Dr Quleen Kaur Bijral
In our exhausting as well as exciting life, which we live for our sakes, for the sake of our family, state and nation, there are times when trivial matters disempower us. They are petty, frivolous and so unimportant; still they weigh a ton on our minds, hearts and even depress our soul.
Noise, Noise of Triviality
Earning hand to mouth or vacationing in exotic islands, human beings have the right to cherish nature, relish pleasures of food and company, compete for a better place under the sun and even work overtime to seek promotions. This day-to-day task list is endless with demanding as well as tempting affairs to live in the brevity of mortality.
Though endless, this list is not the only affair overwhelming our time with its daily racket. There are other affairs or should one say ‘the absolutely needed conditions of morals, ethics, and laws’ which, regularly, strain our minds on how much to smile, stare, sleep, skip, stalk, sway and so on; though justly peremptory, these affairs are certainly a cause of friction.
If that is not enough, ‘chance’ as a deity meant to pester and persecuteus creates even more regrettable events, misfortunes and debacles that put chains around our necks, wrists and ankles that it seems an exercise in futility to get up in the morning or sleep better at night. To put it conveniently, there will always be matters thatwill upset the apple cart balance of our lives- sometimes to the point of no return.
It takes time, resources, mental and physical energy, along with the bottomless struggle to beam, cry, want, need in this traffic-jammed life- bumper to bumper ride everyone. Under such heavy conditions, as if the struggle is not excruciating enough, trivial matters interfere to break the will to live.
The Cosmic Voice of Humans
“I have a good job with a well-deserved promotion. But my friends gossip behind my back and do not respect me.” This is an oft-repeated case of our trivial necessity to overshadow our worth by seeking validation from apparent friends.
“My family loves me. We specially make time to visit the recesses of nature in our little car. But my neighbor keeps shining the veneer of his luxurious cars that sit in his parking area to spite me with disappointment.” An episode as this one is again a recurrent theme with societies who let this trivial need to underestimate themselves run their entire lives.
“I run all day. Eat less. Sleep well. Work not more than required. Yet I do not have the body that my colleague has. Some are just gifted.” As with cars, this irrational or to put it bluntly jealous covet for something others have is such a ruining as well as a trivial necessity of our inferiority complex or some other complex that it parasitically claims our entire life.
“Why bother watching the sun set with these eyes, when my friend has the pretty blue eyes.” Whether some of us have said these exact words, is not the question, but this example proves of how we agonize over what we don’t have by willfully forgetting what we have and painfully wanting what others own – such a cosmic voice of humans is very relatable and downright trivial. Rather, many more quotes, examples and anecdotal incidents can be expressed here with pungent satire, which we all can relate to.
Triviality Runs like an Assembly Line
Trivial things have an inevitable as well as unbroken place in our psyche. It’s like any other debilitating weakness, which does not kill physically but certainly disarms our intelligence – like stage fright, panic attack, phobias, and etc. Attention to triviality is also a major sickness that does more harm than how its name sounds- trivial implies something which is less harmful when in fact it’s the collection or army or blitzkrieg of trivial matters that hound us to avoid sleep at night or work optimally during day.
Like a noose around our neck, these matters consolidate into a critical mass, which is enough to incapacitate the creative light of our minds and the pink of our health.
To achieve peace of mind, we are oftenly counseled by our guardians when we are off to school:
* do not engage in religious skirmishes,
* avoid sharing personal secrets with friends or friendlystrangers,
* do not make insensible comments that could instigate a fight etc.
Such are the first lessons we are taught to recognize how trivial things that hamper productivity can become a war; always better to debate on important matters than create a street ruckus about stereotypes, prejudices and bigotry.
That said, these first cardinal lessons taught by adults are however very strangely forgotten or ignored by the adults as they grow. And hence the slavery to triviality from gym to office and finally the spatial comforts of home till nowhere is safe – triviality just begins to run like an assembly line.
Triviality Becomes the Last Straw
We as vulnerable humans with tenuously hard exteriors have many dark thoughts lurking in our minds –
* the need to scoff at someone,
* the want to abuse,
* the passion to burn,
* the logic to hate,
* the reason to betray,
* the compulsion to steal,
* the quest to sleep around, and scores of registered and unregistered moral failings, unethical matters and illegal crimes.
Not many of us are able to check these active thoughts or it takes a lot out of us to monitor them. So, if the struggle is too real, severe and a 24-hour job then why let trivial matters become the last straw?
Concluding with a Punch
Overburdened as it already is, our life, and way too short – so meditate, dance crazy, watch horror movies, eat extra large pizza, hug your mom/dad, play some childhood game with your grown up siblings, write a book, innovate, donate, or just talk to God to save and even recognize the light in your heart and the smile in your eyes. Be free from triviality – it does not matter. So you trivialize it rather than letting it trivialize your worth.
(The author is HoD English IIT Jammu)
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