At some point in life, everyone starts to wonder, why am I desperately chasing after money?
Most of us fear that being unsuccessful would make us unworthy or a failure, but if you were to look at history, most successful people failed a lot before they emerged triumphant.
But what about those who do not become filthy rich? Judging people on their level of success and the money they possess is not only distressing but also harmful to the person doing the judging.
People who judge others based on their wealth are often insecure and trapped in a society that hasn’t taught them any better.
Money has blindsided us so much that when one loses it, good weather friends are quick to leave.
Here are some people who were unfortunately left alone in the time of their need.
PARVEEN BABI
Parveen Babi was a successful Bollywood actress, so much so that she was even one of the highest-paid actresses of her time.
Despite her success and fame, she led a difficult life. Her schizophrenia worsened over the years. She remained isolated and detached from everyone around her, eventually dying a lonely and painful death due to starvation.
RAJ KIRAN
Coming from a humble background, Raj Kiran quickly made a name for himself in Bollywood in the 80s. However, his popularity dwindled in the 90s.
Along with the pain of a shrinking career, Raj Kiran suffered from depression after his wife and kids left him. He suddenly went missing and was reportedly in an asylum in Atlanta, USA. However, contradicting reports suggested that the former Bollywood star was working as a taxi driver.
RAMESH NIRANJAN
Ramesh Niranjan came from a non-political background and managed to become a Minister of Sugarcane Development in Uttarakhand in 2006.
The Dalit and Congress politician was sacked from his job in less than a year after he irked officials. He had suspended some sugarcane workers which angered the higher officials after which he was removed from office due to allegations of corruption.
The former minister now sells toys and bangles as a hawker.
Also Read: In Pics: Five Indians Who Live Simply Despite Having Everything
MAJOR DHYAN CHAND
Considered one of the greatest players in the history of hockey, Major Dhyan Chand won 3 Olympic gold medals in his lifetime.
Despite being awarded a Padma Bhushan and being famous throughout India, he died in poverty, receiving a paltry pension and spending his last days denouncing the sad state of hockey in India.
MAKHAN SINGH
In the 1962 National Games, Makhan Singh beat the famous Milkha Singh. Makhan Singh won 2 medals at the 1962 Asian Games and won many more at National Games.
He then went on to join the army and after retirement, started a stationery shop in his village. Despite an illustrious sports career, he died in poverty.
THE ALLURE OF MONEY AND SUCCESS
In a country like India, where a large part of the population lives in poverty, it isn’t surprising to find people running after money. After all, it is expected that once one attains wealth, success would follow and so would happiness.
It was found in a 2019 study, that money can be a good motivation to do better in life and thus achieve success.
However, when money is the centre of focus, other values such as health and family are negatively impacted.
The notion that being successful and rich is the only thing that matters unknowingly affects our actions in little ways every day.
Most of us want to be friends with a person who is successful and rich but are quick to abandon these people when they go through hard times.
Even if we’d like to believe ourselves to be good people, the internal conviction of running after success and wealth leads us to act callously.
In school, we’d much rather try to become the class topper’s friend. In college, we would try to head societies in a bid to be popular or simply to add in our CV which would hopefully help land us a job with a big pay package.
Even as adults we would much rather try to befriend affluent people with power and influence.
For instance, when OYO expanded rapidly throughout the globe and received millions in funding, people were quick to praise the young CEO & founder, Ritesh Agarwal for revitalizing the Indian startup scene.
However, in 2020, when OYO had a massive layoff and began scaling back from certain markets, detractors were quick to pounce on and criticize vehemently.
What we see from the stories mentioned above is that the future is unpredictable; wealth may come and go at a moment’s notice.
Unfortunately, we consider money to be the ultimate sign of success, choosing to abandon people when the wealth in their life diminishes.
WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE?
Since the heartbreaking demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, there has been a nationwide discussion on mental health and its challenges.
Public discourse has begun about the growing tendency of young people in India succumbing to extreme pressure without adequate support and professional help, all in the chase for success.
Equating the worth of a person to the success they have in professional life is a tradition that has plagued our society for too long.
Constantly badgering people with questions about their work and not about their personal life has created impersonal relationships.
Many from the entertainment industry took to social media to express their frustrations with people’s tendency to badger people with questions about their career and future.
Mallika Dua wrote on Instagram about people’s damaging inclination of equating success with self-worth.
Udaan actor Rajat Barmecha took to social media to talk about genuinely caring for people outside their work persona, emphasizing the need to focus on a person’s personal growth rather than just passing comments about their career.
Before capitalism took over, measuring people based only on their money was almost unheard of.
The overall well-being of a person was taken into account, while the physical, social and mental conditions of people used to measure the well-being of the nation as a whole.
But now, times have changed. When was the last time you checked up on a friend who was feeling down? When was the last time you even talked to a person who you were close to when they were rising but are now in a slump?
We need to take a look in the mirror to see how shallow we have become, sticking around for people only when they are successful and leaving them behind the moment they start struggling.
What we can do now is simply be kinder to the people around us. We need to start asking people how they are instead of what they intend to do in their careers.
We need to be talking about personal problems plaguing our minds rather than gossiping about the state of one’s career.
And what we absolutely need to start doing is being more thoughtful and praising people when they are with us and not just after they die.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Atlantic, CNBC, Hindustan Times
Find the blogger: @RoshniKahaHain
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