Choices in our lives

It was Sunday morning and my supplies of ration had already exhausted, making a visit to the nearest grocery store necessary. My list was short so I thought my visit would be quick and I would be able to enjoy my afternoon watching some old classic movie combined with a peaceful nap of couple of hours. But how wrong was I.

Any person who has some experience in shopping would agree that buying anything today is no less than an art. It's a game of selecting one among the myriad choices present. It's a situation of abundance. The problem of comparing and choosing based on your personal preferences.

I remember when as a kid we used to go to buy milk, or bread, or cooking oil, we just had to tell what item we wanted to buy without going into extra specifications about the brand and quality. Because there was only one type available. Mostly.

But today, buying a simple thing as milk would mean you have to take at least 5-6 decisions before finalizing on your product. Toned, half-toned, cream, full cream, vitamin d enriched, chocolate flavoured, semi pasteurised bla bla bla. Makes me remember what Tom Hanks said in some movie that in buying a cup of coffee from a Starbucks store, an average person has to take so many decisions - caf/decaf, sugar/ black and so on.

There was  a funny incident in my childhood when I went to a big shop to get some milk and when the shopkeeper asked which of the red, blue, green milk I wanted. Not understanding that he was apparently referring to the color of the packaging, I innocently replied that I wanted white milk and came back without buying anything.

So you must be wondering what I am trying to suggest through these examples. Is having a choice a bad thing? In fact our whole effort in the modern world is based on providing freedom of choice to the consumers. Absolute socialism is a thing of past. Capitalism is the new thing. And capitalism relies on competition. Giving the consumer the power to choose things. An end to monopoly.

I am suggesting none of this. Having choices is always a good thing. My only innocuous query is to what extent we need choices. And are choices instrumental in bringing more comfort and happiness in our lives.

Let me take an example. Was I any less happier when there were no cell phones and I had to go and meet someone if I desired to talk to them. Or did I feel more happy when the new phone which I bought had an extra choice of sending voice messgaes as well as opposed to the text messages which my old phone could send. While one may argue they keep people close. But in what way? When we are at home, we are checking the messgaes from other friends. And when we are with friends, our attention is diverted to some other place.  So in a way, we are getting closer to people who are living far off but getting far off (at least mentally) from the people who are closer.

Bhutan is one country which hasn't given too much importance to material advancements over their cultural and traditional customs and values. And certainly by no means they are less happier than people of USA.

So where does this bring us? To my mind, there can't be a single answer to this question. It varies from individual to individual, from culture to culture. But one thing is certain. That happiness can't be found in having greater choices or greater variety. It comes from within as it is an internal thing. So instead of worrying about so many choices, I would rather like to spend my time in having experiences - exploring world, meeting new people, tasting new food, spending time with best friends.