Materialistic life is no more the only goal: The biggest lesson of covid

The biggest lesson of the pandemic is that the pleasures of a materialistic life are always short-lived. I have seen a drastic change in the attitude of some close friends who are working in the corporate world in senior positions. There was a time when they could never take time out of their busy schedule for family or friends. But since the last couple of months, they have started calling over the phone inquiring about family’s health, making plans for a vacation, or planning a family get-together. So how come this shift has happened in people’s attitude’ who believed in a materialistic life?

The second wave that engulfed the country in April and May resulted in the loss of life of many loved ones. Every family that you came across was suffering in one way or the other. There were families where most of the members had covid and were home quarantined. On the other hand, some families had to get their loved ones admitted to the hospital.

The news media was busy telecasting the harsh reality of the pandemic. The visuals of dead bodies queuing outside the crematoriums were heart-wrenching. People dying in hospitals because of lack of oxygen and hospitals denying admissions to the needy shook the entire country. Somewhere deep down the conscience of every person was shaken. Is it a materialistic life that we want to achieve or is it a compassionate one that will give us immense satisfaction.

A materialistic life versus the real world life

The pandemic didn’t discriminate between the high achievers of the materialistic world and the poor of the struggling world. For the virus, every human being was a target irrespective of his designation and stature. It was for the first time that people from both the world were struggling to get admissions to the hospital. The bagful of money of people from the materialistic world was not good enough to save the lives of their dear ones. On the other hand, the sweat and tears of the migrant labour or the villagers shook the conscience of every citizen in the country.

As the second wave recedes and the country gets back on its feet, there is a realization that life is precious and everything else is just a mirage. There is no point running after a mirage. Instead, enjoy whatever you have. When was the time you last visited one of your cousins with whom you had spent the most memorable days in childhood? What about the college friend with whom you had bunked classes and watched those trashy horror movies churned out by Bollywood? Probably the urge of worldly possessions of a materialistic life kept you away from the fun-filled moments of life.

The fight over petty issues

The neighborhood is a beautiful concept. In our childhood days of the ’80s, neighbors were just like an extended family. If mom was missing at home you could always find her at your neighborhood aunt’s house having a cup of tea. And vice versa if you were missing in action from studies then your parents would find you at the same place.

But as we started living a materialistic life we stopped recognizing our next-door neighbors. In a multi-story apartment, you are aware of a family staying next door but beyond knowing their surname you have never attempted to build a relationship with them. You wish good morning or a good evening whenever you meet them in the lift or the common area but beyond this, you never attempted to connect with them.

There are residential complexes where you will see neighbors fighting over the parking space or encroachments of the common areas. Are these fights worth it? Can’t we settle all such disputes by healthy discussions? And if by any chance one of your neighborhood family with whom you are on non-talking terms have lost one of their loved ones to covid, go and offer your condolences. It’s time to make a fresh beginning and its time to invite them over a cup of tea.

The materialistic life that made us drift away from our loved ones

The childhood days were so much fun. Spending time with cousins will always be memorable. A vacation meant either you would land at their house or they would visit you. Then came a time when all of you went for higher studies and gradually settled in your career. The frequency of meetings declined but still, you stayed in touch with each other.

And then one by one all of you got married. Attending family marriages always remained on the top of the agenda. The planning for a cousin’s marriage started a month in advance. One by one all cousins were contacted and asked to be present at the marriage function few days in advance. The gathering was a great opportunity to relive those childhood days. Dancing and boozing sessions welcomed the new bhabhi at home. You even made the new bhabhi dance on a cheap Bollywood number and hoped that the party never ends.

Everybody moved on with their life

As life progressed everyone got busy with their own life. You had to take care of a family with growing kids. You got busy in the corporate world to give a good launching platform to your kids. Kids education, health and career became like the eye of the fish that Arjun aimed with his arrow . As a result, your cousins somehow disappeared from your radar. Occasionally you got a chance to speak to them but those precious moments never came back. Even the Bhabhi with whom you had danced now has a strained relationship with your cousin.

It’s time to rethink how one is going to spend life henceforth. We need to take time out of the rat race and start aiming for something that will give us pleasure. One less step on the corporate ladder will not make that much of a difference. Already the pandemic has taken away some very big names of the corporate world and at a very young age.

We need less of the materialistic life

My wife keeps telling me that our house needs a bit of renovation. She is too much influenced by the renovation work going on in our society. Every third house is getting some kind of interior work. The flooring has to be those shiny tiles, a modular kitchen will replace the old wooden cabinets, the wooden wardrobes have to be replaced by the modular ones.

I told her that we have all the comforts in our house. A fully functional kitchen, marble flooring, and wardrobes full of hangars. A renovation will just beautify it slightly. We are not those Bollywood stars who are busy buying those sea-facing apartments worth crores and redoing them. I am an honest taxpayer who doesn’t have any black money and whatever I have I will save for the rainy days. Life has no guarantee but till the time I have a shelf life, let me shine on the shelf and be useful to others.

You can enjoy reading more such stories on my blog. Click on the following link:

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