Category: Social Commentary

  • Social Currency

    Was chatting with a friend last week on the complexity of human relationships. Of course, she is of the view that it is not so complex after all, and i tend to complicate it with my penchant for over analysis 😀 I admit to the anlaysis bit, but in this case, am not convinced about it being undue. Double the negative, double the fun.
    Coincidentally, also saw a movie last weekend, which brought out my stance almost perfectly, almost, because the character of the protagonist does a U-turn midway. Anyways, the crux of the matter is that i believe that every relationship, even, rather especially the close ones are tinged with a selfish motive, actually, not tinged, more a strong undercurrent. There are precious few exceptions.
    It depends on the individual’s choice whether this gets acknowledged or not, but i strongly feel that there is always currency involved, and it is not always unconditional love or any such seemingly pure emotion… the acknowledgement does not happen perhaps because we mould ourselves to fit into a society and its forms of expression…The undercurrent may be that of emotional security, convenience or anything else – based on the situation, but its most definitely there. And for every help/favor/token of affection etc there isa meter ticking, some of us keep it in mind, and some of us keep it deep in the recesses of our mind

    until next time, mind it 🙂
  • Parental Outsourcing

    Since our man has the annoying habit of deleting posts, i havent been able to yet locate his take on it, but i have read her take on it.
    The subject in question is that the young parents of today outsource the job of parenting to their parents and treat them worse than housemaids… Now, i think a lot of grandparents love being with their grandchildren, perhaps for the simple reason that their children dont have the time anyway. Its an arrangement that works for everyone concerned. Does that make it right? no, but that doesnt make it wrong either.
    We happen to be in a generation that is bearing the brunt of a drastic change in lifestyles and therefore mindsets. Being 30 year old parents is a bit like being between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea – feeling guilty of not doing much for the parents and knowing that the chances of their kid looking after them are very slim…So perhaps it is a good thing to put the two stakeholders of their time together, and meanwhile working their butt off to ensure that they themselves have a good tomorrow.. now, can they be really blamed for trying to a get a bit of happiness out of today also… maybe not, because they are paying for it in their own way..
    Meanwhile, taking a leaf out of the aforementioned annoying man’s book ;), this sums it up
    until next time, not just kidding
  • Freedom from Freedom

    Inspite and perhaps because of the response to the last post.. Yes, maybe the easiest thing is to not take up the offers that are displayed with banality year after year, but perhaps i let an example become the theme.. The intended theme was not the offers but our callous attitude to the concept of freedom. Like i said, maybe the root of all this is that we were born free, and didnt have to experience second and third class citizenship in the land where we were born…
    In an era in which even ads have to be contextual for them to garner any response, what hoped oes a concept like freedom have, especially when it has lost its relevance and definitely has no context. The only context is the one created by the offers. Yes, it is a function oftime, but only because the child that munched the sweets happily and celebrated the holiday on Freedom Day has a bit more understanding now. And precisely because most things are a function of time, maybe we should revisit the day and figure out whether we need a holiday on Aug 15th. Is it any different from a Sunday except for the kind of movies shown?
    Perhaps the respect for freedom belongs elsewhere – in our day to day lives – by being more tolerant and compassionate and respecting each others’ freedom a bit more, and most importantly, by becoming more mature in the use of personal freedom and stopping its abuse daily.Perhaps that will bring joy to those who fought, and died for the holiday.

    until next time, freedom for a state… of mind…
  • Oh, the irony of it all…

    Once upon a time, the biggest significance of Aug 15th was that it was a holiday. And Gandhi and Roja have given way to Lage Raho Munnabhai and Rang De Basanti..
    Makes me wonder, the relevance of this day has become worse than it being just a holiday. And the irony? To make a free country, they burned foreign cloth. In a free country, we burn money to buy international brands that give special discounts on I-Day… No, this is not tirade against MNCs (hey, i use them too) but maybe, we should make this a normal day and stop mocking the efforts of a generation long gone?
    until next time, born free, perhaps thats the root..
  • The more things change…

    the more they remain the same….

    Gandhi was the man they followed then, we still do..
    until next time, happy birthday India.