I’m confused, is the world upside down or am I?
I traveled 6 cities in 6 days in the last week.
Then I took the Sunday as my weekly day off.
I’m traveling for work (vyapar), not leisure.
But I guess some of you judge from the safety behind PPE kits.
I started on a Sunday in Mangaluru on 21st March.
Then,
Monday — Chennai
Tuesday — Indore
Wednesday — Ujjain
Thursday — Godhra
Friday — Ahmedabad
On Saturday I arrived in Bhopal. To my home, to my love, to stability.
I apologize in advance for the long post.
Here is a photo I shot recently in Mysuru, at Karanji Lake.
Part 1
I don’t have a fixed job.
There has been no boss to tell me what to do since 2018.
I have been freelancing and working on startups for as long.
I make my own work.
I build my own daily to-dos.
I create weekly and monthly plans.
Yet, I accept that my plan will change in between the day and week.
To stay on track I spend 15 minutes a day on introspection.
On this trip I’m executing tasks I created for the financial year 2020–21.
- To Move to a new city
- To visit Mahakal Temple in Ujjain
- To strike off some of the Spiritual intentions from my bucket list
- To meet my teachers
- To catch-up with distant relatives
- To have fun with friends
- To solve family problems
- To set up a new business
- To heal without chemicals and medication
I have received a lot of flak from family and friends for traveling.
They think I’m doing all of this for fun.
While I’m having fun, do they know anything else?
Since I can’t speak to everyone on the phone, here is my open letter.
You leave WhatsApp messages warning me to be careful.
Don’t Travel!
When I post status updates, what do you think of my intentions.
I can’t control what you think, it’s your birthright.
I’d like to think you care for my wellbeing,
To be protected from the CoronaVirus, the pandemic.
What is the new normal?
Is it being locked inside your gold cages?
But let me ask you this,
If I can’t travel for work, to earn money
Can you protect me from getting hungry?
I’m hungry for food that nourishes my core,
I’m hungry for human touch and interaction,
I’m hungry to laugh among family and strangers
and I’m hungry to learn and contribute to society.
Have you, 10% junta of our nation imagined the plight of the common man?
Don’t we have to work like you to earn our daily bread?
While you can work from the comfort and safety of you homes,
We have to toil in sweat or rain to earn enough for 2 square meals a day.
We can’t work from home
We can only work in the fields.
We aren’t privileged & educated like you
Since I was born in the wrong pin-code.
Don’t give me crap like everyone has to struggle
It’s akin to Ananya Pandey saying, my life hasn’t been easy.
Don’t bullshit me saying that everyone has their own problems
It’s just a coping mechanism you have created for self defense.
If you are reading this,
I claim you have never seen real struggle.
If you can access unlimited video content on your phone
You have invited problems into your own mind- body temple.
If you eat, sleep, work and repeat a daily routine from home
Then it’s time I opened the door to reality for you.
Part 2
Everyone is scared of corona because of the death rates
The spikes in cases per day and the rate of spread.
But do you even remember how many waves of corona went by?
Going by my phone calls with you we are in the middle of the second wave.
By the way, I don’t watch the news. I experience life by talking to strangers.
Now I urge you to put yourself in the shoes of a common man.
Naval Ravikant says
“If you eat, invest, and think according to what the ‘NEWS’ advocates, you’ll end up nutritionally, financially and morally bankrupt.”
Fear is pervasive among the rich and upper-middle class.
You may be scared for your health due to co-morbidities.
You are also held down by your parents and family
If corona doesn’t affect your health, you can still be a carrier.
How will you live with yourself if someone close to you died
Because of your carelessness and your mistakes?
It’s been a year and you haven’t stepped out,
So you have locked yourself inside 4 walls, waiting out the pandemic.
Your life has changed as per the new normal,
and you couldn’t be more happier to spend time at home.
To survive you work for companies that can afford WFH,
To slave at your workplace you order all grocery online.
You quarantine your supplies 3–4 days before you need to use it,
You may have food stored like bunkers to survive for weeks.
What about the common man who has to step out every day?
