We are bitten by the problem bug. Wherever you turn, a problem is lurking. When you go to a doctor, he asks, “What problem do you have?” Ditto with a visit to a dentist. He starts with, “Which tooth has a problem?” When you walk into an educational institution, the research scholar starts with the opening slide, “The problem that we want to solve...” Ditto with a “start-up company pitch” that begins with, “We are working in a niche area. The problem we are addressing is…”
The baby has a teething problem, the teenager has an adolescent problem, the adult has a parental problem and the aged has a geriatric problem. The daughter-in-law, of course, has a mother-in-law problem and when you switch on the TV, you hear more problems. Cities have traffic problems, States have water-sharing problems, countries have border problems, and the earth has an environmental problem!
As if these were not enough, we are creative enough to invent “fun-problems”. Mathematical puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku and the like are “brain teasers”, meant to keep the mind sharp and sprightly. We love problems, and hug them, as we would, a porcupine!
When you interview a candidate at the workplace, the main question among peers is, “Did you check his problem-solving ability? If he cannot solve problems quickly, he is no good!” When you get into a crowded bus, in the melee, you inadvertently stumble over another person. Immediately, the lady shoots back, “What’s your problem in life, ya?”
The more you tune your ears, you hear nothing except “problem”. It’s like sitting in school, with a teacher who has some oddity, like repeating the word “basically”. You maintain a count, and soon, you hear nothing but the word, and the entire class is lost in a blur! You wonder, “When are the problems going to end?” You get pompous answers: ‘Problem is the insignia of life. If there are no problems, there is no life!”
You feel like asking, “For millennia, you have been solving problems. Didn’t you solve them?” Pat comes the answer, “We did! But in solving one problem, we created 10 more!”
Can’t we have a life free from problems? What about poets who wrote, “What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare? No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep and cows? Can’t we lead a peaceful life like this?” You get a prompt response, “That would be too boring! It is likely this poem was written for sheep and cows! Humans need problems! That way, we stay busy and out of trouble. If there were no problems, that would be a bigger problem!” ”
shankar.ccpp@gmail.com
