Frogs can jump out!

by Samangie Wettimuny

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None of her friends ever thought that Navini would say no to the marriage proposal made by Hiran, an extremely handsome, quite well-off, kind and of course romantic doctor. Though six years elder to her, Hiran has been a close friend of Navini for years. He wondered why she refused his offer as he was of the view that she did not have substantial reasons to do so.

“You do not want to change. That is why you refused my offer. You are happy in your own shell, not knowing how massive the world is. You are a frog in the well“ finally he retorted her.

Hiran is still a bachelor, Navini is still ‘a frog’ who is hesitant to change for the ‘better’, but the world moves on leaving behind the people who resist change. Not only regarding marital matters, but also in most of the instances, in almost all the social institutions- families, work places, schools, religious organisations etc this resistance to change exists.

As the well-known writer and Counsellor Gamini Kumara Vithana says resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. “By nature they resist change. They have created a ‘comfort zone’ in their minds. Comfort zone means their familiar surroundings. They are happy and comfortable there.”

People feel uncomfortable to step in to the ‘discomfort zone’, because they do not know how the new experience would be like. “For example a child who is brought up in a village feels comfortable to go to the village shop or even to a relatively sophisticated market in the village. But he would be hesitant and reluctant to enter a super market in the town.”

This is symbolic of all the situations in life. People do not want to take a risk. “ But only men and women who are ready to change will win in the end.”

According to philosopher, J.Krishnamurti, all the people in society are categorized under different labels like caste, class, political party, religion etc. A person who breaks the barricade in order to have greater exposure is always considered a traitor by people who are stagnating in the ‘comfort zone’.

Human beings should be capable of adjusting to the situation . “Such people are a pleasant sight to everyone. There are certain individuals who are so amiable and everyone longs for their company. There are also very unpleasant characters whose company we avoid.”

Taking examples from world history, Gamini Kumara Vithana further said that eminent personalities such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill knew exactly how to adapt to the situation.

“When they were among the village folk, they moved freely with them; they did the same when they were with city dwellers.” That was how they achieved success.” When Jawaharlal Nehru told Mahatma Gandhi of his inclination to join the latter’s ‘Swaraj’ movement, Gandhi had emphasised to him the necessity of learning several State languages.” All these examples show that people’s activities should not be limited.

Also great personalities such as Nicolaus Copernicus, the Wright brothers, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin had to face humiliation at the initial stages when they came out with their great theories and inventions.

“This shows that people always tend to disdain the ones who pass the boundary in order to get out of the ‘comfort zone.’” But the way to success is broader when you do not confine yourself to a ‘shell’.

Quoting from the sayings of the Hindu yogis, he further said that outstanding people are what they are , because of their ability to ‘see the unseen’. This is applicable to everyone, every institution and every country alike.

Employee resistance to change is a complex issue faced by company managements. Also many people once they settled down in a particular job, do not want to leave it however much other opportunities are open to them.

It is all because they do not want to take a risk. According to Vithana, such people should study the lives of people who have reached lofty heights. It is better to study biographies and auto- biographies of such people.

“Most of the times people tend to look down upon the ones who do well in life. “It is their luck.”, “They have good connections” “they are boot-lickers” are the common ‘accusations’ levelled against such successful people.

People who always point the finger at the victorious would not go anywhere-except down. His point was that while preserving one’s own traditions, and values people should give themselves more exposure for their own good.

Social change

Sociologists define ‘society’ as a web of social interrelations.Social change means transformation in the system of social relationships. Unlike social planning, social change is a spontaneous process.It will take place irrespective of intervention. Significant social changes have a long-term effect on society. Industrial revolution is one of the best examples of long-term social change.

Today the most important process of change is globalization, the development of social and economic relationships that stretch across the world. In order to understand long term social change , sociologists have come out with theories like Evolutionary,Functional and Conflict.

The main factors of social change are physical environment, population change, isolation and contact, social structure, attitudes and values, and technological factors.