Take it easy. Seriously

 

Do we wear a smile on our face? Or is it grumpy? Do we laugh instantly? Or pause and ponder? We seem to have made life so complicated with needless analysis. Life is not a balance sheet to be critically analysed. Nor is it a 100-meter dash. But then we are treating it as one!

The day begins with the shrill sound of alarm. From then on we are on the run. Even as we brush teeth, we try to wake up others. ‘Hurry up, it’s getting late’ is  a war cry. We barely glance at the newspaper headlines, let alone read it. We miss the joy of little things. We are in such tearing hurry in our daily activities. The more i think of it the more i am convinced that we are just going through the motions of life. Have we ever paused why we are living a robotic life? We seem to have lost the art of living. Unconsciously we seem to have been trapped by the ‘compulsion to be perfect’ in everything including our lifestyle. How we talk, the way we dress, the food we eat, where we eat, whether we beat the sun or lazy enough to see it by noon and myriad such things occupy our mind needlessly. We seldom laugh out loud even to humor. We don’t have time for friends. We rarely make it to social functions. We find every excuse to stay away from family functions. Even if we do attend it is more out of compulsion than willingness.

Perhaps we have become severely burdened by unreasonable expectations. Viewing everything through a narrow prism of regimented life, we have allowed ourselves to be emotionally bankrupt. Idle talk is a strict no-no. The   expression is one of depression. So very disturbing. We don’t seem to enjoy life at all. All the time we are driven by having to ‘conform and comply’. Who sets these ‘conform and comply’ rules? If you are in a group, even a simple task of having tea at your chosen time at your chosen place becomes nightmarish experience. This unabated assault on our minds by the ‘conform and comply’ standards has created such havoc that we have grown to live a robotic life.

Why take life so seriously that we become a prisoner despite being outside prison? Time we pressed ‘shift-delete’ button to get rid of junk thoughts. Let us enjoy life, here and now. Take it easy, seriously!

CONTRADICTIONS-2

 

 A certain Vijay Mallya, wearing dark glasses (perhaps a reflection of his dark deeds) draping his arms around bewitching semi-clad gals, has the gall to cry foul and play the ‘victim/witch-hunt’ card over the legal steps taken by bankers and the Indian government against him. Cooling his heels in his snow-covered mountainside luxury villa in London, (what if he owes a mountain of debts!) mocking at the Indian law and the judiciary, sipping and savoring the choicest brewery, Mallya is watching every move of the hapless bankers and the ED and their wringing hands in sheer frustration. His arrogance defies description.

 The same bankers, the very same Officers of the ED throw the law book with clock-like precision at lesser mortals and bring them to knees! The contrast and the contradictions are impossible to escape the attention of the discerning.

 Corporate conglomerates and who is who of the Bollywood went hammer and tongs, bidding and outbidding, offering heaps of money to overrated cricketers for the IPL masala. The hype and the frenzy with which it is followed, jam-packed stadium, the swinging hips of the cheer girls, the bursting crackers, non-stop commentary, from pre-match analysis to post-match postmortem lasting well past midnight, all of which combine to make a diet that is simply irresistible to young and old alike. It is raining everywhere – fours and sixes, that is. Drenched from head-to-toe, it is raining everywhere – ‘money’ that is. For 46 days, India will witness torrential rain of money power that will quench the ‘super rich greedy’ leaving the ‘needy’ high and dry! While the spectators erupt in joy, the cry of the poor and the needy goes unheard, unnoticed. With their urge to splurge in IPL masala, the super rich are scoffing at the coffins of the poor and the needy – their aspirations hammered and nailed! Biting contradictions.

 For the Gates, the Buffets, the Zuckerbergs, charity begins at home. They have pledged unimaginable portions of their wealth for charities, for the common good of the society. Their concern for the downtrodden, for the most backward section of the population irrespective of geographical area, caste, creed and religion is unmatched. The fact that it is done voluntarily, of their own free will makes it even more admirable. Mind you, none went to them with a begging bowl. Their humane gesture is governed by simple philosophy of ‘giving back to the society’ which has given them so much. It is a life lesson which we don’t seem to learn, much less practice! It is irony of outlandish proportion that people thousands of miles away with absolutely no cultural ties having such noble thoughts while the wealthy within sniffing distance of the ‘hungry and the needy’ choose to turn a nelson eye. And even build a bungalow – sometimes as high as 30 odd floors – without an ounce of guilt. Startling contradictions.

 No one grudges the rich and the wealthy. They are being human too. Would they spare some for the ‘lesser human beings’? if not for equality, at least for the sake of humanity! Otherwise these cruel contradictions will haunt them for eternity.