Category: Life & Living

Luxury versus Simplicity

“Luxury is artificial poverty, simplicity is natural wealth”

The simplest things in life are possibly the most difficult to achieve. I was recently watching a TV show, where someone shared this quote. I found it interesting. Let me illustrate this ,with a simple example.

Many of us resolve in the new year, to go for a walk every day ,to maintain good health. It is so simple ,since you do not need any equipment ,nor anyone’s help to do this. But, most of us fail within the month of January itself.

A daily walk is simple and natural way to maintain our health. On the other hand, if we do not do any exercise every day and end up being over weight, we may be advised to go for a bariatric surgery to reduce unnecessary body weight, which is artificial and against nature and we may call it artificial poverty to reduce our weight.

Life is not very different. If we look back at our forefathers, they lived a simple life and were healthy, wealthy and wise. Today, we have all the technology in the world . In India, the middle class is prospering and have all the comforts of life. But our children are becoming obese and people in their forties ,are getting heart related diseases.

I am a great fan of technology and how it can make life more comfortable, for mankind. Even the latest fad of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can definitely make our lives more comfortable and predictable. But when we tend to make technology as the end in itself, rather than the means to an end, we end up struggling in life.

We need to continually invent new technologies and be in control of the outcomes ,for the welfare of mankind. However, if we allow technology to dictate our lives and become a victim of the same, then we may have to face the ill consequences of it.

Let me illustrate this with another simple example. The mobile phone is ubiquitous today. Most of us will find it difficult to survive without it . It enables us to remain connected with family and friends. It works like a watch/clock, calculator, GPS, bank and even as AI assistant, for all our questions in life.

However, if we stop having good conversations with our family members/friends and restrict communication to whatsapp or social media exchanges, it could lead to broken families and friendships.

Emails, whatsapp and social media do not have emotions, but people do. So, when we exchange messages through these media, many a time,we may hurt feelings of others or get hurt by others ,without any intent to do so. When two human beings interact face to face, such misunderstandings are minimised ,since you are able to clarify to each other ,based on the reaction of the other person.

We do not visit family or friends ,when they are in distress. We are happy to send them bouquets and smiley through social media. A person in distress ,may need a hug or someone to talk to. But, we do not realise the same, unless we ourselves are personally in distress.

Let us learn to simplify our lives and go back to basics.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th July 2025

Life lessons from the Allapuzha boat race

72nd Nehru cup 2026

At the outset, let me wish, all of you a “Happy Onam – 2026” today.

I attended the “72nd Nehru cup boat race” at Allapuzha, Kerala, on 22nd August 2026. This race happens every year and is a spectacle to be witnessed, to be believed. This was one of my life long dreams and it became a reality in 2026. It was not just about watching a boat race and enjoying the same , it offered me ,a lot of life lessons.

If I have to summarise the key life lessons I learnt from the boat race, they would be the following :

