KEEP IT SIMPLE,SILLY!

Watching the movie 'The Lunchbox', I was drawn into a different world sans all the clutter of modern day technology. The simplicity,the sensitivity and the pure emotions in the simple story of two strangers who get close to each other through exchanging of letters over the lunchbox was so delightful. It made me ponder over the complications that man has imposed on himself through his own intelligence. Technology was meant to make things easier for man,but the opposite is happening right now. We are moving into a complicated, insensitive world where people just do not bother about what's happening to others and relationships are getting more and more fragile by the day.

There is a line in the movie "Most of the problems are not as bad as they seem"! Is this not so true? We find out ways to complicate every little thing and lose sleep over them. Most of the times,what we perceive as problems are just slight deviations from the routine and it's we who create a mountain out of a mole hill and create a real 'problem'. There is no substitute for simplicity, and nothing can be a problem as long as we simplify things for ourselves. There is a story of a girl who was angry with her mother for not getting her the right shoes,until she saw a man with no legs! In this technologically advanced and intensely cut throat era,each person on earth has his own set of problems or worries, and more often than not,he gets bogged down by them. The real test of character is to take them in the right sense and work for solutions,rather than pondering endlessly over the problem.

How do you solve a quadratic equation of the form ax²+bx+c=0? You might use various methods like factoring by inspection, quadratic formula, completing the square. The path you take depends on your choice,but what the examiner wants at the end of the day is the right answer. In this equation, 'x' represents the unknown. 'a','b','c' represent numbers. The goal of this is to arrive at the value of 'x'. So in a way, a,b,c represent the problems you face and x is the solution! How then do you arrive at the value of x? Well,it is pure simplication. You break up the equation in to smaller parts and proceed to find out the value of x.Mathematics in a way mirrors the intricacies of life. When we have done it so successfully in our school and college mathematics, why then can we not apply the same mathematical principles to our lives too? In my maths textbooks, I always used to see "SIMPLIFY the following equation or SOLVE the following". Never did I see something like "Complicate this equation", though I have many times ended up doing just that!  The point is to free ourselves from the unneeded clutter and to keep thinking in terms of simplifying and solving the hurdles we keep facing from time to time.

The advent of mobile phones,emails,social media,instant messaging and the like were supposed to bring people closer. But has that been the case? The answer is a resounding 'NO'. In the past,people used to write heartfelt letters to near and dear ones, which would be preserved for many more years. Now,we have technology which delivers the mails or messages within seconds,but do these mails and messages have the same effect? People use shortened words(sms lingo) which have little or no feelings and would probably be deleted any time.In fact,we even tend to forget close ones' birthdays too,only to be reminded on Facebook! The addiction to television,phones,smartphones,internet and computer  has created such a miserable world that we no longer have the time or the interest to have a real face to face chat with our own people. The spare time will be spent on the gadgets,mobile games and the like and we complain later that time runs very fast these days! It's a fact that time and tide wait for none and one day is equal to twenty four hours from times immemorial. How then do we complain that we do not have enough time? Ultimately, what matters in the end is how we utilise the same twenty four hours for what we intend to do every day. What was supposed to make our lives simpler has actually made it more complicated, devoid of emotions and feelings and has truly made us forget about the simple pleasures of life that money cannot buy.

We spend so much of money to buy the 'In-things', and follow senseless trends to be recognised as a big shot in life. We tend to think of happiness in terms of material things,but are we indeed happy? Are we able to find any degree of inner peace? We scoff at or ignore the things that can make us happy most easily,but in the end,it's those simple pleasures that really give us some degree of peace and contentment. What are those simple pleasures? They vary with each person; for one,it might be watching nature in its resplendent glory,watching sunrise,having a walk in the beach; for another it might be chatting with close ones,lending a helping hand to those in need. The goal is to find out such free pleasures and indulge in them everyday for some time because happiness,peace and contentment is within us. The answers to our problems are also within the recesses of the mind. It just needs an uncomplicated mind to 'FIND' them.  

There is a compelling need to reinforce the concepts of simplicity,hope and positivity within us and bring to the fore many ignored facets of life. As the docomo ad goes, "Keep it simple,silly", that's a profound mantra for today's times. Hope we see a nicer,gentler,kinder and a simpler world to live in and our efforts should be in that direction. Mahatma Gandhi had told "Be the change you want to see in the world". Well, it first starts with every single one of us!

What are you waiting for? Share the blog with your friends and family through the 'free' pleasures of today's times: WhatsApp, Facebook! No pun intended! :)