Paradise lost or feigned

Decadence, depravity or both, what is it one wonders, that is afflicting mankind of late. Has it always been the same story or is there a twist in the tale? Perhaps the health of a society is reflected by the health of its individuals, the reference here, however, is not to physical health, but mental health; one’s psychological make-up. Quite early in life, one learns what the WHO has to say about health, but does it just get relegated to the back- burners of academia or does it actually trickle through the fabric of this hugely convoluted society and manifest somewhere as a positive?

What one often heard while growing up, way back in our times, were stories of Samaritans, of brave hearts and philanthropists, of people who lived and died by a simple honest principle. Has that tribe vanished or did it never exist?

Well, exist it certainly did, as my memories are sprinkled with a plethora of experiences, tangible, intangible, some, if I stop to think for a minute, even palpable today: Of how people just knew how to stay within their boundaries. Now this is not meant from any prude or conservative point of view, but just from the fact that limits were recognised and respected to an extent that there were lower frequencies of aberrations in the environment and the atmosphere. The thumb rule that was often followed was, ‘your rights end where my nose begins’, logical and doable.

So whether it entailed waiting in line at a buffet or the post office, tempers were restrained, mental climes were cooler. There were scant differences and there weren’t too many takers for just one grab, byte, bite…whatever. There was a certain degree of contentment in the air. But that is a cuss word now, how could one be content? What is your content would be more like it. Judged more by what you wore, how you swore, what you bought, rather stole, defining sensibilities; writing success stories. No matter that you stepped on some one’s toes, no matter that you elbowed someone out of the row, no matter that you did everything just to move ahead and on, with not a thought or look for those who were there all along . 

 Currently we seem to be ensnared by, ‘a getting there, doing that syndrome’. Life has perhaps lost the charm of moving at its own pace, everyone is in a hurry, a hurry to grow up, a scurry to get ahead, a race to just get there and seize the two minutes of glory, under the eclipsed Sun (well it no longer is the epitome of brightness and pride! )

Childhood has become akin to a commodity sold in the market, something that was put through the paces in factories, deeply entrenched in uniformity, spurning difference, disdaining creativity; pushing for numbers and looking for quick branding and patenting (pun intended).

Thus are let loose a confused and flawed set of beings, who have no idea where they come from and where they are headed: end result, debauchery, deceit punctuated with oodles of greed. When the entire tapestry is woven with such threads, a knot may just be a reason for a reprieve. An anomaly, a hiccup, a sane being, may then be looked upon for sailing through choppy waters.

Adulthood is thus a collective embodiment of lost souls, grappling with the new found freedom that is not governed by any social mores.  They are people who have lost their moorings, disbelievingly trying to chase their dreams. In the brouhaha that follows is lost, the evasive paradise.