Highlights

‘Achhe Din’ or Good Days – much misunderstood, recognition and valuing the Good Times, – being content- also, valuing the leisure time.

Quotations for Consideration

“Good times are a reminder and a reward for dealing with difficult and challenging times we all go through. The trick is to celebrate the good times in advance of the difficult times. Always remember, good times await after the difficult times pass.” – James A. Murphy

“Much more greater things come when (recognize and) celebrate the little things(joys) in your life.” – John J. Bassey.

“It is a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” – Germany Kent

Achhe Din

‘Achhe Din’ – is a very aspirational and much misunderstood concept,especially as it is viewed very subjectively.

‘Achhe Din’ – what does this phrase mean to us – ‘Good Days’ ? Or more subjective things such as health, satisfaction, contentment, happy-work, so- cial and family relationships, expectation of a promotion, greater recognition, more remuneration and so on.

Each of them indicates a better more ‘Achhe’ day but is that all what an ‘Achhe Din’; means or does it call for all of the above and more? I think you will agree that it is really much of all of the above that we demand, expecting continuous betterment in each of them at ever increasing levels to really see the future as ‘Achhe Din’ and be Happy!

Do you then think that what you are asking for is reasonable? Perhaps we need to view our lives and aspirations more realistically.

Disaster, pain, grief, and loss, are also, part of each of our lives, hopefully at levels, the Almighty has given us the strength to bear and live through.

As an old story goes, when a King asked all his ministers and advisors to come up with one short ‘mantra’ or belief that would apply in all circumstances in life. None of them could find a suitable one. Then an old villager who had heard of this came to the Palace and whispered a few words in the Kings ear. Initially the King scoffed at the ‘mantra’ but a little contemplation made him recognize the validity of what the old villager had told him and announced it to his Court saying Wisdom could arise from anywhere and duly rewarded the villager.

I’m sure all of you would know this but can you recollect it, do you apply it to meet your daily travails

The mantra/belief was – “Soon this too shall pass!”

This mantra/belief applies to all circumstances in life, whether happy or unhappy. So let this thought bring balance into your life. Everything shall pass, from the joy of winning a lottery, to the grief of losing a loved one. Everything shall pass!

This brings us back to the question ‘what and how can we describe ‘Achhe Din’. We all think we know it but it becomes difficult and confusing to put it into words, because putting it into words means converting a subjective feeling into an objective concept.

It also, matters in what context we seek ‘Achhe Din’ – Family relationships, work, social relationships or Societal circumstances?

There is a nice Urdu couplet that perfectly summarizes our understanding of the concept of ‘Achhe Din’ ‘or in this case ‘Acha Waqt’ or ‘Good Times’.

“WAQT Achcha Zarur Aata hai’… Bas kambakht WAQT par Nahi Aata!

‘Pal-Pal’ taraste the is ‘Pal’ keliye! Woh ‘Pal’ bhi ata hai sirf kuch ‘Pal’ keliye!
 
Socha us ‘Pal’ ko roklu har ‘Pal’ keliye! Par woh ‘Pal’ na ruka ek ‘Pal’ ke Liye!”

Hence, it is important that we recognize and Enjoy ‘Har Pal’/ every moment of life make it leave us with happy memories, because after all it is such Happy Memories that make our lives an album of togetherness of Joy and of Happiness. Remember that in reality too we do not keep photographs of tragedy and death in our family photo albums.

Now with this concept in our mind let us look at what perhaps you all are asking about in relation to the political and societal circumstances in our Country.

The ‘Achhe Din’ that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhartiya Janta Party have promised us all.

Some of you are too young to really grasp how life was some 50 or 60 or more years ago. My own memories do not go all the way back to when we got our Independence, as I was just a child then, but I do clearly remember living conditions in the cities and villages and even in Hyderabad from a few years after, say 1956, when I had joined the Hyderabad Public School, and thereafter.

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