(Jayakumar KR, 30 Mar 2017)
Philosophy professes detachment from everything and leading the life as an observer. A story was doing rounds in ‘WhatsApp’ some time back. Owner of a house comes back with family from a trip to see his house, which was built brick by brick by him on fire. He almost got a heart attack seeing his hard-earned money going into flames. Noticing his plight, his quiet son told him that he had sold the house to an unfortunate buyer. When the father learnt that he is no more the owner of the house and a mere spectator watching a house going into flames, he escaped from getting wheeled into a hospital. The detachment from the ownership came into play and provided him a quick relief.
Uber says you do not need to own a car. When you own the car, you keep cursing the boulder or other drivers and drive with added stress. There are no heart burns when someone scratches the car or if it gets dent due to mishaps. When you hire a cab, and take a ride you are a mere witness to anything that happens to the car on the way, unless you are hurt. Attachments add stress to life. If giving up ownership of your car is one way, then there are plenty of other avenues to leading a detached life, responsibly irresponsible.
An enterprise can subscribe to software applications on cloud, without investing upfront in terms of hardware, system software, IT team and 24/7 operations. By paying a monthly subscription fee, enterprises get detached from the Information Technology and its associated irritants to focus on their core business. They also have an option to drop by just committing a minimum duration of relationship. ‘Perpetual’ license is getting out of scene from the world of IT.
We can rent a home, share an office, time-share a holiday, but the anti-consumer culture propogandists say that you cannot buy your grandmother, mother, grandfather, father and all those who love to hug you when you feel let down. Cuddling has now become a commodity which can be availed from companies such as Cuddlist and Cuddle time. Cuddle Therapy in the US provide non-sexual hugging services. Psychotherapists are now sharpening their skills in cuddling for providing holistic approach to healing.
‘Order a daddy’ app allows women to select a sperm donor based on characteristics, nationality and eye colour from ‘Top 1000 Donor’ based on their affordability. Yes, donor comes with a price, the cost of which is negligible when compared to leading a contractual life with a spouse. A life detached provides women a life free from getting even pregnant thanks to wombs on rental, services largely provided from certain regions in India. Subcontracting and still getting the feel that you have manufactured the product without participating in the process provides convenience without associated pains.
To get detached from marital life, ‘SecondWife.com’ facilitates men who want to add wives and single women who would be happing sharing a spouse without getting involved. The owner of the portal feels that many women do not want the obligation of a full-time husband, or consider it a plus that man is already married. To hedge the risks, portals such as polygamy.com, offers a revolutionary way towards life nirvana – the ultimate of detachment.
Relationships in life which are holistic in nature, have become transactional. Can transactional view of life provide true detachment and insulate people from ill effects of attachment? People still complain about attitudes of drivers of call taxis, surge pricing or non-availability of a taxi when needed causing new stresses. The same can be noticed in other interludes if customers of those portals start posting their disappointments.
Attachment gives raise to expectations where in the equation ‘Peace Quotient = Number of expectations fulfilled / Number of expectations entertained’ starts showing effects of the denominator. Peace quotient can be infinite if there are no expectations. Detachment which is misconstrued as secluded living, is actually living without attachment to expectations. The burden of responsibility and the loads of worries that we carry within us due to the attachment causes stress and not the actions themselves.