My father was in service for 39 years in Southern Railways in traveling ticket checking line and because of the nature of job he rarely stayed with us. But whenever he found time he used to attend to all household problems.
Binding our books (we are eleven), replacing worn-out/broken buttons to pants and shirts, repairing broken furniture with available tools, applying new wicks to the stoves, and taking appliances for outside repair such as changing broken handle of suitcase, repairing worn-out shoes and footwear and changing zips of bags were some of the works he casually attended to without any fuss. He never felt ashamed of doing such work. Neither his designation, nor his well-built stature nor age could stop him from doing so.
Today my daughters laugh at me when I try to take some of their garments for mending. Just because the stitching gave way in one or two places they have simply thrown away some costly dresses. Tailors too are very reluctant to take such work and tell excuses under the pretext of being very busy and having no time for such jobs.
Gone are the days and what now prevails is the use-and-throw culture. We applauded the idea when it first came for syringes and sanitary napkin. Students are relieved of the strain of filling ink in the pen and the stains that invariably follow it, thanks to the cheap, use-and-throw pens.
The concept got extended to paper cups, paper plates, water sachets, plastic water bottles, plastic carry bags and every day, some new item is added to this list.
It is cheap, easy to handle and no maintenance cost and time are required. Today no one talks about durability and quality. In the fast-moving mechanical world, the driving factors are cost and convenience.
People change things often. In industry too, durability has taken a back-seat. Everyone wants immediate returns, with minimum investments and no one talks about “long term”.
This use-and-throw culture is spreading like wildfire to every thing we do and to every walk of life, causing concern. Already heavy use of plastic is posing a threat to environment.
The use-and-throw culture is the order of the day and it started reflecting in every thing we do and “human relationship” is no exception. In the fast-moving materialistic world every thing is viewed and judged based on its material value only. The sense of belonging, the feeling of oneness, mutual usefulness to neighbors are slowly disappearing and causing concern.
I still remember the respect the postman, the station master, the EB wireman commanded from the public in those days of my childhood. No such relationship prevails any more. Even our family relations are becoming strained day by day. Our social contacts, if any, are all simply use-and-throw. Today everyone is a self-centered island and one has to wait for some big natural calamity or national crisis to bring us together.
Coming to Indian small scale industries the scenario is diametrically different. To meet the cut-throat competition, industries are not pumping any new money for capital items. Equipments and facilities are over-utilized and the maintenance team is always on their toes, going on repairing the machines and equipments again and again till the same comes to a grinding halt on its own.
People think that they are well managing the situation. The fact is, they are managing the situation with available resources, but at the cost of productivity. It is always crisis management and most of the people spend their time in first quadrant which means every thing is important and urgent. As a result the employees are put to overwork and hardship eroding their job satisfaction.
Because the younger generation is from the Use and Throw culture, they find themselves alien to the ever mending system of our small scale industries and they leave the job at the first excuse. This explains the heavy requirements for people on one hand, and the increase in unemployment rate on the other.
The mixie in my house is making hell of a noise. I told my betterhalf to clean it so that I can take it for repair. “Want to repair? It is as old as our first daughter. You know there is a festival offer. It is totally free along with a new refrigerator. Why not we try that dear.”- the echo is from my wife. Then what to do with our fridge?- as you guessed the feeble voice is mine. Well, there is another “offer” for that.
Binding our books (we are eleven), replacing worn-out/broken buttons to pants and shirts, repairing broken furniture with available tools, applying new wicks to the stoves, and taking appliances for outside repair such as changing broken handle of suitcase, repairing worn-out shoes and footwear and changing zips of bags were some of the works he casually attended to without any fuss. He never felt ashamed of doing such work. Neither his designation, nor his well-built stature nor age could stop him from doing so.
Today my daughters laugh at me when I try to take some of their garments for mending. Just because the stitching gave way in one or two places they have simply thrown away some costly dresses. Tailors too are very reluctant to take such work and tell excuses under the pretext of being very busy and having no time for such jobs.
Gone are the days and what now prevails is the use-and-throw culture. We applauded the idea when it first came for syringes and sanitary napkin. Students are relieved of the strain of filling ink in the pen and the stains that invariably follow it, thanks to the cheap, use-and-throw pens.
The concept got extended to paper cups, paper plates, water sachets, plastic water bottles, plastic carry bags and every day, some new item is added to this list.
It is cheap, easy to handle and no maintenance cost and time are required. Today no one talks about durability and quality. In the fast-moving mechanical world, the driving factors are cost and convenience.
People change things often. In industry too, durability has taken a back-seat. Everyone wants immediate returns, with minimum investments and no one talks about “long term”.
This use-and-throw culture is spreading like wildfire to every thing we do and to every walk of life, causing concern. Already heavy use of plastic is posing a threat to environment.
The use-and-throw culture is the order of the day and it started reflecting in every thing we do and “human relationship” is no exception. In the fast-moving materialistic world every thing is viewed and judged based on its material value only. The sense of belonging, the feeling of oneness, mutual usefulness to neighbors are slowly disappearing and causing concern.
I still remember the respect the postman, the station master, the EB wireman commanded from the public in those days of my childhood. No such relationship prevails any more. Even our family relations are becoming strained day by day. Our social contacts, if any, are all simply use-and-throw. Today everyone is a self-centered island and one has to wait for some big natural calamity or national crisis to bring us together.
Coming to Indian small scale industries the scenario is diametrically different. To meet the cut-throat competition, industries are not pumping any new money for capital items. Equipments and facilities are over-utilized and the maintenance team is always on their toes, going on repairing the machines and equipments again and again till the same comes to a grinding halt on its own.
People think that they are well managing the situation. The fact is, they are managing the situation with available resources, but at the cost of productivity. It is always crisis management and most of the people spend their time in first quadrant which means every thing is important and urgent. As a result the employees are put to overwork and hardship eroding their job satisfaction.
Because the younger generation is from the Use and Throw culture, they find themselves alien to the ever mending system of our small scale industries and they leave the job at the first excuse. This explains the heavy requirements for people on one hand, and the increase in unemployment rate on the other.
The mixie in my house is making hell of a noise. I told my betterhalf to clean it so that I can take it for repair. “Want to repair? It is as old as our first daughter. You know there is a festival offer. It is totally free along with a new refrigerator. Why not we try that dear.”- the echo is from my wife. Then what to do with our fridge?- as you guessed the feeble voice is mine. Well, there is another “offer” for that.
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