So far my posts have been on the way to get wealthy and the patience required over the years to reach the stage where you become financially independent. What about meeting people who have reached such a stage which sums to a dangerous level of independence somewhat akin to a spiritual one. My father has always put emphasis on the repository of knowledge rather than the repository of currencies. And I have been lucky enough to know two people who puts so much emphasis on this question of adding a little bit of knowledge to their everyday life.One happens to be my first cousin Mrs Aparajita Mondal (whom we lovingly call mitotka(the fat and chubby one) , beral(the kitten) and other such pet names!) and the other my brother -in-law Debashis Mondal.
Both of them has given me so much to ponder upon. Thy would have been counted among the ordinary or something else had not they done something different. They are in fact extra-ordinary in their own rights. People spend years counting and adding and buying and exhibiting their possessions ,material mostly with some degree of pride , bordering on vanity sometimes. They have been living in New Zealand for over a decade. Here is couple of images where they live which they lovingly call basa(home)!
Nothing extraordinary ,right?
Absolutely! A couple living in an ordinary house amidst love and happiness, simple as possible.
But...the there is another story to it! Imagine meeting these two people and again you find nothing from their demeanour or gait.
Both of them has given me so much to ponder upon. Thy would have been counted among the ordinary or something else had not they done something different. They are in fact extra-ordinary in their own rights. People spend years counting and adding and buying and exhibiting their possessions ,material mostly with some degree of pride , bordering on vanity sometimes. They have been living in New Zealand for over a decade. Here is couple of images where they live which they lovingly call basa(home)!
Absolutely! A couple living in an ordinary house amidst love and happiness, simple as possible.
But...the there is another story to it! Imagine meeting these two people and again you find nothing from their demeanour or gait.
Then I may take advantage of facts to tell you that they belong to a family which has ownership of several chemical factories in Gujarat amounting to a couple of million dollars or much more than that !!!
And in spite of several patents and property ownership and multi-million dollar business ,one fine morning they did forego everything , left Mumbai ,India, and settled in New Zealand.Nothing could lure them back! They were happy in themselves ,cultivating potatoes in the back yard of their home in New Zealand, travelling to places , mostly in wilderness and cooking several dishes and delighting the neighbors.
What prompted them to leave so much and embrace much more?
My father's words echo every now and then in my ears. It is important to be wealthy and not rich. Rich is but a number. Wealth is the state of mind. They are wealthy in every sense. They crave for knowledge. Both of them. Mind you Aparajita is from one of the premier educational institutes in India, Presidency College, Kolkata.
Debashis's PhD is in Information Systems on adoption of Connected Health by micro-Health Care professionals which he completed in April 2015 and has provided him with the required background to implement Connected Health in primary health care environment. Micro-Health Care professionals perform the important function of providing primary and specialist health care services such as Chiropractors, Midwives, Homeopaths and Dentist. His PhD research has synergies with projects as it introduced ICT to Processes for micro-healthcare professionals through the use of social media, Skype and e-business technologies.
He has developed knowledge and expertise in the area of physically and mentally challenged geriatric clients.Through his association with his supervisors and micro-health care professionals,he understood the potential of technology to improve the quality of life and care for the disadvantaged.He has done preliminary work in this direction and expect to undertake experimental projects for use of fitness tracking devices to improve obesity and increase physical activity. The direct experience with implementation of health information systems in geriatric and mentally challenged clients will be of great significance for understanding the economics of such health information system.
What a journey indeed. So simple is their life that Aparajita cooks the simple pumpkin curry( kumror ghonto) for her neighbours and they relish it to the maximum possible extent.
AT THE END OF THE DAY IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THE WEALTHY LIVE LIKE THE ONES WHO FORGO EVERYTHING.
Holding on to material riches indicate only craving for richness and not wealth!! For me they have the sage like quality to let go and crave for only one thing that matters- Knowledge!!!
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