What did I want out of my life when I was yet to begin on the journey on my own?
The roadside Rs.10/- food gave quite a kick about 10 years back. The masala chai in Ahmedabad at Navrangpura or Usmanpura was something I always looked forward to and relished to the contentment of the heart. And the malpua and jaleba in Indore gave similar contentment. I had a bike gifted by my dear brother when I could not even purchase a bicycle, that I enjoyed and cleaned after each ride -- including the tyres and the rim.
So much fun were those times when my salary was 1/15th of what God's kindness and parents' blessings have given me today. The sleep was sound then and that one pouch of Amul milk was enough to kick-start the day which sometimes included the idli's sold out of a mobile van parked near the law garden in the mornings.
The air seemed to pure and each morsel could be felt right down to the bowel. There was not much tension or aprehension about the life ahead and it seemed all would remain the same moving forward.
Suddenly the company where I worked started going to the dogs and you realize how fast things can change around you. Most of us scrambled and searched frantically for new jobs, most of us got it within no time, much to our satisfaction.
It's been 10 years now that I landed my first job. Today there are fancy restaurants where the one-time bill along with wife and kid is hardly below 1K. Social drinking in restaubar costs anywhere between 1.5K to 3K depending on place. One chai in a family hotel costs about Rs.15/-. You start to own a car and spend exorbitant amount on initial purchase and then on fuel and maintenance. You equip your home with TV, Washing Machine, Refrigerator, AC, Inverter, etc. and at times feel you have all that you ever wanted (by God's grace) when you really started thinking about going solo.
I am really not talking in terms of money, and I know things change with time and people MUST change with times too; however, does the satisfaction, contentment, happiness, peace, or such similar parameters for well-being change in the same proportion with the rising materialistic comfort? What is it that kept me happy then and what is it that keeps my mind occupied now? Is it the responsibilities that now includes a wife and son? Is it the rising number of bills to pay at the end of each month and traking the due dates of each? Is it about the rising responsibility or burnout you feel while at work? Is it that you never ever thought of spirituality and that it is time to get into some meditation or spiritual living?
So many questions again! What's disturbing you, kid?
