City life!

City life is great! You have money, opportunities, facilities, infrastructure, …. what not!

Alas, it comes at a price! The price is getting dearer and dearer every passing day!

The price is

- congestion

- confinement in ever shrinking homes

- decoupling from nature

- mechanisation

- pollution

- money is more important than time attitude

- stress

Okay, I could be exaggerating a bit here. After all, Bangalore is kinder than most cities. But hell, it still drives me mad!

I grew up in Nilgiris amidst all that greenery and beauty in a very old farm house.

Days began at 6.30 am and ended at 8pm. Work (/school) hours were usually from 9-4. And your commute took 30 minutes on a bad day… on a bicycle!

You played cricket every day from 4.30 to 7.00. And cycled up the hills with friends during the weekend! When it rained, your dad was there indoors to play chess with you! When it was sunny, you were allowed to stupidly dig up the soil to sow the seeds of a plant in your self-proclaimed, self-twig-fenced small plot of land (in your father’s farm)… no one but you had the powers to set foot on it (of course, the stray dog that your dad raised never listened to you and always freed itself of the poop exactly on your part of the land much to your annoyance!). Of course, the crop was a failure… for you dug up the place only in 7 days expecting a full crop!!! Ah… good old days!

Now that I have a daughter, I need to think.

Can I give my daughter the same lifestyle in Bangalore? A big NO is a no-brainer!

Of course, when you are exposed to an addiction, it is hard to get rid of it. Moving out doesn’t seem to a solution… at least for now.. it takes away with it the opportunities, the exposure to city living,… and yes, the money!

Then, is dual living a solution?

- a few days in the city and the rest in the country side

- an income (note, I didn’t say employment or business or entrepreneurship) in the city and an income in the country side

Am already thinking seriously on these lines!!!

New coins in my collection

Quite a few new countries added to my collection. See the list of additions below.

If you want to see my entire collection list, click here.