I-M-Patient

I still remember the day at school when I received the certificate for scoring highest in my Moral Science exam (ironical, but true). I guess somehow I was able to put down in words the lessons we were made to learn throughout the year; the lessons of Honesty, Perseverance, Repentance and of course, Patience. However, the world now seems to make me realize the mistake the school authorities made, not for believing me a better person for the award, but more for teaching those lessons in first place. Those Fathers and Sisters would have never thought those values they tried to imbibe in will be so mocked today by the telecommunication companies, demanding every juvenile to be an ‘impatient one’ and prophesying the benefit of “SpeedLiving”.

And we indeed have attained tremendous speed, but our fast pace missed out on one important factor, described in physics as velocity- “the direction in which it is attained”.  And this negligence to our orientation has what caused us to travel may be a light year in distance, yet no displacement, or useful movement.

We observe it every day, people breaking traffic rules thinking how it will make them reach their destination a minute earlier, and fixed cursing the traffic jam the next turn ahead, caused by someone more enthusiast than them, never realizing the balancing act of nature. And I suppose many of us are not yet convinced that mobile phones actually do work without wires, and considering it as a part of our social responsibility to corroborate the said, my heart goes out to those daredevils who bravely accept the challenge to use it while driving!

Frustrated by the buffering of videos, streaming of podcasts and booting of laptops, a common man today in a sense wishes  to attain what only a few scientists believe to be ever possible – to travel an hour in a minute, a day in an hour! Spending less time embracing and appreciating what we see or hear than pondering more on what is to come, our impatience often seems to dominate the serenity and satisfaction with its environment of anxiety and restlessness, making us the patient of impatience. And with the time racing against the human now, I may not be surprised seeing operating systems of future opening a window or playing a video as a response to one’s mere thought (Though, it may prove a little embarrassing for a curious teenager sitting with his family)

They say “time is money”, but when being called a miser by saving every penny is not considered an honorable title, why do we cherish the idea of being crowned impatient? How often do we realize that racing a circle can lead to only one end - that of ours! 

When traffic lights are seen as racing lamps, and broken roads F1 tracks, the next time you rush to save yourself those few seconds that you think you can, remember that

"Need for Speed may make some time, but Speed for the Need can make life..."

- Sarthak