Way of life
I was talking to a close acquaintaince of mine and at some point in the conversation, she used the phrase "Way of life". She was actually telling me about her weekend routine in Melbourne where she went shopping and invariably ended up buying more than she set out for and she said its almost become a "way of life". I'm sure she meant the whole thing in a lighter vein but could not help think about what a "way of life" actually meant.
There was the colonial way of life in which men were given their due on the grounds of colour and nationality. Just the colour of your skin could mean a "different way of life"(not necessarily for the better) On the same thread was the Gandhian way of life in which every being was considered equal and in the whole "means to an end" scenario, the "means " acquired greater importance. There was the Communist way of life in which everything belonged to the state and our existence as individuals counted for nothing. These days there are two subsets of the above mentioned- one followed by Wen Jiaboa, the esteemed Premier of China and the one practised by our dear Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India and inspite of being in the same subset, there are more differences that similarities in the above mentioned way of life. There is the American way of life where the legend has grown of migrants coming with zilch in their pockets but with their hearts on their sleeves and today have turned into millionaires. There was the Hitler's way of life which reminded one more of the whole Harry Potter scene where the pure bloods had more rights than the other "mud bloods" and where the extermination of the impure races seemed a perfect solution to cleanse society of this scourge and diametrically opposite was Mother Teresa's way of life where beauty existed in everything and in every being and where giving was the greatest joy. Today there's the city yuppie's way of life who has all comforts and belongs to the "I, me myself" generation and then there is the soldier's way of life who does not know when he will be home again.
All this from an innocuous phrase such as "way of life".Hmm...mine??I am still trying to figure that out.
There was the colonial way of life in which men were given their due on the grounds of colour and nationality. Just the colour of your skin could mean a "different way of life"(not necessarily for the better) On the same thread was the Gandhian way of life in which every being was considered equal and in the whole "means to an end" scenario, the "means " acquired greater importance. There was the Communist way of life in which everything belonged to the state and our existence as individuals counted for nothing. These days there are two subsets of the above mentioned- one followed by Wen Jiaboa, the esteemed Premier of China and the one practised by our dear Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India and inspite of being in the same subset, there are more differences that similarities in the above mentioned way of life. There is the American way of life where the legend has grown of migrants coming with zilch in their pockets but with their hearts on their sleeves and today have turned into millionaires. There was the Hitler's way of life which reminded one more of the whole Harry Potter scene where the pure bloods had more rights than the other "mud bloods" and where the extermination of the impure races seemed a perfect solution to cleanse society of this scourge and diametrically opposite was Mother Teresa's way of life where beauty existed in everything and in every being and where giving was the greatest joy. Today there's the city yuppie's way of life who has all comforts and belongs to the "I, me myself" generation and then there is the soldier's way of life who does not know when he will be home again.
All this from an innocuous phrase such as "way of life".Hmm...mine??I am still trying to figure that out.
posted by Saraansh at 2:42 AM
3 Comments:
Excellent writing Saaransh. Each one of us have our 'way of life' and there are several others trying to impose their 'way of life' on us. Does the best 'way of life' end up winning in the end or just the most popular 'way of life' ? Can there ever be two identical 'ways of life' in this world ? I need to do some introspection myself about "my way of life".
Hey Chappan
Thanks and I am not too sure about the "way of life" except that we use it with such ease and triviality, that it never ceases to surprise me.How does one compare the way of life of some of the people I mentioned before to say our way of life or is it even right to compare?I have no idea.
I agree VitalStats with the fact that when my friend mentioned it, it was meant to be an off-the-cuff remark but it just got me thinking and lead to this post.
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