In the 1987 epic movie 'Wall Street' - The protagonist essayed famously by Michael Douglas exclaims emphatically in defence of greed the following lines - "The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."
Like sometimes they do, these words have figured out a way to etch themselves in my memory.
Last year, my wife and I, took our annual vacation to the hills of Uttarakhand covering Nainital, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Landour and Haridwar over 2 weeks. The places were indeed mesmerising with picture postcard beauty and some really memorable experience. One such experience for us was that of the legendary 'Ganga Aarti' performed in the evening on the banks of the holy river Ganga.
The Aarti was indeed once in a lifetime experience. A heady concoction of faith, spirituality, energy and divinity. The image I captured above, stayed with me and resonated with me at a much deeper level. It made me wonder in astonishment about us as a society today. On things & experiences that are important to us and how our social interactions have changed in the age of technology. I'm fairly sure that a majority of people who would have participated in this great Aarti in times gone by would've surely chanted away the mantras with folded hands or clapping their hands with religious fervour. Not now, you will see cameras and flashes above.
This to me is the essence of greed. Now, we truly want more from our experiences. We want to not only experience them, but capture them for posterity. A step further, share it to elicit reaction of wonder, astonishment, appreciation from those whom we share it with. We want to express ourselves. Put ourselves out there for others to have views. At times, we want to codify our experiences and record them for our own memory so that we can revisit them at our fancy at a later date or pass it down along with material things of possession. Our recorded experiences & emotions are our emotional currency. They can be hoarded to inflate emotional wealth, or shared to compound it! Social Media as the emotion banks of tomorrow?
Like sometimes they do, these words have figured out a way to etch themselves in my memory.
Last year, my wife and I, took our annual vacation to the hills of Uttarakhand covering Nainital, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Landour and Haridwar over 2 weeks. The places were indeed mesmerising with picture postcard beauty and some really memorable experience. One such experience for us was that of the legendary 'Ganga Aarti' performed in the evening on the banks of the holy river Ganga.
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| The famous Ganga Aarti at Haridwar |
The Aarti was indeed once in a lifetime experience. A heady concoction of faith, spirituality, energy and divinity. The image I captured above, stayed with me and resonated with me at a much deeper level. It made me wonder in astonishment about us as a society today. On things & experiences that are important to us and how our social interactions have changed in the age of technology. I'm fairly sure that a majority of people who would have participated in this great Aarti in times gone by would've surely chanted away the mantras with folded hands or clapping their hands with religious fervour. Not now, you will see cameras and flashes above.
This to me is the essence of greed. Now, we truly want more from our experiences. We want to not only experience them, but capture them for posterity. A step further, share it to elicit reaction of wonder, astonishment, appreciation from those whom we share it with. We want to express ourselves. Put ourselves out there for others to have views. At times, we want to codify our experiences and record them for our own memory so that we can revisit them at our fancy at a later date or pass it down along with material things of possession. Our recorded experiences & emotions are our emotional currency. They can be hoarded to inflate emotional wealth, or shared to compound it! Social Media as the emotion banks of tomorrow?
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