Happy Independence

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. – said Jawaharlal Nehru, our then Prime Minister. Little did he realize that these words would be prophetic in a way.

66 years down, when the world sleeps, India is still awake to life but not to freedom, but for working away in the night shift for some other country, some other economy. Getting trained to ensure they get the best “Service” grossly neglecting the needs of our own country, our own brethren. And mind you, this is now also hurting their economy, badly.

We will soon be celebrating (or at least pretend to celebrate) our 67^th Independence Day.  So let’s delve in understanding the true meaning of independence. Not at a political level, but in our day-to-day lives.

In the morning, we’re dependent on the alarm clock to wake us up.

We’re depending on the electricity to heat the water for a nice shower.
We depend on the water board to ensure we have water in our taps.
You’re getting the gist. These days, we’re blissfully dependent on Facebook to remind us of our “Friends’” birthdays.

Ok jokes apart, as a system, we’ve ensured we all stay dependent on each other; Family, society, community, etc. The fear of failure and the fact that we might need someone else’s help at sometime, makes us a slave to “their” expectations.

There are answers in other cultures, not in totality but if we get the essence, maybe. Let’s look at one such observation. 

In the western culture, parents ensure the kids are independent and that they fend for themselves once they turn 18 (16 in some countries). Parenting and education system will need to undergo a paradigm shift. We don't need to blindly ape it but tweak it in a meaningful way and adapt.
By the way, this is what nature’s taught us and keeps teaching. However, if any parent were to do that here, they would be brandished irresponsible and selfish. Apologize if I’m being judgemental here. After all, I’m a part of this system.

We feed dependence and the thought of freedom gives us the jitters. I’m not saying, this is the answer to our problems. But it’s time we change, one baby step at a time (pun intended).

I don’t want to list them but I’ll let you think of how we behave with our people (friends and family). Think of all the situations where you’ve felt really truly independent. I bet you can’t. Even if you do think of one such situation, it will hit you with a sense of guilt too.

Also, think of all the situations where you’ve thought maybe if you let loose, one of your kith and kin might get out of your “Control”. This is extended to our workplace as well, whatever the career/industry is. We proudly do that in the guise of responsibility.

Despite having a mass (population), despite having the push (ability), we’re unable to gather momentum / velocity for growth.  Be it in sports, be it in entrepreneurial skills or in design and innovation.

Countless historic events and personalities have all shown us, if we take adversity in our stride with determination and a rock solid attitude, we can rise like a phoenix from the ashes. We all see and smell the ashes. It’s time we all beat our wings together, break away from the shackles of old school thoughts, add to the knowledge and culture and truly rise like a phoenix.

Let’s attempt to breathe independence and freedom in its true form.

The Digital Way of Life

I don’t have a TV at home. You read it right. I don’t have a TV – period.

I stopped watching TV about 10 years ago. When she was not my wife yet, she was an avid viewer.  But then marriage happened and she had to quit watching, simply because I did not own a TV.

Seven years down the line, we are glad and extremely proud of that fact. We really have a lot of time on hand for each other.

We actually end up LISTENING to each other. (While my wife may disagree, coz I keep getting sucked by this virus commonly known as Blackberry).

As parents, we could not take the easy escape route of putting our daughter in front of the TV with some food and go about doing our things. We actually spent time with her. Talking to her and engaging with her at every step. It has yielded amazing results.

However, we’ve ensured she’s not “left out” in conversations while she is with her friends. She does get her daily dose of edutainment and introduction to all famous kid characters either through downloaded material or YouTube®.

This has also helped us develop our hobbies. For example, the habit of reading and that habit is indirectly inculcated in our daughter as well.

Newspapers and internet ensures that we are updated on all the current affairs and events. There is no dearth of information in today’s digital world.

While we may all be mildly addicted to the social media like Facebook and Twitter on our gadgets, I realized it actually helps us interact with people, who we would not have thought of in years.

Meanwhile, we do physically meet all the close friends and relatives and interact outside of Facebook too. And when we meet, there’s no distraction in the form of a TV.

For the kind of lifestyle we have, with more number of hours spent in the office, it helps to have each other’s complete attention when at home.

Well, as for work-life balance, my wife has put down certain basic rules.

This may be radical to some orthodox minds. If I reach home early, I get my cup of coffee served. If I’m late, I’ve got to fix (thankfully not cook) my own dinner. Obviously coffee’s gone – assuming that I’d have had it while sitting in late at work anyway.

Sadly, I’m completely used to the second situation these days.

So, the next time you see me with coffee at work, you know why. J

Although the way of life has changed through centuries, the number of hours in a day has not. In the past few decades, the change in life-style has occurred at a break-neck speed. We better adapt in a way that is best suitable to us.

Let’s try and ensure we all have a LIFE and not just STYLE.

Let’s value Time – Ours and others’ too.