A satire on Indian attitude towards life by my husband Dr. K. Jaishankar:
"Once I met my father's friend and he proudly said that his son is a software engineer and he stays abroad. I said, what is there to be proud, as an academic, I also visit abroad frequently with full funding from agencies which invite me. He said that you may visit frequently but my son stays there and works there!!! (Later, I also worked in UK for a small period with a fellowship, lead a quality life of a britisher and came back empty handed!). Staying abroad and earning money is bigger than prestigious fellowships and invitations abroad with funding!! I remembered one joke by two Tamil comedians. One will say that he is 10th standard fail and the other will say that he is 8th standard pass. The 8th standard pass will say that he is bigger than the other as he has passed but the other has failed. So which is Superior? Pass in 8th standard or fail in 10th standard?
In another incident, two years back, one of my neighbour asked me how much bank balance you have, I told NIL. He told that you are in university service for more than 6 years and with your salary you have to have a bank balance of 1 million Rupees. As you have no money in your bank, YOU ARE A FAILURE!! I told that I lead a quality life, I achieved certain things and I invested money in learning new things and progress, which went in to his deaf ears (Now the same person is happy to note that I am building a house with bank loan!! Ironically, In his eyes, now, I am a successful person).
21st Century Indians are conscious of two things: Power and Money. The first one they show it and the other they hold it. The second one if they get free or by corrupt means then they show it fully to the extent that will make others sigh!! The Indian middle class yard stick of success in these days is a bank balance and job in a foreign country to enhance the bank balance. They have lost the idea of living. How many persons who earn a lot, have to time to enjoy the money they have? How many persons, who have power, enjoy their material aspects they possess? Big bungalows in India built by people who stay abroad and earn money are enjoyed by their servants! All relatives of people in power enjoy whereas those people in power do not have time even to eat!
What are we running for: For money to be kept in bank forever!! A job that takes our youth, our energy, our time and we mortgage our life for material comforts which we will never enjoy for want of time! A job that our men become impotent, sterile and our women become sterile and stop reproducing! A job that gives more diseases in young age and takes the money we are saving, to elite hospitals! A job that produces more divorces than ever! A job that gives us prestige, power, but kills us at 30's and makes us a vegetable for the rest of our life. A job that kills us, but makes us to live, without actually living!!!
I remember a story: Once a rich man got a gold bar equivalent to the size of a brick. He buried that in his garden and daily digged it and checked its presence and enjoyed its presence every day!! Once a neighbour saw it and took away the gold brick and put an actual brick in the night! The next day the rich man found that his gold brick is not there and went aghast! The neighbour came and enquired and said I don’t see a difference between the Gold brick and the real brick, as neither is useful to you!!
We have mortgaged our soul and have become faustians of modern era!! "
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