TILL STRESS DO US PART
Harking back on my childhood days from 1960 to 1975, the
changes I see around me now are so tangible , I can reach out and cut them with
a knife. Our world, as we knew it , has just been ZAPPED into another domain
and dimension.
I remember sitting out on our terrace with my parents,
brother, sister and two neighbours, every Wednesday @ sharp 8pm, eyes and ears
firmly tuned into radio Ceylon to hear Amin Sayani take us through Binaca Geet
mala.That one hour was the most seriously sought out entertainment for probably
millions of other families across India,Pakistan and Ceylon.If for some reason
one missed the broadcast, the others would have to confirm the sequence of the
songs played out – specially the last one , as it was dubbed SARTAJ,i.e. the
TOP SONG of the week. That was the closest we were to Top of the Pops of today.
With the
technological explosion happening right under our feet and opening up of the global markets we have
morphed into complete automatons. To get anything done NOW, is an endless
pursuit of instructions – Press THIS for THAT and vice versa.There is no tuner
for the transistor. As a matter of fact , ther IS NO TRANSISTOR !! Sure we have FM , I- Pads, and what have you
but the static and crackle of the past is GONE- in 60 seconds, if you please!!
Binaca Geet Mala is dead for sure, the only Amin my history loving nephew came
up with was Idi Amin, the African dictator. Also Binaca has seamlessly morphed
into Colgate .
This is not a
trip down memory lane by an old fogey, that I am imploring you to read – just be
patient as I show you the bigger picture.
Inspite of my, admittedly, half- hearted attempts at
comprehending the latest techno jargon – read
Apps,Android,Tablets,Downloads,Uploads and what have you, I am still a Dummy at
comprehending all this stuff. AND I
FIRMLY BELIEVE I WILL SURVIVE, till whenever I am destined to , carrying this
burden of blissfull ignorance.
The word STRESS was used ONLY if we had to do something
physically taxing, like having to push the family car on a cold winter morning
when it stalled. Today we use it at the drop of a hat. I am STRESSED out , you
are STRESSED out, we are ALL STRESSED OUT. Everything is so competitive and “
taxing “ that we simply HAVE TO get STRESSED. And then look for ways to DE- STRESS.How
DISTRESSING!!!
Simple addition of a housewive’s budget requires
a ‘calci’, calculator for the dummies. Better still just make an excel sheet
and pronto , you are all totalled. Sure , even I had to learn a few things on a
computer – to avoid being pushed off this techno-savvy planet. Every thing and
gadget comes with the tag of being User Friendly, a nice word , but on the
other hand ,it also means- Follow the instructions or else IT, whatever gadget
you are holding in your hand, may either disintegrate OR worse -EXPLODE (TAKING
YOU TO KINGDOMCOME alongwith IT!!).
My question is :If all this makes your life
EASY – WHY ARE WE ALWAYS SOMEWHERE ON THE STRESS BAROMETER? LOW, HIGH OR
COMPLETELY!
Even a three year old waiting for his first
interview @school experiences IT. A student, housewife, husband, employer,
employee, waiter, businessperson, entrepreneur, janitor experiences stress. The only answer that comes to mind
is that we have ALLOWED IT TO CREEP INTO OUR GENETIC THINKINGBY SHEER
REPITITION- (I am equally guilty of
using the word atleast 36 times in this writeup). We are ourselves
guilty of compounding and GIVING the ‘S’ word such importance in our lives.
I have
no desire to offer any advice to anyone on how to de-stress .i leave that to
the “experts”.
But I am fairly confident- IF WE STOP AFFIRMING
THE “S” WORD ITSELF- which we are all probably guilty of doing approximately 10
times a day on an average- to describe various phases of our waking hours- THE
DAMN THING WILL DISAPPEAR BY ITSELF!!
Simplistic solution???
GO AHEAD , TAKE A SHOT AT IT- YOU NOTHING TO
LOSE BUT YOUR “STRESS”.
the reluctant writer.
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