19 April 2011
I was waiting for my connecting flight ( for all those who HAVE to know- to Barcelona at the Geneva Airport) when I was reminded of something as I watched travellers browse through the various high-end shops.
Some years ago on a rather dull evening I was sitting by the Masunda lake popularly known as TALAOPALI in Thane. Just for you to know, it is a noisy place buzzing with traffic and people- children who have come for motor boat rides, street food vendors selling everything from tangy bhelpuri (now served in thin paper plates) and spicy chana chat wrapped in the pages of some old magazine to bright yellow coloured popcorn and dark pink candy floss. From beggars and balloons, cheap Chinese toys, a tiny aquarium selling fish in tiny plastic bags, small merry-go rounds and other manually operated rides, Tongas ( horse carts) hustling back and forth, bubbles blowing out of a 20 Rupee bubble making set to gajre walis and pavements littered with wrappers and leftovers, the place has it all. And well, for couples young and old it is like Thane’s very own Bandstand. So one day as I was sitting by the lake munching on some chana, a couple came and sat next to me. The boy was conversing in Marathi about weather and work and then he said something to the girl that caught my ear. He lamented, “You know, I have always wanted to buy a branded shirt- Arrow or maybe Louis Philip. The material is so good and when the shirt is expensive it shows. I wonder what it must feel to wear branded clothes. Just now it is impossible to buy such a shirt in the salary that I earn. But there will come a day when I’ll actually buy one”.
Different people, different aspirations, different dreams. At one end there are children who cannot have enough of their Barbies and i Pads and Gaming stations and at the other end there are children who save every penny to buy a candy or a balloon. On one hand there are women eyeing the latest Prada purse or the new Omega watch and on the other hand there are women toiling hard each day and treating themselves with only a gajra or bangles on festivals. There are people for whom going on a holiday means an evening at ‘Chowpatty’ and there are others who travel to exotic locations three times a year. While for some eating out means having a wada-pav and a cold drink, for others it is dining at the finest gourmet restaurant.
Such are the inequalities of our desires and needs.
So true Ash- facts of life. Michelle
ReplyDeleteYup...very true, that is the beauty of life, all 5 fingures are not alike....
ReplyDeletejust testing
ReplyDeleteyeh!!! i did it!!! ok here's my comment -
ReplyDeleteTrue. Although, it’s bound to be. Because, each person weaves his own dreams, aspirations and ambitions. No one stops someone who ‘treats’ himself to a’ vada pav’, from desiring to dine at a 5 * restaurant. How far the dream will be realised and what role his own efforts, environment, and circumstances etc. play and to what extent, is entirely another story. Point is every single person who picnics at Chowpatty can aspire to sun tan at Bali. However, how many do? And of those, how many have the courage to fulfil that dream – or at least endeavour to?
In Marathi, our mother tongue, there is a saying – jevdhi chaadar tevdhech pay pasrawayche…perhaps it is this kind of conditioning that prevents individuals, from taking that risk of dreaming big and working towards that dream. One is always taught to be ‘Santusht’ with everything in life. The opposite of Satisfaction, is for some strange reason, construed to be ‘Greed’ rather than ‘Growth’ hence frowned upon, by keepers of morality and the like.
If mankind had been satisfied with his lot, we would never have circled around Mars nor landed on the Moon. In fact everything single thing which we take for granted, as basic necessities of our technology ruled lifestyles today, would not have existed. Kids would not have the choice of picking between playing video games and Catching Cook. Sometimes, when I watch the classics, I often wonder, what those guys did to kill time, with no TV, records/CDs, movies, etc etc etc. And yet, there creativity was abound – Who is the Mozart or Beethoven of the 21st century?? Think there could be a unanimous decision on that? No way!
So then, should this philosophy of being ‘satisfied’ with one’s life, fate, or whatever one may want to call it be the mantra to live by? It’s said, ‘Aim for the stars!’ – If one has the courage to dream big, coupled with ability and support of the powers that be, some day, that dream could well be a reality. The inequality of our desires is self created and we have only ourselves to blame.
Of course, there are many souls, who are genuinely satisfied with what they have and no amount of window dressing can brand them any which way. They know and understand the intricacies of the workmanship of a Rolex yet are perfectly happy with wearing a lesser known brand on their wrist (as against the wannabes who buy a Mercedes merely as a status symbol and not because it’s a far superior set of wheels!). These are those who are more evolved at the spiritual level and for whom the trappings of the world matter not, as they know that this is all but ‘Maya’ and the true essence of Growth, lies at a cosmic level…but more about that later :-)
Gauri
Hey that was a wonderful way of looking at night!
ReplyDeleteGauri- tu comment kelays ka blog lihilays?? :) But yes I agree with you!! We stop living when we stop dreaming!!
ReplyDeleteok, now we have a problem - ashu, me motha comment kela aani signed off too pan ha doosra comment - wonderful way of looking at night - ha kuni kelaa mahit nahi
ReplyDeleteMistake! 'night' for 'it'!
ReplyDeletemeera
haha, thought provoking mistake.
ReplyDeleteWell written Ash!! Life seems unfair - more to some than to others.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that i do feel that it is Man's nature to always desire more than he actually needs.
Man is also a creation of desire not of need. Kavita
Yes you are right - brands sell because of this clever marketing idea that makes people think that you are worth what brand you wear. Its great to wear brands - if you have it, show it off - why not?
ReplyDeleteBut the problem occurs when one thinks that people without brands are people without worth.
Well written ... yaala jeevan aise naav... but one should not stop dreaming/aspiring ... that is what drives you ...
ReplyDeletecheers
Sagar
I agree friends, when you say that it is not wrong to dream big. Infact one should. What I feel concerned about is the 'means' to the end.
ReplyDelete