Money means security here

The seed for the following blog is a recent argument with my girlfriend. The story begins when she asked me to buy her a train ticket form Delhi to Ludhiana. The date of journey was pretty close, as a result of which, the 'best' train for this trip - The Amritsar Shatabdi, was already booked. Since the trip could not be postponed, I went for, what I thought at that time to be the second best option, the famous 'Garib Rath'.

The Garib Rath is a relatively ordinary train. Though it boasts of only AC compartments and above, but as the name suggests, it an inexpensive train which travels through the hinterlands of Bihar before reaching reaching Delhi and then finally travels from Delhi to Amritsar.

My argument began when my GF expressed an immediate dislike to the train branding it as a low-class train compared to the 'so-called' high-class Shatabdi. I flatly disagreed with her. My point of contention was not the fact that it offered transport to poorer people, but the fact that she segregated people so casually on the basis of the train they travel in. I have always believed that the 'class' distinction is a myth. People are generally good. I have personally found train journeys to be a breeding ground for rich discussions which partially owe they genesis to the varied 'classes' of people involved.

But alas, as is frequently the case, she offered an argument which was beyond my logical skills to defeat. During her brief journey, she was hit upon by two guys! One of them was relatively cultured and offered conversational pieces to engage the attention of the subject. The other was more uncouth, said less but stared much more. Now, is she right in assuming that Shatabdi would have had a better set of people? I would have to say yes. Is she right in assuming that a cheaper ticket usually reflects a baser level of mentality in people? I would still have to say yes.

What is an even more obvious fact is that women in this country need to spend more for travel not for the sake of comfort but for the sake of feeling safe while traveling. A guy would choose an AC coach over a sleeper because he wants to travel more comfortably. But I would imagine, that the kind of people he will come across is lower down in his priority list for choosing between the two options. But its not the same for women, especially single women. This is unfortunate!

Do muscles need money ?

The middle class have big problems. And I am not talking about the conventional ones -meeting large expenses with small pockets. I am talking about the problems that they don't realise they have. The problems which would typically elicit a response of 'ignorance-bliss-folly-wise'.

I live in Gurgaon. It is an urban hell-hole. Try looking at it on Google-earth and you'll realise what I'm talking about. All concrete, no greenery. But there is another, equally sorry aspect, to this city. It is the glaring absence of any social-architecture - places where people wind-down after a day's work and pursue the stuff that they really earn there money to do.

But then why was I ranting about the middle class to begin with, right? Well, if you look closely at this city, you'll find the sports facilities and the parks that you are looking for. But they have been developed as privileges for the filthy rich rather than healthy retreats for all. Today, as I was driving by such a 'recreational club', my inadvertent remark was 'its good to be rich'. But then I suddenly checked myself! Why do I need to be rich to play a game of tennis? Why do I need to be rich to work-out in a gym? I could easily lead myself into believing that these activities are expensive and hence out of the reach of a middle class pocket or more importantly, a middle class time schedule. After all, many of us have been reared-up believing that money, or the pursuit of it, is the ultimate point of life. And since the rich have the money, they can afford to waste their time playing games and working-out in gyms. What a load of crap! We just don't know why we are earning what we are earning. We earn for the future and we f*** the present. We earn for a fictitious wife, we earn for a fictitious child, we earn for an impending disease or we earn for an MBA degree. That's what we do - THE MIDDLE CLASS! And what happens to this middle class when they've finally arrived in life - when they've finally met all the goals they had been saving their money for? A picture like this:

"Arre Sharmaji, humne to inhee beevi bacchon ko bada karne mein apni zindagi laga dee, varna hum bhi the aadmi kaam ke"

Conversation ?!

How important is conversation ?!! What is the reason behind it ? Why did it develop ? Has it evolved with society? Was there a need for it to evolve or has it just grown beyond control?

I dont get it ! I really dont get it ! As far as I understand, it grew as a medium to convey important information to each other. But as it appears, with an evolving social structure, the reason behind it has distorted beyond proportion.

There are three types of conversations (according to someone). The worst kind of conversations are the ones in which you discuss about other people. Then come the conversations where you discuss about other events. Finally come the conversations where you discuss about issues. As you would expect, the level of entertainment associated which each type of conversation follows the exact opposite order. But still, the point is that normally, there are reasons behind a conversation. However, the more I see around me, the more I find conversations without any purpose at all. The only purpose I see is to pass time.

Yes, that is what it has evolved into. A medium to pass time. And it is such a pleasurable way to do so that people indulge in it without realising that it is actually an indulgence. You eat to much of chocolate, you lose precious health. You indulge in too much of conversation, you lose precious time. And its not just the time you're having the conversation that you lose but also the time spent thinking about it afterwards. What can you do in that time? Well, if you dont have anything else to do, at least you can spend that time finding other stuff to do.

Having said that, I dont deny the importance of conversation. It is probebly its regular supply that keeps us sane and social. In solitary confinement, which is one of the highest degrees of punishment, that is what you take away. All Im saying is that it should not turn into a hobby!