Human Oddities

Hi Vatsan,

Welcome to IL.

I like the way you write about serious issues in a satirical way. What you wrote made me laugh at our way of living.

Hello Meeta,
I only write what I observe.
In my own small way, I try not to follow the herd mentality.Beyond that I do nothing.
I appreciate your pragmatism.

Dear Anandchitra,
Thanks for the encouragement. I will surely post more such threads.

Dear Aqua,
Many thanks foryour kind words.

Dear Nivedi,
People feel monotonous when you write seriously even about serious things.
So, even when I write on serious issues, I ensure there is an undercurrent
of humour.

Regards to all

VATSAN

Dear Vatsan,

How true... Great write up... We dont mind, being alone in India... We dont mind our kids struggling in US/UK on their own... We dont mind shuttling between... but we want our kids to be there... Because it is a status symbol... and the society also acknowledges only them.... hahahahahahaha....

Also, the kids who go to US/UK want their kids to grow with Indian culture and background... they dont want their kids to be part of American culture... hahahaha... What a double standards...

With Dead body around and watching TV.... No comments... Sometimes it hurts to talk about...

Veda

Dear Vatsan

Excellent write up. As kamalji has stated u have hit the nail on the head!

Having fully realised the fallacy in our behaviour are we really taking any steps to correct them. Even if we do correct them , can we really be satisfied with our lifestyle. A Big question indeed and one for which we cannot readily find an answer.
The book " The Eternal Quest" by Sri Pramahamsa Yogananda speaks about what this Eternal Quest means and also what exactly are we looking for in this life form of ours.

Warm Regds
Jay

Dear Vatsan,

Welcome to Indusladies, its writers' circuit and to the FP of the Month forums...

You have made your entry with a bang no doubt! You being only three posts old or 300 posts old does not matter here. What matters is the matter in the post!! As such, you have bowled us over.

Like you, I too am guilty of falling into this herd mentality often. I try to fight it, but then, sometimes I think...if you can't beat them, join them! Sad state of affairs. Let's hope such conscience jerkers like your post will slowly but steadily work their way through.

L, Kamla

Dear Veda,
I agree with all that you have said.
Why refrain from commenting on the dead body?
It is probably a robust attitude
to accept death as a fact of life and carry on.

Dear Jay,
Life is riddled with many questions and for most of which
there are no definitive answers.
I have not read " The Eternal Quest" but my thinking is:
Man is a trinity of animalism, humanity and divinity.
We have to overcome the animalism, practice humanity
and attain divinity.

Dear Kamla,
I wish I deserved all the praise you have heaped on me.
Perhaps it is safer to tread the path of least resistance.
If you act sane when surrounded by a lot of mad people,
then you will appear mad and all others sane.

Regards to all,

VATSAN

Originally Posted by vatsan

Dear Veda,
I agree with all that you have said.
Why refrain from commenting on the dead body?
It is probably a robust attitude
to accept death as a fact of life and carry on.
VATSAN

Dear Vatsan,

That is because.... It has a personal would... It is too raw, after so many years... to talk about.... Sorry... Thanks

Veda

Originally Posted by vatsan

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.

---

Hi all,

Here on reading this thought provoking message, I am reminded of a story which I would like to share with everyone.


A vain Emperor,likes to try new outfits and spends his time subjecting his courtiers to admire his clothes. His tailor fans his indulgence and suggests him new clothes to try on. The tailor makes more money and more outlandish clothes for the king. The foolish king wastes his wealth in making ill fitting clothes for himself.The more his tailor praises him the more he gets carried away and makes more clothes. All the courtesans praise the king when his displays his clothes in order to please the king.
One day the tailor tricks the foolish king, and shows him a bag with no clothes and pretends " My Lord, this is the best I have ever stitched for you,see the sequences,feel the fabric,what magnificient colours, it will make you look so charmng and you will feel like never before".......

The king falls for the tailor's words of praise and decides to try it.The foolish king looks at the mirror and is shocked to find himself naked,but his ego doesn't allow him to accept the fact and decides to continue admiring the non-existant clothes.

The mean tailor cajoles him into parading into the court room to display his new clothes. The king continues to do as advised by his loyal servant.

As he enters,all his loyal courtiers burst into giggles,but no one dares to contradict their emperor. So all keep praising and nodding to the tailor's description of the clothes.

Just, then a little boy ,standing at one end of the court room,is unable to bear the King's plight and shouts, "My lord,there are fooling you,you don't have any clothes on".


Such is the reality,it stares at our face but we ignore it.

At least someone must be like the little boy in the story.
We must try not to be like the Emperor and be wary of people like the tailor.

But,as someone rightly put it? who will bell the cat?

Dear Meera,

That was a nice story.

Most people want to lead lives the way society wants them to.

Vatsan

Dear Mr.Vatsan,

Awesome write!! I throughly enjoyed it. Very meaningful post!!

Please do keep writing..

I guess world revolves only by status.. man stamping over the other with these status.. Thats how your survive. I guess it actually not in some multinational level.. but its everywhere...

How many treat their apt security, maid, bus conductor, drivers, septic cleaner equally. How many respect their jobs and accept them as you do a manager or a CEO?

I guess we need to ask these questions ourselves and start working on us first.. We should make a difference first...