Dear Friends,
One of our relative’s families (my aunt/uncle) is very rich. I used to like their reception during the functions they celebrate. I don’t remember missing any. Of course they used to celebrate countless number of lavish functions spanning 4-5 days (like the one in ‘hum apke hain kaun’). In fact I got to get the opportunity to meet all my other relatives during these get-togethers. The arrangements were exceptional and none of our relatives would miss them. If the venue is different then they used to reserve train tickets to all of us, breakfast, lunch, dinner. My aunt (the rich hostess) used to say that she has prepared say 20 items and had kept a side Rs.2 lac just for miscellaneous expenses(15 years back). They used to arrange hotel rooms, other services besides the normal transportation from function palace to the guest houses .We all used to praise their money, their status, their generosity. Everyone used to swarm my uncle just to show others how close they are to him. Days continued and there were some unforeseen incidents took place. Also there were lots of down serge in their business. Gradually they made losses and fell into debt traps. Now the other relatives stopped praising them. Started commenting on them (it is hot news right?), some people even became cruel enough to take revenge for their past wraths.I am sure the above case is very common in most of our relatives. We all know that these things are bound to happen and as they say ’sukh me sab sathi, dukh me na koi’.Here’s another incident. My wife has a friend and after a long time we found that their family is in Chennai. We located their address with difficulty and finally reached there. We talked with them for an hour and while we were returning she also accompanied us to the main gate (there is nothing wrong in that, but coming from 5th floor to see us off is something different).Then she was casually showing us their car. I got an answer for the question in my mind. Whether we had / hadn’t seen their car (10 years back) our attitude towards them would have been indifferent.We all spend a lot of money, time, effort to show off our wealth, status, rank, greatness etc. We try to compete with others in celebrating functions and some times overdo it. We all build homes and have extra guest rooms too. Have we ever asked one question? Whether we invite people to our home, do we invite them in to our heart? Whether we have some people who can really feel happy for our wealth or feel sad & supportive, when we are falling down? What do we achieve by showing off? What do we achieve by feeling temporary pride? I am simply talking about this unnecessary show off. Now-a-days most of the things are available in market on Installments and Credit cards. The standard of living is still has definitely risen. By showing off the things we are making fools of ourselves. If we purchase a car, TV, Fridge etc., they are for us and not for status. If we concentrate more on social relationships rather than social status, we can really get the happiness and the relationship we want. I am not against any functions/parties but believe me now-a-days these are just celebrated as some means of showing off status/wealth/rank. Remember our greatness is ours and we need not to show it off. We spend a lot in showing off our status , if that money is spent on helping the needy (in your relatives/friends/close circle) we can get the people/relationship and as we all know there can be nothing happier than seeing lot of satisfied, happy faces.
Thanks and Regards
Srinivas Darbha PMP, CISSP, 6Sigma Greenbelt & Esteem Professional, Competent Toastmaster and Leader