Jiva to Atma

I have always been the kind of person who was enthusiastic about movies and books. I love watching movies, especially the ones I have been waiting for, on the first day and first show. So much so that I have even bought tickets in black for it. Those were some crazy times, paying Rs 150 for a Rs 60 balcony ticket. And yet, it was fun. And I’m a huge HP fan, and upto date on all the books. So when HP-7 was to be released, the fever took over and I was all set to pre-order the book. And then, I didn’t, and that’s another story.

So, when the Mad Momma did her post on being Pottered, I wondered what was the big deal about being excited about a much loved book and series, and wanting to get hold of it on the first day it was released! It was pretty harmless a thing, in the light of all the crazier things that take place in the world and I didn’t get it! And so I commented along those lines and went my way. But still the post and its content wouldn’t leave my thoughts. I went back to re-read it and understand all the points she reiterated over and over in her comments to others. I felt that there was something in there that was very important, but at that time, I still couldn’t appreciate what it was. Not until I read this article, and how it specifically addressed the issue of commercial ads and how they create the want in you, and make you a total ME person. And then the link between the two finally happened inside my mind, and what I was grappling to understand became clear as crystal. Hence this post. To enunciate my understanding and to make sure that the very basic point in her post doesn’t go unnoticed. Because its a very underlying thing for all our lives.

For starters, her post was not about Harry Potter books or the last and exciting finish to this enchanted series. Its not about being excited about it, or wanting to read it or even reading it into the wee morning hours, by setting aside some time exclusively for this pleasure.  Her strongest statements have been reserved for the hype and hysteria surrounding the release of the book and rightly so. And on a wider note, it encompasses the hype and hysteria of mass advertising and the resultant effects on consumers like us, with the HP-7 release being just an example that came along to illustrate the viewpoint. It so happened that so many of us being the fans that we are, it was a bitter pill to swallow and the comments on her post shot to #70 in record time. If it had not been about something that we were all so involved with, we wouldn’t have bothered too much about it, perhaps. I know I wouldn’t have.  But being about HP, it hit close to home.

Let me tell you my story and you can see how you relate to it. I know for certain, that if it hadn’t been for the advertising, hysteria and hype surrounding this book, I wouldn’t have known that it existed. Most likely not. I know I wouldn’t be scouring for this particular book in the bookstore, looking to buy it, or even borrow it from the library. And that’s how it is with most things today.  We would be living in a blissful state of ignorance, if it wasn’t for all these external influences. Her post got me thinking and now I know my mind better. And what I know is this:

1. Commercial ads are evil – Strong word that….but that’s what they are. Through a series of colourful and fast moving graphics or well designed layouts and some very subtle catch phrases, they stop your active thinking power, and make you a passive recipient. They start to play on your subconsious and create a want in you. That want creates a greed (subtle thought it may be) and the greed leads a need for gratification, instant or otherwise. And they threaten to erode the better virtues in us like patience and self denial.

 2. There is nothing tragically wrong with wanting to read Hp-7. But in the process of wanting to pre-order the book or buy it from the bookstore, we do not realise how blindly we are swayed by the words that exhort us to spend. I still remember this incident. I was at Barnes and Noble a good 6 months back looking to buy a nice book gift for a child’s birthday, and as I was checking out, the clerk asked me if I wished to place an order for HP-7 and get a discount on it. I stopped in my tracks. A kind of desperation started to build up in me. By asking me to preorder, he was in fact telling my mind, that if I DIDN’T, I wouldn’t be able to get hold of the book when it WAS released and I’d miss out!!! That was how I felt for a few split seconds when I was tempted to say yes. But at the time, I didn’t want to spend any more money than I already was and I said no. I remember this incident now, especially when every store I have gone to this past week have abundant copies of HP-7, at different prices. Walmart at $17.78, Toys r Us at $ 20.99. All I have to is pick up the book and check out. I didn’t NEED to pre-order. And I certainly didn’t need that subtle manipulation. That is the effect of mass hype and hysteria. The way it creates a certain urgency and desperation in us, to buy NOW and TODAY!

3. Why is all this such a big deal??? It is, and it has to be. Because it is about how our mind are being controlled without our knowledge. And how our subconsious is being played with, with the tantalising graphics and catchwords and bait and we fall hook, line and sinker into the whole spending game. Which is very advrse to a green earth. You only have to give this article the time of day, to see why! The BIGGEST and most EFFECTIVE way to go green is to spend less and spend wisely. We are surrounding ourselves with things we do not really need for a basic and happy life. We are lviing in an illusion, and a false existence. We mean well, but we are going horribly wrong. If it has to stop, our blind response to ads have to stop too. We have to take charge of our thinking once more (we can think for ourselves, thank you very much!) and question each and every spending of ours. Do we need this? Do we really? Is there some way I can do without this?

3. Why is it so important to say NO to ourselves? – When we can’t say no to ourselves, how can we say no to our children. Read this on self discipline and form your own thoughts on it. We are the moral guardians for our children and it is our duty on this earth and in this life to show them to the pathway to God. And that cannot happen without self discipline. And our example has to lead the way.

5. Patience pays – Wait and see. Wait. Stop. wait. Give it resting room. Then jugde once more, once the haste to buy has subsided. You will almost always find, if you are true to yourself, that it is not something you need to buy. If you are sincere in the attempt, you will find that you already have an alternative worked out for it. An instance : Last winter, before my mom was to come here, I wanted to buy a treadmill. My arguements for it : I’d find it easier to exercise if I could just have the flexibility of doing it from home, and having our own treadmill in the basement would be just the thing. So R indulged me and we started scouting online for the best features that we wanted in our treadmill and also the best deals for it. We realised after research that it would mean an investment of a minimum of $1000. We had finalised one in Sears. It was a Christmas deal and would be gone by midnight. There was that temptation again and the urgency and desperation to go ahead and book it. But again, some self -restraint interceded and midnight passed. And what do you know! The deal was still on. Right until New Year’s Eve and even after that. The whole thing felt like a hoax! And slowly slowly, in the whole process of self restraint, we finally decided not to buy the treadmill. I decided to take up a membership in the gym, and thank God I did, for I would have just as soon lost the interest and motivation within a few months and it would have lain unused, just as it does in the homes of so many of my friends!

Well, that’s my story. And there’s lots more to say on the subject. But what I came away with from MM’s post is the need to stop and think for myself, before I succumb to the external influences. To think a 100 times before buying something and making sure that what I DO buy, I put to good use. In the case of HP-7, I am ultimately glad that I didn’t buy the book. Because come July 21st, I still survived the mystery of what lay in that book. I had placed a library hold and was no 166 on the queue. I despaired of ever reading the book, but it came my way, when Kodi’s Mom offered to lend me her copy. The pleasure of having the book now to read hasn’t diminished in the least even after countless others have read it, and its been 24 hours since I got it home and I still haven’t turned a single page on it. I am waiting for my Mom to leave on Sunday, and I shall drown myself in the book to distract me from the melancholy of her departure. HP fans will know how useful this will be. And for the owners of the book, spread it around. Donate it to your library once you are done, so countless others can get hold of it and enjoy the pleasure. Or do the good deed that K’s mom did nto me, and lend it to all your friends and even out the cost of the book among all the consumers who get to read it. Spread the magic. We all need some:))