Monday, April 25, 2016

PERSONAL SPECIAL........ AN AGE OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION

AN AGE OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION


In an age that demands and gets instant gratification, we are a scared lot ­ afraid the dream may vanish as fast as it appeared

When five-day cricket matches give way to T20s, and when you hear talk of flash poetry, flash mobs, instant onthe-move foods and entire stories in 140 characters, you know that the time for long-winded affairs is over. In the era of quickies, patience and delayed gratification are long forgotten anachronisms.
Everyone wants everything right here, right now! And preferably, red-hot! The world demands instant success, instant gratification, instant contentment ­ and non-stop entertainment.
And after the stress of all these demands ­ instant relaxation, instant relief, and possibly, instant Moksha! We have no sympathy, nor time, for mistakes and bad forms. We put great pressure on those we grant idolatry status and expect them to always be in shipshape and to always deliver resounding sixes. Audiences prefer quick scorers and action men like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers for the drama and entertainment they provide. Commercial authors who churn out entertainment in book after book, sell better than literary authors exploring issues. We are indeed punishing in our demand for instantaneous performance and entertainment.
The immediate response that the pressing of a button on a gadget brings has turned us into people who refuse to wait for anything good or gratifying.
Advances in technology mean that everything good and better can be achieved at the touch of a button. Why shop for groceries? Order online. Why step out to eat or cook? Order in. Why wait for your hair to grow over time? Get hair attachments. Who has the patience to grow long nails? Stick on acrylic talons. Instant face masks, instant whitening lotions, instant this, instant that...! And the market is geared to instantly cater to our wilful impulses, thus fuelling our greed for more.People on the lookout for instant success go for short-term, high-risk strategies. From the market to business to politics to relationships ­ we witness a self-catering culture that is eroding our values and norms of decent living. We are losing a sense of adjustment, empathy and harmony. We look for people who mirror our ideas, and for relationships that do not need much investment.
Romance no longer means waiting for the postman to arrive or willing the phone to ring. You are in command mode all the time ­ tracking your lover's movements every second and demanding instant explanations for delayed response. Who wants to wait to build up a relationship? There you are ready to pronounce an instant judgment ­ success or failure! We walk into marriage with our escape routes already considered and wide open.
Why, we cannot even wait for our children to grow into success stories; we push them for instant stardom ­ Indian Idol Junior, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs, etc.
I find myself getting impatient with those who talk slowly; my mother-in-law complains she sometimes cannot understand me because I talk too fast! I ask for a task to be done and almost always add, `Please do it right away; I need it as of yesterday!' I record any television programme I wish to watch, just so I can fast-forward the slower bits.
There seems to be no concept of a tomorrow anymore. Who knows if it will come at all? Too many messages advising us to live in the present for the present mess up with our yesterdays and tomorrows. We are all afraid.Afraid of a success that comes too soon ­ afraid it may go away just as soon.Scared of the many instant gratifications we experience; afraid we may lose it all just as suddenly. Nothing that has not been built or achieved over time and with effort can give you the confidence of permanence.
For, with every pleasure must come pain ­ that is the way of things. And so, immediate pleasure can only mean deferred pain. The credit card you use at present with pleasure will present the painful bill later. The fast food you gorge on now will extract the negatives in the shape of health in future. Games that are designed to awaken aggression; cars and bikes built and advertised to make you drive with aggression and speed; sound systems made to blast your ears ­ all instruments of instant pleasure that will extract the pain later! I am a great believer in old adages.And here is one for this column ­ Good things come to those who wait.
vinitadawra nangia

TL3APR16

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