There used to be a ‘life’ a few decades and many types of equipment back. A life that was limited but still had no boundaries. A life that was content and was enough for not just ourselves but all those who were near and dear to us. There was no work left pending any day and still, there was plenty of time for everyone. There were no electromagnetic waves in our pockets that followed us everywhere but we were still connected to all. A landline telephone was enough to know where we were and even if it went unanswered; it did not set panic. The minds were relaxed because the world was simple and then came the wishes. If we were all Aladin, science played the genie and kept fulfilling our wishes.
We wished for more options of entertainment and the genie gave us satellite channels.
We wished to have phones wherever we go and the genie gave us mobile phones.
We wished to arrive faster and in style so the genie brought us newer cars.
We wished for more money from our jobs so the genie brought the world closer and we got the multi national companies.
We wanted to be informed at any given time and place so we had 24 hour news channels and Internet.
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We wanted to broaden our social reach so the genie opened up us on social media.
The list goes on and on and by piling up wish over wish we kept on increasing layers over our usual life.
We wanted a better lifestyle so we started living in style and slowly the style took over while life got lost in the crowd of our unending wishes.
We liked everything in the beginning so much so that we even started calling our earlier life worthless. We did not realize the actual returns of our wishes.
Our Vedas have mentioned very clearly by the example of Samudra manthan that every good is accompanied by an equal amount of bad. There is always a poison that comes out with the nectar. More learned ones can understand this example as pollution being the byproduct of development and the alpha learned can see it as Newton’s third law of motion which says “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. So now that we have gotten used to all those above-granted wishes for quite some time now, we can easily understand the other side of the coin too.
Satellite channels, along with the entertainment, got a good amount of domestic unrest in our lives in more than one form.
Mobile phones have got us so addicted that we hardly look up while walking and then there is that irritating live location tracking. Already missing the landlines when just one line “he is not here” could satisfy the caller?
Cars being blamed for unbreathable air for us and the future generations. In addition to that we lose precious many hours of our lives on the road doing nothing.
MNCs came with cut-throat competition leading to insecurity and strenuous working hours which give a lot of money though but not enough time to use it on us.
News channels brought with them unrest and wars of varying kinds so much that the world looks peaceful as soon as we we switch the news off.
Social media connected us to hundreds of friends who won’t be there for you at the time of need and disconnected from those 5-6 friends who you could not just do without.
Life now has turned so topsy turvy that a holiday which once upon a time used to be for leisure with family has now become just a break to stay away from routine daily life. People have now stopped taking their phones for vacations and opt for places which are not mainstream and do not have the worldly means which we wished so dearly for, till a few years back.
Long story short, we are now dying for a life which we always had and spoiled ourselves. A life that was considered ordinary back then has now become luxury. People now work hard for years and years to achieve that position where they can lead a relaxed life which they had earlier and never valued.
An upmarket, all facility five-star hotel now costs less than a cottage with no technology in the middle of nowhere. What more can I say, Irony dies an ironical death?