Getting rich to get richer

I am writing this as I am reminded of a conversation with a friend wherein I said ‘What’s the point in buying an Ipod and shelling out some 10 grands on something that we barely even have time for, except for while travelling to and from work in the bus.’ So I spend almost a month’s salary on an mp3 player that I barely have time to use. The same holds true for a digicam. I never took a lot of pictures for around 10 years between 1995 & 2005 unless it was an occasional trip with the family to the North or a hill station or a family wedding and stuff like that. But since the time Orkut & Facebook have invaded my surfing zone with the in-your-face updates about which gang of friends is partying or dancing or drinking or visiting which new place in the country or abroad with pictures splashed across their photo albums, I wanna buy a digicam too coz I wanna do the same. Commercialization has lived much beyond its target shelf-life and encroached upon an un-thought of modus operadi. I’m sure the makers of Sony Cybershot never in the wildest of their wildest dreams thought about this form of cross-selling strategy that has been nothing more than a stupendously successful fallout.

Commercialization spelt another new craze for us mortals: assets and investments, be it property, real estate, equities or whatever else can possibly be traded. So, I earn some 10 lacs p.a and I’m willing to buy some property, forsake the joy of splurging my hard-earned money on something meaningful or atleast on something that means to me (like a trip to the Carribean). But hey no, I don’t do that, I go ahead and invest hoping with all my heart and soul for the prices to rise to make me more richer. And then when they do rise, I indulge in another bout of trading and buying and selling and reinvesting coz I wana get more outta this thing. So I forsake another dream (like buying myself a Lancer: I’m aware these are materialistic dreams too, but being human as we are, on an equitable scale though, the desire to get more affluent weighs more.)

I have found people who can come up with absolutely clear reasons in their defense. But fact remains, we are probably deluding ourselves into believing we want something that we don’t really need. So, to my friend who indulged in a conversation with me relevant to the aforementioned, all I can say is ‘Do not justify to me. It doesn’t matter. I’m probably a different version of you, myself. Reconsider and think clearly.’

I saw this movie once called Failure to Launch wherein the male protagonist is a dealer in boats. His friend expresses his desire to buy a boat and he tells him ‘Dude, lemme tell u since you’re my friend, u don’t wanna buy a boat, you just like the idea of buying a boat.’ So I presume, his business was to fool people into believing that they do wanna buy a boat. Fairly reasonable, I must say.

My point here is: I am no different from the rest of the species, like we have carnal desires no matter how sexually prudish we act, same way somewhere deep down we are hedonistic people nurturing dreams for material possessions. I’m not judging by saying if it’s right or wrong. The truth remains it’s all a matter of sating yourself. Your threshold of complacency can only be defined by you. We’re all aware of it, but yet we all like the idea of owning more than what we exactly need like Matthew McConaughey aptly put it. It’s about the perception, the mirage that we build for ourselves, coz if we look past the obscure, we shall be able to see clearly.