Hindustan Times
Muttering Darkly
When Vijay Jung Thapa, the man who had the brilliant idea of getting us to start blogging, told me my subject would be rants, I was quite pleased. Because rants are easy. You simply canNOT run out of things to rant about. Or at least, I can’t. (For instance, as I write this, there are at least six separate rants running through my head, ranging from the horror of intolerance, which is something that is always on my mind, to what I dearly want to say to my colleagues at Brunch for selling me down the river - the rats! - to Vijay Jung Thapa and forcing me to blog in the first place.)
But two posts down, I realise there is a problem with rants. Or rather, I have a problem with rants. If the ONLY thing you do is rant, then you’re nothing but a sanctimonious bleep (the expletive, as you can see, has been deleted) and as I thoroughly dislike sanctimonious bleeps, if I continue to dutifully rant week after week, I may soon have to sign up with a psychiatrist to cope with self-esteem problems (Me: Doctor, I hate myself. Doctor: Stop complaining.)
Rants, as I said are easy. There is always so much to complain about. But having complained, what do you do I about it? A rant can generate discussion, sure, and discussion is (almost) always a good thing. Because everyone loves to complain, a rant can inspire other rants and create a fairly strong fellowship (I’m firmly convinced that when strangers make friends with each other, it’s more because of dislikes in common than likes in common). And that’s great too.
But having vented, what? What purpose does a rant serve if there’s no way forward, or no possible solution, or no action? Does merely pointing out that something is not a good thing make any difference? My friend Reshmi put it so well in her comment to the Arrested Development post I did last week: “I do think we Indians have some part in the brain that refuses to register garbage, littering etc. The part is possibly also equipped with a storage system called ‘That’s how it is so what can we do about it’. You won’t get hate mail for this post c’mon. We shall all read it, agree in the most civilized manner and go back to contributing to the great garbage factory in ways big, small and unnoticed.’
Very insightful, I thought.
Besides, much as I find it easy to complain (I mean, for heaven’s sake, look at me now, complaining about complaining), I don’t enjoy being all hot and bothered all the time. I hate how it makes me feel - negative and horrible and unable to see the good side of things. And I hate how it makes me look - frown lines instead of smile lines. A sour expression. Hard eyes. Yuck.
I’m no Pollyanna, but I much prefer to write and talk about things I like, enjoy and find good. That’s why I dislike doing negative book reviews, for instance. If I’m to write about a book, I’d rather write about a book I think is good (in the spirit of evangelism) than trash a book I do not like.
So here I am complaining about the theme of my blog on my blog that has complaints as its theme.
Vijay, help! What to do?
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by HT Editorials on Friday, April 10, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Filed under books · Tagged blogs, complaining about complaining, Kushal Rani Gulab, Muttering Darkly, rants
“Its perfect but you know if it was done this way it would have been great:(” the ever complaining human nature…sometimes we have a self complaining syndrome, and sometimes others complain about us, so its like complimenting the ritual of complains . hope we learn from your writeup so that the next ones on thanks giving ….let me take the initiative,
thanks for the great post:)
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And thank YOU, Sana!
(Giggling hysterically)
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Kushal, I can undertand your plight. While Thapa himself is busy examining maid servants and is writing about them, all you have been assigned to do is to find faults and crib.
Be patient, grow old, and you may acquire the habit!
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Kushal Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Amitabh, I AM old.
Maybe I’ll rant about that next.
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rakesh Reply:
May 13th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
really,i had heard that old people accept everything more readily.sort of giving up.
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I’m firmly convinced that when strangers make friends with each other, it’s more because of dislikes in common than likes in common.
This statement is so apt .just look around and u see strangers ranting about work,boss,politicians
etc.
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Kushal Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Heh heh. My best friend in college and I became best friends because of a mutual dislike of Gone With The Wind and Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. We could talk about it for HOURS. Mutual likes… actually, there wasn’t a lot.
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Haha.. Kushal I think there is an infinite source of rants around us. You do have an easy topic
. Let the fear of seeming sanctimonious not deter you because complaining is a form of recognising a problem. And that is the first step towards a solution. I’m waiting for the next problem you highlight and the enlivening discussion that follows. 
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Kushal Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Actualy, Rahul, I’m rather proud of myself. Because I stuck to my blog theme by ranting about my blog theme. Neat, don’t you think?
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Vijay Jung Thapa Reply:
April 14th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Really neat! Especially the way you wove me into your rant.
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Kushal Reply:
April 14th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Must always have someone to blame, or what’s the point of a rant, Vijay? Heh heh.
rahul sharma Reply:
April 14th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Haha
Eat well (this is greatly important), sleep well, smile a lot (even if people want to bash your teeth in) and you will have no complaints with the world.
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Kushal Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
You know very well that I eat well, Samar. I expand exponentially on a daily basis. Sleep well… hmm. Would baring my teeth count as a smile? And I alWAYS have complaints with the world.
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i smell a conspiracy…is it in vijay’s interest that you grow ancient? i was once told that if i complain too much, i’ll become a grandmother to my grandmother…
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Kushal Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Marisha… Are you Marisha-In-China or another Marisha?
Whichever, I’m already ancient. And thank you. You and Amitabh (above) have given me a GREAT idea for my next rant.
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There might be other Marishas in China but yeah, Marisha, former HT employee, now in China.
Waiting eagerly to read your next post now.
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No, Marisha, I suspect you’re unique in China. Actually, you were quite unique here too!
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thanks, am beaming!
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Believe me, it will lead to self realisation…. I mean complaining…..
I was reminded of an incident of my childhood…. I was sitting with one of the teachers who was constantly complaining about the other teacher coz she hated her!! I simply asked her : “Why do you hate her?” …. Well she was stunned coz she suddenly realised she hated for no reason and all the complains were something she had got used to and didnt see anything positive coz of the habbit!!
I know this is nonesense speak but still chalta hai
See I am complaining about my own comment hehehehe
Human tendency I guess
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Grin, yes Aram, I quite agree. If there are no complaints, there’ll be no improvements.
Wondering if I should have called this blog Grumble in the Jungle, though.
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kushal,i’ve become your fan.only a lasy can make ranting so nice to read.and discuss.hats off.
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