What about those who earn a daily wage,
and what about those people who don’t have savings.
What about those who can’t WFH,
To earn they have to brave the wilderness of the city.
They are aware of the risks to live, scratch that, to survive,
Don’t you know the concrete jungle is unforgiving and uncaring?
When was the last time a stranger smiled at you in a city?
But you think that the city is vandalised by rascals,
You want the police to protect you from low class people.
You need gated societies to hide from the uneducated.
But I say I’m glad you are hidden away inside,
Otherwise the world would eat you alive.
In policymaking and debates on the news
You only hear the opinions of lobbyists and educated people.
Has there been enough screen time given to a small business owner?
Do you know lakhs of businesses in India have filed for bankruptcy?
And yet the stock market rallies.
Ofcourse, you the rich,
You the educated,
You the intelligent,
Support free market capitalism,
You support hardwork and expect unrestricted rewards,
But I claim you are killing my brothers and sisters.
I claim you are selfish and avoid the truth;
About the real consequences of your actions.
When you demand for a lockdown, imagine this junta I just described,
Don’t you know you are killing them slowly?
Instead of pushing for policies that that increase immunity,
Instead of demanding more government hospitals and free healthcare,
We celebrate the success of pharma and private hospitals on Dalal Street.
Arre Bhai, aam junta k baare mai socho!
Shouldn’t we demand for free education with good quality
instead of indiscriminate spending on huge airports and 8 lane highways.
Moreover, they are being used only by the top 1%,
Not for aam junta anymore,
they don’t have any discretionary spending capacity.
But of course if the government gave away education and healthcare for free
What can they promise in the next election.
The politicos rely on the short term memory of it’s population.
Hmm. Breathe.
Part 3
- I recently heard from an auto-wala that Corona only affects the rich.
- I noticed that BJP ruled states are following a common directive.
- States under elections still allow lakhs of people to gather for rallies.
- States like Maharashtra with India’s highest GDP, aren’t producing.
Can someone tell me what the F@#% is happening around me?
I’m confused, is the world upside down or am I?
If there is no demand for products and services,
there is no economic activity, no buying and selling.
Then why is the stock market at an all time high?
What is driving this growth? Isn’t it all hollow?
Have you analysts forgotten the fundamentals?
Are you looking at superficial data and gotten lost in its siren song?
I know that winners in stocks take it all away from small time investors.
That’s what is happening globally.
After lockdown, everyone was brainwashed into investing into stock markets.
Before the lockdown, mutual funds sahi hai ads were omnipresent.
The promise of huge returns enticed you, hence the stock market rallied.
This rally isn’t dependent on the fundamentals of economy
The ticker price isn’t an indicator of future earnings
It’s upward jumps are a result of aam junta entering the market.
As more people tried to gamble and make quick money,
Billions of $ were lost by millions of people
Which made way into the hands of few hundreds of people.
Isn’t this actually reverse Robinhood?
Unfortunately the app Robinhood was supposed to prevent it from happening. Remember GameStop and the whole debacle of US markets?
Again I take a breather.
Can someone tell me what is happening?
Is the world upside down or am I?
I’m cutting short this article here,
Maybe I’m getting carried away.
My analysis of the system herein is incomplete,
There might be a part 2.
I have alternatives and solutions,
To many of the problems I’m counting.
I need help,
If you are reading this, please save me.
This is Rishi Singhal,
Now-here to observe and report.
Jai Hind!
[I]
Broken hopes, no more goals
Givin’ up, cause I know
I’m so far from where I wanna be
I’m just tired of being alone
Working hard on my own
Only to fall on my knees
But what should I do?
I’ve run out of moves
Chasing this life I have dreamed
I can feel I’m out of breath
In this ocean of regret
Close my eyes and I count it out
Like, one — two — three
Cause I’m drowning away
Drowning away
Save me, someone save me
I’m drowning away
Drowning away
Save me, someone save me.
The song belongs to Bilal Khan, an artist I found through my friends. You may have heard the Hindi version before, “Bachana”.
Kacha chaba jaegi yeh duniya,
mujhe bachana, main doob raha…
