Where is the Happiness - Money?

My dad, in the recent past accompanied me to a Shopping Mall. While I was waiting in the long queue to pay the bill for the clothes I purchased, he was looking around.

When I finally paid my bill and joined him, he smirked and said, you people do not have happiness anymore. I was puzzled and asked him to explain. He pointed to the people in the queue and asked me what I saw. I was a bit irritated and said… I see people waiting in the line impatiently to pay the bill. He said “Exactly”.

I was unable to comprehend. On probing further, he reminisced and said… not very long ago, when people purchased any items (clothes, appliance etc.) you could see the happiness on their faces of having purchased something that they liked or wanted. It’s not the case anymore. Most of the people now run up bill in thousands, yet, you can only see the impatience to pay the bill and get out of there. Where is the happiness?

That got me thinking… he is right. Has money lost its happiness buying capacity? Or, do we have so much of everything that it does not excite us anymore? I bet it is the excitement and easy availability.
Let me explain… in the beginning of the month, my wife and I splurge on household goods. Money is no criteria. Literally! The reason being, we are blessed to be working in companies that give us more than sufficient Sodexo vouchers. We walk into a retail chain and pickup anything that we can lay our hands on (for my global readers, Sodexo vouchers are given as a benefit to employees to buy food. These vouchers are also accepted by retail chains instead of money).

As the month progresses and our Sodexo’s spent, when we require household provisions and visit a retail chain, we delve into our dwindling cash reserves. Its then we choose the required items wisely. We discuss the items that can wait for the beginning of the next month and the items that we require immediately. We make a planned purchase. My wife and I can then cannot stop ourselves from commenting on how sensible people we are, and how happy we are with our purchases. Every single item of purchase is discussed and every deal we got on the items is commented on. We are content and happy with the purchase.

What has changed? Did Sodexo not have the same buying capacity as the real money? It did, but why did it not hurt us so much when we ran up that huge bill? Why did we not have the same happiness? The answer is simple, with Sodexo, it did not feel like we were buying from our money and we purchased items without a thought. When we had to pay cash, we felt the pinch and that is why we discussed and decided what is right for us and hence the happiness.

With all the mindless spending that is taking place due to the availability of easy credit, people now buy things that they do not require. Not many years ago, buying clothes was a yearly affair (for birthdays, festivals, marriages etc.) and it was something that was looked forward to. Now a days’, shopping is a past time and has lost its charm.
I am not saying it’s wrong… all I am saying that the Money is now unable to buy happiness it used to.

If money can talk…. mine is only saying Goodbye!

Aam Admi - A Comman Man Hoping for a Change

It’s been some time since my last blog. Time sure does fly and situations do change.

So many things have happened in this short while. India winning the world cup, Mumbai being targeted once again, the markets crashing, disgusting stories of corruption, and heartening demonstration of revolt against the politicians and corruption by the usually submissive “Aam admi”.

Why is the Aam admi a walk over? Why is the Aam admi fearful? Why does the Aam admi bear the brunt of misfortune? Why does the Aam admi have to put up with disrespectful, agonizing moments of degradation?

There is no one simple answer. However, in my perspective, the answer is “lack of time”.

How many times have we heard the saying “An idle mind is a devils workshop”? We have heard it enough to have memorized it without trying.

An Aam admi simply does not have time. Aam admi is working hard to provide bread on the table, clothes for the body, shelter for the head, and insurance for the future. Aam admi is fearful of not being able to have access to the basic requirements to live if the time is spent on so called revolt against corruption.

Aam admi only wonders why is he being asked to pay up extra for no fault of his? Why should he pay an officer (who is being paid salary by the Government from the taxes paid by people like him) to do his duty. He wonders why can’t people just do their jobs and get on with it?


He can’t help but pay up the extra amount. The reason being, there are many jerks around who care a hoot for his predicament and have no qualms of paying bribe. This results in the officer thinking that it is birthright to not work without a bribe, and the Aam admi accepts it as a norm to pay bribe. The Aam Admi cannot say no to the bribe and risk his valuable time.

Things will fall in order only if all the citizens have a sense of duty. Perform your duties as required by you. I am as guilty as any of you offering bribe. But the recent developments have gotten me thinking. Seeing the support for Anna Hazare made me realize that I am not alone. There are millions who are frustrated with the oppression as me and wish for a change.

Now is time to hit back. The iron is hot. Let’s stop giving or taking bribes. Let Government officers perform their duties as per their role for the salaries they get from us. We rarely get chance to demonstrate our frustration, this in one time now… lets utilize it to the maximum and hope things change for better.