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Globalization, Modernization, Westernization, Americanization, Acculturation – these terms (and perhaps the meanings as well), have become deep-rooted idioms with the so-called modern-retro human being. These terms are getting engraved more as subconscious factors than conscious.

Millions of years have passed historically. Cultures have changed. Communities have changed. Societies have changed. Civilizations have changed. And this natural law of existential change is indeed necessary. Infact, regardless of whether this is a need, the change happens on its own accord. Its more earthen a feel than what it actually shows up today as. It’s more in the nature of life and existence than planning and strategizing. The change happens for the cause of nature in true spirits than for the cause of human needs (eventhough it’s perceived the other way). It follows the law of change that every society, culture, religion and nation will encounter in their own degrees and thresholds. Urban fast paced cities such as Bangalore are victims of this syndrome in larger and significant proportions as compared to slow paced rural cities. Interestingly (and this again I attribute to the law of nature), however, such a cultural-osmosis also comes with its own world of perils and shadows that can haunt the humanity at various levels of the subjected transformations. While it can radiate a positive energy to the overall civilization in some sense, it also instigates the building blocks of insecurity, islands of void, pseudo egos, fake self-esteems, social-imbalance, corruption (at some level), confusion, stress, peer pressure, social pressure, greed (at some level) and most importantly – a subconscious sense of identity crisis (which is the worst that can happen)!

Cell-phones have become the need of hour. A day without a cell phone has become unfathomable. Perhaps this one item is a prototype of the entire gamut of modern possessions. For many cell phones are status symbols, for few others its fashion and for some others its peer / social pressure to possess one; for many of the teens it’s a subconscious insecurity not to have a cell phone. The parody of reality is that – it’s only a minority of population who really (consciously) need one (though at some level this sounds absurd, the hard reality is sad)! Cell phones are only one of the paradigms of the myriad of fancies the modern man is addicted to in worldly possessions. Credit Cards run the entire thread of modern man expenditures. You don’t have a credit card – you will be labeled an odd (Infact, for many it’s a comedy to hear someone doesn’t possess a Credit Card). Besides, having more than one Credit Card is esteem-in-perception (and accepted by many). Then follows the so called great concept of Club Memberships – phew! This one neatly bowls the others out. There are Club Memberships for travel, then there are Club Memberships for recreation and then there are also Club Memberships for Elite entertainment. Why stretch too far – these days you have Membership Cards for even Supermarkets, Shopping Malls, Cinema Multiplexes and Grocery stores. A wallet full of Cards is the norm of day; a sight of a wallet without Cards not only looks comical to the modern man but also makes the owner an odd in the society (read perception)!

“DEALS”, “ SALE ”, “FREEBIES”, “FESTIVE OFFERS”, and “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE” – you are probably tired of hearing; the list is endless; every human is in a chain, a circle. Businessmen are behind consumers. Consumers are behind possessions. Then at some level, even businessmen are victims of these possessions in their own insecure-worlds. Consumers succumb to not just possessing them, but to a large degree getting entangled in the web of insecurities, peer / social pressures and moving along the so-called imaginary chord of the magic wheel of energy (read westernization or modernization) that’s controlling the entire society. In the likes of the Westernization, now there is choice and variety for everything – from safety pins to cheese to automobiles and jewelry – adding more chaos and confusion to the human mind. Infact, from one angle when you witness it’s now becoming a joke not have choice; one may even feel insecure to purchase something that doesn’t have competition. Reality is far far behind. The range in choices spearheads at levels not just in commodities; now you are open to several types of Insurances and Loans (Home, Auto, Life, Child and so on). I am tempted to say this – we seem to feel more comfortable with more categorization and more choice and more offerings without even realizing the needs. Having coffee at Coffee Day, Showcasing Boy Friends / Girl Friends, Living Relationships, Watching movies at Multiplexes, possessing branded commodities – the list can be endless – each one of them seem to say “I give you more happiness”; the question is – does it really!? I am not surprised if the modern man soon looks for Ads which may say “Get Insured for staying happy”?!

“Father’s Day”, “Mother’s Day”, “Woman’s Day”, “Valentines Day” – there are many more; are these the need of living or need of nature or symbols of acculturation or signs of social imbalance – a Question every individual must answer to himself. The so-called “modern lib woman” – a term that was coined perhaps at the seed of modernization – is a mountain by itself. While smoking cigarettes by either gender is well accepted to be unbiased, there are so-called the Lib women who believe smoking is a sign of liberalization or celebrating Woman’s day is sign of strength. One thought that crops to me is – why didn’t man come out with a day to celebrate “Man’s day”!? Would reflecting on this question reveal much of wisdom that is hidden? Surely, at some level logic doesn’t play a role and perhaps at some other plane due to our historic roots, women rebel in their own ways against much of the perils that Man once dominated women!? The bigger question is – while the whole nature is aware that Woman is a powerful source of energy, should there be a day for celebration? By celebrating is it that the insecurity is showing up or there is a sense of gratification of happiness levels? It appears there is no one way of looking at it and there is no such thing as right or wrong – but the questions must prevail and should one must make an attempt to reflect them!?

At the bottom, when all the smoke is cleared, there are two things that stand out – “wants” and “needs”; the modern man somewhere has lost the discrimination between wants and needs. Modernization has masked the individual thinking in its own way. The sense of “questioning WHY” has diluted. Wants are personified and looked at as Needs. The struggle for balancing life is becoming complicated unnecessarily. The definition of happiness is loosely bound and interpreted according to one’s perception and wants. No wonder the term “stress-busters” is also becoming a fancy of its own kind.

It’s easy to miss the message of these few paragraphs. Yes, true, at some level, all Logic fails and only living-in-moment makes sense. But again, the message is NOT to cultivate a bias on either side. Of course the purpose of existence is always to maintain this flux of Ying-Yang. The message that runs in the background of this article is NOT about being against modern possessions or globalization commodities. The message is NOT about being self-centered. The message is NOT to discard the cell phone or Club Memberships. The message is NOT to be biased about modernization. The message is really to think – “what do I really need”? The message is really to think – “Am I a victim of social / peer pressure”. “Is there a meaning for sense of esteem and status symbols” and so on?

Somewhere there is a call for an inner reflection; there is a sense of (I would say) social responsibility everyone of us need to look at – are we moving in a clouded frenzied vehicle in the name of modernization and becoming victims of subconscious stress? Are we being lulled into unwanted fancies and launched as tail-less kites of unknown destiny? Are we catapulted in the periphery of imaginary circles that do not really have a center? And of course it follows many more questions in our own relative framework of living based on our priorities. The message is to face courageously the dark alleys of fantasies and pseudo-wants man has been accumulating subconsciously without his awareness. May be it is to once again come back to those old times where philosophical debates were the norm of living; and to give a thought on what “simplicity” might mean to this modern society. In essence, it is really to reflect onto oneself and answer whether “Am I part of a blindfolded rat race where the destination is not known or the objective is unknown”?


Reflect!

Sreesha Belakvaadi
sreesha.buddha@gmail.com

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