An apt sign which I saw behind a truck one night. Wounded city. That’s what I would call Bombay now. Infact for that matter, most cities in India now. Wounded time and time again. Survive, rebuild and then get wounded again. Sometimes I wonder, how long till one gives up and lay waste.
I once took a local at 6 in the evening. I looked at the watch and panicked. Wasn’t this the time when the train blasts had happened.
This time in Delhi, I hesitated before going to Lajpat Nagar to shop on a Sunday at 5 in the evening.
This is what life has finally come to….calculating time and place….wondering what is next.
If not this, then it’s a mad rush to accumulate all things material. You have a house, but you want another house. If not in Mumbai, then in Pune. You’ve got an Alto, but its time for a Chevrolet. A budget of Rs 1 crore for a house is no big a deal anymore. When I turned around and exclaimed that it’s an obnoxious amount, people around looked at me strangely. Watches, Clothes, iPhones, ipods, Macs…..you name it and they all have it. And still wish for more. There’s a mad rush all around you. Mad. Mad. Rush.
The more people crave for these, the more they repel me. Why do you exactly need them? And why a house in these congested, claustrophobic cities and fill them up with the latest bar from those expensive furniture malls?
Or is it just a way to keep away from the reality? That they are all wounded. Wounded souls in wounded cities…….And that’s its okay to be.
2 comments:
coincidence..just started reading 'once was bombay' yesterday :)
oh i have a friend who says that in this consumerist world, the worst sin is not consuming... hang on before you misinterpret
her logic is we all need and deserve good things. it's not a sin to buy if you are going to value it and cherish it and really really use it how it was meant to be used. like a ballpoint pen. whoever uses one even till the first refill is empty. but if you do, think of all that has gone into making the pen and the delight of being able to write ( w r i t e !) with one, and then do it, then you are better of consuming than not.
yeah she's a little bonkers (: but it's a philosophy i can live with. my mac for example represents writing, photoshop, editing, creativity . been using it for three and a half years and love it. so there's no guilt, no waste and no sin here lol
what say?
and hey i love the name of your blog. mindtrails... lovely and meaningful
seema
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