Let everyone be given the choice to living the life he/she wants to, for following the lifestyle he/she wants.

Let there not be any restrictions on the lifestyle we want to adopt.

Let us make a better society with our choice of lifestyle. :)

THE BALANCE of LIFESTYLE

Previously, I have talked about a lot of different lifestyles from across the world. 

What stands out in all of those ways of life is the way the inhabitants remain content in their own little worlds, comprising mainly of the bare necessities of life. What keeps them going is their humanity and their need to keep each other alive. 

The people on the houseboats in the Dal Lake rest all their trust and faith on the few pieces of log put together, and they spend thier entire life on water, protecting one another.
The tribals in the Indian subcontinent, have their own secluded lifestyle, away from the commotion of city life. They spend their life being with each other, and preserving the heritage of one of  nature's very own settlements.
The Eskimos. They live a life without complaints. Living in extreme temperatures, feeding on animals everyday, just to keep themselves alive, and being content to be there for each other.
The Nomadic communities , similarly, live a life of simplicity and satisfaction.

It is not about having the best lifestyle and the most luxurious life. It is about finding your own piece of satisfaction from the various ways of life offered to us.

Because peace comes through simplicity, and, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Let us carve out a life of peace for ourselves and the future generations.

THE DIFFERENCE

Advancement in life is undeniable. At the end of the day, it is beneficial. 

What makes the difference is this. 

• You create a world with skyscrapers, with urban lifestyles, and,

• You create a world with skyscrapers, with urban lifestyles, and the people, their humanity and simplicity to add color to the world.

This is what the world looks like.

This is what the world should look like.

" Everything should be made as simple as possible,

but not simpler. "

 ~ Albert Einstein

A little into the future.

I'm being haunted by this question, this thought, this epiphany.

We sit at home, make use of all the technology that this urban lifestyle offers, and the only other activity is complaining. Yes, like it or not like it, we always tend to complain. However, that is not what bothers me exactly. What haunts me is the future we are leaving to the future generations.

Just imagine. Just think of what we are passing to the future generations.

They will never have to light the gas burner, all thanks to the induction cooker.
They will be more than content to sit at home and  play on the computer, instead of going out in the open.
They will never care to have a taste of the roadside food that India is famous for.
The trend of keeping contact with loved ones via handwritten letters will be an extinct tradition.

Come to think of it, there are so many more things like these. Yes, we want to pass on the best to the future generations, but gradually, we are creating an artificial world for them, where everything is coated with comfort and luxury.

But! Think of it this way. When there is technological advancement, and we are given the best at any time, why would anyone want to go back to the old conventional methods? Yes, if food is cooked just as well in an induction cooker, why use the gas burner? If you can learn about a person's whereabouts sitting at home, in a matter of 2 minutes, why bother writing a letter and waiting for days to get a reply?

True, it takes a lot of the real spirit away, but as I said before, between work and rest, (even if we follow the conventional definitions of Work and Rest in Physics) rest is the more viable solution.

A CHOICE BETWEEN WORK AND REST IS NO CHOICE AT ALL.

However, if there is one thing I could hope for, it will be that the simplicity of this life is preserved in the future generations. I would rather like the next generations to travel in buses and public transport as much as enjoying the comfort of the cars. Knowing the spirit of India, and in particular my city, Kolkata, is essential. Taking out the natural prospects out of an artificial form of lifestyle is the real deal.  Holding onto the traditional ethics and customs in what will define the future. They need equal freedom to choose the lifestyle they want the most. :)

A TAKE ON THE PRESENT

I came across a few situations about urban lifestyles and people's take on those.


It is what modern urban lifestyle helps you get acquainted with addicted to.

( Do read the picture captions. )







Urban lifestyle has taken up a more self-centric approach to life and everyday doings. It would not be wrong to say there is a gradual change from the concept of 'us' to the concept of 'me'. However, it fits just right in this competitive world, where everyone struggles for existence, the need itself arising from scarcity.















As I have mentioned earlier, urban lifestyle now helps augments the level of comfort, and reduces all forms of physical exercises. Modern technology sees to that. This implies that you work less and get more. All this leads up to what we shall call, a sedentary lifestyle. You know what happens next. :)




















Lastly, I found this. This is a classic piece of work. Perfectly illustrates the current situation now.

Cutting the long story short, we are addicted to this lifestyle, with promising ideas, and a life of comfort. True, this is where the simplicity of the Eskimos or the Tribal communities goes pop out of the window, but this is our only option at present.