  1. Working hard with a goal in mind: The participants in the race work hard and practise for more than 2 months, before they enter the race. They have to build their physique as much as their mental strength, where the gap between competing boats are in milliseconds, almost like a 100 metres sprint. This is, in spite of more than 100 rowers, rowing in sync ,to win the race.
  2. Life is all about team work : One of the most important lessons we learn from this race is that, the winning team has combined well to make the mark. Individually ,other teams may have excellent rowers but the team that synchronises and reaches the destination ,with collective efforts, is the winner.
  3. Emotions & passion : If you participate in the boat race even as a viewer, you realise that winning the race ,is a combination of emotions and passion, apart from team work, hard work and synchronisation. Life is no different. If we are passionate about our goals and are willing to put our heart and soul into it, nothing is impossible in life. All world -class sportspersons ,prove this in every sport. The musical beats and rhythm, leave you wonder struck
  4. Secularism in action: When we see the participants and the organisations supporting it, we witness secularism in action. We cannot associate any religion, caste or creed to this event. Whatever we witness ,in reality ,is what our law makers envisioned as “Secularism” in the preamble of our Constitution.
  5. Goals versus means : As Gandhiji said – “ The means to the end is as important as the end in itself”. The rules of the game are clear and everyone has to follow it ,while striving to beat others, along the way. There is real time observation, through umpires and hence the means to the end, is as important as winning the race.
  6. Sports unites communities: The boat race is an event held once in a year ,but this is like a festival, which unites communities rather than dividing it. The spirit of the sport ,is always more important than the sport itself.
  7. Winning or losing is part of the game: There are multiple teams participating in the race, from different cities. They compete fiercely but ultimately gracefully accept winning or losing, as part of the game. Just as in life, we may win some and lose some but we need to lead life harmoniously.
  8. Rich cultural heritage : The boat race happening consecutively for 72 years , year after year, is a symbol of our rich and diverse cultural heritage. We not only have to be proud of it but need to preserve and promote it.
  9. Fight to the finish: The boat race had a nail biting finish ,with the time gap between winners and losers, in milli seconds. This teaches us an important lesson in life, that we need to fight till the finish. We may never accept defeat till the race of life, is over.
  10. There is always a next time: We had one winner and many losers in the race. But the competitive spirit taught us ,that there is always scope for improvement and aim to win the race, the next year. Winning and losing is part of the game of life , but never giving up should not be an option at any time.

S Ramesh Shankar

26th Aug 2026

Social Entropy

I heard three incidents in the last few weeks and felt very disturbed. All these incidents were shaking ,the basic foundations of social institutions in India. The rich Indian culture was getting shaken by such incidents and our belief in them , getting shattered.

The first incident was when a young couple got married and went on a honeymoon. There, the wife kills her spouse by hiring goons ,since she wanted to marry her lover. I am not against anyone marrying anyone they love. But, what I could not understand is, to marry someone against her own wishes and then killing her spouse during her honeymoon.

This shook the institution of family and marriage. Her own parents and siblings could not believe how this could happen and have rightly disowned her ,after this incident and supported the late son in law’s family.

The second incident was ,when an elderly couple were admitted to an old age home by their son ,stating that his parents did not like the food cooked by his spouse. His parents in their eighties ,committed suicide by hanging from the fan.

We were further told that the son had admitted his parents earlier too, forcibly ,in an old age home a few years back and they returned to his house, since they did not like the environment in that home. The roots of “family” as an institution is being questioned. How can one think of admitting his/her own parents in an old age home, when you are in the same city and are capable of taking care of them.

The third incident was when I got news of a friend’s death in a distant city ,two days after his death. When I enquired from some other friends living in the same city ,in his neighbourhood, they were are not even aware of his death. Are we getting so socially alienated ,that we are not aware of a friend dying in our neighbourhood.

We are making a lot of progress technologically and science is taking us to places. Artificial intelligence may make life easier and more comfortable for us ,than ever before. But, what is the use of all this, if we cannot be honest in our relationships. We cannot nurture family, friends or respect our own parents.

Although, I was not personally impacted by any of the above incidents directly, I had no tears to cry. I felt as if my tear glands had dried up like the wells and lakes ,during a severe drought in some states. What is the use of living a life of prosperity ,when we cannot take care of the people, who made us prosperous today.

In the past, if something happens in our village, the whole village would come to know of it and everyone will try their best ,to contribute. I agree that urbanisation has made us alienated and distances have broken relationships. But what is the use of technology, if we cannot be in touch and nurture those relationships.

I am a born optimist ,in general. But, today I would say that I prefer to die rather than live in a society, which tolerates spouses killing one another after marriage ,to marry a lover. I would hate to live in a society, where parents cannot be taken care of ,with love and are sent to old age homes, where they end up committing suicide as they feel unwanted. I regret to live in a community, where I am unaware of my neighbour’s death ,even though I live in the same neighbourhood.

But, being a born optimist, I hope the worst is over and the next generation ,will realise ,that the rich Indian culture ,was always built on the foundations of family, marriage and extended communities ,as social institutions.

Let us look within and contribute ,to bring back the glory ,of the great India culture.

S Ramesh Shankar

27th June 2025