Luxury is when one can think about fulfilling desires without having to worry about fulfilling needs.
I did a few things in these last few days – did a special gym session on toning my body, watched a movie in a theatre, got a haircut, watched a Cirque du Soleil show at Royal Albert hall, booked tickets to India for a weekend trip to attend a wedding, bought a special perfume for mom which is made and sold online from a discreet corner of the UK. And I realised while I was doing these things that I did them because I wanted to, for myself, for my own happiness, even if the object makes someone else happy it is still making me happy in the end, for experiencing joy out of the money I earn. And then I realised this is what Luxury is all about.
I have the luxury to – cherish my body and give it the attention that it deserves, experience something unique, do something to keep a promise to friends and family. Being able to think beyond today, beyond needs, beyond worries, beyond sadness. Being able to change a longing into a fulfilling experience. For others it could be different. It could be that someone wants to treat a salary like a lottery, like spare cash which is only meant to be spent for enjoyment. Even that enjoyment could then be very different. Buy designer products – sunglasses, perfumes, bags, shoes, watches. Spend on something – anything and everything because you want to feel the joy of being able to spend. Experience a special occasion – fine wining and dining or a spa session or magical show that take you out of the real world and its miseries or looking the most attractive ever, even if just for an hour or flying off to the most pristine piece of nature tucked away in a neat little cosy corner, waiting for you to explore it.
Oh the joys of being human. And then I also begin to realise that art is like luxury. What luxury is to needs, art is to the soul. Its redeems it. Fills it with inspiration to go beyond the ordinary. song, dance, colour, design, form – they break the shackles which bind our souls to mundane everyday life. I think back and even within my miniscule art repertoire, I have come close to experiencing that inspiration which art brings. And its not skill that I am describing here, skill will come only later with effort and time dedicated at honing it. This is just the glimpse of the potential that art has.. The joy of being able, the first time, to play a tune, race a bike on winding roads, sing a song on the highest notes, pick the perfect camera angle, complete that extra spin in perfect rhythm, recreate the flavour that only mom’s cooking has, convey thoughts in seamless flow of words.. it goes on...
Luxury is about experiencing and cherishing art. When your daily work is just that daily work, but your life evolves on to have more dimensions, more meaning, more experiences and more happiness.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
will and grace
its not the show, but these qualities that seem to have gone off air too.
the will to do something, to bring about a change, to stand up for your beliefs. i will explain, but i think the following summarises the sentiment ably.
"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." -Fight Club.
i first recognised this trait when i met a french psychiatrist in one of travels. she told me how she didn't want to make something out of her life, she wanted to live from one moment to the next because she just wanted to enjoy it. her parents had provided enough for her to be comfortable, plus she had a job that got her by. she had no intention of raising a family in the future or any of the "settling down" notions that I am accustomed to. she had seen her parents struggle and wither away their in lives in providing for the needs of the family and that is not how she wanted to squander her life. then the other day i was explaining to my colleagues how i don't sympathise with the wall street squatters - because they are complaining for having lost out on the opportunity of being successful without having the will to put in efforts to achieve the same. my colleagues labelled me right-wing extremist who ranted typically like one from the middle class, who would fight only to protest her own priviledges and who would be willing to clean away the wasters like these squatters of the society. they said they sympathised with the complainers because they knew nothing better, and it was not their fault that they had been brought up in affluence without ever feeling the need to put in efforts to get what they wanted.
coming to grace - the grace of a dancer, subtle and bashful, mysterious and elegant, - has gone missing too. given my limited exposure, i will refer to my home ground. from the vyajayanti mala's to the sridevi's of the bollywood world, it was all about grace and in showed in their acting as well as their dancing. moreover, no actress could not dance and vice versa. madhuri dixit signified a transition, when her fashion statement and raunchy lyrics started to become popular. but even she adopted into the realm of grace gradually. think about dhak dhak and choli ke peeche and then think about dola re and o re piya. maybe yash chopra redeemed her and brought about that innocence to her just like he did to sridevi, juhi and later kajol. and now madhuri stands revered in comparison to the munni's and the chameli's of today's item numbers. i was watching on youtube a clip where malaika arora and madhuri dixit share stage while munni badnam plays out. the contrast is just appalling. for these newbies, cameras make up for their lack of movement and voluptous silicon curves make up for the lack of flexibility of their bodies. the only one from among the current crop, who can be given the credential of keeping grace does not even belong to the female segment. he is hrithik roshan. i can slacken a bit and admit that shahid kappor and ranbir kapoor come close to that line as well, but none worthy enough in the female segment.
i would only wish for two things.
- one to have the will to preserve the legacy of wealth around me. growth to sustain consumption of growing population, and not just for the sake of growth.
- two to age gracefully, to imbibe the charm of sridevi aka chandni and the vitality of the 44 yr old madhuri today.
the will to do something, to bring about a change, to stand up for your beliefs. i will explain, but i think the following summarises the sentiment ably.
"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." -Fight Club.
i first recognised this trait when i met a french psychiatrist in one of travels. she told me how she didn't want to make something out of her life, she wanted to live from one moment to the next because she just wanted to enjoy it. her parents had provided enough for her to be comfortable, plus she had a job that got her by. she had no intention of raising a family in the future or any of the "settling down" notions that I am accustomed to. she had seen her parents struggle and wither away their in lives in providing for the needs of the family and that is not how she wanted to squander her life. then the other day i was explaining to my colleagues how i don't sympathise with the wall street squatters - because they are complaining for having lost out on the opportunity of being successful without having the will to put in efforts to achieve the same. my colleagues labelled me right-wing extremist who ranted typically like one from the middle class, who would fight only to protest her own priviledges and who would be willing to clean away the wasters like these squatters of the society. they said they sympathised with the complainers because they knew nothing better, and it was not their fault that they had been brought up in affluence without ever feeling the need to put in efforts to get what they wanted.
coming to grace - the grace of a dancer, subtle and bashful, mysterious and elegant, - has gone missing too. given my limited exposure, i will refer to my home ground. from the vyajayanti mala's to the sridevi's of the bollywood world, it was all about grace and in showed in their acting as well as their dancing. moreover, no actress could not dance and vice versa. madhuri dixit signified a transition, when her fashion statement and raunchy lyrics started to become popular. but even she adopted into the realm of grace gradually. think about dhak dhak and choli ke peeche and then think about dola re and o re piya. maybe yash chopra redeemed her and brought about that innocence to her just like he did to sridevi, juhi and later kajol. and now madhuri stands revered in comparison to the munni's and the chameli's of today's item numbers. i was watching on youtube a clip where malaika arora and madhuri dixit share stage while munni badnam plays out. the contrast is just appalling. for these newbies, cameras make up for their lack of movement and voluptous silicon curves make up for the lack of flexibility of their bodies. the only one from among the current crop, who can be given the credential of keeping grace does not even belong to the female segment. he is hrithik roshan. i can slacken a bit and admit that shahid kappor and ranbir kapoor come close to that line as well, but none worthy enough in the female segment.
i would only wish for two things.
- one to have the will to preserve the legacy of wealth around me. growth to sustain consumption of growing population, and not just for the sake of growth.
- two to age gracefully, to imbibe the charm of sridevi aka chandni and the vitality of the 44 yr old madhuri today.
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