The Shiny Car and the Mirror of Discontent

Santa is beaming with pride.

“Look, Banta!”

“My sister’s son, Ramesh!”

“See his car?”

“It gleams like a mirror!”

“He brought expensive sweets and a talking doll for my granddaughter.”

“He says he lives in a building with a lift’that goes up all by itself!”

“My sister made a wise choice moving to the city.”

Banta watches as Santa’s own son, Mohan, stares at the car with a mixture of awe and deep envy.

Later, when Santa asks Mohan to help him in the fields, the young man snaps back, “What’s the point of breaking my back on this stony land?”

 “To earn enough to buy one tyre of that car in a year?”

“There is no future here!”

He storms off to be with his cousin Ramesh.

Santa is heartbroken. He finds Banta sitting under the old oak tree.

“Banta, did you hear my Mohan?”

“That city car has put a strange poison in his mind.”

“He now sees his own home, his own land, as worthless.”

Banta nods grimly.

“Santa, your nephew Ramesh is a good boy, and he means well.”

“But his shiny car has acted like a Aaina.”

“And in it, our village youth are not seeing their own strengths; they are only seeing what they lack.”

“This is the Mirror of Discontent.”

“Mirror of Discontent?” Santa asks.

“Yes,” Banta explains.

“When our successful relatives visit, their prosperity, which they have worked hard for, unintentionally becomes a measuring stick.”

 “Their stories of malls, big salaries, and easy lives, even if exaggerated, can make our own lives, which have a different kind of richness, seem poor and backward.”

“It magnifies the lack of facilities here and makes the youth desperate to escape, thinking that the only path to success is the one that leads out of the village.”

He adds, “The visit of a loved one, which should be a joy, ends up fuelling the next wave of migration.”

“It fans the flames of aspiration but offers only one solution – leave.”

“It doesn’t inspire them to improve what we have here; it inspires them only to abandon it.”

Santa looks devastated.

“So, my own sister’s success is becoming a reason for my son’s discontent?”

 “This is a terrible paradox, Banta.”

 “What is the solution?”

“Should we ask them not to visit?”

“Never!” Banta says firmly.

“The solution is not to break the mirror, Santa.”

 “The solution is to change what we see in it.”

“We need to build our own Pratibimb of success here.”

“And that brings us back to the real issue.”

“We cannot blame our children for wanting a better life.”

“The question is, why should a better life only mean a city life?”

संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-   

• शहर व गांव की जीवनशैली में दिखायी देने वाली विषमता के कारण, विशेष रूप से गांव के युवा शहर से आने वाले नाते-रिश्तेदारों से प्रभावित हो कर शहर जाने की ठान लेते हैं / The visible disparity between urban and rural lifestyles, often highlighted by visiting relatives, is a significant driver of out-migration among youth.
• इससे पीछे गांव में रह गये व्यक्तियों पर मनोवैज्ञानिक दबाव उत्पन्न होने लगता हैं और इसके कारण वह परम्परागत जीवनशैली व रहन-सहन को कमतर आंकने लगते हैं / This creates a psychological burden on those who stay, devaluing traditional livelihoods and ways of life.
• सच कहें तो कहानी को “अच्छे जीवन के लिये पलायन” की बजाय गांव में “जीवन को बेहतर बनाये” के रूप में तब्दील किया जाना चाहिये / The narrative needs to shift from “escaping to a better life” to “creating a better life” within the villages.
• इसके लिये शहर व गांव के बीच विकास की खाई को पाटना होगा और यह गांव में अवसंरचनाओं, सुविधाओं तथा अवसरों पर पर्याप्त निवेश के बिना संभव नहीं हैं / This requires tangible investment in rural infrastructure and opportunities to reduce the development gap.

संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये 

व 

इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।

हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सचमानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होतेहैं। 

सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।