Wednesday, December 18, 2002

The Management of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

Here's an eternal question to start with: What do we need in life to be happy? Power? Money?? Bill Clinton was the most powerful man on the earth till recently. But we know for sure that he had the most unpleasant moments that any man could have which would haunt for life. Every one of us would have sometime or the other realized that money cannot buy happiness. So, what else is it that can make us happy?

We have the answer written all around us - in the songs that we hear, in the lives that we study, in the magazines and books that we read, in the words of wisdom from great people, in the movies that we watch, everywhere. Just that we don't care to pay enough attention to take such things to heart. In our rush to achieve and excel, they all seem too philosophical, routine, hackneyed, mundane, impractical, and unworthy.

On the contrary, I feel it's not worth "achieving the impossible" at the cost of a happier life. One of the old telugu song goes, "there's no need to arrest the wind and hide it (one of the demons, Hiranyakashyap is said to have "arrested" the wind God and brought him under his control; we probably do the same now in the name of air-conditioning) there's no point in troubling the already troubled and then doing holy ceremonies (people wait for a "chance", when the other person is in trouble to vent out their anger, jealousy, and whatever, right?). Here's the song for those who know telugu:

గాలిని బంధించి, శాసించి, దాచిన పని లేదు
దీనుల హింసించి, క్రతువుల సేయగా పని లేదు..

Everything in this world - achievement, money, power, makes us happy only to a certain point. After that, the law of diminishing marginal utility kicks-in. So, a good strategy is not to reach this point of diminishing marginal utility in any aspect: by spreading our resources on a very wide variety of aspects, not taking anything too seriously and more importantly, taking it slow. THIS IS MY FIRST LESSON.

That's probably the reason why children are happier than elders. They are far far away from reaching this point of diminishing marginal utility in any area. It's not because they don't have any responsibilities. There are many adults who don't take any responsibilities but are very very unhappy and there are many more adults who take many responsibilities but are still happy. So, the lesson is to retain this "childishness" - getting amused by simple things, being simple in thought and action, and the like.

Remember this couplet I wrote a couple of weeks ago?
चाँद दिनों के तो है हम मेहमान यहाँ
इतने में आप है ज़ल्दी में क्यों

I found the appended poem in one of the mails forwarded to me by a friend last week. It sounded like an elaborated English version of the couplet. It is supposed to have been written by a little girl on her deathbed. Unfortunately, most of such thoughts are understood and realized when people are on the verge of giving up hope for the "material world". That's why I wonder -

यह ज़िन्दगी के मकसद समझने को लगे ज़िन्दगी भर
फिर यह ज़िन्दगी हमें देना ही क्यों, तडपाना ही क्यों

We should not let that happen. We should enjoy life when we still have a chance. Can we enjoy a movie without first understanding and appreciating it? I guess it's the same with life too. After all, movies are these mini abstractions of life, right? So, let's take time to understand, appreciate and enjoy God's creation that's around us. It's always easy to start with simple ones first - the lifeless mountains and waterfalls - like in Yosemite - or the sky and the buildings near our home - or the music and the lyrics inside our home. We can then extend our understanding and appreciation to the thoughtless life like plants and animals. By then, I'm pretty sure, it gets easier to understand and appreciate people, as they are and life will seem a lot better.

So, let's start paying attention to the routine stuff that we just took for granted all these days - as told in the following poem.

Sunday, November 17, 2002

Sher-o-Shayari written by me

Wah-wa ke hum qabil hi hai, Wah-wa to hamein mil jayenge bhi
Par yeh dard-e-dil ko pahchanenge kaun, Ise marham lagayenge kaun?


Pyar jathaana hamein aatha hi nahin
Dil-e-nadaan yeh samajhtha hi nahin


Patharon se kya bolen yeh dil ki zubaan
Samajhne ko chahiye fariste yahan


gam bhar ke zindagi se hamen lena hi kya
mitti ki duniya se jhagadke hamen paana hai kya
mohabbat ki tulna paison se karna bhi kya
court-kacheri ke darwaaze khad-khadana bhi kya


Ikraar karen ya inkaar Karen
Kabhi kabhi to muskuraaya Karen


Thoo mujhe qabool mai tujhe qabool
Phir kyon huyi hamse aisee bhool


Yeh zindagi ke maksad samajhne ko lage zindagi bhar
Phir yeh zindagi hamein dena hi kyon, tadpaana hi kyon


Chand dinon ke to hai hum mehmaan yahaan
Itne mein aap hai zaldi mein kyon


Yeh laalach ki laathi, yeh nafrath ki salaakhe
Inhi se qaid kiya hai duniya ko saare


Paison se kyon banaye mahlein yahan
Mohabbat se to banta hai khubsoorat jahan


Itna bhi mat le dil pe tu janab-e-ali
Kaun jaane kya kal hai manzoor-e-khudayi


Mohabbat abhi basta hai filmon mein, aisee sheron mein
Logon ke dilon mein jaga hi nahin, zindagi mein fursat hi nahin


Daulat se chaltha hai to chalne do duniya
Hamen to chalna hai apne karmon ke kashti mein
Bhavsaagar ke uspaar


Sheron ke duniya mein mai mirza ghalib nahin
Shares ke duniya mein Harshad Mehta bhi nahin
Paison ke duniya mein mera pahchaan hi kahan
Mohabbat ke bas ek wafadaar hoon sahin


Beje ko lagaaya hai sabse oopar khudah
Kya woh jaanta nahin dil ki hai baath meethi sadaa


Kya qayamat hai wahin jahan hamein dikhta nahin
Mai kahata hoon qayamat hai seene mein chupaaya kahin


Dil se hua hai dil ka milaap
Phir kis baath ki hai aapko aitheraaz


Vatan se hyderabadi hoon, peshe se computer karamchari
dharam se karamvaadi hoon, aur dil ke sachche Hindustani


Mughulon ke dil saa hai yeh urdu zubaan
Taj to kya simat sakta hai is mein saara jahan


Waqt rukti hai kum, guzarti hai zyaada
Mushkilat rukte hai zyaada, guzarte hai kum
Zindagi ka to hai yeh silsila
Karen kya hum iske siwa, filhaal to kahen al-bidah


Khudah-afiz,
Vishnu Pendyala