Only the enlightened few will understand that being useless is the most useful thing one can ever do. For billions, it is a dream to be useful. They want to become anything to be useful!
“I am good for nothing. I am useless,” lamented a friend of mine.
“I am not getting good marks. I am useless,” cried a student.
“I am not beautiful. I am utterly useless,” sobbed a girl.
I was looking at them, speechless. They are few of the best people I met in life! They do not know that being useless is a boon that was given to them. Even if I tell them, I do not think they will ever understand. It is not only about them…it’s about many of us. Each one of us want to be useful…no one wants to be useless. Being useless is of the greatest use.
In life, society considers all good things as useless. And why should I correct society? And who am I to correct? Let the society think what it wants. Allow me to explain: Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Raja Ravi Varma, M. F. Husain, and Amrita Sher-Gil (of course, many more) are some of the greatest painters in the world. Their work is the world’s treasure priceless. Yet there is not a single person in our society who wants their children to become painters. They say, “Painting? That is the most useless work!” In their eyes, being a IIT graduate or IT professional is most useful! I pity them.
Similarly, we can talk of any profession or work—they are all useless. For instance, to become a teacher, singer, dancer, or chef—to name a few—these are considered useless. People get into these useless professions if they do not get into “useful” professions. Useful professions? What are they?
For useful professions, let me give a few examples: to become a politician, a cinema hero, or an IAS officer (of course, many more), or a cricketer—such works or professions are considered “useful.” Since when becoming a politician or cricketer became useful, only our great society alone knows! People would love to spend their whole time or rather their lifetime discussing cricket or politics. In the eyes of society, being a politician is far more useful than, for instance, being an accountant.
I would say, all politicians are criminals. Till date, only people with criminal background became politicians. However, our society considers that are most useful! Let the people and their society go to hell. For me, being useless is the most beautiful thing. To be useless is the most useful thing. No one bothers about you. No one comes near us. We are left undisturbed. The art of being useless is the greatest of the arts. Had I known this truth earlier in life, I would have strived my mighty best to become even more useless!
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional. What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”. Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
