Coming Full Circle?????

[JUSTIFY]The weekend always brings some activity - people coming, people going, all the chit-chatting. It gives one food for thought, something to ruminate over and fodder for my grist mill. :-D

One such visitor - a young lady in her mid 20s - visited me today. She has done pretty well for herself so far. In fact I would say enviably so. Graduated from one of the good B schools in India and got a high flying job as a CEO immediately. Earns a monthly salary of what took me a good 3 - 4 months to earn when I was at the peak of my career. What more could one want in life?

So I would have thought, until today, when I saw her in a very philosophical and reflective mood. She was talking of the meaninglessness of it all. She had got what she always aspired for, if she worked hard, she could climb the ladder further, and further, and further ....... then what?

I was taken aback. The age of the girl, the realization she has come to so early in life ..... In a way, it was nice to think that a girl her age is grounded enough to realize that material wealth and prosperity and success do not necessarily give a meaning to life. They do not necessarily define a successful life. There has to be something else that gives meaning to life. She was talking of how she is happy if she has people around her and how nice it is to have someone to chat with. So she is learning the value of relationships to give life some meaning. This is the beginning of her spiritual growth.

On the other hand, I could not help feel sad for her as a typical representative of the present generation. They are successful, have great jobs, have great careers, earn hand over fist, have all the luxuries they could ask for - all this before they are in their mid 30s at the latest, some even in their mid 20s. Not all of them are grounded enough. They keep running after more, not stopping to think for a moment what it is they are after and then end up dejected, not knowing what it is that they are striving for, what it is in life they are searching for. Life seems to be nothing more than a mindless, purposeless pursuit of money. On the other hand, they have got it all, so there is nothing to look forward to, nothing to strive for, thus rendering life devoid of meaning.

Compare this to earlier times where one had to really struggle to get even what are considered today as the basic necessities of life. Just those aspirations lent one a purpose in life, or so it seemed. Our society saw relationships fall apart. The reason for this is that we in our days were so busy chasing individual aspirations, trying to climb the social ladder, that we did not realize the need to nurture relationships nor did we have the time. We took what we had for granted and eventually lost it. We saw the disintegration of the joint family and the arrival of the nuclear family. We saw a rise in divorce rates. We saw an entire generation migrating and the phenomenon of parents of NRIs seeking refuge in retirement homes. We lost the meaning to our lives and existence.

Could the fallout of the current generation's early success, on the other hand, lead to a reversal of the trend? Would they at some point realize the meaninglessness of material success without a spiritual, personal fulfillment? Would it lead them on a quest to rediscover a meaning to life and the value of inter-personal relationships?????:coffee[/JUSTIFY]

 

Thanks Sri for the really quick FB. While a bit of me felt sad to hear such a young person asking such questions, the other side of me felt very happy that she was realizing some home truths pretty early on in life. Better that they have an early start in life than waiting to retire to start doing "hari hari". Let us pray that it is going to be earlier than later.

 

Hi Uttaraa,

 

Thanks Uttaraa.

 

Hi Shyamala,