Curved Ideas

 Today, while travelling I saw a new shop that was selling Dabeli(an Indian snack). That got me thinking about does that shop needs to be there? Does the world need more Dabeli? Maybe that area. But who cares! Those who need it will get it. And the business will thrive. More oil will be purchased, more white flour will be consumed, more fats, more gym memberships, more machines, more iron and eventually more money. That looks like a pretty good cycle. But do we need to have everything that they sell?      This point has already been made by a lot of people and in a lot of ways. I saw this point about 'consumer culture' for the first time in an essay called Upabhoktavaad ki Sanskruti by Shyaamcharan Dubey in our Hindi textbook Standard 9. Then it came again in several ways for instance in Fight Club (1999) movie. So it has now become the need to be in the trend. One needs to eat pizza to be an urban citizen, and one needs to have a car to show success even though a mo...

 I closed my eyes and felt the whole world gone. It was my presence until the sounds of people walking without lifting their feet echoed. Those unsung sounds of birds, people, kids, and utensils, made me feel that I belonged to this world. My instincts tried to convince me otherwise. I went to the seashore, dwelled in my quiet room, plugged in earplugs and yet I kept belonging to this world. These are all omens or proofs of my belongingness.  There’s a beautiful helplessness in belonging that once you do, you can’t cease belonging to the world, even when you don’t want to; even when there is no meaning to it.