumbling. But soon it became an orderly queue. Believe me, immediately, I mentioned to Vish “If your friend were here, the next blog he writes would be about such a person, making noise, but “useful noise” !
Now, here, you are !!

But living with your friend, who prefers to flow with the tide forever without resisting, I am sometimes made to feel like a "fire-brand" by him, if I raise my voice against even mildly against injustice.
Love,
Chithra.

Dear Janani
You seem to have a long list of life's anamolies to support Bernard Shaw's theory! What all you have stated keep happening in everyone's life regularly but a majority of us simply stand and watch! It's an irony that I never understand.
While we know that only people who demand get any attention, why most of us prefer to remain silent sufferers?
I have also observed another category who make all the noise outside including their work places but they remain tongue tied at home like S.Ve.Sekar's Veetla Eli Velila Puli!
Sri

Dear Chithra
I am quite familiar with the kind of episode that you have narrated. I believe in 'the hour producing the man'. Wherever there is such confusion, someone comes to restore order and discipline but what I do not understand that why such people draw criticism from the more docile around him despite the fact that they also get the benefit of those people's action. It may be perhaps to overcome the feeling of our own incompetence and inability to plunge into action!

It is possible that the moral of the story of the naanal(grass) and maram(tree) that my friend has heard in his childhood days has left an indelible impression on his mind!
But I dont have to tell you (since you are an expert in culture threads) that it is only to protect the meek that God manifests Himself and not the fighting cocks! Purilaya? saadhukkalai samrakshanai pannathan Bhagawan avatharam pannuvar!
Sri

Unreasonable people sound like they are not nice to be around with. Your example in the multiplex seem more towards bullying than being unreasonable. I agree with the crying child getting more attention. That i think is human nature. But how could one live with someone who is unreasonable..No way. I think to voice our thoughts or opinions or to have our say is not unreasonable. It is definetly reasonable expectation to be allowed to voice oneself. But sometimes a meek voice does not carry one further like a loud one can and would and will do. Here multiplex is good example of such behaviour tactics. Growing in this generation I think i tend to do and act differently than my parents would. A situation where my father would accept meekly I cannot do. But thank god we live for the most part in a civilized society where a reasonable voice carries as much weight as unreasonable . Not all the time ofcourse. So maybe it also depends on place and circumstances to decide when to be reasonable and when to be unreasonable.

Nice post Sir. I have read couple of your posts and I like your taste in reading and observation.

However I differ in your observation. I think the point you want to make is , "How street-smart ,unrelenting and persisting people can make more contribution than ever-adjusting and contented people?" I dont think you want to highlight "How an unreasonable husband can force his wife to follow his rules? Or how an autocractic leader can dictacte his rule though his unresonable moves" I think in life , which spans few decades, it very important to see success as a wholesome thing, and not as "spur of the moment event".
When "Unreasonable" tag is associated with something, we assume it to be negative and self-consuming. Having Unrelenting will for a unperceived change in society can never be same as having "Unreasonable wish to appease one 's own mental flaws".

I am sure you want to highlight the sginificance of former than later.

Regards,
Ria

Sri,

A good one....

Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people...

I always wondered about GBShaw's this quote to the extent was he arrogant in quoting thus...but of late I feel he was right in his own right...

We used to say, pasi arindhu sadham poduvaal thai.(your mom knows when you are hungry )..that is now not valid..we have started saying adagande ammainna annam pettathu..(that is without asking your mom will not put food...)

What is unreasonable...being not relenting to other??,being strong in what you think is right??

Have you seen the Unreasonable Man - A documentary on Nader, the man General motors wanted to silence at any cost...if not for his being unreasonable, car safety would not have got the importance that it gets today....

I remember reading once, there was this doctor A (his name eludes me..let me come back with the name later...as i will lose the flow of writing this fb) who found that there were more mothers dying in the hospital during child birth than when at home...he concluded that it was because of the doctors carrying germs from the morgue....so he instructed that all should clean/wash their hands with chlorinated?? water..nobody listened..as the other doctors did not like to be pointed that they were reasons for the deaths of their patients.and this doctor A moved away......but after some years the same doctors conceded that doctor A was right...so there comes in sterilisation....what if he had adapted to the world...???

The artist Van gogh was not appreciated for his art during his lifetime, though it did not bother him much, he shot himself at the end..(I wonder why ...did being unreasonable take its toll)..though he sold very few i think 2 or 3 of his paintings in his life time.... can you imagine what his paintings are of value today..???

what is reasonable and what is not depends far more on what is in your mind than on the state of mind of the person whom you are observing. when i say this, i have been observed to be unrelenting, unreasonable by others when i am passionate about something. but i feel I am reasonable as i am passionate about that something.

But, when you are in certain places, you feel better when you know there are a few noisier unreasonable men there

Looks like I am contradicting too much in my post...

Originally Posted by anandchitra

Unreasonable people sound like they are not nice to be around with. Your example in the multiplex seem more towards bullying than being unreasonable. I agree with the crying child getting more attention. That i think is human nature. But how could one live with someone who is unreasonable..No way. I think to voice our thoughts or opinions or to have our say is not unreasonable. It is definetly reasonable expectation to be allowed to voice oneself. But sometimes a meek voice does not carry one further like a loud one can and would and will do. Here multiplex is good example of such behaviour tactics. Growing in this generation I think i tend to do and act differently than my parents would. A situation where my father would accept meekly I cannot do. But thank god we live for the most part in a civilized society where a reasonable voice carries as much weight as unreasonable . Not all the time ofcourse. So maybe it also depends on place and circumstances to decide when to be reasonable and when to be unreasonable.

Dear AC
I totally agree with whatever you say just to show I am a reasonable man!
Sri

Originally Posted by ria2006

Nice post Sir. I have read couple of your posts and I like your taste in reading and observation.

However I differ in your observation. I think the point you want to make is , "How street-smart ,unrelenting and persisting people can make more contribution than ever-adjusting and contented people?" I dont think you want to highlight "How an unreasonable husband can force his wife to follow his rules? Or how an autocractic leader can dictacte his rule though his unresonable moves" I think in life , which spans few decades, it very important to see success as a wholesome thing, and not as "spur of the moment event".
When "Unreasonable" tag is associated with something, we assume it to be negative and self-consuming. Having Unrelenting will for a unperceived change in society can never be same as having "Unreasonable wish to appease one 's own mental flaws".

I am sure you want to highlight the sginificance of former than later.

Regards,
Ria

Dear Ria
Thanks a lot for stepping in and voicing your views.
Basically whatever I write is only to stimulate a healthy discussion. You would observe that I write mostly about human attributes that we come across in our day to day life. Many of us never give a thought to what we see around us and pass them over as unworthy of our time and consideration. I focus on such trivial issues just for enabling people to look at the lighter side of life. When I read this quote of Shaw, I let my mind dwell on it and found to my surprise that he had a good point there!
In this case, I am not speaking for or against unreasonable people. I am myself a very reasonable man but at times I can be very unreasonable. The irony is that when I am unreasonable, I am aware of it but can do nothing about it!
Sri