Is it humanly possible....?

"You should have seen that movie.... If you have not seen, you are missing something in life...."

"These are the 10 books one should read in his lifetime...... Haven't you read any of that?"

"Have you still not visited Switzerland? What a lovely country! In your lifetime, you have to visit at least once"

"There is a restaurant in Hyderabad. You have not heard of it! What a waste... You should taste their 'biriyani'... It is heavenly...." (Since I am in India, I give this example!).

"What are you saying? You don't use an iPhone? I mean, how could you live without it...?"

All of us must have come across at least one of these dialogues spoken to us, at some point of time or the other. Am I right?

There are billions of movies made in all the languages spoken in the world. May be, around 10% of the movies are worth watching. Even that will work out to millions of movies. It is obvious that no one can see all the good movies in his lifetime. Whatever is possible, given the time available to us, the interest that we have, the opportunities that are available to us to watch the good movies, we would watch those movies only. It is impossible for anyone to see even a small fraction of the good (even the best) movies in the life that one lives on this earth.

Similar is the case with 'tasting good food', 'reading books', 'visiting places', 'using modern gadgets' etc.... But is it a crime (as the tone of the person who talks to us suggests) if you do not do as spoken to? Why are people so obsessed with such things? May be, it is to show off what they have done (certain things), which we have not done yet! Or to tease us..... We should never ever give importance to such frivolous talks of others. 

We have our own priorities, depending on our nature, our status, financial position, our mindset, our family circumstances etc. Whatever is humanly possible as per our situation, we would do. We should enjoy what we do. We should never do something which is not palatable to us. For example, some people like to watch sci-fi movies which I may totally dislike. It is not to be ashamed of, if I don't see a very popular sci-fi movie, which everyone-else might have watched. I may still like "Tom & Jerry" movies, instead. So be it. What is the problem?

How can we expect a person making $ 300 a month, to own an iPhone? While asking the person about the owning of the iPhone, they don't even realize that aspect. Some people may take it easy and some other person might get hurt by such stupid question. 

When a person asks you, in a sarcastic tone,  'have you seen Niagara Falls?', give him this retort, 'have you seen "Eiffel Tower'? (His son must be working in USA and he must have visited him there and so he has seen Niagara Falls. Since your daughter is residing in Paris, you can reply as above....!).

The books that are recommended for your reading may not be of any interest to you. Just because everyone talks about 'Harry Potter' books, or 'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler, should you necessarily read them? You can select the books on the subject of your interest and try to read them, when possible.

Can everyone taste 'sushi' (considered to be one of the delicacies in the world) in his lifetime? No, impossible. If we have a chance, we would certainly try it. Sitting here in a small town, how could I aspire for it? And if I don't get a chance to taste it (before I die), will my soul not rest in peace? Even the world's wealthiest person cannot experience everything in his life, despite having mountain of cash at his disposal. Though the wealthiest person owns the world, where he sleeps is just a portion of a bed (leaving the other portion to his spouse).

So, next time you hear something like the sentences given above, just laugh at that person. If he asks, 'have you tasted 'sushi', you may ask him, 'have you tasted 'ragi pancake'' (dish made out of 'finger millet')? He will not even know what it is and will be bemused then. We should learn to experience and enjoy what we do, what we eat, what we watch, what we hear and so on.... There is no point in fretting over what we cannot do (even if we like). Just brush aside that thought. Getting satisfied with what we get in our lives, is the most important thing. Satisfaction brings us happiness and that is what is of paramount importance in life.... 

(PS : Everyone now has a 'smart phone', not necessarily an iPhone! I do have a smart phone. Apart from my usual chores that I need to do in a day, I watch movies and YouTube shorts etc., in my phone, Now, I understand that even if I watch 24 X 7 (which I would never do), I cannot watch all that is available in OTT space as well as YouTube, (at least the best ones). Actually, this aspect prompted me to write this article!)