The Good Old Days

Kamalji · Jan 19, 2009

The Good Old Days

We always talk about the Good old Days, irrespective of our ages.We seem to go back in time, some do a year or two back, and some go back a few decades.Everything was good then, incomes were good, things were not so expensive, etc.

Suppose 5 years back was good for Mr or Mrs X .That is say 2004.But it is in 2009 that u realize that 2004 was good ! But what about when X was in 2004, did he or she feel the same, that this time is damn good, and future may not be so good and rosy ? Never my friend, never.When u were in that Golden period, as u call it today, u were looking for ward to better days, and now realize that today is lousy, those days were good.

That is why I never understand the concept of celebrating the New Year with so much gusto.People spend fortunes on that one night alone.I have heard that some 5 star hotels charge something like 10000 to 15000 per couple, drinks extra, and all tickets are sold out, and u go and dance the whole night, drink expensive liquor, and eat lousy food, looking for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

When the millennium came, everyone say it comes once in a 1000 years, and we are lucky to see this.I remember people went crazy, going off to exotic locations to celebrate.And look what the millennium brought, the Dot Com Bust, which wiped out many companies like Enron, who were touted as the Wonder of Wonders, and the wealth of so many people around the globe.Techies were on the roads, and our share market plummeted to 3000 levels and below.

To those who celebrated the 31<SUP>st</SUP> Dec 07 night, the second week of Jan 08 brought about the Financial Meltdown, whose last we have not heard yet.

Who knows what the future holds for all of us.A Nuclear War,further financial problems, jobs lost, nobody knows.

Why cant we just be happy with the present moment, thinking the reverse, that this is the Golden period for me, the future could be worse.Right now I have a job,my health is perfect, my parents are alive and kicking, my children are happy and well.Who knows a few years down the line, one or both of yr parents may not be around, you may have developed some health problems,you may or may not have yr job, etc.

Like most of you , I too have had a golden period, where everything I touched turned to Gold, when my Export Income was Tax Free, when the Govt incentives were around 20% of the export Value, when the orders were unlimited, and advances flowing, and the surplus money was parked at 15% with Govt Banks, and everything was flawless.

But I had a different outlook then.I knew things were too good to be true,and I knew my Auqat, that is my worth, and I knew I am getting much more than I am worth, that this is not my intelligence, or hard work, this is something else at play, and that was the Hand of God, who was very very kind to me.

I knew this is the Golden period for me, and I lived that period as if in a dream.I thought this has to stop one day, and bad times could be ahead.Instead of expanding, and giving credit to my buyers , and opening offices all around here and there, I started to consolidate my finances, for I knew this madness had to stop sometime very soon.

And a few years down the line,it happened to me the way I saw it, orders dwindled, good customers turned lousy , around the 9/11 time, and there was virtually no business, and no margins to work.

When somebody has eaten a fat Punjabi Chicken, and then u are given a Bangladeshi thin chicken where u have to search where is the flesh, it is better not to eat it.A lion will never eat grass, and same is the case is with me.I stopped working,and retired to blog very soon.

Even today is a golden period for me, for I am alive and kicking, and in good health,who knows what happens in the near future.I am not pessimistic at all, I am being just practical in life, and enjoying life to the hilt, and for me every day and every year is golden, I happen to go back in time sometimes, like all do, but don’t forget that I am still in the Golden age, where I can still buy vegetables with my Indian rupees.

Yes the bad days will come, the day our currency will be like the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1lace>Zimbabwe</st1lace></st1:country-region> currency, where even a Trillion Dollor Note will not buy you a loaf of bread.

Till then forget the past, and live in the present, and Have a Ball, ladies and Gentlemen.

KAMAL MAHTANI

ojaantrik · Jan 19, 2009

Dear Kamalji:

I can't agree with you more. But I want to add -- forget about the present too, along with the past and the future. Just be happy.

Although most people are familiar with this, I want to quote two stanzas from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

Alike for those who for Today prepare,
And those that after some Tomorrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."

This is from the Fifth Edition of the translation by Edward Fitzgerald. Interestingly enough, when I looked into the First and the Second Editions, I discovered that this stanza has remained unaltered. He changed many of the other stanzas.

And, I think the following stanza should be added to boost your philosophy:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread -- and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness --
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

Great post. :thumbsup

oj

Kamalji · Jan 19, 2009

ojaantrik said: ↑

Dear Kamalji:

I can't agree with you more. But I want to add -- forget about the present too, along with the past and the future. Just be happy.

