Finally, It's About Water, Dal-Chawal And Six Feet Of Real Estate!
It
is a paradox that while income levels have skyrocketed, savings have
plummeted, against an India which earned less but saved more. Today,
we eat more. The food is expensive and unhealthy. But my generation
grew up eating the healthy and classical roti-sabji with the
occasional indulgence at the nearby popular Udipi hotel. While things
change, not everything about the past is irrelevant. The classical
way of living had its constraints, but it ingrained in us a sense of
responsibility. Today's reckless spending and dramatic lifestyle are
presenting a great outer picture,
but creating an inner vacuum.
You had a hard day under the Sun. The most refreshing
moments came from you gulping down cold drinks. Yet, on coming home,
the first thing you did was drink a few glasses of water, and they
did what a few bucks spent on fancy cold drinks could not do –
quench your thirst.
You were looking forward to eating varied
delicacies for lunch in the choicest of restaurants. You happily paid
the sumptuous bills. For dinner, you chose to have a light meal –
dal, chawal and sabji. And lo! the satisfaction they provided far
surpassed the `joy` of starters, sizzlers and desserts earlier in the
day.
You went on a long holiday with family to a luxurious
resort. The first few days were exciting – great ambience, great
luxury, great food and awesome locales for sight seeing. However, a
few days later you craved for the cosiness of your home. As soon as
you entered it, you uttered, `home sweet home, real satisfaction is
where our home is`.
You recently heard about the death of a
rich man in your neighbourhood. He worked all his life for money, and
because of his wealth, he was the stuff of envy. Yet, whenever you
met him, you noticed the stress behind the smile. As you neared his
dead body to offer your respects, you noticed that while in his
lifetime he had acquired acres of real estate, he lay lifeless on just six feet of ground.
What's common between these scenarios? That,
as much as we may hanker for the riches and luxuries of life,
ultimately, it's the simple things that offer us solace and
contentment. A life spent earning for the comfort of the family,
without having the time to see your kids grow up is a wasted effort.
The joy of life does not lie in the mindless luxuries we build. It
lies in being part of the simple things that keep us happy and
secure. Happiness and security come from spending quality time with
family, seeing our children grow up, taking care of our health, taking care of our parents in
old age, serving society in small and humble ways. And yes, the timeless statement that `we will take nothing with us` will forever remain timeless.
I grew up in an India that thrust simplicity on us. The
closest we came to enjoying a burger was a vada pav. The nearest we
came to experiencing a movie at a multiplex was a balcony ticket with
the air condition magically directing its cool breeze towards us. The
tailor and the kirana storewala next door were our source of good
food and clothing. Having cutting chai at the nukkad and indulging in
small talk with friends were elixirs of life. Those moments cost
less, but they endured more.
Money had a value that went beyond mere currency. It was
hard to acquire, so not easy to spend. Being a part of the great
Indian middle class was about maintaining social balance. The middle
class contributed to the political, intellectual and economic
dialogue. It had a vibrancy which kept the nation ticking.
In
the India we live in today, money seems to have overpowered every
other consideration, like quality of one's inner life, simplicity of
thinking and value of relationships. I am not cribbing about the
changing dynamics – after all, to quote a cliche, change is the
only constant. But while materialism expands one's choices, knowing
where choice ends and greed starts is critical.
In the old
India, stress came from lack of choices and access to information.
So, we trusted more. But today, stress comes from the abundance of
choices. We as kids waited for our father to return home safely from
work everyday. On days he was late, we just prayed and hoped all was
well, as we had no mobile phones. Today, however, we are experiencing
the `stress of convenience`. It's important to respond to a message
instantly. It is important to watch the movie here and now.
Our
parents bought a home to live. But today, many people are buying real
estate to `show`. Earlier, having your own house was a matter of
satisfaction, but today, where you live is a status statement of
sorts. Of course, there is nothing wrong in craving for a good
lifestyle. But if the cost is your peace of mind and intrinsic
happiness, there is surely something to think about.
Earlier,
there used to be three classes of people – the rich, middle class
and the poor. Now, there seems to be a fourth category, what I call
as the Rich Middles Class Labourer (RML). The RML is a peculiar class
where a family of four lives in a 3 BHK apartment, drives an
expensive car and has five figure salary (compare this with times
when multiple families shared a single apartment!). Yet, at the end
of the every month, there is lack of funds, as EMIs and lifestyle
expenses keep taking their toll. The wants are greater than the needs
for this family. They are actually middle class with a pretentious
rich lifestyle. They are often frustrated with the kind of job, but
have to `labour` it out for maintaining their lifestyle, settling the
bills and EMIs. After all, a real home is where the heart is, not
where the EMIs are.
It is a paradox that while income levels
have skyrocketed, savings have plummeted, against an India which
earned less but saved more. Today, we eat more. The food is expensive
and unhealthy. But my generation grew up eating the healthy and
classical roti-sabji with the occasional indulgence at the nearby
popular Udipi hotel. While things change, not everything about the
past is irrelevant. The classical way of living had its constraints,
but it ingrained in us a sense of responsibility. Today's reckless
spending and dramatic lifestyle are presenting a great outer picture,
but creating an inner vacuum.
The realities of life definitely
call for a reinvention of thinking and living styles. But just as the
`bland` roti cannot become an `interesting` egg roll without wheat,
the fundamentals of life lie hidden within the grander and expansive
nature of existence. Simplicity is at the core of existence. We need
to stay connected to simplicity for appropriate leverage of the
abundance of opportunities and choices. As a society, we need to not
just enjoy our choices, but make more intelligent ones. Keeping it
simple even amidst the plethora of choices is still the best policy.
Simplicity is not just in our lifestyle, it is in the way we
feel about life. A simple way to connect to the fundamentals is to
ask ourselves once in a while, what really at the end of the day
gives us happiness? The answers would be obvious - a happy home to
return to, a glass of water, dal-chawal and a cosy bed or floor to
sleep on. How we live will ultimately determine how we die. The day
it's time to go, we'll be judged by how peacefully we occupy the six
inches of real estate on the ground.
So, in a way, we need to
live to die and not die to live.
