I feel that we Would be more happier if we had only limited choices and options. Many of you might want to differ with me and I being a beliver in freedom of thought will not try to convince you with what I believe. But I will share with you a story and see if I can have few followers of mine at the end.
Last saturday I went to the electronics shop in Pal Heights to buy a laptop. First the variety of brands confused me. Should I buy an Acer or should I buy HP. Well, Toshiba is also not a bad choice. A saleman noticed my state of confusion and approached me with a big smile.
"Sir , do you need any help"
"Well yes, I guess so"
"What are you looking for, Sir"
"A laptop, but am little confused which one to buy"
The salesman then started to tell me the pros and cons for each of the brands and the models within those brands.It confused me more and paralysed my decision making capability. I stopped him in the middle and told him
"If you were me, which one would you buy"
The salesman smiled and said "Sir, I am not you"
"Ok, can you then please tell me which one is the popular one. Which one people are buying the most"
"Well Sir, that is a no-brainer. People who really need a laptop buy this model, People who think they need a laptop buy this model and people who are not sure if they need one buy this one"
I said "what do you mean"
"Sir, it all depends on your choice"
I was feeling tired by then and decided to call up a friend who just bought a laptop. I asked him which one he
bought and decided to go with that brand. I thought, if I lose in this deal I will not be the only loser who my wife can quote. I have also an accopmplice now.
Friends, you might be thinking the ordeal is all over. But wait, it is not all over yet. Few days after I bought my laptop, my friend bought one from Toshiba. It came with an inbuilt webcam which was not there in my version. It had a nice dark color. My friend also got a laptop bag with it and 3 years warranty. Mine came without a bag and a two year warranty. Now I started blaming me for making such a bad choice. Although, my laptop was running fine and was catering to what I need.
Choices therefore has made our life miserable. Current technological advances have also made it possible to choose our identity of whether we want to be a male ,female or something in between. If you wanted a girl child in your family, you might be happy for a while if you become the father of a girl child. But you never know if in future your kid will continue with her god gifted sex or would try to take advantages of other choices she might have. Last night I went to a lunch buffet in Swosti plaza.I ate a like a pig. The food was delicious and the ambience was also nice. But I returned unhappy because I thought I should have tasted the other variety of mutton that was also available as a choice. So, although it looks like choices and satisfaction are positively correlated, in reality I feel more choices you have, less satisfied and less happy you are.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Project 4 - How to say it
Nostaligia
"Those who have poisoned your air, those who have extinguished yourlight,Can it be that you have forgiven them? Can it be that you love them?
Mr Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guests, today I am going to share a thought that came to me few days back.
It was the first rainy day of the year in Bhubaneswar . After a long wait, the rain just kissed the earth. The thirsty earth was waiting for this for a long time. I was sitting in the balcony of my apartment enjoying the pleasant weather and the morning tea. The romanticism of the environment catapulted me into nostalgia. In my mind I saw a small boy running all over the courtyard to catch the restless dragonflies. After few tries, he gave up. He was tired and thirsty. He ran to the nearby spring and quenched his thirst drinking the sweet natural water. Ahhh!!!How satisfying was that!!! I can still feel that satisfaction. It filled him with renewed vigor and energy. He ran like a deer and did not stop until he reached near the village school ground. He took a deep breath and inhaled the pure morning air. It felt so nice. The air was as pure as the gods, as natural as the mother nature. The boy did not stop there, he ran and reached the bank of the river. As soon as he reached the river,the sound of the waves poured honey into his ears. It was such a melodious sound.He looked up in the eastern horizon, the morning sun was peeking over the mountains . It looked like a beautiful big golden dish. The sight was so amazing that the little boy was lost in its beauty. He slowly sat down by the river bed . He looked upstream. The sunlight shattered into multiple sparkling pieces of silver after hitting the water. The sparkling pieces came dancing downwards and followed the river to its destination. The little boy looked on the other side of the river where there was a sunflower garden.It seemed someone has splashed yellow and green all over. It was a fantastic view and he kept looking at it like one bewitched. The little boy was soon immeresed into deep thought. Where does the river come from and where does it go ? Who created this river and where does the water come from ? His mind was crowded with many questions for which he had no answers.Today I have the answers but I could not find the little boy . He is lost. He is gone.
Tring..Tring..A sudden harsh sound broke my solitary reverie. Someone was at the door. It was the water-man. We buy drinking water treated with chemicals every week. I looked for the morning sun, I could not find it behind the sky scrapers. I sighed and took a deep breadth and started sneezing soon. I am allergic to dust and smoke and the air is full of it now . I noticed that the little sunflower plant that I planted last week gave up its fight to survive. It could not get enough sunlight. Few lines of Tagore then flashed though my mind "Those who have poisoned your air, those who have extinguished yourlight,Can it be that you have forgiven them? Can it be that you love them?
--Rajib Deb
Mr Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guests, today I am going to share a thought that came to me few days back.
It was the first rainy day of the year in Bhubaneswar . After a long wait, the rain just kissed the earth. The thirsty earth was waiting for this for a long time. I was sitting in the balcony of my apartment enjoying the pleasant weather and the morning tea. The romanticism of the environment catapulted me into nostalgia. In my mind I saw a small boy running all over the courtyard to catch the restless dragonflies. After few tries, he gave up. He was tired and thirsty. He ran to the nearby spring and quenched his thirst drinking the sweet natural water. Ahhh!!!How satisfying was that!!! I can still feel that satisfaction. It filled him with renewed vigor and energy. He ran like a deer and did not stop until he reached near the village school ground. He took a deep breath and inhaled the pure morning air. It felt so nice. The air was as pure as the gods, as natural as the mother nature. The boy did not stop there, he ran and reached the bank of the river. As soon as he reached the river,the sound of the waves poured honey into his ears. It was such a melodious sound.He looked up in the eastern horizon, the morning sun was peeking over the mountains . It looked like a beautiful big golden dish. The sight was so amazing that the little boy was lost in its beauty. He slowly sat down by the river bed . He looked upstream. The sunlight shattered into multiple sparkling pieces of silver after hitting the water. The sparkling pieces came dancing downwards and followed the river to its destination. The little boy looked on the other side of the river where there was a sunflower garden.It seemed someone has splashed yellow and green all over. It was a fantastic view and he kept looking at it like one bewitched. The little boy was soon immeresed into deep thought. Where does the river come from and where does it go ? Who created this river and where does the water come from ? His mind was crowded with many questions for which he had no answers.Today I have the answers but I could not find the little boy . He is lost. He is gone.
Tring..Tring..A sudden harsh sound broke my solitary reverie. Someone was at the door. It was the water-man. We buy drinking water treated with chemicals every week. I looked for the morning sun, I could not find it behind the sky scrapers. I sighed and took a deep breadth and started sneezing soon. I am allergic to dust and smoke and the air is full of it now . I noticed that the little sunflower plant that I planted last week gave up its fight to survive. It could not get enough sunlight. Few lines of Tagore then flashed though my mind "Those who have poisoned your air, those who have extinguished yourlight,Can it be that you have forgiven them? Can it be that you love them?
--Rajib Deb
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