Since the last few weeks - my constant resource for winding down in the last hour of the day has been watching reruns of old sitcoms on DVDs from Netflix with the husband or like on a long drive a few weeks ago with friends - I was watching reruns of old Indian commercials on YouTube (on our shiny iPhones of course). These have brought back memories from old times and how different things used to be then. At that time, the ideal representation of the average Indian were the happenings in the lives of Renu and Ranjit (Yeh Jo hai Zindagi...) or Mr Wagle and his wife in (Wagle ki Duniya). The humor in their everyday lives was captured by shows like Filmi Chakkar and Flop Show.
"Yeh Jo hai...Zindagi...ise has kar...jeene kaa....alag hi thaa mazaa...."
Now these depicitions of daily life have been replaced by depicitons of daily quarrels and the "Ghar ki politics" type of soap operas. Multi-Million rupee scams in every household? Really? Is that our Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki...? And now there are the constant obviously engineered "emosional atyaachaar" moments in every reality show that has hit the Tube lately. Where has all the fun and sense of humor disappeared? In fact with the proliferation in 24 x 7 news channels, and the need for these channels to have something or the other to show in order to even remain viable - I find myself having to actually dig and filter out the news hidden somewhere in whats shown in the so called "NEWS".
As kids - we (me and my chhota brother) have participated in many extra curricular activities - quizzes - debates - school cultural activities, local festivities... played with legos and ataris, exchanged comic books and novels and spent summers attending camps or lazing around at home. Now I hardly hear about kids having any time to do anything. Eight and ten year olds suffer burnouts from too many activities forced by pushy parents. Television channels are scrambling to put kids on TV right from Boogie Woogie and Amul Voice Of India to serials like Baalika Vadhu to more famous examples of movies like Slumdog Millionaire. Is it a sign of the times ? Kids trying to work their way into college from a young age? Opportunity opens doors but does it also put undue and immense pressure on the average people to perform? Being bomarded with achievers and achievements everyday can make even powerhouses feel like under-achievers instead of happy, relaxed individuals who are a result of the ability to sit back and laugh at the lighter, funnier moments in life. If gully and school cricket can give us Sachin Tendulkar and college plays can give us Amitabh Bachchans...
I leave you with this food for thought. -
A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the need for a nationalized health care system.
"Yeh Jo hai...Zindagi...ise has kar...jeene kaa....alag hi thaa mazaa...."
Now these depicitions of daily life have been replaced by depicitons of daily quarrels and the "Ghar ki politics" type of soap operas. Multi-Million rupee scams in every household? Really? Is that our Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki...? And now there are the constant obviously engineered "emosional atyaachaar" moments in every reality show that has hit the Tube lately. Where has all the fun and sense of humor disappeared? In fact with the proliferation in 24 x 7 news channels, and the need for these channels to have something or the other to show in order to even remain viable - I find myself having to actually dig and filter out the news hidden somewhere in whats shown in the so called "NEWS".
As kids - we (me and my chhota brother) have participated in many extra curricular activities - quizzes - debates - school cultural activities, local festivities... played with legos and ataris, exchanged comic books and novels and spent summers attending camps or lazing around at home. Now I hardly hear about kids having any time to do anything. Eight and ten year olds suffer burnouts from too many activities forced by pushy parents. Television channels are scrambling to put kids on TV right from Boogie Woogie and Amul Voice Of India to serials like Baalika Vadhu to more famous examples of movies like Slumdog Millionaire. Is it a sign of the times ? Kids trying to work their way into college from a young age? Opportunity opens doors but does it also put undue and immense pressure on the average people to perform? Being bomarded with achievers and achievements everyday can make even powerhouses feel like under-achievers instead of happy, relaxed individuals who are a result of the ability to sit back and laugh at the lighter, funnier moments in life. If gully and school cricket can give us Sachin Tendulkar and college plays can give us Amitabh Bachchans...
I leave you with this food for thought. -
A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the need for a nationalized health care system.
In economics, a want is something that is desired. It is said that people have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
We, as a western-izing society have crossed the point where wants are rapidly turning into needs and turning us into a restless, unsatisfied people with lower self esteem as a collective society than ever before.
Maybe happy times are like people too. They have a life-span. Enjoy them while they are around and scramble for memories to cherish when they are not.
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http://www.flickr.com/tanvis
Steven Wright - "A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths."
Maybe happy times are like people too. They have a life-span. Enjoy them while they are around and scramble for memories to cherish when they are not.
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.flickr.com/tanvis
Steven Wright - "A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths."
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