Thankless??

The Holocaust was so terrible - I didn't realize that until I read the personal experiences of people who underwent the pain. It was in the simplest of words, the most inhumane thing that must ever have occurred on earth, and it was truly the worst and the most disgusting of things that I have ever read. It made me sick and I felt like I should not continue reading "Two Lives" any more or at least, skip a few pages overwhelmingly filled with trauma. But regardless, facts seldom change.

And ironical that it's people like us who complain at the smallest of things that happen!

Oh, I have to wake up early to go to work, and I hate doing that!
Oh, I had to skip a meal today because of blah blah!
Oh, I have to cook food for my family everyday; I so hate doing that!
Oh, I felt hot in the office today - I wonder why they can't lower the AC temperature.

Imagine waking up every day not knowing whether it is the last day of your life or you still have to live with God-knows how much pain before a day is proclaimed as your last day. Or imagine living on a one time diet of very thin soup for a number of days, that too at the mercy of some people. Or imagine not knowing what's being done to your family and where they are, worrying about them each passing second. Imagine an endless craving for being in peaceful and happy times with your loved ones around you, cooking, eating, cleaning, laughing together. Or imagine having to sleep on the coldest of grounds with bare minimum clothing... My heart shudders to think about all this, and I really feel thankful for everything that I have.

What I've mentioned here about the conditions of the Jews is probably a very tiny speck of their endless misery during the Nazi rule in Germany. If you still feel like you have more to complain, I urge you to go find some material on the Holocaust and go through it - you'll probably find much more to be thankful about. And I think "Two Lives" is not an entirely detailed account, although it sheds light on some personal details.

And we say, ours is an adjusting life...

Two Lives is a book written by Vikram Seth, an account of a very interesting life of his uncle, whose wife is a German, and had family who were killed by Nazi atrocities.