Life as I know it

The fundamental aspects of living might be governed by the indirect adoption of a socio-psychological theory. Most of us have grown up by being taught what would help us in achieving a stable foot in this slippery realm. On an account of teaching kids, one would notice, when at two the kid starts very keenly is looked at when he starts counting or muttering A for apple. Humans have a way of bringing up their young ones. As opposed to wild animals like cats or dogs who basically learn how to survive, survival is not that much of an issue for Humans. The problem is in adapting the choice of a way to survive. When put in a slightly different way, it accounts for one gets the liberty to make a living of his own or being carved into an individual that the society wants. 

There are a few salient aspects of growing up. When one is from a well to do family, there are socio-economic benefits such as quality eduction, latest gadgets for entertainment and international cuisine. On the other hand, if one is not from a well to do family, the amenities are a morphed form of what the others get. A kid in the slums can be found playing with broken toys, gadgets and a lot of other stuff which might not be kiddish. Growing up either in the slums or in an upper class, one is taught the way to live, find a place in the society.

By the time one has gained the conscience of appreciating what's around, the individual also has embedded into him the morphed psychological aspect of differentiating between good and bad. Instincts are governed by the societal definition of right and wrong. For instance, if a kid sees an apple on a tree, while the first instinct would be to pluck the apple, the action would follow the path of surveillance followed by secretive attempts to pluck the apple and run away unnoticed. The idea here is not expressing the sense of stealth, but the instincts. There are a lot of constraints imposed on an individual and a number of them curtail what naturally comes to mind. Apart from the constraints that are imposed a number of aspects are actually non-existent for the next generation. This is a change of era which happens. While in the 80's and 90's the concept of multistory buildings did not exist as much as it exists today. A house was not a flat but what today is called a villa. Being airy and spacious it gave a different atmosphere for living. Lawns, that are parts of gardens today, were parts of homes. The stadiums are the only place where one could go and play games like cricket and football, while a lot of kids in the 90's got the opportunity to play on empty grounds, which served as grounds for any game and for any age.

In the late 90's and earlier parts of this decade while most of the time that I spent was studying or thought that I was studying was much less a pain than the time I travel today. What took me 10 mins to travel now takes me more than an hour. And that too when there are much advanced modes of transportation. There was a pleasure in driving on the Fiat/ambassador and going on picnics. The difference between the picnics then and today is not something which is saddening but brutal. For any nature lover, things have become crazily insane. Places of scenic beauty and enchantment have started vanishing by the day. I believe that the moment a place is commercialized, it starts losing its values. 

When I traveled deep in the woods to see a waterfall, I had to take muddy paths that how today been replaced by concrete. The sweet smell of virgin soils have been bloodied with the plasticity of modern age. And to add insult to injury is the advertisement of saving nature. Nature is not a machine that can be fixed in seconds. It has its own mechanisms. While throwing away garbage in a garbage can might come to one as a sense of saving the planet, it does not count pretty much. We see our living rooms getting clean, but we don't see the garbage cans of nations getting full to the brim. The usage of products that can not be disintegrated naturally just adds to degrading whats around us. Taking a look at the sea beaches might give a better idea of what I am trying to bring out here.

The perspective of human mind has changed over the ages. What I see today is a world of impatient people. Every one is in a hurry and has a sense of deep pride in petty achievements. If one travels through the roads of a metro and finds himself blocked till the inch by automobiles all around trying to cut him off, its not a big deal. Persistent honking has replaced the sweet engine murmur. Until you are say around 30 kilometers of habitation, you might not understand what Nature is or should be like. The impatience of people is reflected in each and every corner of a city. Be it a theater or a restaurant, there is a sense of urgency in everyone. This is higher in metros and bigger cities than the smaller cities. Sometimes I believe that when I am going for a drive I am going for a battle. When you had the luxury of just steering your way through a two lane highway, today you might consider yourself lucky to be moving constantly on a sixteen lane expressway. I used to have a feeling that a vacation was more than a month and a short break was a week. But apparently a vacation is a weekend getaway and a short break is a day picnic. Sometimes I think of packing my bag, leaving my cell phone and plastic cards, and walk down the habitation in a hope that I might find myself in a place that has no sense of urgency and where people understand the meaning of life. Might be that the youth there are not as big brats there as in towns appreciating elderly people for their age and knowledge. 

The concept of relaxation has dropped dead to a computer and interactive devices. Barely do individuals head out for meeting friends and having a good time over a cup of tea rather than playing a game. Even when they go out half the time they are found out meddling with their handhelds. There is barely a sense of bonding and attachment left between individuals and has more transformed into a sense of bonding between the gadget and the human. A few decades down the line it might not be odd if a kid doesn't talk at all. Instead what would be found is a tweet of "xxx has joined the community nature lovers to express his joy and appreciation of mother nature". Life has a changed meaning and everything around me is more detached rather than attached. Even when I had fights with those I loved it was as though a factor of strengthening the relationship. Today, its more  like a fight rather than delight in most of the relationships. May be some day people would understand the meaning of bonding actually means a lot more than the gadget but the person interacting through the gadgets.