Civilized But Sad

Civilized And Hence Sad. Heard this a couple of days ago! How we have forgotten to take in the smaller joys that this life offers us. How we have forgotten to smile. How we are preoccupied with thoughts when you don’t need any. You are sitting on the banks of a river which is hissing its love to you constantly and you are sober. You are thinking why I am not doing more trips like these. You are lying down on waters rushing past your ears, but You don’t scream. You don’t scream the joy you feel inside. You smile and lie down supposedly in tranquility. No Yelp of joy. You are at the base of a mountain and you get your picture clicked. You don’t smile. You don’t smile for cameras anymore. How I wish we could be that kid again, running around naked on the same river bank. That ‘uncivilized’ village brute jumping up and down in the running river. That inebriated group causing chaos under that waterfall. We are Too Civilized to be happy. We are all civilized and sad. Sad.

The Elitists

I find it very difficult to understand the elitist mentality in the upper middle class society. Firstly, there is a reason you are still labelled as 'middle class'. We are no royalty, i am not saying royalty gives you the right to use a whip, but the treatment meted out by the middle class is simply unacceptable.

We in the upper middle class have seen the lows and have lived in buildings which leak and battled with frog-lings and small snakes which sneak in through the kitchen hole. We have had trees uprooted in our backyards and removed all the branches and cleared the mess ourselves . We have had to go to the terrace in the rain adjusting antennas. We have cleaned our vehicles daily in the morning and we have washed our clothes on the stone stand at the backyard near the well where we drew water. And we were happy. Of course, we would have liked to have some more money to spend. But we were still happy. We built paper boats and sat on verandas and watched them sail. We got balloons for 10 rs and celebrated new year every year. We went to the local kite sellers and saw them making the kite strings and flew them as high as the aching fingers let you. We picked wrappers from road-sides and returned them to the shopkeeper to get our gifts. We had our kismi toffee bars and one Rs Pepsi and we were happy.

Cometh the millennium and we all grew rich, rich enough to afford a maid. Rich enough to afford a washing machine which does a shoddy job of what your mother/grandmother so expertly did. I have nothing against technology. It just has to be affordable and effective and it will solve a lot of issues. Fast forward a few years and we are here now. Sad and Elitist. A driver whom you can order around incessantly, A maid who cooks the food your children so unwillingly eat, a car cleaner who washes and wipes your car before you step out all shiny, a someone who takes care of your parents and also your kids while you rot away in office or even worse, abroad, A maid who has to wash your utensils, wipe your floor between your legs which you won’t move, wash your closets and even wipe your kids' ass? I understand. You are busy.

You have a family to run and you are grateful to your office. But I do not see the 'Family Running' part. Without the 'Help' that you get, your life would be in shambles. And there are some more of us elitists who come out and say, don't we pay for all the 'services' that we get and in a way are we not improving their lives as well. Are you really? Is that the thought that runs through your mind when you employ a maid - bettering their lives? Please stop these white lies. The maid's life and the standard of living does improve and she may probably be able to send her kids to school now, but that isn't what you have in mind when you employ them, do you? Someone has to work overtime so that you can be lazy.

There is one more thing that I keep hearing. I would rather spend my time on important/innovative things rather than do these menial jobs. Yet Another Excuse neatly worded. Japan and US, two countries where innovation is abound, do not have maids at home. They go to the extent of painting and building their own houses. You have money to throw around and hence you do.

If you can't clean your own shit, it is shameful. Stop producing kids if you can't cook for them and take care of them. Stop getting 4 bed room flats with 5 balconies if you can't maintain it yourself. And Don't tell me you don't have time to clean your car, It takes half an hour. And you housewives, if you are bored with washing vessels, ask your grown up kid or ur sluggish husband who is lying on the sofa watching tv to do them on alternate days. It doesn't take a lot to maintain your work and life balance if you care about both.