There is a whole world of knowledge out there of which I am blissfully ignorant but I thought I knew my words at least. Even that consolation has suffered a few blows in the past, as followers of these chronicles know, and it suffered yet another blow recently.
I had always prided myself on the determination with which I pursue a life of watching TV and reading books and, now, someone tells me that I cannot call it determination. What the heck? I decided, as usual, to take recourse to my wise friend on this matter.
The problem, though, with my friend is that he never ever sides me.
"So, WHY can't I call it determination, damn it?"
"THAT is mere self-indulgence. What is so great about doing it?"
"What is so great about eating bottles, if you like eating them? Those guys tout their determination to eat the most bottles on TV and no-one objects."
"Well - they provide entertainment. What is the use of what you are doing to anyone except you?"
"Well - if people want to come and get entertained by watching me read books, am I stopping them? Just because they do not choose to do it, you question my determination?"
"Come on! Do not be fixated on just the fringe. There are lot of other examples of people pursuing worthwhile ambitions and not merely indulging themselves."
"Like who? You? Your pursuit of your ambition to become the CEO of your company is determination? Like you are not doing it because you want a bigger car, a huge house, business class travel and foreign vacations in five star hotels. AND what is all that if not self-indulgence?"
"Forget what I do with the money I earn. Concentrate on what I do to earn it. The social purpose I serve"
"Hmm! Really? I cannot see that the existence on one less soft drink in the world - or even all soft drinks - is such a huge loss to Society."
"Ah! You are incorrigible. Why am I arguing with you? IF Society chooses to pay money for your doing something, then what you are doing has social purpose and a pursuit of that is determination. Otherwise, it is not."
NOW - I got it. If I get paid to do anything, I am doing something worthwhile, even if what I am doing is spamming people with porn-site links. If I am not paid, then it is not.
I am NOW determined to pursue a life of reading books and watching TV, till they become socially relevant!
I had always prided myself on the determination with which I pursue a life of watching TV and reading books and, now, someone tells me that I cannot call it determination. What the heck? I decided, as usual, to take recourse to my wise friend on this matter.
The problem, though, with my friend is that he never ever sides me.
"So, WHY can't I call it determination, damn it?"
"THAT is mere self-indulgence. What is so great about doing it?"
"What is so great about eating bottles, if you like eating them? Those guys tout their determination to eat the most bottles on TV and no-one objects."
"Well - they provide entertainment. What is the use of what you are doing to anyone except you?"
"Well - if people want to come and get entertained by watching me read books, am I stopping them? Just because they do not choose to do it, you question my determination?"
"Come on! Do not be fixated on just the fringe. There are lot of other examples of people pursuing worthwhile ambitions and not merely indulging themselves."
"Like who? You? Your pursuit of your ambition to become the CEO of your company is determination? Like you are not doing it because you want a bigger car, a huge house, business class travel and foreign vacations in five star hotels. AND what is all that if not self-indulgence?"
"Forget what I do with the money I earn. Concentrate on what I do to earn it. The social purpose I serve"
"Hmm! Really? I cannot see that the existence on one less soft drink in the world - or even all soft drinks - is such a huge loss to Society."
"Ah! You are incorrigible. Why am I arguing with you? IF Society chooses to pay money for your doing something, then what you are doing has social purpose and a pursuit of that is determination. Otherwise, it is not."
NOW - I got it. If I get paid to do anything, I am doing something worthwhile, even if what I am doing is spamming people with porn-site links. If I am not paid, then it is not.
I am NOW determined to pursue a life of reading books and watching TV, till they become socially relevant!
Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteYou forgot writing interesting stuff :(--as a part of your pursuit i mean.
ReplyDeleteThanks Indu for the compliment. THAT would count as entertainment and would not suit the tenor of this post :)
DeleteThey way it works is really: what *they* do is worthwhile. What *you* ( or I ) do is not.
ReplyDeletenice one.
Hahaha! THAT is true, too :)
DeleteAn important point made so well! Thank heavens for determined people like you :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beloo! AT least I am accepted as a determined person :)
DeleteYou just described my notion of the ideal life - a life of reading books and watching TV!
ReplyDeleteJoin the club, Naba! :)
Deleteagree with naba.. Reading book in a room of my own and watching tv...
ReplyDeleteI wonder would your friend consider - primary child caregivers(mother/father) in families who do not get paid doing any good for the society, is it ??
THAT and a lot else is the thrust of this post. Does a primary school teacher do much less for Society than someone working in financial services? Does a nurse contribute much less to Society than a cricket player. etc. etc. :)
DeleteInteresting Suresh... The same applies to the term success in society.... the more you earn the more successful you are
ReplyDeleteSuccess is the ultimate social relevance :)
DeleteYou would never spam people regardless of the determination or the lure of money!!
ReplyDeleteI won't, Alka, unless with my own blog posts :)
DeleteWell, if only someone paid us to read books, sleep and eat - life would have been ideal!
ReplyDeleteWon't it, that way, Akanksha? :)
DeleteSir u right so often and thts not possible if ur not determined,in ur case determined to put ur thoughts across and so well tht it's inspiring to say the least and who said reading books isn't passion and who says watching TV these days is fun :) ...i get to learn new words evrytime i read ur posts,tht increases my vocabulary and i like how u frame ur sentences so thts the greater good ur doing,i'm sure they're many who learn from ur posts and tell ur friend tht blog is popular inspite of being a personal one tht's enuf to show tht ppl read ur blog bcos it's interesting and bcos u manage to make an impact which is far better thn living jst so as to earn and spend (i'm not saying tht u don't earn,i'm sure u do) ...isn't doing wht u want make u better person,less a threat to the world right?
ReplyDeleteThanks Seema! That's great to hear.
DeleteOMG ... wht a stupid typo in my comment ...
Deletei meant to say "u write so often" NOT "u right so often" sorry.
:)
DeleteThanks Ashwini! If only they would come and pay to watch to me :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Suresh ! Something I can relate to completely these last 2 years of my career break..Making people believe your are doing something when you aren't earning much is an uphill task :D but then after a while I guess you forget about them
ReplyDeleteThat's how it eventually works out, Ash! You forget about them :)
DeleteIt's true - people think anything related to money has sense. As Indu Ma'am said - writing is also something you should take pride in.
ReplyDeleteThere is lot else I take pride in, Saru! Else would I have deliberately stopped earning money? :)
DeleteGood one, Suresh. Guess that is how the world is. Here too I commented once and it disappeared.
ReplyDeleteYes - that's the world we live in :)
DeleteI am determined to comment....can I expect some payment? :p
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, now that I think about it, I think determination comes into the picture when you actively and consciously put effort into doing something you know you are not very good at...maybe when you acquire a new skill set, or achieve a status/position that you previously only dreamt of getting. Guess it also counts as determination when you have to struggle to make time to pursue your interests.
Your determination to make time for yourself then is determination indeed. Your friend is wrong.
Purpose achieved, if I made you think :) THAT I seek to do under all the humor - to make people think afresh about the things they take for granted as true :)
DeleteHehe..but then watching TV does need determination I feel. I mean...some days I have to decide that I wont study and just spend it on social media. :P
ReplyDeleteAwesome as always.
Thanks Tanim
Delete