Although most people are familiar with this, I want to quote two stanzas from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

Alike for those who for Today prepare,
And those that after some Tomorrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."

This is from the Fifth Edition of the translation by Edward Fitzgerald. Interestingly enough, when I looked into the First and the Second Editions, I discovered that this stanza has remained unaltered. He changed many of the other stanzas.

And, I think the following stanza should be added to boost your philosophy:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread -- and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness --
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

Great post. :thumbsup

oj
Click to expand...

dear OJ,

thjat omar Khayam one is damn good really.I had not read him before though i have heard a lot of him.

Even the second one, is too good.

Glad u agree, be happy with the present, who knows what the future brings.HAHA

Regards.kamal

Sriniketan · Jan 19, 2009

Rightly said, Kamalji..
Enjoy each and every moment of today...and that's why it is called as 'present' day..:thumbsup or shall we call it as a golden day..

Oj da,
very nice quotes from Omar Khayyam..enjoyed it..
sriniketan

Gowri66 · Jan 19, 2009

Dear Kamalji,

It is too good !! Enjoyed your words..... as it is flavored by Oj da's Omar Khayyam's thoughtful quotes ....

With regards...

mithila kannan · Jan 19, 2009

Dear Kamalji,
Oh,yes.Human mind always look for better days better times,even if the present is very good.We just can't help it.
Normally I like to call myself a positive person,I don't dwell on things that make me sad,or feel that worse is yet to come.But nowadays when I see TV or read news paper I shudder to see the atrocities committed particularly on the young and the innocent.That is the time I feel worse,I become a sad person unavble to enjoy the prsent.The question,What is gong to happen to the world we are living in in a ten yars from now,in what kind of society are my grand children going to live?troubles me a lot.I compulsorily try to think about something totally different.

Enjoyed the post.
Regards
mithila kannan

jaijui0 · Jan 19, 2009

hello Kamalji,
just fantastically put .While i was growing up , thats all I heard from my Dada Dadi or even my parents .." the good old days " ..
they forgot that they hardly had any money and wore hand me down clothes all their life ..
Probably we just remember the good times ..
but why dwell in the past ..the present is waiting to be snatched up ..to be savoured and we are doing it injustice if we don't appreciate it ..
a practical man ..and a wise one Kamalji .. thats wat u are.. :thumbsup
cheers
jaijui

sundarusha · Jan 20, 2009

Dear Kamalji

I too believe in enjoying the moment and just accepting it whether it be good or bad. Who knows what the future holds and the past is all spent.

Oj da

Thanks for the enjoyable quotes from Omar Khayyam.

Jpatma · Jan 20, 2009

Hi Kamal ji,
Yes! We reminisce the past with fond memories because it is over while future is uncertain and to make it glorious, we work for it in the present. Soon the present becomes past and future becomes present ,this cycle goes on, the stoppage comes only when we cease to exist.
The past it termed golden ( we are not experiencing it & it is over). While the present we often find it difficult to label because we are still experiencing it with hope and despair. The moment it elapses we will call it as past with learning experience dependingly golden or copper etc etc.

So it is the present that matters, as it slips into past and keeping the door open for the future. Enjoy the present with memories of past and hope for the future while work in the present.
I hope i have muddled it .
May God bless you.
Jaya

SoaringSpirit · Jan 20, 2009

Dear Kamalji,

Your posts are always refreshing to the mind one way or the other. Many times they refresh our mind with their light humor and many times it is the plain (and harsh) facts of life that you state that make our minds jog.

I agree with you and everyone here that living in the present knowing that this very present is soon going to become our golden past is one of the best ways to move forward with life.

What really caught my attention in your post was one particular paragraph that I find very admirable and something that has a great lesson hidden in it. The para where you mention that even during the golden days you were very well aware of your standing and did not get carried away by spending money right, left and center. To me that seems like the MOST valuable lesson to learn and remember for all of us.

When the times are good it is easy for us to over-estimate our success and abilities. We think we have "arrived" and that we have "made it". Little do we suspect at that time that this may overturn. For whatever reason (not necessarily our own shortcomings) we may not have it going this good always. We avoid thinking of such a likelihood because we want to stay positive and think of only the good things. But many times this positivity may prove to steer us away from reality and from staying grounded. It is very important to stay positive in our outlook but at the same time we have to stay real too.

My inherent nature is to question things happening around me (especially when it all looks too good) and think "what if it does not continue so". I don't fuss over it but it does wonders in keeping me grounded and level headed.

Your paragraph reminded me of my questioning times. I think that that paragraph you wrote was golden. It will be etched in my mind for good.

Luv,
SS