Spicy Rasam

I don’t have any hobbies. Yes!! I don’t. I am addicted to WhatsApp, I don’t know what to watch in TV and I am very bored. Does this sound familiar? Welcome to the bored-human club.

My Physics teacher used to say “ if you’re bored, you’ve got no imagination.” Does this mean I’ve lost my imagination? Am I not imagining? Does day dreaming count? Or zoning out? Anyway, I am bored, and according to my ex-Physics teacher, I can’t imagine stuff.

So, as always, I sought help. I Googled “Bored mom” (see below Picture).

I am not alone. There are so many moms who are bored. It has nothing to do with motherhood; I guess people are just bored. Is it the fact that humans get to live longer? Or it is the fact that “making a living” is not very exciting anymore, or is it that nothing excites us anymore?

Honestly!! I don’t know. I grew up in the 90s, and it was awesome. My mom never told me she was bored. She hardly had time for TV. She worked at home and office. She raised me and my brother. She socialized.. well, in the literal sense (no internet, those days). It was simple, small, and fresh.

I used to ride my bicycle to school, I played in the school grounds after school hours. My friends and I hung out in the local bakery. This was my childhood. I grew up witnessing the evolution of technology. I was awestruck by the idea of cell phones. I was amazed by the idea of internet. It was awesome that a site named “Google” helped us search for websites that provided relevant information. (That’s right. Once upon a time, google worked for the internet. Not the other way around.) Now this is going to sound cheesy, but those were good times.

I mean it was actually possible to part ways with a friend. It was possible that we can never ever see them again in our life. It was possible to have friends who were physically present in our life. We can boldly use the proverb “friend in need is a friend indeed”. Because they were there to do the deed. Maybe that’s why it was not possible for people to get bored back then. There was no comparison, no audience, no mindless socializing, and no instant photography.

People lived their lives in their own little world. They compared themselves with their neighbors, their colleagues, their right-next-to-them friends. They were not doomed to be “friends” with the photography freak, the update freak, the whatsApp freak (this is me), the “it’s all peachy” freak, the “I am too cool for you” freak, the “I am so cool, I run marathons” freak, and “I am always Happy” freak.

Let’s face it. We’re all freaks and internet set us free. It’s like the Jurassic world (the movie) of dumbos. Now, coming back to the topic of being bored. I think the bored people are bored because they know too much. And yes! Ignorance is bliss. As long as you did not know somewhere, some place, someone you once went to school with is living it up, you are very much happy with your uneventful life. The problem is now you know. The person living it up posts a photo in Facebook, pinterest, Twitter, and WhatsApp. The person who posts the picture needs an audience, and they get it. Whether or not they are happy is not the question. They just want to sell their “happy life”.

Actors are acceptable critics and thanks to Internet, everyone is an actor and everyone can criticize. You get married, people have stuff to say. You lose weight! People have something to say. You have a baby! People have something to say! And if they don’t say anything, you feel depressed. You post a picture or comment crap, you feel entitled to receive comments. If you are an outcast in a social network, you are, well, an outcast. It doesn’t matter how good your life is. And worst! you start making plans to get yourself noticed. You go outing, go to places and post on Facebook. You want people to know how awesome you are. How rocking your life is. You might have suffered diarrhea, fever, cold or cramps during your trip to Malaysia. The food would not have agreed with your stomach. But, no one has to know that. Just fake it till you make it.

 

I am writing this article because I was bored. You guys are probably reading this because you’re bored. Well! Life sans fight for survival (literally), hunt for food (literally), and procreational activities is very boring. But all the above three without any hint of surprise anywhere is boring too. That’s what we’re facing now and that is called civilization. We created this monster. Let us now suck it up. Happy boredom people!