usha manohar wrote:

We see films and the media leaning towards consumerism and making much of frivolous things that celebrities do ... I see many teenagers discussing seriously about dress malfunction? Of actresses as if it is a life and death issue . Entertainment is good but we need to set a certain higher standard for ourselves rather than stoop ..

I know what you mean. You know, during this year's Diwali, I actually felt a bit disconnected. I mean, I did all the things we are supposed to in preparation of the festival, cleaned the house, prepared a variety of food stuff, got new clothes etc.,, flowers.,put up lights everything. I had long discussions with friends about Diwali and how we were going to celebrate it , I was hoping to get together with friends, do something fun and nice with them and the kids etc. But no one was interested in being with friends or even family. Most of them were planning for big shopping from various malls and shops as sales were on, some of them were planning go away for a week's holidays.

It was then I realised that people have lost the true purpose of what life is all about and everything is about consumerism and the individual powers of spending money! I am still a bit to understand what life is about and what is the ultimate role of each of us etc. But what I understand now, at this point is that, life is not just about thinking about ourselves only, but more about what we can do for our society, our country etc.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

We see films and the media leaning towards consumerism and making much of frivolous things that celebrities do ... I see many teenagers discussing seriously about dress malfunction? Of actresses as if it is a life and death issue . Entertainment is good but we need to set a certain higher standard for ourselves rather than stoop ..

I know what you mean. You know, during this year's Diwali, I actually felt a bit disconnected. I mean, I did all the things we are supposed to in preparation of the festival, cleaned the house, prepared a variety of food stuff, got new clothes etc.,, flowers.,put up lights everything. I had long discussions with friends about Diwali and how we were going to celebrate it , I was hoping to get together with friends, do something fun and nice with them and the kids etc. But no one was interested in being with friends or even family. Most of them were planning for big shopping from various malls and shops as sales were on, some of them were planning go away for a week's holidays.

It was then I realised that people have lost the true purpose of what life is all about and everything is about consumerism and the individual powers of spending money! I am still a bit to understand what life is about and what is the ultimate role of each of us etc. But what I understand now, at this point is that, life is not just about thinking about ourselves only, but more about what we can do for our society, our country etc.

I totally agree with you. This year we didn't have to celebrate Diwali as my aunt in law passed away 5 days before Diwali. It was dry day as we had holidays and nothing to do..no Pooja, no diyas and no delicacies. My kids kept whining since morning as how boring it was with nothing to do. So we planned to go for a movie in evening. We booked the tickets for Secret Superstar in a theatre in nearby mall. We expected very less crowd due to festival. But to our surprise, shops were overcrowded due to last day sale and discount schemes. Instead of Pooja and celebration at home, they were out for shopping

Day by day the thought process is changing so fast that somewhere down the line we seem to be misfit. Discount coupons are making people crazy about shopping. People even buy unwanted things just to flaunt. Now, festivals have lost its actual importance and have become the reason to exhibit money.   

What you are saying was happening before also but was limited to a very few families who could afford to do so. Today a much larger number of famikies are having good purchasing power and thus enjoy spending. Such trend is going to increase and will become the norm and look normal. Better to get used to it rather than clash with it.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

We see films and the media leaning towards consumerism and making much of frivolous things that celebrities do ... I see many teenagers discussing seriously about dress malfunction? Of actresses as if it is a life and death issue . Entertainment is good but we need to set a certain higher standard for ourselves rather than stoop ..

I know what you mean. You know, during this year's Diwali, I actually felt a bit disconnected. I mean, I did all the things we are supposed to in preparation of the festival, cleaned the house, prepared a variety of food stuff, got new clothes etc.,, flowers.,put up lights everything. I had long discussions with friends about Diwali and how we were going to celebrate it , I was hoping to get together with friends, do something fun and nice with them and the kids etc. But no one was interested in being with friends or even family. Most of them were planning for big shopping from various malls and shops as sales were on, some of them were planning go away for a week's holidays.

It was then I realised that people have lost the true purpose of what life is all about and everything is about consumerism and the individual powers of spending money! I am still a bit to understand what life is about and what is the ultimate role of each of us etc. But what I understand now, at this point is that, life is not just about thinking about ourselves only, but more about what we can do for our society, our country etc.

The concept of festivals has undergone a total change now with people either being garish and showy or else being high nosed. I have a neighbor who does not celebrate any Hindu festivals but keeps a xmas tree in her house and goes gaga over Easter , her idea of secularism as perceived from our politicians. I hate no problem with her celebrating Xmas or Easter  in fact I welcome it but to be snobbish about her own roots shows immaturity and a lack of forethought.

Purpose of life is to achieve your target as per your expertise and fulfill all your dream before death.

vijay wrote:

What you are saying was happening before also but was limited to a very few families who could afford to do so. Today a much larger number of famikies are having good purchasing power and thus enjoy spending. Such trend is going to increase and will become the norm and look normal. Better to get used to it rather than clash with it.

Of course there is no stopping Change , one has to go with the flow. While it is good to see that the standard of living has been steadily showing an upswing , it would be good to see a balance maintained between quality and quantity. 

Increased purchasing power gives boost to spending which in turn leads to good economic growth. Yes there will be some who will overbuy or show off but such cases are few. When purchasing power is God no one asks the purpose of life. It is when one is unfortunately poor that one starts wondering about life and birth and so on. 

Purpose of life in my case is very clear.I spent my life with full entertainment with some sort of day to day job.

A quote I came across ..

The cities, the roads, the countryside, the people I meet - they all begin to blur. I tell myself I am searching for something. But more and more, it feels like I am wandering, waiting for something to happen to me, something that will change everything, something that my whole life has been leading up to.