As a generation, we thrive in a world of great opportunities. Once envisaged, the vision is so much easier to translate today than ever before. We have more than what we ever needed, yet we keep yearning for more. And more we get. And then some more!
However, despite being in the midst of overabundance, there is this constant nagging feeling, that what we have got, bought, achieved, earned, built et-al is still not fulfilling. Our eyes, smiles, lives and if there is that soul – are all but empty.
Why?
Because we are told that there are no limitations to human potential. To an individual’s potential! We are told to push the boundaries, till they don’t exist. We are told that winning is a habit.
Anant. Infinite. What is this that has no limit?
Anant in its simplicity means energy. An energy that can neither be created nor destroyed. Just simply transferred from one source to another.
However, if the path taken for this energy transfer is linear, the end is nearer than you could have imagined. In the context of our lives, as we invest more energy to hoard more obscurities, we end up burning out sooner than later. Socially defined success starts choking us, as we are expected to outperform each time.
In this one-dimensional approach we give over emphasis to only ‘a’ aspect of life. We put our children in the “best” school and want studying a habit to be formed from the age of 3. Young professionals believe in the mantra of “work hard and party harder”. They are the millennials who have 3X the experience compared to an avg 60-year-old. Corporate professional is another word for bonded laborer. The money, the adulation and the lifestyle is so enamoring that one ends up putting 12-14 hrs a day at work. There are no end to promotions, with new designations and creative titles coming into play.
All this for some shareholder’s profitability, that does not cease. We are instruments that make the rich richer and the poor poorer, while we are stuck somewhere in the center and are just data points of GDP.
Rekha. Line. What is the purpose of a line, of a limit?
Rekha in a sociological concept is the basis of civilization. It draws a threshold within which we need to channelize our energies. But increasingly today it is seen as a word that challenges our obese ego.
A line, channel, border call it what you may, is critical. It reflects the energy that you emit and not just disseminate it into oblivion. A closed border become more efficient as the energy keeps bouncing back and forth. You create an energy field.
In this cyclical approach, multiple aspects of life get nurtured. Here children can explore their natural intelligence and skills through their own curiosity. Beyond academics and closed doors, to experiment in hobbies and waste away time staring at clouds adds more character than straight A grades. As millennials amass great experiences, they forget that it does not equate to expertise. Learning to respond to situations rather than reacting and saying the job is done is critical for this generation. For the professionals to understand that a job is a means to an end and not an end in itself is important. To be able to live with empathy to your aging parents, your young children, to those compassionate pets, to your fiends is, o! so critical. To be a conscious citizen of the world we live in and question the source and intent of propaganda that we consume is our primal responsibility as we link the rich and the poor.
The wisdom of life is in its counter intuitiveness. That which seems free is actually trapped. And that which seems limiting is actually liberating.
Anant + Rekha = Anantrika. To find “an” infiniteness within “the” finite!
Aishwarya Omprakash 