Food, Clothing, Shelter - Where's the End or the Start?

May 2011 be the year of the LOSERS!!!
May you loose the desired weight,
May you loose your habit of procastrination,
May you loose your worries and sleeplessness,
May you lose all things you consider bad and gain prosperity and peace!

This basically sums up our desires – that we are always battling against and are emerging winners (gaining in). Food, Clothing and Shelter they say are the basic necessities, but do we let our necessities remain basic ever.

Comparing the classes, the rich, the middle and the bottom of the pyramid, who are all achievers (winner) in their own regard, brings us to a very interesting observation of commonality of the above qualities.

We like to indulge, splurge and binge on food, whenever we get the opportunity – and the result shows in terms of being overweight, obese. Result, we resolve that yes we can conquer this and embark on a half-hearted battle, till we find our excuse of `Achilles Heel’ and say that this is very difficult to follow and then give up.

The man on the road is not able to eat because he is not able to afford food, while the man who is well to do is not able to eat, because of many ailments. Both are dieting, but following a different kind of diet – call it compulsion. Both can get into robbing – one stealing food, and the other eating what is prohibited. Both are worried and are spending sleepless nights thinking about tomorrow. One thinking of where will my bread come from, while the other thinking – what will my bread be and as a result what will my health be?

Let us get to clothing – and there too, we like to have an inventory as if we are going to dress up the entire village, but these are stacked in personal cupboards, wardrobes as prized possession that no one has access to. The man on the road has perhaps a pair or two of clothes, that he guards as his personal possession, and the man in the mansion has far too many that he guards as his possession. Both are possessive. One is worried about his limited collection, and the other about his unlimited collection.

As regards shelter, that too has become quite expansive beyond the basics. Three to four people stay in a space where 30 years back 30 people would have been staying. Yet the complaint is that the space is not sufficient – be it Flats, Apartments, Villa’s, Bungalows, Farmhouses, and Resorts. While a homeless person is searching for a roof, the one inside a roof is worried about the leaking roof or what the new roof under the existing roof (false ceiling) look like.

Inequality they say, Class Divide, rich and poor they say – but atleast they have a common worry and spend sleepless nights over Food, Clothing and Shelter! What do we do about it -- Well the problem will get solved tomorrow, so procastrinate!