‘NEED’ , the one word
that I have grown to hate vehemently. Believe it or not, this tiny 4 letter
word is so deceptive, that unknowingly your entire life runs on the illusory
fuel it provides. You run, you get tired and during that run you even forget
the purpose behind the rush. You even question yourself if you actually want to
run. And then someone somewhere reminds you, that you ‘need’ to run. This is
how every goddamn person alive on this godforsaken planet is surviving.
The point is, putting too much sense into everything makes it senseless. From the very inception of my life, I have been unknowingly injected with the concept of ‘NEED’. This is when the people around you trigger you to see life as a platform to attain everything that is needed and most of the time you are coaxed into believing that this is exactly what you want in your life. I need to get a respectable job because I need the appreciation of the society I live in. I need to be rich because I need to attain everything in the market that I don’t even need. I need to marry a checklist because I need the approval of the relatives I don’t even like. I need to put on a mask and crush my dreams because I need the support of my parents. I need my child to never pursue his talents because I need him to be better than the neighbour’s kid Einstein. I need money because I need money. Needing is all I have ever truly known.
And then one day you realise that this was all just a rat race, a wasted life. By then you are so stuck in your fake little world made up of constant lies and futile needs, that you have no option but to continue your existence hating everything right from your respectable job, your checklist marriage, your child who now hates you, your big house filled up of objects that mean nothing, the money that gives you nightmare and yourself for living such a vain life. But then you learn a little trick. A trick that can be used to console yourself of the tragicomic existence that is you and that trick is ‘Judging’. You somehow get the audacity to actually compare your fruitless money to the genuine happiness of a person who isn’t as rich as you, judging a couple who survived all the lashings of the society just to be together while you are stuck with your checklist. You compare your friend’s kid who is a dreamer and an artist with your vain child who though makes big bucks out of your so called respectable job, hates you for crushing his dreams. You do everything that makes you feel better about your inconsequential life. Now you actually allow yourself to be blinded by ‘ Need’
Then you become the puppet master. You inject your child and then your grandchild with this theory of NEED and promote them to strangle their offsprings with it. Slowly the entire world survives on the NEED to please the people they don’t even care about. A Greek tragedy and a masked existence.
But dreamers are blessed for they find a way out of this colossal mess. They are the enlightened ones who know the true path to happiness is not the one you took. They are good enough not to remind you of your vain existence while you continue to make their living hell for choosing a path away from your gold plated route of ‘NEED’.
It is immaterial whether they make it or not for whichever angle you look at it, you would realize that they lived a better life than you ever did. Silent jealousy is all that you have now.
The greatest evil unknown to man is 'NEED'.
P.S- Dark Post I know. Had to write this off my mind.
We should all find the truth n face it.. breaking out from our illusions..
ReplyDeletebrilliant post.
Thanku.. I think I knw u :D
DeleteThe trick is to be able to differentiate between Need and Want. Most people confuse want for need. You need to eat food, to live. But what you want to eat is up to you.:-)
ReplyDeleteI 'NEED' to be happy, all other things are requirements to fulfill this need.
true tht!
DeleteThe point is, putting too much sense into everything makes it senseless.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
Wonder what the world would be like if the society was flexible rather than rigid
Stay Blessed ^_^
Thanku for reading :)
DeleteThis is Life. Or a part of it. We will still continue to live to please others.
ReplyDeleteSad but true!
DeletePhew! The steam from the post blew so hot that it burned my eyes. :P
ReplyDeleteOkie.. the genius part of this post is the clarity and analysis of the concept of "need" inspite of the evident intended anger.
I read this somehwere, "Life is......what we want it to be"
Chasing "needs"is the most common unorginal way of adapting to Life.
Good Post!
Yours is one comment, when I felt that someone actually read the post before commenting. Thanku :)
DeleteJobs (Steve jobs) suk ,,!! pun intended ..!!
ReplyDeleteps: i know its a lame pun if you have to point it out loll
Did u read this post at all?
Deleteyes i did read this post and i did read about how you are trying to cope up with your decisions regarding life styles.. and i dont think its my place to comment or judge or tag it as right or wrong ,,,, all kinds of people have all kind of ways to make sense of this sense of life ,,,!! you can fight the system or live meaninglessly it wont make a diff ,,,!1 i didnt wanted to lecture you on this thats why the light comment btw the comment went horribaly wrong .. i adore steve jobs there was supposed to be a not there ,,,!! jobs(not steve jobs )...!!!1 ohh maay gawwdddd
DeleteI think its not dark one.
ReplyDeleteIts a grey one and you "needed" to write it. :)
Thanku :)
DeleteThe problem is everyone knows this and continue in the same vanity. Very few change it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we r too scared to change.
