Happiness – Is it lost?

I was reading one of those hundreds of articles in the newspaper, condemning the lifestyle of a software engineer. 12-14hrs of being glued to a computer, absolutely no physical activity, long travel hours and nerve-wrecking work pressure are just a few of the evils. A software engineer has all the money he/she could want but no personal life. If a married couple involves both partners being software professionals then God help them; Meeting almost only over weekends and that too spent sleeping, washing clothes or being glued to the idiot box. On the whole, pitiable, monotonous and unworthy are what would surmise a software engineer’s life.

Now, I go back a few years, to my parents’ generation and think of the lifestyle they led. Most middle-class men and women, the same economic class to which the lower rung of the software professionals belong, worked in factories or mills. The working hours were approximately 9hrs/day and inflexible, travel times averaged about 2hrs/day and just a single day off per week. More often than not, that single day off was spent standing in queues in banks or shopping for weekly groceries and an occasional visit to a relative’s house. With all the in-laws, relatives and children to cater to, the husbands and wives rarely got time to talk to each other. Hotels and movies were rare to come by owing to tight budgeting for future savings. Thus proceeding, when the parents finally retired to relax and spend time with family, the kids were all grown and gone.

Going a few more years back, to our grand-parents’ generation – Most of the middle-class had their earning members in government offices or working as farmers. All the money earned went into providing for the bare minimum necessities for the huge families. A sickness in the house and there was no guarantee all the members of the family would sail through safe. The father spent every moment of his waking hours earning for the family and the mother, locked up in the kitchen, cooking. There would be no one to guide the children except ill-informed grand-parents. More often than not, a child or two went astray but the parents would realize it too late for reform.

And now, coming back to our generation, aren’t the software engineers in a much better situation? With just a little planning of time, the happiness quotient can be increased ten-fold compared to our previous generations. A maximum of 6-7hrs of dedicated effort per day is all that is needed at the work front. The rest of the day is all ours!!! Spending an hour with the family in the mornings – yoga, jogging, sports or just taking a walk around the park; Spouses finding common interests(cooking, reading, singing, dancing) and spending an hour on it together in the evenings; Reducing office travel times by renting houses as near to the work places as possible – These are just a few ways to make our lives that wee bit better.

Personally, I feel, every generation has/had its opportunities for happiness. The trick is to grab the opportunities!

A Tender Memory

So often in life, we are thrown together with people we have never known before and forced to interact with them, work with them, help them or accept favors from them. Some such people we forget the moment situation permits us to but some, we remember all our lives. They leave a mark on our hearts; a tender feeling their memories arouse. A protective clasp when you were about to fall, a sympathetic ear when you most needed it but least expected, a calm advice when your mind was in turmoil – a moment of bonding preserved and cherished forever. It’s not friendship and it’s not love – may be just a gift from Him to tell us he is thinking of us!