Lifestyle Changes: Now & Before - Visitor's Story

by Jayasree Patnaik
(Bangalore, India)

Certainly I'm not here to discuss the definition of lifestyle..."NO". But simply I can say it's the way a person lives, but certain other socio-cultural factors which may influence lifestyle to some extent. If I compare the past and present lifestyle, I can see a hell-heaven difference. I came across few incidents which made me think about this topic.

I belong to a small town in Orissa and to a middle class family. I can remember when I was in my 5th class, I saw a TV, telephone and in my 12th class, I came across a desktop, though I only started using it in my MBA. And we were so happy to live a simple, normal middle class for one year without any kind of luxury around as our parents gave us whatever we needed. And I can bet if we have to live that kind of one year again, I can do that happily without any hesitation because the exact reason may be we know the values and worth of money.

I have been to villages, witnessed that part of life... greenery, trees, the ghoda gadis and the cart. I remember after school hours spending quality time with my friends, playing in the streets, walking along the roads, riding bicycles. And that time I don't even know what is pocket money! We were very happy to buy the 25 paisa pan pasand, cookies, mangomood, etc. Those days were full of amusing activities.

But there is a drastic change in lifestyle of the urban youth today. A newborn baby observes his/her presence in an air-conditioned room of a big multi-specialties hospital with full of automated equipments. When the baby grows, he/she found a posh house with ACs, LCDs, home theatres, laptops, playstations, automatic toys, 4-wheeler to travel all around and when it comes to the college time, it's about hangouts, partying, pubs, rocking music, i-pods, Levi's jeans, Reebok shoes, Rayban glasses -"Style statement" of the youth today, and they feel if they do not have all these it will affect their image.

Today how many of them would prefer a pen when a laptop is given? So the day is not so far when we will stop using pens and even we will stop walking also because of the vast use of 4-wheelers. I'm more concerned about the changing lifestyle which can even make us more sophisticated and arrogant by neglecting simple human values.

And I'm sure one fine day our kids or their kids will ask about trees, an auto rickshaw, pen, paper, animals, etc. And we can show them only in pictures.

Where are we heading? Well... No answer... Time has to tell!

I don't know whom to blame also. Is it the lifestyle? What do you say?

After all, we are the world! And we make our own world.