Cost of Convenience
When my son was 2–3 years old, there used to be sudden power cuts in our house at least 3–4 times a week in the afternoon, during his nap time. And as we did not have an inverter at home, summer afternoons used to get very difficult to put him to sleep without a fan.
Observing that his sleeping pattern was getting disturbed, my mother suggested that we get an inverter so that my son’s sleep does not get disturbed. She believed that an afternoon nap is very essential for a child.
But I refused to go ahead with the idea. Why? Because my mind was thinking beyond his sleep pattern.
What would happen if my son does not get used to a situation when there is no electricity?
How would he ever experience the loss of electricity?
How would he know how sweaty summer afternoons are?
Would he even understand the importance of sweating at all?
How would he learn to keep himself busy without electricity?
How would he understand what it is to experience darkness in the evening without electricity?
How would he experience the magic of candlelight?
I did not want him to mix convenience & necessities.
An inverter for me in the house would be convenient for me with respect to my professional life, but if he grew old with this, MY convenience would become HIS necessity and would not be appreciated.
And this would have been my Cost of Convenience.
I calmly explained to my mother my views of not having an inverter at home. She was readily convinced as she did come from a background where in earlier days, even electricity was a luxury. My son was too young to understand all this.
Now, when there is no electricity, paper fans are made, candlelight dinners are enjoyed, the joy of lying down and rolling on the floor is experienced, horror plays are enacted with a candle in hand and a towel on the head, the sky is experienced with the stars, and even silence is enjoyed.
In a way, the power cut business also disciplined my son to keep things that he needs in the prescribed places so that he can easily find them even in the dark. 😉
Our sedentary lifestyles have made us turn luxuries into necessities. And this is not only impacting our lives but the future generation’s as well. And that will be the cost of convenience that we would be paying.
Though Convenience is appreciated at times, it is better if we do not take it for granted and turn them into Necessities.
And, when we keep knowing the difference between Convenience & Necessities, how are we Changing the Systems?
