Life is all about handling change !! மாற்றம் என்பது மானுடத் தத்துவம் !!

Long ago – the song ‘Naattiya kuthirai’ from Chandralekha was hailed and in present times, we hear Ranjithame, ranjithame ..everywhere !!   Life is all about handling change ! and the best way forward perhaps is weeding out unwanted things, thoughts and more ! – never carry hatred or pains of old !!  How fresh and recent is your wardrobe ! – most of us keep too many clothes, far more than what is actually required. The trick is in discarding old and throwing out those which we have not worn even once in the past 6 months or so.

மாற்றம் என்பது மானுடத் தத்துவம் !!  ’நாம் சில ஆண்டுகள் முன்பு வசித்த இடம், நாம் படித்த பள்ளி, பல ஆண்டுகள் முன்பு சென்ற ஊர் - இங்கெல்லாம் செல்ல நேர்ந்தால் - நாம் கூறுவோம் - 'இந்த இடம் மிகவும் மாறி விட்டது !!" சில சமயங்களில் நீதிகள், நியதிகள் கூட நாட்டுக்கு நாடு மாறும் தன்மை கொண்டன.

திருவாசகம் தந்த  சைவ சமய குரவர்  மாணிக்கவாசகர் அருளிய சிவபுராணத்தில் ஒரு பாசுரம் :

மாற்றமாம் வையகத்தின் வெவ்வேறே வந்தறிவாம்

தேற்றனே தேற்றத் தெளிவே  என் சிந்தையுள்

ஊற்றான உண்ணாரமுதே உடையானே !! 

பல்வேறு மாறுபடுதலையுடைய, ஒவ்வொரு க்ஷணமும் மாறிக்கொண்டே இருக்கும்  உலகத்தில்,  வெவ்வேறு பொருளாய்க் காணப்பட்டு வந்து, அறிவாய் விளங்கும் தெளிவானவனே ! அழகனே,  என் மனத்துள் ஊற்றுப் போன்ற பருகுதற்கு அரிய அமிர்தமே, தலைவனே,  எல்லாவற்றையும் உடையவனே - உன்தாள்களே போற்றி! போற்றி !!

Change is a part of life. Nothing can be static for too long. . Change is inevitable. It is a fact of life that individuals, organisations and nations alike have no choice but to deal with changing scenarios. Those who are able to acknowledge this fact and cope with change  survive better. Changes can be in relationships, goals, lifestyle, job roles, - wherever they are, whenever they come, try and  embrace this aspect and go along with the ups and downs of life. Instead of losing our hearts, we should learn from the issues in our life.  Change happens differently to everyone, and it can affect people adversely. It is easy for some people to handle it, while for others, it is difficult.   Simply, it is always difficult to swim again the current !

Life is the result of a series of changes from birth to death. Be it physical, emotional, career or relationship. The life we lead today is the result of the acceptance of change by nomadic peoples.  Resistance to change  only causes pain.

Most of us know the Pareto theory of 80-20 !!  - a familiar one that  asserts that 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event.  In business, a goal of the 80-20 rule is to identify inputs that are potentially the most productive and make them the priority. This 80-20 rule is frequently used in business and economics, and would be applicable concept to any field. Wealth distribution, personal finance, spending habits,  can all be the subject of the 80-20 rule.

Quality over quantity is the belief that garment maker Pareto instills in every garment it makes. As soon as you enter Pareto's site, it states that "women wear 20% of their closets, 80% of the time," and you can find that 20% here. The label only releases six to eight additional styles per year — brands tend to launch collections every season — and spends a year perfecting all the details.    

The poem begins with the noise of weapons which could be heard right from the battlefield itself. There was a war going on in the field of battle where King  had lost most of his men. He himself was deeply wounded and was made to uplift by Sir Bedivere. Sir Bedivere was considered to be the last of all knights. He made the King support himself by making him sit on a raised platform right near the ocean where a full moon could easily be seen. King starts speaking telling how  mighty nature is  and how and from where he took up the sword to become a king and how he was coerced into his present condition. He also tells him how he feels sad about the death of his brave men whom he lost in the war. He asks his trusted deputy  to take his sword and place it right back in the middle of the water from where he received it.

That was a great poem by - Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu".  

One of his memorable works is - MorteD’Arthur -  set in  medieval atmosphere, clear from the expressions ‘the armed heels,’ ‘the white samite, my sillies, wonderful, the brand Excalibur, etc.  The poem is set on a battlefield where the sound of weapons could be heard easily. The poem is actually in the form of conversation that goes on among King Arthur and Sir Bedivere in the form of alternate verses.

Le Morted'Arthur ( "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, along with their respective folklore  and one oft repeated piece from this poem is : 

‘old order changeth .... yielding place to new’ ~ change is permanent and things do change in life.  Those  immortal lines of Alfred Lord Tennyson “the old order changeth, yielding place to new, and God fulfils Himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world”

Unlikely that this tender coconut trader knows of Alfred Lord Tennyson, but throwing out the useless is his daily chore ! – perhaps we too shall learn and follow

Regards – S. Sampathkumar
16^th Mar 2023