Thursday, July 5, 2012

Good Old Days - Part 1 (Happiness)


When was the last time you were happy? Being happy, does not only mean to smile or laugh. Now answer that simple question, “when was the last time, when you were really happy?” Strange isn’t it? You can’t recall it properly? Apart from becoming parents, these days, people mostly don’t realize what happiness is. I am not sure whether you still have those memories in your mind when receiving a “One Rupee” or “Two rupee” note (back then there were notes and not coins), unexpectedly from elder, was equivalent to something magnanimous, when a sudden visit from a cousin was a dream come true, when a surprise visit from either of the parents at school, in the lunch hour, to take you home for a surprise was filled with so much of excitement, fun and happiness. And there are countless other reasons which could have let you wear a smile all day long.

Remember the times when you kept on waiting for a call from a friend or loved one for hours and on every ring of the, non-digitized, phone you couldn’t stop your excitement but rush towards the telephone set, considering it was his/her phone call. That was the time when an ordinary cake from friends on your birthday could easily bring water to your eyes and happiness to your heart – the actual overwhelming state. The time when a simple three to four sentenced greeting card was read by recipient for hours and hours, whether lying on bed in the nights or during studying for the final exams. It is quite strange that now we, mostly, don’t spend hours and hours on deciding what to buy for our loved ones. After all, now we have a huge range of choices, though back in those days we had limited choices and even in those limitations we used to get something of sheer happiness and need for the receiver.

These days we are so much occupied with our jobs, professional and other commitments. But back in those days we used to enjoy “Life”, “Relations” and above all the “Moment”. A walk at the beach, no matter if hands in hands or eyes locked with eyes – the sense of “I am there for you” used to be satisfying for either. In older days we were not much exposed to technology, but we were definitely aware of the relationships, contentment and righteous conduct. And today we only talk about technology, benefits and results. We do not realize that there are far more important things which are of greater importance than benefits and results. Those were the times when even beggars had limited demands.

I am talking about those times when the biggest dream of a father was to let his son achieve his goals, by acquiring education in terms of degree, when a mother used to wish for her kids to get married happily, when a brother used to wish for his sisters and brothers to stay happy and blessed and when a son used to do every possible thing to provide his parents with every possible happiness – keeping all his goals and targets beside. To them those small acts were the happiness. They used to stay together and stay happy. They used to care for others to stay happy. And now! We live in state of the art houses! We work in multi nationals, we drive automatic vehicles, we operate newest gadgets and we eat at finest restaurants and still when someone asks if we are happy? We don’t have a rational reply!

The problem is that most of us have associated happiness with tangible items. For instance I want the newest laptop to become happy, I need an HSY outfit to get happy; I need an iPhone to stay happy and the list goes on and on.

I wish and hope that soon every one of us finds happiness, the real one

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