Materialistic?? Think twice..

On my last birthday I bought a Nokia N79 and a being the gadget freak I am, on the same day had explored all the features of the new gizmo in my hand. The easy SMSing technique, social networking at the touch of a button, the high speed WiFi which actually helped me chat online to name a few, were the attractions to my new companion. Yes, it had almost become my raison d'etre. Listening to music on it for hours, watching my favourite videos and chatting with my friends and not to forget the tsunami of SMSs and calls.
Earlier this year i went to the great city of Kuala Lumpur. An amazing vacation  for me and my parents, until 2 days before our departure. It was because I had seen a 40" Sony Bravia LCD television in one of the shops, the price of which was less than half it's cost in India. Those were the 2 most laboured days for my parents as I pestered them even during our lovely excursions to buy one. well, as always, they had to succumb to my demands. The day I got the LCD hung on my room's wall, my room was my home and my LCD my companion.

A similar thing happened when my brother brought a new laptop from The United States. My days were spent mostly watching movies and playing games on it. As a result of all this, people around me started calling me materialistic. My parents taunted me at every other occasion of my ignorance towards them or the spurt of my gadget love. However annoyed with it, I was a hard rock to crack and my obsession continued.

However, a pattern was being observed with this obsession. My heartfelt love for any of the gadgets did not last for more than a week or 2, after which I returned to my normal being. Spending umpteen amount of time with my family, having nice and sumptuous dinners with them without carrying my plate to my room to watch a movie on the new LCD, until a new gizmo was brought into my life.

We often call our selves or people around us materialistic. We often condemn the modern generation to be more affectionate towards the gadgets and the modern comforts than with the humans around them. But look inside and ask yourself a question, "Is it really true?". Do we really love things more than their makers? Are we more stifled when our TV goes awry than when the father who cared for us left?

Even today, when people spend a sedentary life, when mobile phone's battery runs out even before the Indian Government's 5 year plan (obviously the former is much more reliable), bluetooths are becoming a better jewellery than earrings, we care for the people around us. Even today, a person who works 14 hours a day, works with the soul hope that at the end of the day he will be able to sit down with a cup of coffee affectionately brewed by his wife. Yes even today, we are ready to spend a fortune for a moment of love with our friends and family.

I recently finished college and the last day was an emotional affair, with everyone promising to be in touch. Even I was promising everyone a meeting at least monthly or half-yearly, but in my heart I knew that the friendship would be a torpid affair now, with everyone complacently nestled into their jobs and life. Only after a few days, I was proved wrong and thankfully so. SMSs and calls from my friends greeted me quite frequently. We even met at every occasion we could, like birthdays and any of my friends celebrating their success. How can I call such friends materialistic? They spared time for me even from the busiest of their schedules.

Think twice before echoing the nostrum that people have become MATERIALISTIC. Would your newly bought Mobile Phone have been of any worth if your friends wouldn't have SMSed you or called you? Would the newly bought laptop be your love if you weren't able to chat with your friends on it? Would the LCD you bought be fascinating if you couldn't watch your favourite movie with your family on it?

Such small moments still make the so-called materialistic world go around. The people in it still from the essence of it. Love is still the notion to live and the blood that runs in our veins is still filled with care for those around us.

Just take out time from your busy lives and look around. You will still notice A couple holding hands, A loud laugh from a 1 year old, A mother playing with her daughter, A father carrying his son on his shoulders, A son sharing a happy moment with his parents and a world full of love. Just look around.

As we say

Somethings never change

So will the love in the world. :)

Value what you have and more than that, value whom you have.