Life for Sale

Winter is at its fag end and the torturous summer is knocking at the doors. The days have lengthened considerably; so much so that the moon does not dare to show itself before the clocks clear its arms well past six! This is a part of an annual cycle that life goes through and yet such is its subtlety that most of us fail to perceive it.
And then there is this one thing which we all look forward to every year. It has become a part of the seasonal cycle and it has made its way to our minds through newspapers, television advertisements, handouts and bill boards. With the rise of the rich-middle class in India, it has captured the imagination of one and all alike. It is the Great Annual Sale!!
Every year at the end of winter and onset of summer there is a huge slump in the savings of almost every common man. The annual sale is perhaps the most eagerly awaited celebration in India after….Well, now it is second to none!! It is the most eagerly awaited celebration!!
There is a discount on everything here, it appears. The soulful merchants and traders seem to have understood how important our savings are to us and are therefore offering something free with a nothing or making us “an offer we cannot refuse”. From brooms to books and from clothes to cars, this phenomenon has taken everything in its grip. And quite predictably, we all have fallen for this. Budgets are adjusted and credit cards are arranged for- the money managers in us work overtime to prepare for this bonanza (Read: Spending spree).
I, on my part, make a pledge after every celebration that the next year when the sale turns up I will rein myself and fasten my purse strings. I am still in search of that elusive next year.