Everyday i pass through the same roads to get to work. Some days when i am not too occupied with the monotony of life, i try to look or rather observe the world around me as i pass by these paths, en route to work. There is one particular stretch of road which has these little hutments created with scraps of plywood, sheets of plastic ,tin and whatever material available. Though it might appear unworthy of being termed a house, it indeed is a home for many. The street urchins seemingly belonging to this neighborhood are always up to something, as if whatever their minds are construing at the moment, would somehow change their world and fate forever. What amazes me about these urchins is the look of unfazed contentment on their faces. It appears as if they are miles away from the touch of any apathy or misfortune. Try as one may, to search for a trace of resentment, unhappiness within them, their faces and spirit seem to betray the reality. Deprived of things which we cannot even imagine living without, and still facing the day with an optimistic stride, is probably what sets them apart, irrespective of their current state in life.
Looking at them always reminds me of the cliche "Happiness is a state of mind". Each one of us undoubtedly must have heard this phrase a thousand times over, read about it or passed it on to somebody, wrapped as a mere piece of advice. However, the point to note is, when it actually comes to living the phrase, are we even infinitesimally close to it? The lesser privileged somehow seem to understand the significance and value of this cliche more than the affluent or the ordinary. We all seem to live in a rat race. Nobody in particular seems to know where we are heading, nor does anybody seem to care, however, each one of us surely does want to outnumber the rest in this race to nowhere. We might have the world at our feet, however, even without realizing it, we might just step on it and move on. Still grumbling, still resenting, what we do not possess yet, all the while what we have thrown away ourselves. We seem to have become too immune to the epiphanies of life to be able to pause for a moment and make a shift in our perspectives. But life has a way of adding that deliberate pause, by a whip or by a splash. The question that remains for us to ponder over is, are we ready to pay the price after all, to learn the most expensive lesson, the hard way?
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2 comments:
Hi Meena!
Nice to see this particular post coming from you.
It is hard to answer when we make that transition from happy kids to unhappy adults. I'm taking the liberty to apply your observation to kids, in general, and that their being from poor family merely as your attempt to illustrate how kids are happy even in scarcity. But do correct me, if I'm wrong.
Yes, people can be happy with fewer material resources--sometimes, even when grossly scarce than what we consider basic necessities.
In my observation, most people don't really know what could make them happy. In that, you're right, we should pause and try to understand ourselves (something that you've not stated necessarily in this post alone! :) ).
Let me tell you what I feel is the biggest problem that afflicts individuals. People don't love themselves (sic)! They all the time try to seek approval for who they're from others. This is a very generalized statement coming from me, but if you'll examine closely the people around, you might end up agreeing with it. Think of the following things:
1. Desire for status.
2. Desire to be liked/loved.
3. Desire to be envied.
4. Desire to be praised.
5. Desire to awe others.
6. Desire to be looked up to.
Per se, there's nothing wrong with all the above desires, but a problem arises when we become so blinded in our seeking of approval that we forget that that approval was for the 'self', and not for the image we want to project of ourselves.
Also, people are very indiscreet about who they seek approval from. If they want to impress the people they themselves hold in high esteem, it'd be somewhat understandable, but people want just-about-anybody's approval. The strength of approval is not based on who it comes from, or after what degree of scrutiny and what level of sincerity, but just in numbers--how many does it come from.
But if we were to love ourselves, we'll not get entangled in worldly trappings like 'what do people think of me?', 'how popular am I?', 'what will people think if they come to know I don't know the meaning of a particular word', or that 'I like Hindi songs, and that I'm more comfortable with Hindi than English'. Then, we'll truly know what we want, 'cuz we won't be distracted by 'what others want'. But since, you've read Ayn Rand, I'm not sure if you'll find anything new in what I said here.
But there're those who know what they want, but actually feel the pinch because of scarcity...
...I'd like to point out that what's luxury and what basic necessity depends upon one's upbringing. Ten years back, internet was a luxury for most, now it's a basic necessity for a sizeable minority.
I'm not sure, if I've gotten too offmark. Do let me know if I did. :)
I'd done a post (click) on what problem afflicts my life, though not exactly related to this issue that you've touched on. If you comment there, and if it appeals to me, you never know, you might end up helping me. :)
TC.
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