40 minutes in the Mumbai local

Like Siddhartha, one doesn’t need to leave worldly luxuries and wander to gain wisdom. One doesn’t need to sit beneath the tree for enlightenment.
Just travel by Mumbai local and you will know – life and living – goals and wisdom – you will be enlightened.

I happened to travel by Mumbai local (Andheri Slow) from Dadar to Andheri. My destination was Borivali. But when I saw life struggle getting in the train, I changed my destination to Andheri. From there I decided to take a taxi. I was taken aback when I saw a man pulling a person from the train. He was pulling his hair like he wanted his head to fall off. I was astonished at his act and more so when I saw myself and others just watching him do it! Later I realized, the other man had robbed that man and that man was just reacting to his deed.

I boarded the less crowded local and luckily got a seat. I sat down and was waiting for my station to come. The local as scheduled was stopping at intermediate stations. At one station, everybody got up and started seeing at one end from the window. I was new to all this since this was my second journey by local in my lifetime. Following the crowd, I peeped out. Somebody asked ‘Jeevant aahe kaa?’ There was a man lying on the railway track – half dead. Everybody was looking at him – but nobody even thought of helping him. He probably fell down in the struggle to board a train. I was in tears – not for him, but for myself. For my inability to help him, For my stillness, For my ignorance, For my inhumanity, For my attitude of following the crowd. Everybody was sorry - not for that man down waiting for somebody to take him to the hospital, but for themselves for they could not help themselves.

Yeh bhi koi jeena hai, yeh bhi koi marana hai!


©Sweta Gupta Samota

Paisa nahi hota to kya hota?

We have become so busy in our individual lives earning for our bread and butter these days. (Ok, some luxury too!) We are working hard – getting better jobs, doing some business, investing our hard earned money, trying some part-time freelancing apart from our secure jobs, thinking of some stunt to make more money, securing our future, booking our first or some Nth home, buying a land, buying a company, or going onsite to gain more experience (ok more money), working overtime (for promotion), working hard for more stock options, working hard because the investors want their money back, going on a holiday to come back refreshed to work more, referring a friend to get that extra buck, yearning for the Sensex to touch 15K, praying for India to win, using your credit card to win that holiday, and bla bla bla. What not people are doing for one thing – MONEY! Paisa, Kaisa hai yeh PAISA, aye hay PAISA!

We are literally dancing to the tune of money. The entire world is! Not only the whites but the black too - Some people accepting the kadak hare notes under the table, doing some GHOTALA in balance sheets, forgery, corruption, crimes, kidnapping, all different types of crimes… The reason behind all these is again the same thing – MONEY.

Now, before food, clothing and shelter comes MONEY. Today the only basic need is MONEY. Gone are the days when some mahatma used to say – “Itna Paisa kamake kya karoge beta. Sab yahin reh jaayega jab upper jaaoge.” Today we don’t have time to think because we are so busy minting money.

I will come to the point – just think money jaisi koi cheez nahi hoti to – would you be doing what you are doing now??think that there was no barter system as well. Nothing like give and take for living. Then, what would you be doing?

There would have been no banks, no computer systems for them, no security threats, no gadgets, no credit cards, no call centres for them. There would be no long queues outside ATMS because there would be NONE. There would be no money instruments like stock market or mutual funds. There would be no loans (wow!) be it home or auto or personal. We would not study for money then! Not for the high earnings post studies. There will be no rush for college admissions to engineering, medical or for that matter management schools. Bread butter would be available freely. So will be shelter. No barter system. There will be less corruption since there will be no money. I wonder then what will the officials ask for if there is no money. But still, seeing the human traits, I don’t think it will eradicate corruption.

There will be no terms like inflation (Relief!) and there will be no TAX:). And there will be so many things! And there wont be so many other things!

The main question is – if there were no money, would you be continuing your job (if ever it is there!) if not, think again why are you then doing it now? And think what you would you be doing in your life if there was no money. How would you live your life happily ever after. Because these days our happiness is tied down to money – will you be ever happy if there was no money.

Think and post in your comments! This is the question of your life with no money. If you know what would you do to satisfy yourself given that there is no money and if you are doing it now! (i.e. irrespective of whether money is there or not). Then I must say you are the luckiest in this world.

Billion $ mistake

Thoda gyan bata jaaye!

TJX’s failure to secure Wi-Fi could cost $1B by ZDNet's George Ou -- The news of the TJ Maxx data breach has rocked the the retail and banking industry, and many estimate that it will cost hundreds of millions or even a billion-plus dollars in financial damage. It was already widely reported back in March that the TJ Maxx breach was probably due to an insecure wireless network, [...]