Shortened product lives might impact on our ability to maintain long term human relations!

Is our tendency to change personal products leading to an adverse impact on our ability to maintain long-term human relationships? Are we being driven by market forces in our lack of ability to maintain long term relationships with other human beings?

Gone are those days when you bought a a car to last a lifetime, or a fridge that lasted fifteen years, a cooler that required an A.M.C. but lasted ages! Then you bought either an Ambassador car, or the fleeter Premier Padmini, and did they last! They just didn’t seem to perish! That Godrej Almirah, that  ceiling fan, and that Weston T.V. set, well they sure did last. Today however, the life of most products is very short, products are not meant to last, rather they are meant to be replaced from time to time, and some mobile phones might even be replaced every six months! Is it because our attitudes have changed, we have become more restless, more impatient, and constantly look for change, a lack of constancy, an on-going unstoppable drive for more, and a general dissatisfaction or discontent? If the answer to these questions is, ‘yes’, then it means we are verily and truly stuck in an ever spiralling vicious circle of hunger for change, a spiral that is moving steadily inwards!

What then is driving this change, this desire for  newer products, this sense of discontent, and where will it finally lead to? I remember, the first digital camera that my school purchased was a two megapixel Kodak Easy share camera. It drank power with great thirst, and could take about 28 photographs on the internal memory alone. The Camera cost about Rs.10,000/- that was the early 2003.This camera became obsolete very fast with the Megapixel race, and the advent of the Lithium Ion battery which lasted longer. Sony came up with its Sony Cybershot range, and the ‘W’ series  were expensive! My first personal Digital camera was a W-30 Cybershot and it had a max. resolution of 6 MPs.Coming at a cost of Rs.14400/- it was no cheap deal. Today you can get a 12 MP for as less as Rs.4000/- with a carry case, charger and memory card!

Cheap products might have better features, but then they do come at a cost, that is, their build quality might not be as solid as earlier, but then if they last you a couple of years and you can pass them on, then wouldn’t they give you a sense of satisfaction till they last? Yes, you bought an Ambassador car to last a life time. Your children grew up with it, and they even got driven to their marriage venues in the venerable, member of the family! The Car had a sentimental value and the very thought of selling of the family heirloom was a sacrilege! Today, one would have changed five or six cars in a life-time, perhaps more with the result that one wouldn’t develop an emotional relationship with them! With products becoming obsolete so fast, it seems as if we are driven by the fear of lagging behind, of becoming Aunts and Uncles, and we want to show others that we are not ourselves becoming obsolete!

Is this trend of changing personal gadgets and products from time to time good for our mental health? I would dare so no! This lack of constancy, consistency, and lack of attachment, even if it is with personal gadgets and objects can make us fickle minded, unable to maintain long term relationships with people who mean the most to us! Couldn’t this habit of using and discarding personal objects lead to a tendency of discarding partners , a tendency to get bored with one’s so called beloved ones? I fear that this is what we might be heading to; a life devoid of commitments, a life of one night stands, a life with “no strings attached” a life where you don’t have to carry the baggage of emotional attachments! It seems to be very clear that we are being driven by market forces to change personal products constantly, and this is spelling a corresponding lack of constancy in personal relationships with other human beings! An increase in the number of cases of divorce, an increase in cases of infidelity, and increase in cases of wife swapping might all be the result of our being a target of market forces! Today we are facing more and more problems in maintaining long term human relations.

Propaganda techniques that drive market forces keep reminding us to change products,  the bandwagon technique suggests that if we don’t jump the bandwagon then we will lose the race! If we are not able to build an emotional connect with our gadgets and products that we have spent so much money, then won’t we in turn lack the ability to build an emotional relationship with those who matter the most to us? The answer might be frightening enough!

