Too Hefty A Price?

‘When we were kids, we gushed outside in the evening. As restless tots, it was tough sitting at home and most of the time we played games you never have heard of and, sadly, will never do.’

‘When we were kids, going outdoors meant to coaching centers. Yes, it was tough sitting at home and most of the time we remember rushing our vehicles from one tutor to another, learning things we have never used, and sadly, will never do.’ 

What definitive grounds to take pride on. We, without chewing any gum, owe the above transition of statements to the unprecedented competition and of course, the unabated power of time. Who, in our grandparents’ era, must have even had the slightest of the ideas that outdoor games would soon be replaced by the frantic schedule of the coaching centers, the bats and balls with the ‘Speed Maths’ and ‘Basic Physics’ at such tender ages, the childlike stress less smiling faces with spectacle laden dull robots, and Rajan’s house with a huge luring building of some coaching institute. The times have changed, or more so, the climes. Two three years back, nothing seemed so demented so as to hint me that within no time I’d have to quote things of my childhood with a prefix ‘In our times’. But today if I don’t, would they even manage to get the ABCs of the issue being discussed?

So, ‘In our times’, a parent had to rationalize the extra help being provided to his child in the form of tuitions. My father had a tough time justifying even my 10^th class test series in Mathematics. After having me enrolled into one, I wonder if he even considered me capable enough to appear for the boards. A massive tide of water has swept the old notions, and the new ones are occupying the space so hastily that one is left not with a choice but accept them. One doesn’t intend to denigrate the education being offered by the coaching institutes; maybe that’s exactly what the need of the hour is, aptly what the ever increasing competition calls for, but give me just one second of your life to calmly and impartially think upon this question: Is this education worth a childhood?

Stories of kids going to coaching institutes since their 4^th grade or maybe 5^th, aren’t new. They rarely manage to astound a person these days. ‘You Dream, We Fulfill’. Yes, yes, you aren’t a bit wrong in guessing the ‘we’ here; the million lane flooding institutes. The fees of a coaching institute is not 50,000, it’s a childhood.

Who has not heard the childhood stories of their parents form their own mouths? Of course, we all have. And no matter how much ego we have to shed in agreeing to the fact, that theirs was a more carefree time, we all do. Some of the incidents narrated by my father are hard to get through, but that’s where the real fun lies. Imagine, someone finding it hard to believe that something as crazy as what you did, could also be done. Flying kites is fun for us, making the strong thread used for flying the kites with sharp glass in screeching sun, was for them. This is where the metaphorical difference lies. One surely doesn’t expect a person to make threads out of glass but there is no harm in expecting the same happy-go-lucky attitude. Going back, are these coaching institutes demanding too much of a child? Too much, too early? Is being an IITian commendable if the child is being trained unabated for 6-7 years? Are we conscious of the fact that this is not the same as ‘going to lengths for realizing our passion’? When they grow up, will these kids ever know that there is a world beyond course books, and that strangely enough, it did exist even when they were stuck with the concepts of force and momentum? Where are we heading? These grey and white haired people think not a second before cursing the social networking sites for snatching the real world from today’s youth. Could they, for a change, tilt a bit and think in this direction too, of who is to be blamed for the present scenario?

I am not trying to defend the online world (I would love to, though), but till when are we going to be ruled by the old ideology of ‘No matter how much you study, it is always less’, and always blame the advancement in technology for whatever seems to be going the wrong way? It is not as true as it seems. Wait for the right time. It is not only not right but wrong to pay 100$ for a 2$ commodity.

Whatever you do, at the back of your head be aware, that someday you’d be narrating each incident as a story to your kids. Make sure, you do not invite mockery, or even worse, a pitiful laugh. Trust me, there will be no point repenting then. How about considering your deeds, now?  

Awaken! The Breaths Are Numbered

Living in the present doesn't fascinate any more. And the not-so-proved ability of time to mend things in another due course of time seems questionable. But there still is one tranquil thing that calms waves inside you, the thought that from this point on, things can’t get worse. When everything is already at the apex of a mess, there is only direction they can move in now, getting better. Everything happens for a reason, but, by now, haven’t we all realized that this bloody life is too short to comprehend the hidden reasons every time? I mean, at the end of the day, the deeds are human, the expectations are human, the heart is human, we are humans. And no amount of Godly anticipation can ever overlook this fact. In the world we live in, everything is limited. And it is not the inadequacy of resources of nature that demands attention but the exhaustive tendency of resources of mankind. Love, care, and the power to understand. The fundamental resources of mankind. I don’t say that these resources have decayed over time; I rather say they were and they are ‘limited’ to emphasize their incomplete availability since the beginning of the human era. Not obviously visible though, there is some degree of constraint that these attach to their otherwise boundless flow. Not much in the temper of going into the intricate details of this, I randomly switch to what’s beyond the discontentment. What queues up when these resources fail to sustain a person’s emotional survival? In utter disappointment too, what is it that you keep struggling for? Life. Just one more second to live before you die? Okay. Now another one? And one more? and more and more. If one comes to think of it, this sudden eruption of the want to live is, in fact, ironical because the only thing you had ever wanted while you were alive was death. For no matter how much you deny, you never really seemed content with all what you had and all what you were. Then why the hell do you crave for each passing moment when death approaches? Is it the distinction between hell and heaven that you were made to believe in, in your primes? Or is it the mere thought of life after death that scares the shit out of you? In the first place, let us just discuss why are we even afraid of death? Ever thought that life could indeed be superior up in there? They say,’ bless you my child, may you live a thousand more years’. I say; if you love me truly, wish me death.  

But no, not everyone is afraid of death because of the probable reasons stated above. I have some more to raise my hands on, some more to point my fingers to. With this confused state of mind, isn’t it easily understandable that you might never have realized the reason of your very existence? How many of us have a clear proposal of why we ever were born in the first place, when millions of them, supposedly like us, already existed? If studying class by class and then being paid decently was the sole motive behind your being thrown on earth despite the existence of many, then probably I would have solved the purpose better than you, and you, therefore, would not have been considered necessary at all. You have a special purpose. And when that gets defeated, death seems untimely. Look beyond the obvious-looking-default reasons. I know we all must have felt this, but have we ever made a person realize that his presence is felt and that, absence even more? This was your purpose of being alive. Ever told a person you love him without expecting an affirmative nod in return? This was your purpose of being alive. Ever even thought of fighting the good fight with the world instead of fighting with your own inner self just for the sake of convincing somehow? This was your purpose of being alive. Instead of defying the purposes, live up to them. Isn’t it ironical, again, that we spend our lives not doing what we really aspire to, and later repenting that we did not do what we aspired to. A slap on both the cheeks. And the worse, with our own hands!

It is not the life after death that you are afraid of (you might not even be convinced if there is any), but the truth that you disobeyed the Holy Spirit in your first life. What do you confront him with, now? Isn’t life cruel enough to bother about the whipping part? Can we, for a change, take charge of the remaining?

Be sure, there is life after death. Be sure, you will have enough time then to live like the dead. Be sure, the period would be sufficient. Be sure.

For no one is sure of how much time you will be required to wander like the dead, but one is quite certain that you have not much time to spring like the animate.

Awaken. Awaken. Time is malicious and death is approaching to tutor you the meaning of life.