Monday, August 11, 2008

Consumerism

Today I had a chat with my school mate. We were just having a casual chat and he was asking me about the city I am living...So what can I say about this city. I told him I am not happy with the ways things are going here...

me: even though I am happy with my work here.. but I dont think I will make a consensus with my mind to settle in here..
in simple words this city Sucks
Junaid: acha....ohhh
y is that so bad
me: i wanna be on the calmer side of life.. not this bhaag daud..
and people dont have time for anything else.. always working n shopping
Junaid: ya..true fast life...those trains people etc
me: if u r not working then u r shopping or watching Ads,,
Junaid: ya true
ya...n very crowded also
this is big problem of city
me: and relations dont hold much value.. perhaps I thought I wud get something near south India.. people have more time there to spend..
Junaid: ok i c...
me: its not abt crowd dear.. its culture thtz changing
Junaid: ok i c...
me: u know Consumerism...
Junaid: ya...true
me: thtz the culture here... u work hard to make ur home comfortable but u didnt get enough time to spend at home.. what an irony..
Junaid: ya very true
life just goes behind chasing..non chase able dreams
me: and one more thing tht i am worried abt is the children.. they r now considering parents as bank accounts.. so i guess where tht relation goes...
obviously to dustbin..
Junaid: ok i c..
watch this article on consumerism
me: parents dont get enough time to spend around them so they buy them things.. the very things tht take their children away
Junaid: true...both parents working..not much time for children...
no proper inculcation of values culture
me: so what do u think where we are heading??
Junaid: ya..from culture n value wise..it is certainly not heading in good direction


So coming back to the topic... I was really moved by that Site about Consumerism...
You should see this. Even though it's basically about the US but if you replace that word with INDIA then it will make better sense..Watch it for yourself .. You can definitely connect to it..Why? Coz U r a part of it.Once you watch it you will feel the way we are being trapped in a cycle... A cycle that has a tendency of not letting you stop anywhere in between. I loved that concept coz it is for real. And it has been described in a most simple sense.

As I said. its an Irony that you never get satisfied with what you have.. Somewhere deep in your heart you think "I cud have done better".. If this feeling comes for an exam then its good but here it's for a totally different thing...A thing we think we can control but we are more into getting carried away...

Similarly everyone is Earning for comfort but have no time to enjoy that comfort. Then whats the use of that comfort. What this video doesn't say is that we should curb our needs or in other words we should clearly separate our needs and our wants. Its not about money only, its about your life. You ask for a better salary and indeed you get a better salary but in short time it will not seem enough. The thing we fail to notice is that our wants are getting converted to our needs every time and we take it that way. Dont blame on economy that Inflation is real high and things are becoming more costlier rather blame it on your way of prioritizing about the things that you really need.

At least we have a country to learn from. Where moral values are going to end up? Even though we know things we still consider that, they can be changed when we need. Sorry dear it's not in your hands alone. The world around you has already changed and you can now only be a part of it. What I am telling is that being a part of it doesn't mean you always have to play as others play. Its simple logic " Be content with what you have". I dont have anything against the Malls or those big galleria's but they definitely dont have a good effect on our culture..take for instant, you go shopping on Saturday and Sunday's , you will find people just happy to found that everything under a single roof and you will be happy coz you dont have to go to different places for buying different things.

But what have you failed to see is that it is getting infectious. Why the Malls are coming up exponentially? Simple answer for that is to increase your needs. Every one in the family has something for them in there and next weekend the family members are compelled to be there again. Dont you see the irony. People justify by saying they get enough time with their family while "Malling" that's the new term I am gonna use from now onwards...Malling is now becoming absolute fun at the cost of I don know you can think of what you are loosing.. If you are not able to come up with any loss then Congrats you are the real Consumer or the Malling expert.

I am not saying I am haven't gone to mall.I have and I found what difference it can bring out in me. I have twice went to mall for movies , but lately I realized I have been robbed of with my money. Ad labs , Fame, and lot more I don remember their name they offer you movie with almost 400% the actual rate... So guess what I did, I stopped watching movies in the Malls.. not bcoz I dont have money , but bcoz I dont have the extra money.. when You can catch a movie with same effect from a nearby theater in 60-80 rupees why need of going for the same movie @ 250-300 rupees.. A simple Logic...

What ever the result gonna be, I am only worried about how things are gonna end up on the cultural side. I remember during Onam we used to have everything prepared at home and we had everyone along with us and we shared a unique bond eating together and working and playing together... Nowadays we have Paper "Ela"(banana leaves).. Food prepared from some hotel.. served by some waiters and we think we celebrated Onam. I wud rather prefer not to celebrate than doing it this way... Now dont blame that you are in distant places and due to work you can't be there for Onam. Fuck up with those excuses.. Why are you working for..rather what are you working for??Its not only about Onam I am talking about.. It's all about the simple occasions which you once cherished and now you think you are not gonna share those moments again.. it's not you who has to be blamed for.. It's Consumerism.. You will find it hard to relate consumerism as the real cause.. Think.. you are missing the link some where.......

Dont think I deviated from the topic of consumerism... Everything is related in one way or the other.. it's just how you want to see it, makes the difference...

Dont forget about the site..it will take 20 minutes of your precious time.. if you think you are gonna miss that time(20 minutes) watching this ,then you are missing something, but if you miss that video then you are missing everything.....

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Hope it's helpfull, understanding Consumerism.....

2 comments:

mithun said...

""""u work hard to make ur home comfortable but u didnt get enough time to spend at home.. what an irony."" i am expecting some more from you..

Jishad said...

Its really a nice article buddy.
Need to think about it.