Once upon a time, in a land far and far away from all basic human quirks, there thrived a community. This community comprised of hundreds and thousands who used to produce all of their own stuff, produce their own food, procure supplies and live along well and merry. They would sometimes socialize with each other, by coming to meetings. They would discuss how their lives were going, what they had produced and the problems they were having. Some would tell about people who weren’t producing their own food and supplies and were stealing them from others. Others would report how they were fearful of bad elements ruining there perfect little existence. There was a small congress of elders who would hear them and hand out the necessary punishment and suitable solutions to the community. Things were going well and all people were more or less satisfied with what they had built for themselves.
Then came hard times. It had been a harsh winter for everyone and the storms and hail left much of the fields barren. Now there was a system they followed in their community. There was no distribution of land individually for a particular person and Mother Earth was for all. Anyone who could plough his or her way by the sweat of the bro could produce as much as he or she would like. But as the land had suddenly become limited, they were having some fears for the future. A meeting was called and it was decided that they would host it everyday for resolution of problems till the harsh times have subsided.
In the meeting, there was concern over what would be allotted to whom so that everyone gets a fair share and no-one suffers. They were all brainstorming over the matter. While some suggested that the old rule of produce as per ability is followed, others suggested that the resources be divided equally among all. The elders told them that the latter would not be feasible because some may need that equal share more than the others while some may need a very small portion. In the midst of them all, there was a woman who had been sitting silent all along. Maybe she knew something but she was trying to find the right words to say it. When she was sure on what needed to be said, she went on- “Hard times have fallen upon us and it’s times like these that truly test the true nature of men and women. But I fear something. I fear that this is where our harmony would end. I fear that those who can produce more and more would try to seize control over others. She feared that they would hoard their produce much more than they needed and as such others would suffer. But the elders did not pay heed to her and went on with the produce per ability rule.
Earlier, it was all good and those who could produce more and needed less would regularly bring their stock to the elders and taking their own bit out, would contribute the rest for the community need. The elders thought everything was good but some of them still feared about the hoarding.
When the produce season was coming to a hault, some of the people who could not produce more were running out of supplies. They were helpless. Those who could produce more remained strong but there was only so much they could do for the greater good. And then struck calamity. What they had feared materialized as they came to know that while some were suffering for lack of it, a big producer had hoarded the greatest produce of the community. But he did not want to share it and so he never came forward with anything in the meetings. He had the upper hand in decisions now and he could exploit it all he wanted to. He told his community people that he was going to introduce something to them, something that would change the way things worked around there- He introduced Business- a tradeoff.
Things fell apart after this and the once glorious, harmonious community was never the same. It had suffered a deep impact on its most fundamental of levels and all this time, it saw it coming. Guess, it was the community people’s own fault.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
Takhallus-e-Haqeeqat 