Expectations....

Expectations....

From life, from wife, from parents, from siblings, from boss, from friends, from oneself. Hope or Expectations ! Apologies for using those words in an interchangeable manner but undoubtedly that's what keeps us going as individuals in this journey of life.

Some of these are fulfilled whereas we feel we've been short-changed on some others. Life goes on no doubt. We however begin to take a cautious approach whenever we feel we've been let down by those whom we expected from and find that it was not fulfilled. Why to have any expectations from anyone ?

I realised this early in life. There was an incident after which I dramatically reduced my expectations from anyone of anything. Though the incident itself was not so dramatic that I need to mention it here but the lesson I took from it was quite early.

Even after that though I've made my share of mistakes since I had some expectation from someone. Though one thing is for sure, I consciously attempt not to expect from someone or something.

Half of the problems in this world take place since someone expects something from another person. This is only half the problem, when its not fulfilled is where the crux of the problem lies.

Wife feels that her husband will behave in the way she expects but he does not. The husband feels wife should understand & expects her to think the way he thinks. Its not simple.

Children expect parents will go to any extent to fulfill their needs. Parents expect the child to behave in a way that they desire. Parents expect their children will go on to fulfill their dreams. Child expects his/her parents will understand him/her.

Hmmm I expect that someone will come & read this :)

Santo

Yep ! That's how I look in November 2005 ! Thanks to Sunil, my friend at office who clicked this on his camera phone & sent to me, I could put it on the blog for the world to see me.

That jeans....

Yeah, one appreciates the good and not so good things much later in life.

I was remembering the other day as I was gifted a good dark blue denim jeans by my mom, dad & bhai on the Diwali. I was reminscing the old times when we were a lower middle class family. I was in the IXth grade and I had been gifted my first jeans. It had ICE written on the rear right pocket. It was a slightly striped shade in blue denim.

Now I appreciate why mom used to buy clothes, which we fondly referred to as the 'Panchvarshiya Yojna' (5 year plan). I mean the first two years, we had to necessarily use belt as it would be 2 inch larger waist. For the next one year it would just fit right but by that time it would have faided and dishevelled. Next two years would be a little tight on the waist but we used to manage.

The fact is that those times dad did not earn so handsomely as to we could then afford new clothes every six months/year. So the clothes would be meant for atleast 2-3 year time frame. Me & my brother have definately come to appreciate the value of money. I really think sometimes the typical Indian middle class would never be able to come above the monetary issues to be able to think about other larger issues in life. The middle class used to give a similar dream to its child. Every mom & dad want that the kid should get educated enough to land a respectable & well paying job to be able to take care of his / her needs and add to this fascinating story of the great Indian middle class.

Towards the late nineties and early twenty first century (post 2000 era), as the era of liberalisation & globalisation took a firm shape and the 'aam' (common) Indian man began to be impacted. However it was not until late 2002 & afterwards that the middle classes were tri-furcated into the upper, middle & lower middle classes that was depending on the segmentation upon the salary a person would draw, with a person upto 5000-10000 in the lower middle class, 10000-15000 as the 'middle' middle class and anything upwards of that getting qualified as the upper middle class.

Coming back to that jeans, it was the first & the only jeans I had till I entered college. Even in college I worn it throughout till the 2nd-3rd year and by the time I was in the 4th year, I was a rebel enought to cut it in half & use it as shorts at home. But mind you I could have easily worn it for another 2-3 years.

There is another piece of cloth I would like to include in this 'Tale of Fame', I had a cargo I bought in the year 2000. Needless to say, it was the first cargo & till last year this distinction was held by that cargo. Strangely whereas all other trousers of waist size 34 I have dumped long back but this piece of clothing I miraculously happen to fit in everytime though I am bordering on the waist size 37. This is of course by choice.

Now I am in a position to buy a new set of branded cloth for my family & myself every month. But yes thanks to experiences such as the one described I have in life come about to appreciate the value of money, proper definition of 'need' and an attempt to focus upon the larger issues in life.

History repeats itself..as the famous saying goes. Before college I had all trousers and one jeans, in college I had all jeans & one trouser and then in job it was again all trousers & one jeans. Though now I am attempting to strike a balance with 4-5 jeans and almost double of that quantity as trousers.

Thanks mom & dad, I am living your dream but also wish to make my dreams a reality and live it someday.