Running away!!!

The day before, some of my team members got confirmed; not going deeper into Company policies, it just means that they got a hike of 2-3K and a permanent employee status.

But most of them were not happy. Strangely enough they were referring to a hike of 3K as peanuts. What's even stranger is that the senior members of the team were encouraging the idiotic sentiments with comments like "Welcome to the club" & "Enjoy the peanuts".

I wonder how many months would it take for a person to eat peanuts worth 3K? I doubt if I can even eat so much of them! My dad actually told me one day that the salary which I draw, puts me automatically in the upper 20% of the Indian population on a financial scale. He also told me that a Colonel in Indian Army after working for 10 long years draws almost the same salary as I earn currently. I wonder what would my Dad say if he hears me analogize my current salary to peanuts.

Anyway my affection for peanuts is not a matter grave enough to draw out so much of concern. What bothers me is that I see the generation of India going too fast. Of course, Nobody loves to live in a slow lane. But I feel somewhere along the way, we really forgot what are we earning for? What is the actual value of money? And what are the things that really matter in Life?

Oh, I am not trying to undermine the importance of money. Rather I am trying to highlight it. The actual value of money lies in the knowledge how to spend it. To spend it for a purpose or a goal which is dear to you, and causes happiness in your heart. Without this knowledge the green crisp notes are no different than the toilet paper. (I humbly beg pardon of the RBI here, The quality of paper used in the currency is way different than that of the toilet tissues. Also just for the interest of trivia minded people, the paper used in currencies is such that it doesn't rot in water for quite a prolonged duration.)

Is having a cool look, designer clothes, expensive gadgets (half of whose functions you would never use in life, and the other half you would never have any use for), boozing like hell, being happy? I mean where else does a bachelor living alone, not supporting his family spend a amount of 25K? Or lets suppose that these guys are planning for future, and they are saving 10K a month, i.e, 1.2 lakhs per year which goes beyond a whooping steep figure of 5.9 crores on a 10% compound interest after a period of 35 years. What will you do with a sum of 6 crores at the age of 60? Beats me....I will never be able to figure out. I mean, yeah it's one of my dreams to own a red Ferrari Enzo which costs exactly 5.9 crores, but why the heck would I buy a Ferrari at the age of 60? I for one, will never understand the obsession for money, especially amongst the people who don't know what do they want to do with it.

Leaving aside the calculations, I feel trying to enjoy the current moment, the tiny seconds, the small minutes, the big minutes, the bigger hours and the gigantic years is more important than counting the greens. Come on guys, its a mile stone for you, you have got a raise. Try to figure out what the occasion is all about, besides the dumb money. You are a permanent employee of the company, you have completed a year in this firm, and also that your work is being appreciated by somebody....Does all this mean nothing?

"Money is only the means to happiness, not a promise to it."
When will we figure it out? Where are we running away to?

P.S - I don't like peanuts BTW.