My father had a childlike enthusiasm about some things. When the clock was still new, he would compare the time on the clock with that on TV before the news on Doordarshan - India's primary TV channel. This was before cable. Some days the clock showed near perfect time, other days it was a little off. I remember the day my father noticed that due to the influence of gravity, the second hand progressed much faster from 0 to 15 seconds past the minute, and considerably slower from 45 to 60 seconds. The clock was not in error! It was perfect! Well... ignoring gravity anyway... There was this look of triumph in his eyes.
My brother recently sent me some old family photos. The one above is from 1990...ish. We were not rich, not poor either. We hardly had any savings but I did not know that as a child and it did not bother me. We were happy. Now, I am probably worth several times what my father was worth at the end of his life. But I miss the simple happiness. In many ways, I have less than I had then. I need to find my way back.
2 comments:
Wow... that is the exact thought buzzing in my head since my return from Kolkata trip. The simplicity is priceless.
On a vaguely related note, one of the things that struck me was the extent of human relationships. My dad knows almost everyone at the local macchher-bajaar, the vendors know him, they chit-chat and also do some business. Hard to find that in our super-sanitized supermarkets.
I have been rethinking what it means to have "comfort" and "luxury" after the trip :-)
Agree. Studies have found that while poverty is a source of unhappiness, once income reaches a middle class level, additional income affords no increase in happiness. Most of us here are simply responding to a primal urge to compete.
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