It's a strange day. It's a day when you are not supposed to work because it is the Birthday of the Father of the Nation-Mahatma Gandhi. Ironic I say. A compulsory holiday for a man who never ceased to work? But that is just the beginning of the strange.
I step out on the road expecting less traffic. But the roads are jammed worse than ever. Everyone is out shopping or visiting. I wonder, would Bapu really want us to stay at home, laze around or to go visit the mall on his birthday? I wonder. The shops are doing brisk business. One of the shopkeepers tells me, "Business is better today than ever. Thanks to Bapu." He winks. And I wonder. Is this how we want to celebrate the birthday of a man who survived on minimalistic needs? Is this really the free India he imagined? Is this the Freedom that he struggled for?
As India stands on the verge of a revolution in the retail business, a question raises. Is all this talk about freedom from foreign rule just a humbug? I agree that as a nation progresses it has to rely on other nations to survive and grow. But the one thing that India symbolized is no longer existent-Freedom. The world's largest democracy is today a symbol of corruption and crime. And is it really free from foreign rule? The biggest investments in the country are from foreign investors. The biggest employers in the country are foreign companies. The best companies in India are foreigners.
I look around and I see people desperate for more. More salaries, more money to spend, more gifts, more love, more alcohol, more shopping, more lovers...the list never ends. A nation that was built on the ideals of a man, known for his simplistic needs, today bleeds for everything that he hated. Bapu lived his entire life on just about two pieces of clothing. And today we have our wardrobes full and still want more. We eat so much that we have to actually find diets. We spend so much that our salaries seem low. This is the new country. A country built on values of simplicity is today too busy to even slow down and wonder what went wrong.
Being minimalistic has so many virtues. The biggest being that of being satisfied. But the desire for more never lets us be. People change jobs faster than they change their clothes. Companies no longer want to reward their employees but show more money on their balance sheets. A kid grows up to burger and ice creams and not to rotis and sabzis. Parents want their children to study more, get better marks, get more degrees. I wonder what the cost of progress has been. A society fed on the need for more.
I wonder when we realize that we were meant to be Minimalists and not Capitalists. So long Bapu. Happy Birthday!!
I step out on the road expecting less traffic. But the roads are jammed worse than ever. Everyone is out shopping or visiting. I wonder, would Bapu really want us to stay at home, laze around or to go visit the mall on his birthday? I wonder. The shops are doing brisk business. One of the shopkeepers tells me, "Business is better today than ever. Thanks to Bapu." He winks. And I wonder. Is this how we want to celebrate the birthday of a man who survived on minimalistic needs? Is this really the free India he imagined? Is this the Freedom that he struggled for?
As India stands on the verge of a revolution in the retail business, a question raises. Is all this talk about freedom from foreign rule just a humbug? I agree that as a nation progresses it has to rely on other nations to survive and grow. But the one thing that India symbolized is no longer existent-Freedom. The world's largest democracy is today a symbol of corruption and crime. And is it really free from foreign rule? The biggest investments in the country are from foreign investors. The biggest employers in the country are foreign companies. The best companies in India are foreigners.
I look around and I see people desperate for more. More salaries, more money to spend, more gifts, more love, more alcohol, more shopping, more lovers...the list never ends. A nation that was built on the ideals of a man, known for his simplistic needs, today bleeds for everything that he hated. Bapu lived his entire life on just about two pieces of clothing. And today we have our wardrobes full and still want more. We eat so much that we have to actually find diets. We spend so much that our salaries seem low. This is the new country. A country built on values of simplicity is today too busy to even slow down and wonder what went wrong.
Being minimalistic has so many virtues. The biggest being that of being satisfied. But the desire for more never lets us be. People change jobs faster than they change their clothes. Companies no longer want to reward their employees but show more money on their balance sheets. A kid grows up to burger and ice creams and not to rotis and sabzis. Parents want their children to study more, get better marks, get more degrees. I wonder what the cost of progress has been. A society fed on the need for more.
I wonder when we realize that we were meant to be Minimalists and not Capitalists. So long Bapu. Happy Birthday!!
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