Use and throw?

Gone are the days of carefully kept ancient Fiats, now the great Indian Middle Class changes its Maruti every three years … if not sooner. Mom’s delicate and (durable) saris are now torn into dupattas, worn for a year and then given to the maid.

Granny’s old jewelry was melted down long ago, to be changed into more trendy styles. Gran’ma herself changes her look every season now! If she is a rich granny, well, you obviously keep her well. But God forbid, if she’s poor… The purana model may be shunted off to an old age home if she doesn’t suit the mood of her children!

“Why not?” Reason the hip-20 somethings. “After all, you have to evolve with the times yaar!”… Wise words from a cigarette-smoking anorexic nymphet who just “dumped” her boyfriend.

“Dumping — a word which once applied only to garbage — now describes what we do with anything that is not quite up-to-date. Maybe your grandma, your lipsticks, last year’s shoes, your vehicle and of course the one who you think stole your heart sometime back. Dumping is `in’.

With millions and millions of options, arrogant self-confidence and most importantly, unabashed individualism, concepts like slowing down, caring, relaxing, preserving are pathetically passe … Mere words in the vocabulary of pampered middle aged brats who’ve made meditation a fashionable word. Rows and rows of consumer products stacked on expensive supermarket shelves are never there for long. Even cash has become “throw-away”. The papa who gives a couple of hundred to his son knows that it will be spent in an hour.

Sonny’s girl friend has got to drink her Coke from a can. Doesn’t matter that later on, the poor guy takes the cans home and his mother grows a money plant in them! Today’s smart, skirt clad, Cielo-driving hep mum thinks nothing of throwing away the kids’ T-shirts on account of a little cold drink stain. What those kids learn about recycling when they grow up is anybody’s guess! In these fast times, who’s got the thought or initiative to recycle? Its all use and throw!

Consider music. Techno and Indi-Pop are the current rulers. Each cassette comes for an average for Rs 65. How many times does the purchaser listen to it? It’s out within a month or two at most! After that the only place they are played are joints calling themselves discos.

In this scenario, the best placed are the yuppy double income, no kids couples. You can see them partying out on weekends in the city’s many restaurants and the newly added night spots. “Another Malibu for me and Campari for the lady…” They’re loutish enough to call out their orders and take perverse pride in getting publicly drunk, leaving without touching the lavish meal they’ve ordered.

In fact, history is witness- whatever was not preserved properly, well, has either crumbled hopelessly, or is in the midst of chaos. Remember Bharatvarsha- the great land, called the golden sparrow in the ancient times? So many regions like the present Sri Lanka, Afganistan and Pakistan were a part of it. But self-absorbed guardians could not preserve the nation’s essence properly, and what happened? Take a look at any of the above mentioned countries. Is there any peace anywhere? Only the parent body-India, is intact, it continues to emit peace and joy. WHY? Because we have been “recycling” the divinity present in each one of us. This use and throw culture is what has destroyed the innocence of many, ruined families and doesn’t seem to stop even now. Why did AIDS sprout and killed so many of us? Simple- we just “used” and “threw” our partners away! Mother nature has a fantastic way of getting even with people who try to act smart with her. Its very easy to preach. Who can not do it? But I quitestrongly feel that the time to preach is passe. We foolish humans need to get up and preserve each other RIGHT NOW.. “Use and throw” means not thinking about the future, it means shameless individualism and living in a fool’s paradise. Do we ever stop and think about where we are heading? Why are we so self-absorbed? Isn’t history repeating itself?
(The writer is a sub-editor with The Indian Express)