Agatha Christie in her An Autobiography writes: “I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.”  In other words, the consequence or corollary of work, rather over-work is to be lazy. Being lazy sets your mind at ease. It can also incite you to think of the past and future. It is difficult to be lazy as our minds are continually programmed to perform certain tasks. 

There is a common misconception shared with the term “laziness”. Laziness is often compared to doing nothing wherein, in reality, it means taking one’s sweet time in performing a task at hand. Laziness does not mean that we cease to think. In our laziness, we can think better as we rarely do any tasks. Laziness makes us aware of inner space within us debiting commitment. Laziness may be reflected in the form of procrastination in a writer, who might be lazy enough to delay his commitment. As R.K. Narayan quotes “The most ambitious work I have been planning for years to be called Testament of a Walker. Whether written or not, this philosophy is deeply rooted in me.” 

Reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials are aspects of laziness since being lazy does not imply staying in a vacuum. But if anyone wants to laze over the cup of morning coffee, turn a blind eye to any home-task, then August 10, 2019, is the correct occasion. Do make the most of it. Being lazy rescues us from boredom and liberates us from compulsions.

Karl Marx has said, “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”

Contributed by:

Subhrajit Samanta