Our Independence day was 'celebrated' on 15 August with a splatter of the national flag colours in newspaper ads. Local malls had the tricolour criss-crossing overhead, justifying the need to swipe your cards so they could clear off their stock. In Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, one of the biggest malls in the country, almost all shops sell imported material and international brands. In fact, the only thing that remains ‘Indian’ in the entire mall is Haldiram, an Indian fast food chain and ofcourse, Hindi movies that play in PVR cinemas. So it looks like when it comes to food and movies, we are Indian all the way, but when it comes to stuff and products, we fancy western material. Manufacturing is down, foreign brand invasion is up, and no thanks to our short-term, low-cost attitude to products, everything is made in China.
So what leaves us with any feeling of being independent? How free are we really? A volatile currency shakes the stock market; and the one thing that comes to our minds is to shop more before things go out of reach. At get-togethers and parties we lament on rock star politicians to save the nation. But no politician can change anything, unless people revolt. That is what is wrong with us. We take everything lying down. Other signs are more alarming - a sincere government servant is openly reprimanded for doing her job that hurts vested interests, price hike for a basic vegetable, violation of human rights, total disregard for women in all sections of society, public money for welfare is either squandered or unused, these are enough signs that we are not headed in the right direction.
People of France come out on the streets on the most basic things, and that keep their government on their toes. For the ‘great’ nation that we are, with rebels that India has produced, this is the time to stand up for stuff we believe in. We have to go beyond the discount offers in rotated star burst ads. Are we prepared to stand in queues and get our official paper work done, and not pay a tout? These changes will have to come in our own behaviour before we demand a change. Here are a few things I do from the core, hoping it would snowball with the efforts of others to make a larger change.
1. Keep and repair old stuff. Don’t fall for the need to buy things you don’t need. If you feel like buying stuff, postpone the purchase by a week. If you still need it, you will know.
2. Give back to society. In any that you feel fit- donate blood, spend time in a NGO school for a few hours on weekends, donate to organizations that work for the welfare of the girl child, old people, your choice. That time should be given away, and not go in owning, buying things or in any other personal benefit other that the satisfaction of benefiting someone underprivileged.
3. Discuss atrocities that you notice. Share with neighbours and friends stuff that disturbs you. If you let it go, others will.
4. Stop watching TV, read a book or paint. TV is made to sell you things you do not need, make you feel like a lesser mortal unless you buy. Everything is ad driven today to satiate a vague need. When you do other stuff, you start thinking. That is what a fascist hates.
5. Eat less. The more you devour, the lesser you think. The less you eat, the lighter you stay, makes you want to get off your seat and walk the street. That changes things.
6. Do not compare your lives and possessions with others. If you have reached this far on your own, it is because you defined what is important.
7. Go to a place of worship other than that of your own religion. Understand other people just for the sake of it. Observe and respect what they do.
8. Talk to people outside your trade. Know more about the world.
9. Avoid discussing gadgets. Talk about relationships.
10. Keep a pet. Being in touch with an animal is a grounding experience at many levels.
Surely there are other ways to ‘keep it real’. The whole point is to get back to being more human. Technology has not improved our social life. We interact much less than we ever did. We also have lesser friends than our parents have. That says quite a lot about the loneliness our lives are made of. All this can be fixed in a short time, but the effort has to come from all of us, at an individual level.
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