Karanvir Gupta
Consumption in itself is self-defining. We are busy doing it since ages. The first word that would come to your mind while thinking of consumption would be food, the next immediate might be drinks and to some it would be air, one thing which we consume incessantly and unconsciously. But consumption is not confined to mere intake of food and water, we are consuming literature, art, culture, values, stories and legacies of our ancestors since times immemorial. And the consumption of today is taking altogether a new devious form which has already engulfed the man and it will not be late before it would hog the mankind too.
Amazed? Yeah, you should be! Have you wondered how much metric tons of artificially conditioned air you inhale? How much time hours of advertisements of endless list of commercials you are consuming? How much amount of precious time you spend on social media? How much neurons you destroy unnecessarily while whatsapping to people who are physically involved somewhere else. The first question that would erupt after reading all these questions would be how is it a mindless consumption?
Well, I do not want to sound anachronistic but would like to bring to notice of your blinded eyes that how this consumption is mindless and equally devastating. The commercials that are aired on the television brainwash our original choices and taste and eventually kill our creativity of deciphering and innovating new things. Our brains become restrictedby the fact that this is all that can be created and made for consumption. Seldom the thought goes into the process that why we are consuming it.
While we are on social media or chatting with a friend through whatsapp or for that matter any other messenger, we are mindlessly consumed by a conversation with a person who is not with us in any dimension of space. And it is deemed mindless because we are not mindful of the people who have taken time out to be with us at that moment of time.
We have gone totally mindless about what are we consuming and more importantly why we are consuming. And consequentially what impact all such consumption will have in the long run. When you see around, there are four cars for four people in a house, how is it justified. Parents are buying ipads, providing their 4-5 year old kids with iphones and tablets. Only if they knew it neither enhances their audacious display of wealth nor their kids’ smartness. It makes the kids all the more aloof and isolated and anti-social in nature.
From our attires to accessories, from television to tablets/phablets, from postcards to umpteen social networking sites; we are enslaved by things which we really don’t need. And even if we need, we seem to have forgotten how much would be sufficient for us. Never gets enough, nay? We are constantly on the path of consumption-mindless consumption. Our splurge with so many things at a time makes us so unconscious about anything that we consume or are consuming that even a nibble of food that goes inside is unnoticed.
We are constantly thinking while we are driving forgetting to feel the adrenaline rush and enjoy the traffic outside, we are watching television but our attention remains hooked to the last advert we saw, for the sake, we are talking to people sitting with us but in reality our eyeballs are hooked to the number of likes and comments our new dp has managed to garner. We are studying but our mind is doing the rounds of that latest crush we had or the next outing we are planning, we are partying but our attention is to what others are wearing. We are doing so many things but in reality we are not absorbing the fun and happiness of either of the acts. All what we are doing is MINDLESSLY ABSORBING things and spending life. We are not living it. Alas!
Are we at home or outside, the ACs stay on; we need it or not, water is still running; we are moving or at signal, the fuel keeps igniting; we need houses or not, trees being cut; We have entered the vicious circle of mindless consumption where we have not taken a pause to gauge if what is the return on investment and what impact all this consumption will have on us as a generation in the long run. We are consuming things actively and passively; internally as well externally; materialistic and spiritually; giving and receiving constantly but unfortunately enough sans any realization. We have entered a zone of weird numbness and are stoned to the vagaries of so called modern world. Caveat Emptor: I am not against the use of technology or against the development of society or nation as a whole. All I insist is on prudence, a self-check on use of resources and mindful consumption of facilities, wealth and technology. To live life freely and not bound by the confinements of million thoughts but to derive pleasure from even a single act you do.This will go long in our favour and for future generations to come.
Stay mindful, Stay Raw, Keep Consuming and Live Life!!
(The writer is a student at Indian Institute of Management Shillong)

I looked at the heartrending picture of an Iraqi child in the day’s newspaper. Her hair in disarray, grey-blue eyes melting in tears and mouth open in a silent wail, she supported her aslant face by her tiny palm as if unable to bear a terrible blow.  The unshed tears of the little girl showed the pain of her country-folk: handsome, lively, honest-to-their-faith people you may find in any other part of the world. What wrong have Iraqis committed to deserve such misery?
‘It is not entirely for the wrongs they have themselves committed; they are suffering because others decreed that they suffer,’ said Kaga Bhushundiji from behind my back.
I turned round and asked him to explain.
‘Son,’ began Kagaji, ‘suffering does not always come from one’s own karma.  Frequently, you mortals become pawns in the power-play of the mighty and are made to suffer because of their whims.  Iraqis are struck with such quirks of destiny. Their history goes back to the days of Babylon and Mesopotamia. Five hundred years ago they were ruled by the Khalifa from Istanbul.  The Khalifa’s empire – or the ‘Caliphate’ as the Yavanas of the West called it – extended from Asia to Europe to Africa on land; and his writ was followed by every living Muslim in the world in letter and spirit.  With the passage of time, the Caliphate got frayed in power and glory, as happens with all human endeavours. But Khalifa’s throne continued to be the binding force for all the Muslims till the very last….’
‘Kagaji, you are rambling. Please focus on Iraq.’
‘O, yes, Iraq. The country is blessed with fertile land and huge reservoirs of oil, the asset which keeps your world on the move.  A devout people, Iraqis are surrounded by the peoples of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia who are also known for devotion to their faith.  Then, should not they be living in peace and harmony, instead of the quagmire of bloodshed and utter chaos they find themselves in?  But that is not the case, because Iraqis are reaping the bitter harvest of what others sowed for them. Reminds me of the Treta Yuga…’
‘Stick to your point, Kagaji, no one is interested in your Tales of the Treta Yuga.’
‘Listen to me then.  The Great War broke out a hundred years ago, engulfing nearly all the nations of the world. The Caliphate decided to go with the party that was eventually to lose.  When the war ended four years later, the victorious Britain and its allies dismantled the Khalifa’s empire and split its territories to suit their own interests. Not content with that, Britain not only abolished the institution of Khalifa altogether, but also imposed on Iraqia a king of her choice.  If the Muslims of the world gnashed their teeth in rage, why would British Raj bother, being at the peak of its power at that time?  Anger against the imposed authority simmered in the whole region.  In 1958, Iraqi King Faisal II was assassinated and Iraq became a republic. Twenty-one years later, Iranians too overthrew their monarch and declared themselves a republic.  Sectarian strife and regional rivalry led to wars in the Middle-East, which again gave America and Britain along with their flunkies an excuse to meddle into the Middle East affairs.  At one point of time, more than sixty countries from far and near were caught in the heat and dust of war.’
‘Kagaji, why did America think of waging a war against a distant country?  Why did an impoverished Britain go in its support?  And why did other countries join their forces with them?’
‘Son, America might have had so many reasons to wage a costly war on Iraq, but it said it wanted to transform the Middle East and rid the region of violence, in the same manner the Gora Sahibs had taken up the task of ‘civilizing’ the peoples of Asia and Africa a few centuries ago.  Britain joined for the lure of money, as did so many other countries.  And there was one country in particular – Greece’s neighbor Macedonia – which sent its forces in US support for the good reason of gaining recognition as a sovereign country.  Everyone had a selfish motive to wage a war against Iraq, but for Iraq itself, one outcome was that Saddam Hussein, its President for almost a quarter century, was hanged like a common criminal, another was the rule of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki whom nobody likes….’
‘And the net result, Kagaji?’
‘The net result is the utter anarchy and obscene dance of death on the streets of Iraq – a mockery of the world order. Now watch out for those who set fire to a neighbor’s thatch to warm their own hearths.’