Human Oddities

I have quite often found our general behavior odd – be it pertaining to any walk of life.

We will heatedly bargain expending a lot of lung power attempting to reduce the price of a cubit of strung flower by a rupee or the repair charges for mending our chappals or the fare to be paid to a rickshaw puller. But we would tamely pay Rs. 30/- for a cup of coffee with an add-on of Rs. 5/- as tips to the waiter at a star hotel or buy a branded ready-made garment at a fanciful price without so much as batting an eyelid.

Assuming you buy a Conjeevaram silk saree, make sure to buy it only from only certain select shops. Even if you a silk saree of better quality at a lesser price from any other outlet, chances are your neighbors, friends and relatives may give you and your saree a condescending look. The same logic applies when you are buying a piece of jewellery. If you do not want your ego to be punctured subsequently, it is wisdom to buy the only from those select shops already earmarked by the snobbish.

Now you will have to admit your child only into schools which are labeled prestigious. Thus parents go from pillar to post, seek recommendations, pay capitation fees or by whatever name it is now known, and obtain admission into these schools. It is immaterial even if you have to bend backwards, year after year, to meet his or her education expenses. Otherwise society may consider you an under-privileged creature and your child might also develop an inferiority complex.

Even as your child reaches standard X, you must start preparing him for IITJEE and all other common entrance examinations, in total disregard to what his or her aptitude is – as if your child was sent by the Almighty with the sole purpose of developing him into an Engineer. All other course such as leather technology, catering technology, fashion technology, nursing, physiotherapy, sciences, humanities are meant for lesser mortals.

Seeing this trend, a large number of private engineering colleges have sprung up and invariably, every student aspiring to become an engineer can get a seat – or at worst, his parents can buy him or her one.

With Engineering degree becoming increasingly commonplace, the more snobbish feel somewhat peeved and wanting to do one upmanship, send the child to USA for a masters degree and then for him to stay back to become a green card holder.

Several couples are unfortunately childless – but here you see an amusing spectacle that even parents with a lone child packing away their only son to America or giving away their only daughter in marriage to some well-placed groom in USA and returning to a state of childlessness.

If you today choose to attend any social gathering, you are likely to be ignored or sidelined unless you have a son at New York or a daughter at California or at least a brother or sister at Texas. If the present rate of ingress of Indians getting into USA continues, may be a century hence a good part of America will become ours – a rare form of neo-colonialism.

Although each one of us knows that life on earth is precariously impermanent, we must somehow willy-nilly acquire an apartment; let it be even a rat-trap or pigeon-hole. You must then populate the tenement with a colour television, a refrigerator, a mixer, a grinder, a washing machine – not to speak of a car or at lease a two-wheeler. If you fail to possess all of these then you have insensately wasted the rare opportunity God gave you to live on earth.

A person who was running a modest grocery shop in a nearby area passed away. The corpse was bathed, draped and was put in a sitting position in a flower-bedecked chair, ready to commence the last journey. Meantime, for some unforeseen reason, the funeral had to be delayed by a day. Since the assembled mourners had already finished their quota of weeping and wailing, they gathered around a television set and started merrily watching some latest movie – off and on, laughing boisterously. The underlying principle may be – “The dead is, in any case, dead. Let the living live.

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A very good Article Indeed. Very true and touching!

Thanks
Jaishree

Hello Mr. Vatsan,

Great! Why do we run behind this status?

Many of us have this question in our mind. But it remains only as a question. We are not ready to find the answer.

If you have found the answer, you would not be asking this question in this open forum. And if I have found out the answer, I will not be replying you.

What all you have mentioned are facts.

But we cannot keep on questioning us. We should find the solution on our own. We should apply it in our daily life. We should take strong decisions to fight against this behaviour of running behind the status.

These decisions will make others to talk about us. Now, I am talking because I have seen people who made decisions.

This question is for our inner self. Each one of us have to find the way out.

Very thoughtful post. But I do not have anything personal to share here.

I am going to make decisions. Sincerely.

Vatsan,

I nominate this for the March nominations.

Superb.You have hit the nail on the head.The last example u gave of the dead body, is so true.

And yes even the school yr child goes to has to be a talkig point in yr friend circle, as also u must go for holdiays to Singpore instead of Shimla, even i u cant afford it, so that u can talk about it.

Sad really, but true.Regards.kamal

Hi Vatsan,
Very thoughful post.Raised so many questions within ourselves now....Writtern very well.

Dear Jaishree,

Thanks indeed for your appreciation.

Dear Vanaja Srinivasan,

Reforming society is a daunting task.You have summed it up brilliantly
"This question is for our inner self. Each one of us have to find the way out"

Dear Kamalji,

I am terribly overwhelmed by your response. I am only three days old in IL.
I should not aspire for nominations this soon.

Regards
VATSAN

Dear Aishu,

Thanks for sharing my concern

VATSAN

Hello....
This is such a nice thing to be told......but to follow.........?
Dear mr. Vatsan........
I have seen this kind of obsession among people.....not that I am different from these 99.9% people.......we understand everything that's why the there is a Statutory Warning on Cigarettes, smokers see those but still smoke.........and smoke till they are diagnosed with some dreadliest diesease.......then after they will show the signs to others....
So, we are kind of those smokers........until we got our quota of bittereness.......we will run after these worldy pleasures........
Regards.

Truly incredible thread Vatsan :) keep going..

Hi,

A very insightful read...and i think a look into stark realities of life....wonderful writeup..

warm wishes,

aqua.