The only thing constant
in life is change. Time is the yardstick for this infinite change. Time value of money talks about
reduction in value of money over time and there are formulae for measuring it. But
its not just money that is losing value over time. What about time value of
culture? Time value of self indulgence? Time value of ‘values’? And last but
not the least time value of ‘time’ itself.
Have
we transcended from being the content and careful individuals to the rigid and
resistant mannequins?
This
article gives a new insight on modernity- Of looking at the individuals and the
changes within them instead of outside. This can be done by comparing the days
that ‘are’ with the days that ‘were’ over a lot of factors like utilization of
the 24 hours, satisfaction levels, happiness index factor,depth of
relationships,self indulgence etc.
They
say the lesser options you have, the better off you are! With hardly any medium
of reaching out to people, there were more face to face interactions. The earlier
times were more about togetherness and every occasion was a huge celebration, not
a mere excuse to get together. What about the depth in the ways of showing
importance?
Now
that we have a lot of options, birthdays are about the number of posts and the
outings are about clicking pictures to be tagged. Today people are more into
building virtual relationships. Friendship now is more about quantifying
(number of friends/followers), than giving time to personal interactions.The
core of the interactions is lost in the eye of this virtual cyclone.
The
change has not only captured the Gen- Y but also the generation that preceded them.
Nuclear family is gradually becoming the most viable option. Decision making
follows a very individualistic approach as compared to the level of involvement
in earlier times. The steadiness in work life (job satisfaction/security) has
been replaced by the frequent switching (jobs) due to ever growing personal
demands.
There
was an inherent resistance to change in the past, which now is being
overshadowed by the mindset of aping anything that is modern. One could
attribute the above changes to the visible external influences of modernity,
but what about the changes within? Could it be that these internal factors are
shaping the face of modernity that we see?
Concluding
this, I would give you something to ponder on – Don’t these internal changes
provide the foundation for the concrete jungle, which allows modernity to
thrive?