The reason is this. For ourselves and more so, for future generations, between comfort and hard work, we can choose only one we are left with not much of a choice. :)

Wanderings of the homeless.

A study of the different lifestyles followed across the world will be left incomplete if I do not talk about the nomadic life in North America. These nomads, or homeless people have the most adventurous lifestyles, that fascinates one too many in today’s advanced world! 

Nomadic tribes have always maintained their existence in America. These native American tribes have a strange way of lifestyle. It just depends on the need to ensure that people cooperated with another, in dangerous conditions of survival, to sustain life in uncomfortable environments. By tradition, they move 6-8 times a year, changing settlements, and staying in portable camps, which are dismantled and set up every time they are on the move! It sure is a tedious job, revolving around a series of hectic activities, but is their only practical means of survival!

Transportation in the nomadic community is carried on mainly by horses, living up to a self sufficient, simple concept of lifestyle.  Even though the nomadic lifestyle was followed years back, there are traces of its existence even today.

The members have well defined roles to carry out! By convention, the men went out to hunt and to fight the wars, while the female members stayed back at home, cooked food and looked after the house. Their idea of leisure revolved around horse racing and shooting contests. However, there seems to be a certain level of spiritual development in the member tribes. Decorations and certain practices often had religious meanings.

The nomadic tribes usually stayed in ‘tipis’, which protected them from the extreme weather and maintained a healthy atmosphere for survival. Their everyday activities are usually concerned with fulfilling the necessities in life. Unlike us, these nomadic tribes have never got a choice to live a different form of lifestyle. This life of ‘being on the move’, has been their only way of life, over the ages. Deprived of such opportunities, the nomadic people have tended to each others’ needs with care and formed a world centered around nature’s eccentricities.

The nomadic tribes have been closest to fighting every facet of nature, be it the rain, storm, or drought. There is one important lesson that pops out as we study these tribes. Living a life, without any complaints, is what all of us desire in a lifetime, but this is a practical example of one such lifestyle. With this ‘come what may’ attitude, the nomadic tribes of Northern America have managed to survive in the most challenging situations, yet live a life of harmony.

The warmth of cold!

Very few forms or methods of lifestyle can be more challenging than the life in an igloo! It is a whole different experience for the people who love an adventurous environment for sustenance of life! The temporary shelter of an igloo is very common in the tribal groups of Canada’s Central Arctic and Greenland.

The concept of an igloo is relevant only during the winters. In these regions of Greenland, one finds 6 months of sunlight and 6 months of darkness and building a shelter made of ice is the only practical solution. It will amaze you how normal activities of everyday life are maintained perfectly smoothly in the cold shelter of an igloo. Living in an igloo, sure has a lot of challenges, but it forms an exciting take on life in the cold and deserted.

All the supplies are stored inside an igloo. One half of the ice house is kept separately for cooking and eating, aided solely by an oil lamp, providing light and more importantly, heat! The residents hunt down seals, caribous and fish, which are usually cooked over an oil lamp and sometimes frozen meat is eaten raw.  Sleeping arrangements inside an igloo require particular attention to details. A mattress made of willow twigs, and protected from the cold by animal fur is what serves the purpose. An igloo is the only perfect solution to protection from the severe cold in the Arctic regions.

An igloo paints the perfect picture of a life led in sufficing necessities. For us, in the times of urban lifestyle development, it is difficult to imagine a life like the Eskimos, but they have a totally different definition of life. They are deprived of the luxuries of urban lifestyle, but for them, ‘fulfillment of necessities’ is what gains primary importance. They do not have exquisite edibles, or fancy clothing, or even luxurious activities to engage themselves in. Life in an igloo means wearing animal skin clothing, eating the bare minimum animal meat, cooked in the most basic form, and spending their spare time with their fellow residents, protecting one another from the cold.

In our urban lifestyle, we tend to compartmentalize time in different aspects of life and fail to realize time with our loved ones. There is no one to blame. We are kept busy in all the various activities that cloud around our time. We spend more time on things in this world, rather than our fellow human beings. In case of an Eskimo, whose world has a small radius, his life runs along the circumference of the circle of the loved ones and living life with people, instead of things.

The interaction of the Eskimos with the external world, and their concept of an intrinsically simple life set this group of dwellers apart. With small ice shelters, animal skin and animal meat, they live a life of self sufficiency, echoed through the disciplines of an environment of harmony and simple living.

