How many times have you heard the above line in recent times ?
Well I've heard it a lot and I consider "busy" as being one of the biggest problems affecting us in the 21st century.
Slowly but surely this hectic go-getting lifestyle has crept up on society and all of us are victims of it.
Take the average day of a Bombay working citizen
Hrs in day: 24
Sleep: 7
Work: 10
Commute to work and back: 3
Get ready for work/breakfast: 30mins
Get ready for bed/dinner: 30 mins
Balance time: 4 hrs
There you go. 4 hrs is all I have time for .........for myself, my family, my friends. And if you work in investment banking or audit or any of those 15 hr jobs then please make it 4 hrs of free time a week !
Sure, all of us have ambitions and want to move ahead, and all companies want to get bigger and stronger, all kids want to be smarter and cooler. And in this quest we are losing our balance. No wonder we see more heart disease and divorces and social crimes and the like.
It's not just us working folk who seem to be pretty busy. You ask any kid "hey long time no see ?" and you'll get the same reply "Busy....with dance class and tuition and computer class and guitar class and what not"
When is the last time you managed to fix a dinner plan with a bunch of 6 friends who are working too.....in the "1st" attempt ?
I'd love to hear about it..................... :)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Discipline: India's ticking time bomb !
3 events in recent weeks have gotten me thinking on what is going to happen to our country going ahead.
A few weeks ago driving into town on a Sunday, not once but twice now I've seen people break a signal DESPITE there being a very visible cop right after the signal. Both times when the cop has tried waving the car down post the signal the driver has just driven right past the cop !
Last week I was at my gym and hearing an old man who didn't get his treadmill slot on time rant "I've never used my power of being on the club committee. Now I am going to do it so that you people realise you can't take me for granted, blah-blah"
And also a few weeks ago while waiting in line to get my niece one of those hand painted tattoo things at a restaurant.....other parents coolly pushing their lil kids ahead of the waiting line for the tattoo !
This scant disregard for the law, abuse of power and basic courtesy is going to come back to bite us in the ass.
It may seem like a little rant of mine of 3-4 incidents but we see it time and time again day after day........we Indians love to bend rules to the maximum and just be oblivious to others. Be it breaking signals and drinking and driving to always cutting lines at airports, insisting on talking on the phone in planes, honking on no-honking day, throwing trash on the road.......we just love it.
It's all fine right now when India is the "hot" growth story and our time is now and blah-blah.
But believe me once the growth and good times slow down....we'll have a tough time. Bec we'll have this HUGE population a majority of which have no discipline and then we will be too far down the road to correct ourselves.
Change with all bad habits takes time. And the time to start is now !
A few weeks ago driving into town on a Sunday, not once but twice now I've seen people break a signal DESPITE there being a very visible cop right after the signal. Both times when the cop has tried waving the car down post the signal the driver has just driven right past the cop !
Last week I was at my gym and hearing an old man who didn't get his treadmill slot on time rant "I've never used my power of being on the club committee. Now I am going to do it so that you people realise you can't take me for granted, blah-blah"
And also a few weeks ago while waiting in line to get my niece one of those hand painted tattoo things at a restaurant.....other parents coolly pushing their lil kids ahead of the waiting line for the tattoo !
This scant disregard for the law, abuse of power and basic courtesy is going to come back to bite us in the ass.
It may seem like a little rant of mine of 3-4 incidents but we see it time and time again day after day........we Indians love to bend rules to the maximum and just be oblivious to others. Be it breaking signals and drinking and driving to always cutting lines at airports, insisting on talking on the phone in planes, honking on no-honking day, throwing trash on the road.......we just love it.
It's all fine right now when India is the "hot" growth story and our time is now and blah-blah.
But believe me once the growth and good times slow down....we'll have a tough time. Bec we'll have this HUGE population a majority of which have no discipline and then we will be too far down the road to correct ourselves.
Change with all bad habits takes time. And the time to start is now !
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