Being Saptitude

So many people say that. And while there may be some truth in it, its equally true for most people that enjoying life is usually too expensive. A hundred years back, may be, it was easy, and cheap, to get amused. a walk along the river, or in the park, evenings spent with family, a friendly round of the sport of choice... people could afford these... But now, all of these are expensive or difficult or both... A walk along the river... you may end up with a slipped disc from a fall or even fall prey to criminals or policemen. A stroll in the park... most parks are locked up for good, or have been encroached upon. Family time is becoming non-existent due to hectic work and travel schedules, and the omni-potent presence of the idiot box means that whatever little time the family spends together is only a physical presence Sports are costly today - check out the paraphernalia of equipment required, and the quite often ensuing medical care The two most important reasons why rel...

Someone said that life is not about happiness. It is about overcoming a series of challenges in a "Pursuit of Happyness." Some enjoy this pursuit, others get frustrated. Happiness is not measured by the size of your car, the plushness of your house, or the number of stamps on your passport. Some would say that the more material pleasures you have, the more unlikely it is that you will be happy. The essence is to do something which brings a smile to anothers face. Knowing that someone cares for you makes you fulfilled. Knowing that you are the fulfillment of someone's life, makes you happy.

Wake up in the morning to let the maid in and pick up the daily and milk. Get ready for office in record time. Gulp down breakfast. Run down the hill. Flail arms madly hoping to flag down a willing rickshaw driver. Coax the driver to drive fast AND safe. Reach the station and cross tracks looking out for oncoming trains and humans. Squeeze into a packed train. Either stand on someone else’s toes or be stood on your own toes by some one else. Watch helplessly as one’s bag is tossed with the aim of a Jonty Rhodes onto the luggage rack (assuming that one has found a Samaritan to do the job AND there is space on the luggage rack). Feel like a straw in a whirlpool as you are tossed around in the crowd of people getting off before you. Finally reach one’s destination and just wait to ‘flow’ out with the swell…

(With due apologies to Mr Samuel Taylor Coleridge) Water, water, everywhere, Yet all the lakes have shrunk; Water, water, everywhere, But only a few drops to be drunk. The lakes have dried, Bappa, That ever this should be! So water cuts are upon us now, This is no time for glee. Water, water, every where, The roads have turned to drains Water, water, every where, On the tracks that run our trains Everyone is running late (And running a nose too) To get to work we must For shirk we never do!

Why do people write in with their personal problems to the myriad agony aunt columns in newspapers? If I have a problem, wouldn't it be simpler to go to some one I trust, some one who would know more about my past - my case history so to say - and thus be better qualified to give me advice? I have tremendous respect for Mr Suhel Seth... but if he thinks he is answering queries put in by actual people on his column Survival Strategies in the Graphiti (the Sunday Magazine supplement of Kolkata's leading English language newspaper,  The Telegraph ) I think he is mistaken... Read some of the questions and answers that appeared in last Sunday's (29th March 2009) edition. (see them on The Telegraph site here ). You'll find Name and address have been withheld in all cases Nearly in all cases, the questions asked are leading ones The answers attributed to Mr Seth hardly seem like solutions... the nameless and homeless persons asking the questions would be liable to be...

This is the title of a very popular song from the recent Hindi movie Dev.D . While I am not sure of the rest of the lyrics (which can be found here ), the title could definitely personify the angst that one feels today against society large. Jayeeta , a friend of mine at college, had once shared some thoughts with me, which went something like this-  when we are kids, we want to be first in class / sports / talent shows etc... when we are slightly older, we start hankering for attention from the opposite sex... we grow up, get into college, and then start looking out for a plum job... once that is in place, its time to get married... and then have children, who must also be trained to become first in class / sports / talent shows etc... Its a vicious cycle... On umpteen occasions , I have wanted to break free... but as the 'common man' played by Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday says "We all have families to run". If I were to follow my heart on those umpteen...

Jug Suraiya has written an angst filled piece on his taxes due to the "Gormint" (of India presumably). Reading it does fill one with a sense of deja vu, having had such similar thoughts on many a previous occassion... What I fail to understand is why can't there be just one tax (if at all there needs to be any tax at all). The government of any country should only be levying land revenue, based on the use that a particular piece of land is being put to. All its administrative and judicial functions should be at a fees (some thing that already happens in a number of cases - electricity is not free; roads come with a toll; education, health even RTI applications all come for a fee). This way, the government would transform itself more to a services company from a tax earning dragon, individual citizens would only pay for those aspects of the government services for which they are in need of and not for the entire government machinery... Also the government of India, especia...