Attractive Lifestyle in urban India

India has always been known for its agrarian economy and simple lifestyle of its people. But with the opening of the economy and exposing of Indians to globalization, there has been a paradigm shift in the lifestyle of Indians, especially the urban Indian. Urban India has changed like never before in the last two decades. Whether it’s the cloud touching skyscrapers or the immensely developed public transport network or the huge malls, urban India has changed beyond recognition and this process is still ongoing.

Skyscrapers form an essential part
of urban architecture

The urban lifestyle in India is very attractive with streets full of lights, huge malls, multiplexes galore and pubs which are the venue for the nightlife in the city. With increasing number of people moving from rural to urban areas, in search of a better job and thus a better lifestyle, there is starting to be a huge shortage in quality housing. Urban lifestyle in India is quite different from the rural with skyrocketing cost of living and nuclear families. The current urban lifestyle in India gives an opportunity to one and all to work hard and realize one’s dream of a luxury housing, expensive car and a cool lifestyle, but never delivers peace of mind or true inner satisfaction.

A very integral part of the modern Indian urban lifestyle is the emergence of the apartment. In every major city in India, the old house concept has been transformed to the apartment system, both due to the absence of enough space and due to the sudden huge increase in land prices. Although the apartment system of building has to some extent reduced the problem of shortage of quality housing, it has destroyed the Indian system of joint family, leading to the emergence of nuclear families.

Urban India has truly been transformed when one reviews the food scene. Long gone are the days of the “thelawalas” and “dhabas”, which have been replaced by MNCs like MacDonald’s, KFC, Subway and others, almost crippling the business and livelihood of the “thelawalas” who have been delivering food to one and all over decades.

Another change in the landscape of modern urban India is the absence of playing fields and parks. This particular problem has lead to the children being addicted to video games, which have become their only form of entertainment. The fact that children are half the time  sitting in front of the television and not undergoing any form of physical exercise, has also lead to the emergence of diseases like obesity and diabetes in children.

Although the urban lifestyle looks really tempting, with almost everything at hand and the promise of a comfortable lifestyle, it is really a hollow illusion. A huge amount of money, or a luxury home can never truly satisfy anyone, and one gets bored of the illusion of perfect life, which is embodied by modern urban lifestyle.

Civilisation of the uncivilised.

Talk about varieties in lifestyles, talk about Indian tribal lifestyle. Indian culture and lifestyle is brought to you in exquisite fashion by the Tribal community of the country. It penetrates every aspect of lifestyle that one can seek to look for in a land showering diversity among all.

The current tribal population in India is close to 20 million in total. There are various tribes that have migrated from different parts of India, and settled down across the country, especially, in the North-eastern states.  While some of the tribal societies live the life of vagabonds, changing locations every few days, and others have stayed at the same place for generations.

The most striking feature of the tribal lifestyle is the culture and customs they foster and pass it to everyone in the community and the harmony that prevails among them! The tribals, very distinctly, paint out a picture of simple living, in harmony and peace. The tribal community follows a lifestyle, way different from that of the modern urban lifestyle now. They have remained more content to retain the traditional methods of lifestyle, embracing nature’s palette of colors, and create a picture of peace and serenity with it.

The tribal community believes in a more natural form of lifestyle. They practice the most conventional methods, living life in the open. Their activities result in a set of implications, laying positive impacts on man and the environment. The tribal community has contributed to programs leading to energy conservation and environmental protection. They might not be aware of the consequences, but the actions of the tribals have impacts on the environment. Their usage of food and fuel at the most natural sources gives them the purest form of every product they collect for survival.

Celebrations in the Tribal groups

The lifestyle of the Indian tribes clearly depicts their dependence on nature and animals. These tribes have their own incarnations and beliefs of the holy power and celebrate their festivals and occasions in their separately simple ways. It usually involves a gathering around the fire and enjoying their merriment amidst nature. There are no music systems, no exquisite edibles. It mirrors simplicity from every angle. Most of the Indian tribes are amiable and maintain harmonious relationships with the other parts of the diverse community.

Urban lifestyles in our world involve around a more materialistic approach, making us dependent on these man-made products. However, in the world of the tribal communities, whose life revolves around circumnavigating nature and its eccentricities, lives boast of the confidence of simplicity, and bank on nature entirely, for their sustenance. Their concept of ‘necessity’ largely differs from that of ours!

The simplicity defined through the lifestyles

The study of the Indian tribal community is one of the most exciting research pieces one might come across. Their lifestyle is different from ours, but it amazes me how they define the concepts of simplicity and grandeur in the most explicit fashion. The self sufficiency of the tribal groups is unmatchable! Their depiction of simple living enthralls me!