Mumbai – the shining armor of India, the crown jewel, where thousands of migrants come everyday with dreams in their eyes to create a future… where India shining campaign runs in the veins of every proud Indian with pride on his face and a rush to accomplish everything that life has to offer…
As I walk on the streets of Mumbai, I wonder what do we Indians represent – the fury or fire, or the coldness of ice, the warmth of the earth or the disruption of a volcano? I guess all of it… we are a rising waterfall… with deafening uproars, screeches and screams, in a rush to accomplish our goal, strong, opinionated, ambitious, impatient, moving with a thunderous flow that will sway the world with it, warm with passion but increasingly becoming cold with emotions, unstoppable frightening disruption… beautiful when you look from afar, life threatening when you are a part of it…the waterfall is on the rise…
Blame it on our history, probably years of imprisonment and reproach has made us what we are today… impatient like a herd of horses, the stable doors open for a millisecond everyday and we have to rush our way out of it…race past every other being with impudence to grab every opportunity, demonstrate our speed, make the world respect our intelligence, show the fierceness of our force, the youth, the enthusiasm, the million ideas that are generated every microsecond… now is our time to rule the world and unleash ourselves…what was till yesterday rebuked and admonished will be respected and honored..
But somewhere in this harsh flow of subconscious emotions… we have become cold like a waterfall.. the impatience on the streets, the shouts and abuses… there is no time to stop, no time to smile, no one to pick the other on the street.… we are increasingly running alone even while we are together…it’s a race against time… with contentment, peace and happiness increasingly moving far form our reach…
The opinions run strong, and so do the contradictions. The argumentative Indian will fight it all and the one that wins would shape up the future of this country (I do hope that insanity gives way to a mature outlook) So what if the topic is as irrelevant as the screening of a historical movie (most are either unaware or disinterested in Rajput history). So what if in the so-called democratic country our right to choose where we stay is impeached…somewhere it boils down to the mini-countries of Gujarat and Maharashtra and not the India that they all are a part of…
And emotions? They run far and wide… but not warm anymore… the speed takes a toll on our living …life keeps us busy, there is a rush to count more notes than give more smiles… the family dinner discussions are reduced to hmmm.. hmmmm…. we frequent fast food restaurants for the want of time… forgetting that food has nothing to do with time but taste.. we prefer 1 hr foreign flicks to 3 hours home grown movies.. forgetting its not the time but the content that is to be enjoyed.. our circle of friends becomes thinner with age and our rage becomes stronger… we lose our present thinking about the future… the clock keeps ticking… and life passes by without being enjoyed.. and we are still a part of waterfall unaware of the direction but running faster with the flow..
But indeed the day will come when this waterfall will realize that rising and falling is a part of growing… that the ultimate aim is to reach the river… the rush is for slowing down. The real beauty is not to be seen from afar, but it is in the calm. When coldness is used to freshen up the minds and wash away sweat, when the flow is not frightening but enticing and inviting…when people want to immerse in you…enjoy you… and enjoy themselves by becoming a part of you…that is when life will become a picnic and you will become inclusive, contented, calm and happy. Amen.
As I walk on the streets of Mumbai, I wonder what do we Indians represent – the fury or fire, or the coldness of ice, the warmth of the earth or the disruption of a volcano? I guess all of it… we are a rising waterfall… with deafening uproars, screeches and screams, in a rush to accomplish our goal, strong, opinionated, ambitious, impatient, moving with a thunderous flow that will sway the world with it, warm with passion but increasingly becoming cold with emotions, unstoppable frightening disruption… beautiful when you look from afar, life threatening when you are a part of it…the waterfall is on the rise…
Blame it on our history, probably years of imprisonment and reproach has made us what we are today… impatient like a herd of horses, the stable doors open for a millisecond everyday and we have to rush our way out of it…race past every other being with impudence to grab every opportunity, demonstrate our speed, make the world respect our intelligence, show the fierceness of our force, the youth, the enthusiasm, the million ideas that are generated every microsecond… now is our time to rule the world and unleash ourselves…what was till yesterday rebuked and admonished will be respected and honored..
But somewhere in this harsh flow of subconscious emotions… we have become cold like a waterfall.. the impatience on the streets, the shouts and abuses… there is no time to stop, no time to smile, no one to pick the other on the street.… we are increasingly running alone even while we are together…it’s a race against time… with contentment, peace and happiness increasingly moving far form our reach…
The opinions run strong, and so do the contradictions. The argumentative Indian will fight it all and the one that wins would shape up the future of this country (I do hope that insanity gives way to a mature outlook) So what if the topic is as irrelevant as the screening of a historical movie (most are either unaware or disinterested in Rajput history). So what if in the so-called democratic country our right to choose where we stay is impeached…somewhere it boils down to the mini-countries of Gujarat and Maharashtra and not the India that they all are a part of…
And emotions? They run far and wide… but not warm anymore… the speed takes a toll on our living …life keeps us busy, there is a rush to count more notes than give more smiles… the family dinner discussions are reduced to hmmm.. hmmmm…. we frequent fast food restaurants for the want of time… forgetting that food has nothing to do with time but taste.. we prefer 1 hr foreign flicks to 3 hours home grown movies.. forgetting its not the time but the content that is to be enjoyed.. our circle of friends becomes thinner with age and our rage becomes stronger… we lose our present thinking about the future… the clock keeps ticking… and life passes by without being enjoyed.. and we are still a part of waterfall unaware of the direction but running faster with the flow..
But indeed the day will come when this waterfall will realize that rising and falling is a part of growing… that the ultimate aim is to reach the river… the rush is for slowing down. The real beauty is not to be seen from afar, but it is in the calm. When coldness is used to freshen up the minds and wash away sweat, when the flow is not frightening but enticing and inviting…when people want to immerse in you…enjoy you… and enjoy themselves by becoming a part of you…that is when life will become a picnic and you will become inclusive, contented, calm and happy. Amen.
3 comments:
A harsh truth articulated in a beautiful fashion... arouses the same old nagging question in my mind that every human should ask himself / herself someday - "What is the purpose of my existence" - "Why I'm born on this earth - is it just to live and die or something more significant"...
- A
I think its a phenomenon that is universal to developing countries. With the advent of so called 'economic growth', our lifestyles take a backseat. Lifestyle does not only pertain to what car you drive or how big your house is, but more about where is it that you go in your car and whether you have time to play with your children in that palatial house...somewhere, we forget the reason we were in the race altogether...
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