Feature
was insecure then � these wild animals are
quick. Many times, they did not get a kill and
everyone went hungry. So people developed
agriculture. In agriculture, you have to do
certain things on a particular day, not two days
later. Some compulsions came with that, but it
was still okay.
broken minds. That is because there is no ease
in life �you always have to do something. If you
do not go to school, if you do not go to work,
something bad will happen. And you cannot
suddenly change the course of your life and do
something else. Everyone is trying to compel
you to do the same things all through your
Making a living only becomes complicated when you
want to live like someone else, when you want to have the
things that your neighbor has. Today, the whole economic
model on the planet is just about that, and this keeps
increasing the suicide rates, the numbers of cynical, frustrated
people, and the numbers of broken minds.
In India, depending upon what food grains
you grew � I am not talking about cash crops
� you worked hard for 50 to 100 days in a
year, and the rest of the time was a series of
festivals. Every village had its own festivals to
which people from the surrounding villages
came. Every wedding was at least five days of
celebration. Work for sustenance was only 50
to 100 days in a year. Today, once you have
a 30-year mortgage, it is almost 365 days.
Whether you like it or not, you have to go, and
not everyone is geared up for this � they will
lose their mind after sometime.
Now, they also have to pay health insurance
and grave insurance. When they are alive and
healthy, people are paying in installments for
their funeral. Unless you are going to leave
in a beautiful way that will be very useful for
everyone around you �why are you bothered
about how your funeral will be handled when
you fall dead? I understand and appreciate if
you do not want to be a nuisance to someone
else, but what does it matter how they will
bury or burn you or feed you to the dogs?
This kind of concern is going to take away your
aliveness.
Another aspect is that you constantly have to
do things like a machine, not out of passion.
The whole society expects you to be a machine.
You are not waking up in the morning because
you want to make a difference in something
today or because what you do is meaningful
or because you want to do it �it is all about
making a living. Making a living takes very
little. It only becomes a problem when you
want to live like someone else. If you just want
to live, it is very simple � every human being is
capable of this.
Making a living only becomes complicated
when you want to live like someone else, when
you want to have the things that your neighbor
has. Today, the whole economic model on
the planet is just about that, and this keeps
increasing the suicide rates, the numbers of
cynical, frustrated people, and the numbers of
life. Affluence is not going to bring freedom
to people �it is going to tie them up in knots.
The game of comparison
Once, I was driving in an upscale area of
Washington DC where many significant
companies have their offices. There were
around 150 to 200 men and women on the
sidewalk, all well-dressed and obviously wellemployed.
It was lunch time, but they were not
sitting in some nice place but buying hot dogs
or whatever on the street. When I stopped at
a traffic light, I saw no one was even talking
to each other. All of them were holding
something wrapped in paper and biting into it
like hungry dogs. Human beings are supposed
to eat with a little more aesthetics.
These are all well-to-do, largely young people
who are working in some sought-after job.
But this is how they eat, standing on the street
side. Probably every day, their lunch is like this.
If this is how you treat yourself, if this is how
you treat the food that you eat and the water
that you drink, if this is how you treat the air
that you breathe and all life around you, how
can you be well? You cannot be well.
The only thing is you drive a more expensive
car than your neighbor � that is the only
wellness you know. You cannot know the joy
of just being alive. When you do not know the
joy of being alive, the thrill of driving a better
car than your neighbor will slowly wear out,
and you will become frustrated. As you grow
old, you will grumble at everything. You will
become irritable and stupid � you will not
become wise. Look at the grandfathers today
� they are definitely not wise. Most of them
are not an image of wisdom but of irritability,
cynicism, frustration, and depression. Or they
completely lost their memory and their mind
because it has always been all about economy.
There was a time when as life came to an
end, they always had something that someone
could inherit. Not anymore. Modern life means
their savings come to an end when they still
have some life left in them. All their life, their
whole mindset has been about how many
dollars or rupees they have and what they are
earning. When that is gone, naturally, they
become cynical, frustrated, and depressed.
Stop feeling frustrated with life
Whether the world is going to rejig its life
or not � it is time you rejig your life. The
most valuable thing in your life is life itself
� everything else is just accessories. Where I
live, what I drive, what I wear, what I eat �
these are all accessories. I am alive right now
� this is the biggest joy. Whether you live like
this or that is not the point � do you know the
joy of being alive? If you do not know this,
what is the point? What is the point of living
in a palace and being miserable?
Once, many years ago, I went to the US
Embassy in Chennai, and when I came out
of the building, there was a young boy from
Andhra Pradesh sitting on the street and
bitterly crying, like something serious was
lost and this was the end of life. I went up
to him and asked, „What happened to you?‰
It turned out he had applied for a visa to the
United States and it got rejected. This was
the end for him. He is imprisoned in this
large country called India. He cannot go to
the United States. Anyway, half of those who
were born and who live there are unable to
bear it, but this young boy is broken-hearted
because he cannot go there.
No matter what level of economic comfort
you achieve, if you do not know the joy of
your existence, everything else will mock you
and make you more and more miserable.
When you are poor, at least you have the hope
that one day when you make it, everything
is going to be okay. Once affluence spreads
across society, you realize this is not it, and a
deep sense of frustration arises.
Everything becomes fake � if you smile, it is
a fake smile; if you laugh, it is a fake laugh;
if you say you are „wonderful,‰ you do not
really mean it. The whole society becomes a
charm school where everyone learns to say
the right things, but there is nothing right
about it. This is not only about one country
� this will happen to everyone. Even in this
country, the affluent segments of society
become like that.
If you think there is something more important
in this life than you being alive right now, you
are bound to end up bitter and frustrated
with life. How quickly you get there is only a
question of time and life situations. You must
let it sink deep into you, that the biggest joy
in your life is that you are alive right now. If
you know this every moment of your life, if
you check and see, „IÊm still alive � great!‰ �
what more do you want? There may be a little
concern whether you will get dinner or not, but
still - I would rather be hungry and alive than
stuffed and dead. What is your choice?
GolfPlus JULY 2020 11