For that perfect moment
The Hindu
Recognising, understanding and participating in the pursuit of perfectionism will help us become better at what we do
I was once told I’m a perfectionist. For a few moments, I thought it was a lovely endorsement of the way I approached various aspects of life. But I was quickly corrected: “That’s not a compliment, you know.”
It took me a while to come to terms with that. Perhaps seeking perfectionism was a weakness, after all. There was (and is) a lot of literature and business research endorsing that view: Perfection is a myth; perfectionists tend to slow down processes; they are intolerant of failure and, therefore, more prone to stress; and so on. Reading about all these confident conclusions, it was easy to agree — even if only reluctantly — that striving for perfection was, indeed, futile.
However, is seeking perfection as illusory or frustrating as chasing a mirage? And even if so, is it such a bad thing? Yes, in life, we may end up becoming disillusioned or repeatedly disappointed, because we may not live up to our own extraordinary and unjustified expectations. We may forget we are human. In my view, the word, “human” is reasonably synonymous with “imperfect”.
For the first time in a Lok Sabha election, the AIADMK forfeited deposits in seven constituencies. For the ruling DMK, the verdict is seen as a popular endorsement of the functioning of its three-year government under Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The outcome indicates that the BJP, whose Hindutva ideology has all along been considered alien to the political ethos of Tamil Nadu