Those were the days when classrooms were filled with guys wearing exchanged shirts unwashed for days. Jeans used to survive one whole semester. Boys used to buy 2 jeans pants for a whole semester and would throw it when the semester exams get over. Rooms were filled with unwashed clothes. They had a single pair of slippers bought few eons back with 2 or 3 stiches here and there. There were even rooms where guys used as store room of dresses and slippers which anyone can use it as per their need and the fragnant smell it gives!! Tissue paper was an offensive word when they don't even know what an handkerchief is!! But the hostel bathrooms had just one thing for sure, a wall mirror, to see how ugly they are and make them a bit better. Soaps were something even the local stores inside the colleges hesitated to sell. Those were the college days, they were dependent on their family and were spending every penny as if they were a piece of gold. Swiping in ATMs was a big event of the week. Guys going to canteen more than twice a day were termed as rich! Vallet had no more than Rs. 100. Something like Rs. 3000 a month was more than enough to pay any bill in college and meet one's needs! Having cellphone meant that he/she is Ambani's kin. Prepaid connections were God's gift to them. Free SMS was heaven!! Those were the days when people were following communism without knowing it. :D :P
After getting a default 2 lettered degree, joining in some MNC, earning in *few* thousands, counting on the number of zeroes in the salary, the entire lifestyle changes. The dirty unwashed clothes gets replaced by costliest brands in the town. Jockey jetty becomes the style factor ( but then, that doesnt mean one should show it to everyone!!! :P Banglore girls are so curious about it for some unknown reasons!!! :D ). Those torn slippers get replaced by Nike shoes. Vallets are filled with credit cards from every other bank in the town. IT professional sans credit card is termed to be working in a company running in loss. T-Shirts advertising the costliest brands becomes one's identity. Having the latest costliest phone is a part of social status. Prepaid connections are a part of history, everything is just a call away! Every caller, including "hello-we-offer-you-credit-card" callers, should be greeted with a caller tune which changes every week! Malls are always filled with youngsters buying something or the other. A pencil bought at landmark writes volumes more than the same bought at annaachi kadai. Only a dinner at a 3-star hotel fills the appetite. Tissue papers are piling up in the dustbins always (what to do!! It's sweating right??!!).
With the start of every month, having *few* thousands in the bank account, credit card swipes more than a clock chimes a day. Every month has a big list of items to be bought. The living space, 10 times the same as a hostel room, is not enough for even two to stay. By 10th of the month, almost 75% account gets debited for paying credit card bills, telephone bills, rent and more. Left with a max of Rs. 10000, the rest 20 days passes - which is really a very insecure financial state. Going to workplace by a bike is just better than reaching by bus. The newest car in the town should be in one's garage. Audi gets parked under scorching sun most of the times. By 22 one should own a car. By 24 one should own a flat of *few* lakhs in the heart of the city. Gandhi smiles more than anyone else on one's day-to-day life!
Why is this sudden change? Is this the need of the industry? Do white collars really need to bear Louis Phillipe logo? Does visiting a mall is more important than anything else during weekends? Watching the new movie paying in hundreds is something like a gift to the director/actor? How many of them spend few pennies for the poor at signals after having a heavy dinner at a big hotel? How many do give something to the underpriveleged/orphans/differently abled people? When Rs. 3000 was way more than enough while in college, why is Rs. 30000 something very less to meet one's needs in a month? Are the credit cards the measure of one's qualification? While wasting a Rs. 400 worth pizza for it lacks the sponginess, does anyone think of someone sitting on the street begging for food? While going for a movie and spending Rs. 100 for popcorn, does anyone think of a child crying out for milk? When one buys a shirt for few hundreds, he/she think of someone cleaning the cars at the signals? Is there any real happiness with any of these? Will this recession change the people's mindset?
India isn't that poor. It's the IT capital of the world. But sadly, as Sujatha quoted in Sivaji, "the rich get richer. the poor get poorer!". This needs some change. Living life lavishly is not a big deal. Living life with humanity is something that counts at the end of the day!!!
P.S.: I haven't seen Naan Kadavul yet. I dunno nothing more than it's a movie on beggars and aghori baba!! I don't have a credit card. I don't run behind brands!
After getting a default 2 lettered degree, joining in some MNC, earning in *few* thousands, counting on the number of zeroes in the salary, the entire lifestyle changes. The dirty unwashed clothes gets replaced by costliest brands in the town. Jockey jetty becomes the style factor ( but then, that doesnt mean one should show it to everyone!!! :P Banglore girls are so curious about it for some unknown reasons!!! :D ). Those torn slippers get replaced by Nike shoes. Vallets are filled with credit cards from every other bank in the town. IT professional sans credit card is termed to be working in a company running in loss. T-Shirts advertising the costliest brands becomes one's identity. Having the latest costliest phone is a part of social status. Prepaid connections are a part of history, everything is just a call away! Every caller, including "hello-we-offer-you-credit-card" callers, should be greeted with a caller tune which changes every week! Malls are always filled with youngsters buying something or the other. A pencil bought at landmark writes volumes more than the same bought at annaachi kadai. Only a dinner at a 3-star hotel fills the appetite. Tissue papers are piling up in the dustbins always (what to do!! It's sweating right??!!).
With the start of every month, having *few* thousands in the bank account, credit card swipes more than a clock chimes a day. Every month has a big list of items to be bought. The living space, 10 times the same as a hostel room, is not enough for even two to stay. By 10th of the month, almost 75% account gets debited for paying credit card bills, telephone bills, rent and more. Left with a max of Rs. 10000, the rest 20 days passes - which is really a very insecure financial state. Going to workplace by a bike is just better than reaching by bus. The newest car in the town should be in one's garage. Audi gets parked under scorching sun most of the times. By 22 one should own a car. By 24 one should own a flat of *few* lakhs in the heart of the city. Gandhi smiles more than anyone else on one's day-to-day life!
Why is this sudden change? Is this the need of the industry? Do white collars really need to bear Louis Phillipe logo? Does visiting a mall is more important than anything else during weekends? Watching the new movie paying in hundreds is something like a gift to the director/actor? How many of them spend few pennies for the poor at signals after having a heavy dinner at a big hotel? How many do give something to the underpriveleged/orphans/differently abled people? When Rs. 3000 was way more than enough while in college, why is Rs. 30000 something very less to meet one's needs in a month? Are the credit cards the measure of one's qualification? While wasting a Rs. 400 worth pizza for it lacks the sponginess, does anyone think of someone sitting on the street begging for food? While going for a movie and spending Rs. 100 for popcorn, does anyone think of a child crying out for milk? When one buys a shirt for few hundreds, he/she think of someone cleaning the cars at the signals? Is there any real happiness with any of these? Will this recession change the people's mindset?
India isn't that poor. It's the IT capital of the world. But sadly, as Sujatha quoted in Sivaji, "the rich get richer. the poor get poorer!". This needs some change. Living life lavishly is not a big deal. Living life with humanity is something that counts at the end of the day!!!
P.S.: I haven't seen Naan Kadavul yet. I dunno nothing more than it's a movie on beggars and aghori baba!! I don't have a credit card. I don't run behind brands!
