Namaskaar, Kia Ora, Ni Hao...This is my space with some personal rants that I am sure you must agree sometimes and nod your head and say -'Same Pinch'....loaded with some short stories, some thoughts...and lots of Zing and Zest 
What recession is teaching us?
Posted by Mahak on June 26, 2009
What recession is teaching us?
- Faith in god
- Family is important than job
- Job is not the only social identity – you are someone’s son/daughter,husband/wife, brother/sister, mother/father
- Who are our real friends who are foes
- Self belief
- Testing of times and your own strength
- To take out time for those activities we bothered to ignore.
What more do you think?
Life also applies Pareto’s Law or 80/20 principle…
80% of the things like office work which take our time give us only 20% of happiness.. and 20% of things that we rarely do in a day give us 80% of happiness..
But if the impact of 80% things/chores wouldn’t be there we won’t be able to treasure the true essence of the remaining 20% nice things in our life…
Have I confused you enough already?
From what I explained to MVM a couple of months back I think it is turning true…
Life also applies Pareto’s Law or 80/20 principle…
80% of the things like office work which take our time give us only 20% of happiness.. and 20% of things that we rarely do in a day give us 80% of happiness..
But if the impact of 80% things/chores wouldn’t be there we won’t be able to treasure the true essence of the remaining 20% nice things in our life…
Have I confused you enough already?
sakhi said
Wah fruity… you are in a philosophycal mood, hun??
But its true about the things you mentioned up there!
Suda said
I disagree a little or say I have seen people do exactly opposite of what you mentioned (Here, by people I mean recession-hit, laid-off or with no job bcoz of recession):
1. Faith in god: Many friends who were faced lay-offs don’t have jobs even after 1 years trying and searching, they say they have lost faith in everything
2. Family is important than job: Very few of the recession hit people go hometown as frequently as they did earlier, calls to mom-dad-bro-sis have decreased and everyone wants nothing but a job damn it
3. Job is not the only social identity – you are someone’s son/daughter,husband/wife, brother/sister, mother/father: Same as point 2, no job means you are useless (not my thoughts, its everywhere now) so family is family but job is life’s bread and butter.
4. Who are our real friends who are foes: Well, a little spring here
Now, everyone a friend. In these bad times, anyone can help you and people have started going out of the way to help others 
5. Self belief: This is the worst point. Many of my friends who lost their jobs have lost all the confidence over the year of struggle. And I know more that 20-25 guys-gals like this. Don’t even think about the people who didn’t get the job at first place after completing the graduation
6. Testing of times and your own strength: Well, no comments here as no one is speaking up about this. I hope everyone is really doing self-assessment somehow….
7. To take out time for those activities we bothered to ignore: Well, does it include not calling anyone, spending time closed in rooms and looking at everything in life in a resentful way? Then thats it, thats what nearly everyone is doing.
Sorry Fruity for so much negative thoughts but this is what I saw in my friends and few familiar persons. I think they should be thinking the way you put it but not everyone is positive and we can’t understand until we are in their shoes (not that I want to understand it).
fruity said
@ sakhi – ths is one of the reasons for my sad mood!
fruity said
@ suda – hmm thanks for the comments..it has made me even more sad!
The points that I listed above were to cheer myself and my friends..we are facing the same fears..and now reading your comment has made my mood hell!
Your view is different than mine coz my mom dad keep telling me ‘beta even if you lose job, its not the end of the world, we will always be there for you’. Another friend of mine has started going to temple daily for others’ sake – so thi proves we know who are our friends.
Let me tell you Anupam has been through this phase and I know what happened to him, me and us!
its not I wrote this post wearing rose coloured glasses!! I have seen the harsh reality from too close that you can’t even imagine!
Sorry if I have got too emotional!
Reema said
cheer up dear.. Nothing lasts forever..not even the cold November rain.
fruity said
@ Reema – thanks for the support. I do need it…loads of it!
Abhinav Bhardwaj said
yeah i can understand it better. I want to go with my interest and leaving all the high paying jobs only for my interst. And the best part is ‘in recession there is no session of job interviews in my area of interest’
fruity said
@ abhinav – the conditions here are also not so favourable dear! I am just glad to have my parents ad friends’ support. I am hoping and praying that these tough times pass fast and may god give us enough strength. Amen
Avada Kedavra said
hmm true.. but the sad part is that in these times some smart not-so-good ppl with good contacts still manage to get jobs.. but hard working ppl struggle so much and still end up without jobs
This is what I noticed
fruity said
@ avada – Nepotism and favouritism has been always sad…..I can’t stand it…people kissing others’ arses and moving their way up the ladder have alays been in my hit list!!!
Amit said
I think the grass is always greener on the other side.
Also, I must add that when a person loses his job, a larger part of how he will react to it will depend on how financially strong he already is.
fruity said
@Amit – You are right!! This post is my perspective, I am just touched by the kind gesture shown by my parents, hubby and friends in these times. My friends are doing something or the other from the points mentioned in the above list. In fact my own backup plan is to get back to uni full-time if god forbid I am in this situation.
And yes you are cent percent correct the reaction is dependent on the financial position.
I have however not come across any body in a place in the situation different than mine and I am glad as at this stage I can’t bear more trauma.