If you have seen the famous Bollywood movie, DEEWAR, starring Amitabh Bachchan, I am sure you would remember one of the most impact-ful scenes from this movie. The scene being, Amitabh Bachchan becoming a big gangster and his boss throwing money at him. Amitabh says - "Main aaj bhi pheke huve paise nahi leta.." He also narrates how as a kid, he polished shoes and even then he never took money which was thrown at him.. As a kid, he might have earned Chillar as his earnings but as the gangster he might have earned millions...!!!
Putting this into perspective, we notice that the value of money changes as we move up the social ladder. Recently, I was travelling to one of my relative's place in a bus. While returning, our bus stopped at a railway crossing somewhere on the highway... Suddenly, a young boy of probably 7 or 8 years sprang into the bus with a basket of Makka butta/Corn. He was trying to sell his goods in the bus. Three to Four people bought the Makka buttas from him.. Contented with his sale for the trip, the boy got down and started counting the money that he earned. He probably earned around 10 Rupees or so but he felt so happy. I could make out from the expressions on his face. It was an expression of total delight and contentment. A few days back, I got my salary along with the yearly bonus. I was looking at the salary slip, frantically calculating the tax which was cut. I got quite a lot but I was still lost in thought trying to figure out why I could not get a bit more... Although I earned lot more than 10 Rupees.. I was not happy, leave alone contented.
Does more money create more craving??? Does more money make our life unhappy??? Does more money make life too complicated??? Does more money bring with it excess baggage of image, superiority, status????
Let me confess that I am no saint and have not really relinquished worldly pleasures but then I am sure all of you must have got this thought of how much is enough to survive in this world??? The rigmarole of day-to-day life appears more and more like a vacuum cleaner sucking anything which comes in its way...!!!! Infatuation with money seems to be making us gluttonous to an enormous extent... Pardon me if I am generalizing a bit too much... I know there are many better people, unlike me, in this world who do things just for the love of it without expecting any monetary benefits... I may be one of those in the minority who just thinks about money in everything.. I may be one of those very few who seldom care about others.. I may be one of those very few who just thinks about obstructing others' progress to my advantage..!!!!!!
Being obstructive might give us short term gains... It might lull us into a comfort zone which ultimately could lead us to the path of destruction. A path devoid of remorse... a path devoid of care.. .a path devoid of empathy... a path full of gluttony... a path full of hypocrisy.. a path full of subservience towards wealth...!!!!! All of this is nothing but a perfect recipe for destruction...!!
Putting this into perspective, we notice that the value of money changes as we move up the social ladder. Recently, I was travelling to one of my relative's place in a bus. While returning, our bus stopped at a railway crossing somewhere on the highway... Suddenly, a young boy of probably 7 or 8 years sprang into the bus with a basket of Makka butta/Corn. He was trying to sell his goods in the bus. Three to Four people bought the Makka buttas from him.. Contented with his sale for the trip, the boy got down and started counting the money that he earned. He probably earned around 10 Rupees or so but he felt so happy. I could make out from the expressions on his face. It was an expression of total delight and contentment. A few days back, I got my salary along with the yearly bonus. I was looking at the salary slip, frantically calculating the tax which was cut. I got quite a lot but I was still lost in thought trying to figure out why I could not get a bit more... Although I earned lot more than 10 Rupees.. I was not happy, leave alone contented.
Does more money create more craving??? Does more money make our life unhappy??? Does more money make life too complicated??? Does more money bring with it excess baggage of image, superiority, status????
Let me confess that I am no saint and have not really relinquished worldly pleasures but then I am sure all of you must have got this thought of how much is enough to survive in this world??? The rigmarole of day-to-day life appears more and more like a vacuum cleaner sucking anything which comes in its way...!!!! Infatuation with money seems to be making us gluttonous to an enormous extent... Pardon me if I am generalizing a bit too much... I know there are many better people, unlike me, in this world who do things just for the love of it without expecting any monetary benefits... I may be one of those in the minority who just thinks about money in everything.. I may be one of those very few who seldom care about others.. I may be one of those very few who just thinks about obstructing others' progress to my advantage..!!!!!!
Being obstructive might give us short term gains... It might lull us into a comfort zone which ultimately could lead us to the path of destruction. A path devoid of remorse... a path devoid of care.. .a path devoid of empathy... a path full of gluttony... a path full of hypocrisy.. a path full of subservience towards wealth...!!!!! All of this is nothing but a perfect recipe for destruction...!!
3 comments:
Good article. But the biggest question remains - How much is enough? We definitely need some money for retirement, emergencies and to cover our daily expenses. I wish one could calculate exactly how much needs for a lifetime and just be contended with that. But with the valuation of a rupee changing every day, I doubt that will ever happen. I agree that some people get greedy, earn for social status and please their senses but I am sure they will learn in their later stages of life of what is really important. Some people are wise enough to learn from others while some wait to learn from their own experiences. Remember that Siddhartha was one of them. Oh well, this is not a perfect world and I dont expect everyone to lead their life in a certain way.
Thanks Yashwanth... That's a valid question that you have. But I am not sure if a majority of people in this world would be able to answer that. It is just about accumulating as much as we can. It is like that old folk tale about a man trying to attain as much land as possible by covering it till the end of day. But at the end of the day, he does not live to reap benefits of his toil...
The question that helps is, what are you trying to earn, when you are earning money? Or by spending the money that you earned. Respect, satisfaction, security, praise, happiness... Which one? And the point is money is required for some of the above, but not a necessary, fundamental requirement for any of it. So, money can never be enough, or just the right amount, depending on whether you know what you are earning it for. Now that's just my perspective :D
Post a Comment