It
was a pair of small orange scissors – quite simple and cheap. While it played a
very important role in my kitchen, it was not a prized possession and quite
easily replaceable. So when it broke one day, I didn’t think twice about
throwing it into the dustbin. But my then friend and now husband stopped me. He
took the scissors, wound up the broken plastic part with thread, coated it up
with hot wax from a candle and behold, my tiny scissors was back to being fully
operational. Frankly I was quite impressed with him. He looked like the kind of
guy who could do things around the house :P. Such guys make great husbands!!!
Anyways,
it was 5 years ago and I still have that pair of scissors and it is still
cutting things up quite well. It would have never crossed my mind to fix it up
like that. It is exactly how most urban people live. When things get broken, we
throw it away and buy a new one. We think we do not have the time to fix it or
that we have enough money to buy a new one with more “advanced technology”. So
what is wrong with it – you would say. I say we should give “fixing things” a
chance before we jump to the store to buy a replacement. Here are my thoughts
on why.
I
think we don’t really value the things we own. Often that’s the case with the
people in our lives too. While we use our possessions mercilessly, we take them
for granted. But the moment they threaten to not serve us, we throw them away.
Imagine if we were treated this way by the other people in our lives? I say we
need to learn to value the things and people around us. Can we survive a single
day without them? No. Then why don’t we give our scissors, tools and phones a
second chance? Why not take care of them and coax them to stay with us a little
longer. Take them to the guy who fixes things and get them working. Who knows how
many more years it could serve you.
You
might wonder - why should you take the effort? You could just buy a replacement
with much lesser effort and time. Well here’s why – You save lots of money!!!
Most
of the times, fixing things would save you quite a lot of money. Here’s an
example. My laptop charger broke a couple of years ago, when I was in metro
city in the south. When I took it to the showroom, they suggested I buy a new
charger which charged me 1500 rupees. Well, I didn’t mind then. That charger served
me for two years, till it broke again a week ago. Unfortunately (or
fortunately?) I live in a very small town. When I took the charger to the only
computer shop in the town, he gave me two options. One was to order for a new
charger which will cost me 1500 rupees again but I would have to wait for a
couple of days. While I was contemplating life without the laptop for those
couple of days, the shop owner gave me the other option. He could fix my
charger for 200 rupees and he could do it right then. A little more than an
hour later, I was on my way back home with a fully functional charger in my bag
and the idea of this post in my head.
Is
this not great? We live in India- the land of Jugaad. They say anything can be
done or fixed or customized in India. Then why not use this great ability which
we have around us in abundance?
Here
is another reason to try fixing things – Do not fall prey to consumerism.
Everywhere we see, we are being pushed, cajoled, manipulated or convinced to
have more, spend more, buy more. I don’t get it why do we need so much? Frankly
we don’t really require that latest smartphone or the expensive stereo but
these corporations with their flashy products and glossy commercials psychologically
convince us that we cannot do without them. They are just making money!!! Why don’t
we get that? More importantly, they are making money by taking away our money –
our hard earned money. And we give it away without a second thought. I say we
say no to consumerism. Lets buy things which we really cannot do without and
leave the rest. Life would easier, simpler and more happier.
I
know what you are thinking right now. Of course its your money and you can
spend it the way you want to. But atleast think about the environment. Each of
our human products which is being built/made is destroying our world little by
little. The waste from the factories dumped around, the resources being
consumed, the air and water being polluted – it is not “them” that’s doing all
this. It is us too – every time we buy something, they make another two for it.
We cannot do without many things, but lets not encourage the manufacturing of
the luxury items. Or try and make the phones, laptops, mixer or TV we own work
longer and postpone buying new ones. Each time we do that, that is one less
item being produced, our tiny contribution to environment’s conservation. And
of course one more livelihood – the repairing guy gets a chance to live. Here’s
how it happens.
Our
car got some major trouble recently. The service centre gave us a quote of 75K –
their solution was to replace every troublesome part with a new one – even if
the part was just dented. Instead, we took the car to the local mechanic and
two days later – the car was completely fixed with the same old parts but
working absolutely well and with just 15 K in monetary damages. We get a new
car, and the mechanic gets his livelihood. There you go.
I
wonder what kind of message are we leaving for our future generations. Instead
of this guzzling of new stuff which appears in the market, we need to teach
them to value things. We need them to learn to be self sufficient – they should
be able to fix things themselves; whether it is broken scissors or a broken
relationship. They should learn to not throw away things at the first sign of
trouble and learn to make them work. If we are able to pass the right message,
then they will be less cruel and learn to give things and people a second
chance.
There
is this famous joke about how Indians use a T shirt in different ways as it
ages, till it becomes a mop. I think we should be proud of this quality. Most
of the country does live like this. I grew up in a home where the milk packets,
used bottles and tins were sold to the
recycling guy (raddiwala for u), cream from the milk was used to make home made
butter and used/torn clothes were sold to old ladies in exchange of utensils
and other kitchen ware. Things were not just strewn around the garbage. But the
urban lot is slowly moving away from all of this, including me. We have been so
much influenced by the west and the world of consumerism. We need to remind us
of ourselves, our roots, our values. Maybe we need something like the “Made in
India” movement – we need a “Fix it” movement.