 

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Some snaps of the Effigies of Ravana just before being lit up on Dushera

 

 

A few hours before the effigies of Ravan were to be consigned to flames, I took out my camera to capture the the handiwork of artists who had put in so much time in designing these huge effigies of Ravan, Meghnath, and Kumbhkaran. Dushera marks the defeat of the trio by Ram. In India, Dushera is last day of Navratras, a period of fasting for all devout Hindus and on this day, everyone is in a festive mood, there are fairs everywhere, and of course those who have the time like to watch the burning of the effigies. These effigies, often filled with crackers are consigned to the flames erupting with the loud noise of the crackers inside, thus ending their brief existence, swaying before the wind. The first few snaps are of the effigies standing in an open field close to Leisure Valley Park, Gurgaon:

                          

My second visit was to the Old D.L.F. area where there were even more colourful effigies standing resplendent staring haughtily towards the stands:

 

                  

The most unique ones that I saw were at the Red-Cross grounds, they really had a leery look and seemed to have been designed really painstakingly!:

 

 

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Damdama Lake, Nature and Man, fighting for space?

 

 

 

Today, when we went on a picnic to the Damdama Lake off Gurgaon, we were disappointed to see that the water body had shrunk a great deal. The paths that have been made to connect some of the construction sites have in effect cut off the paths of the water body, leaving large tracts cut off from the main water body. I was saddened to see the dam left high and dry! Many years back, the dam used to control the flow of water. Now, it seems to be a testament to the fact that Damdama is drying up fast! Uncontrolled development in the form of reclamation of land has put a great strain on the resources of a lake that was once home to a large number of fish species including eels, Singhara, Malli, Patra, and Saulli (all local Hindi names of fish that swarmed the lake). Today, I visited the Lake after four months and noticed that the lake has shrunk further. Soon, it seems this wonderful lake will be lost forever, unless of course the authorities do something to save it before it disappears! In spite of the shrinking water body, some spirited birds have made an appearance, and I have tried to photograph them. These photographs are an impassioned plea to preserve this precious Natural Resource before it is too late!

 

A Perfect Landing by one of the Birds!

 

 

Well, I guess this bird must be wondering about where all that water has gone!

Throughout, one could see wild birds co-existing along with domesticated animals. They seemed to be at home with the buffaloes and the men working on various construction sites. There were people working all around and the birds didn’t seem to be bothered by them!

 

Unfortunately the photograph pasted below shows one of the water beds which is now completely dry. This water bed used to be deep under water, and today it is totally cut off from the rest of the water body because of a path made further on to connect one of the construction sites!

In the picture above you can see how part of the water basin has been cut off from the rest of the water body. Soon, there will be no more water here!

 

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Purple Vestments

The one in purple vestments took me for a ride,

Dressed in purple he exuded a false spiritual royalty!

But deep down inside he was filled with human weakness.

He’d call me to serve his selfish plans.

And I thinking good, acquiesced!

Joined I as the head of an institution,

But from day one his wishes rang false and fake, and wrong!

Leaving a secure job I wished to serve my community,

But then my Lordship desired something else!

So left I a secure job, so to serve a higher goal.

Within the year’s end he told me to join a lesser institute,

One with a lesser strength, and of questionable import,

‘Cause he wanted to please his side kick and his son,

To join in my place! But did I realise and refused

To join for to do so would ruin my career!

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Money plant-A poem about survival

A Poem about a brave plant that emerged a winner!

My brother-in law  and I  spied a  money plant  creeper crawling on

A wall, with leaves  so big, and darkest green in colour, larger than

Life! And we were  filled with greed  so to steal one  strand to plant

At home and watch it flourish and grow!

So, the next day took we a knife  hidden in a roll of paper on our

Morning walk, and when no one was  looking, stepped with care,

And cut off one  strand of  the robust bright  green money plant!

We carried our prize with great pride to watch it grow.

One strand I took with me to plant at mine own home, the other

One gave I to  my brother in law. But  alas! His  did away wither,

While mine did  languish and  shrink  till all that remained

Was a  rotten  stub poking  from  the pot!

And I wept to see how  this robust  plant had withered away,

In spite  of all  the  care I  had lavished  on it;  for to be away

From its brothers and sisters had robbed it of all its will

To live. So I left it, though I watered it oft!

Then one day did I  see  a bright green leaf poking from the

Rotten  stub,  and  then  another, and another, and then lo,

Behold, a tiny green plant emerged from the rotten stub,

Full of life, reaching out to the sky above!

So do I salute  the spirit  of  survival  in a plant separated

From its kith and kin, and from the almost dead emerged,

One so robust, a testimony of the spirit of survival,

A lesson for the weak, if a plant can emerge from

A dead stub, so can you from a life of defeat!

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