DeleteThere is a very thin line between need and want and many of us(atleast I) cannot differentiate between the two. Only when I'm forcibly deprived of my need, I realize that I can live without it too :)
ReplyDeleteNow I need some ice-cream for all the heavy thinking that you made me do :)
hahaha thanku for reading...Now off u go for some icecream!
DeleteYes the whole life is built on false needs! We know it best when we get rubbed on to the wrong side because of this need and then spend our time analysing what went wrong in our picture perfect life!
ReplyDeleteExactly :) Thanks for reading babe.
DeleteThought provoking post, Red. All of us are driven by this need. Only when we find peace with ourselves, this need will vanish. Till then, we are driven by it, no doubt :(
ReplyDeleteYes u r right. We all are driven by it!
DeleteI would not call this a dark post, Red! This a very very enlightening post to all of us. Driven by need, we enter the rat race and blinded by need, we just keep running and at the end, all of it for what? Don't have an answer!
ReplyDeleteUntil later,
Keirthana :)
Thanks love :)
DeleteYou know what I just realized. This current generation has started to think abt things we usually think when we are old. Kudos to you. Once we get into that circle of fulfilling our need only to realize that we still have more needs to fulfill, we start living like others. We are never content with what we have.
ReplyDeleteNice post Red!
Thankyou Sirjee. Its feels nice to know people support the thought!
DeleteBrilliant post darling. Its so hard hitting na. Sigh..we will get to the point of self fulfillment one day.
ReplyDeleteWell some day...*hugs* keep writing babes.
Cheers !!
Hugs to you and you are getting married!!! YAY!
DeleteWe need an active mind to distinguish b/w the two and we need hell lot of courage to follow the 'want' and not the illusory 'need'. If only... And yes, of course, brilliant post. I always admire and kind of envy the clarity of your thoughts every time I read your posts, hahaha.
ReplyDeleteHeh, you are great yourself and you know it! Thanks love!
DeleteYou are clearly confused between need and want red! Keep things simple and think again, your mind is messing with you probably because of the situations you find yourself in right now. There's no evil if you are bold enough. The fear of failure is what drives a lot of people to follow a different path and blame it on fate.
ReplyDeleteThis isnt about me and because I write about it doesnt mean I am in a bad phase of life. I write this because of the mentality of the people surrounding me. and I did not use the term 'WANT' because until people do not know the true difference between the two, there is no want but only needs. And it ifs not the fear of failure that drives people...but the fear of being dejected and shunned by those who matter.
DeleteI don't know if need is good or bad. Sometimes it's just our greed of seeing others with better life prospects. Like you said. Hmm, sometimes needs are delusional. In contrary, they can be necessities too! It narrows down to what is that you need. But I guess, over thinking about needs can be lethal to our mind. We come up with all kind of unhealthy notions. Keep calm :)
ReplyDeleteI know you are right. The mind like the needs is delusional too!
DeleteSnap out of it, girl. We are too young to get pulled down for too long. Get back up and get your funk on, I came here to laugh my head off and lo, this is what I find :(
ReplyDeleteOK !! You said it and I am out of it!! welcome back you!!!!
Deleteyou know its like you have love but then you need sex..the both are "not supposed to be ethically co-related"
ReplyDeletebabe missed blogging like good and so good to read some fresh nice stuff..i really needed this :)
I say welcome back to the blogosphere!!!
DeleteThose who live by the rules of society often fall victim of it. However even after checking this Need List, we are not happy. So, do whatever you feel is right and good. Quite a thought provoking read. I like your abstracts.
ReplyDeleteComing from you, it does mean a lot!
DeleteThere are many worlds within us. If we will, we can live in all. It may sound like escapism from the raw reality. But mind loves illusions more than anything.. The trick is keeping it alive
ReplyDeleteTrue that!
DeleteQuestion is can you ever be independent of need? The post is ofcourse thoughtful, but when you step out of it can you clean up all the quarters of your life of need? Can you live with that much of a spartan minimalistic life? For the rest of your life? What if you cannot? Does that make you a mortal rat or a hypocrite? Just thinking out aloud generically...
ReplyDeleteIts not about leading a minimalistic life. I am not talking about myself here. All I am talking about is being able to chose a way untouched by the constant coersion of the people around you who matter. I am talking about allowing a person to take a decision and not putting the pressure of the society and its norms on his/ her.
DeleteLove this post! I don't live in India, but I think what you have outlined here is the same battle against the status quo that we all go through. Same story, different characters! I write about similar things, but not with nearly as much humour as you!
ReplyDeleteOMG ...I am actually ROFLing :D
ReplyDelete