I don’t know if there’s a psychological term for this.
But ever since I realised that, with my present income, it is practically impossible for me to comfortably buy a decent house in any metro city, I’ve started spending more, and spending money on things I probably shouldn’t have spent on earlier.
Watches, gadgets, shoes and glasses.
And I know a few more people around me who are following the same pattern. It’s actually a scary symptom of a hopeless economy.
When the system kills the big dreams, society starts seeking pleasure in small dreams.
This pattern is showing up in many forms. A lot of couples are choosing DINK. They don’t see a future for their kids in India, not socially, nor financially.
They would rather spend their money on travel, luxury purses and expensive phones.
“If you can’t actually be rich, at least feel rich during your lifetime.”
I think that’s the psychology behind this.
Hence, this generation looks richer than the previous generation but is actually much poorer and far less financially secure.
If this continues, India will have an entire generation of rich-looking poor people who themselves aren’t sure how they’ll sustain themselves after retirement.
Meanwhile, the government is busy funding freebies with taxpayers money while shoving the “booming economy” narrative down everyone’s throat.
And these fools have no idea what’s actually going on.
Dhritarashtra was not an idiot; he knew his son Duryodhana was wrong & driving the kingdom toward ruin. But when Vidura told him point blank to reprimand/remove Duryodhana to preserve the state, Dhritarashtra's paralyzing dilemma was identical to modern party leadership:
"If I pull back now under pressure from the Pandavas, I destroy the authority of the throne. But if I stay firm to protect my authority, I destroy the trust of my people."
Vidura gives him a brutal reality check on what happens when a leader chooses ego over institutional hygiene:
त्याजेदेकं कुलस्यार्थे ग्रामस्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत्।
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे स्वात्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत्॥
"Sacrifice an individual for the sake of the family; sacrifice a family for the village; sacrifice a village for the state..."
Vidura's warning was simple: An individual minister is not the state. When a ruler treats an individual official as synonymous with the pride of the entire regime, the ruler ends up burning down the palace just to save a single room.
Personally, I feel govt. should had sacked the minister long time ago but that train has left the station. IMO, now it is to shift the focus from the individual (Vyakti) to the system (Tantra), fixing the institutional machinery with ruthless transparency 1st, so that administrative decisions are made on state terms, rather than street terms.
Confessions and realities
42M, 55LPA
I am a 42-year-old man with a senior job in IT. I have a house in Chennai, a supportive wife, and two children. On paper, everything about my life looks perfect. I have achieved all the things society says a man should achieve.
In my twenties, life felt different. I had friends to spend time with. We would hang out at Marina Beach and Besant Nagar beach, watch movies at Rohini, Udayam, and Kasi theatres, and ride around Mount Road on my RX100.
In my thirties, I had colleagues to talk with over tea breaks. We would discuss apartments, onsite trips, and share random stories about life and work.
But now, in my forties, life has turned into a quiet routine. My phone rarely rings for anything personal. Most calls are about office work, bank alerts, or someone from home asking me to pick up milk on the way back.
The loneliness of a man in his forties is unusual. I am not physically alone, but I often feel like a machine.
When I enter my home, I am simply “Appa.” I am the person who pays school fees, fixes the Wi-Fi, and handles repairs. My wife is busy with her work and the kids. My children are teenagers now, living in their own worlds and their own rooms. They love me, but they mostly see me as the person who provides comfort and stability. They no longer see me as an individual.
At the office, I am the senior person. I am expected to have all the answers. I cannot tell my team that I feel tired. I cannot tell my boss that I sometimes struggle to keep up with new technologies. I must appear confident and strong, even when I quietly worry about the future.
Sometimes I drive home slowly from work just to spend a few extra minutes in the car. I listen to songs from my college days.
For those fifteen minutes, I am not a manager or a father. I am simply myself again.
I realize that I have not had a real conversation about my feelings with anyone in years.
My old friends now exist mostly as names on WhatsApp. We send “Happy Birthday” or “Congratulations” messages, but rarely talk. When we meet at weddings, our conversations revolve around our children’s grades or the cars we drive. We never talk about what we actually feel.
The hardest part is that I cannot even complain. If I tell my family that I feel lonely, they look confused and say, “But we are all here with you.”
They do not understand that a person can be surrounded by people and still feel like they are on a desert island.
Society teaches men that if they provide money and security, they have succeeded in life.
But no one teaches us how to deal with the silence that comes with it.
I have built a beautiful life for everyone around me, but sometimes it feels like there is no space left for me inside it.
And maybe… this is what life in your forties feels like.
The most miserable people are neither the rich nor the poor, it's the "wannabe rich" if you can call it that.
The rich manage to buy their way through anything, the poor manage to survive somehow.
The wannabe rich on the other hand want to be rich, but can't. So in order to appear rich they start living on credit and loans. Spending on costly stuff just to look rich, buying a luxury car on loan, Taking a luxury home on loan.
As they get caught in a debt trap of loans, EMIs from which they can never come out, a modern day Chakravyuh..
Problem is most of them are caught up in false prestige, Log Kya Kahenge if I don't have the latest iPhone, if my car doesn't look luxurious, if I don't have a home in a gated community, if I am not going on vacation.
They don't live for themselves, they live for validation by others. It's no wonder they are perennially miserable, depressed, because their life needs to be validated not by themselves but someone else.
This is a class that is neither rich nor happy.
The 10 Point plan Trump agreed to for a ceasefire but got angry that CNN leaked it ! Trump had to fold irrespective for a two weeks ceasefire !
The Americans used the Pakistanis to orchestrate facade of a ceasefire and extract themselves out from a situation on the brink whose consequences would have been disastrous for the world economy.
The Iranians showed the intent of going ahead and retaliating. The draft tweet by Pakistani PM shows he is merely a puppet and a foreign power dictated to him what to tweet.
Where its this 10 point plan or something else that would be negotiated in due course. In my analysis the effect of this conflict will continue to reverberate and impact the world order for a long time to come.
A) Trump declared a ceasefire
B) Iran still controls of Strait Of Hormuz
C) Israel has been embarrassed into accepting this ceasefire by America as the regime change operation in Tehran has failed for now.
D) Trump has TACOed
E) This is America’s Suez Moment
F) Iran’s asymmetrical warfare paid rich dividends in battle field despite overwhelming American-Israeli superiority
G) Iranian targeting of American bases in GULF destroying defence equipment worth billions and Controlling Strait of Hormuz was a brilliant strategy
H) Russia & China ably supported Iran strategically as well as militarily by providing intelligence for targets, satellite, precision guiding of missiles, drones etc.
I) European Allies in NATO are all set for a messy divorce with USA
J) World specially Gulf countries will have to relook at American security architecture in the region. GCC will have to rethink on Sovereign Wealth fund investments in USA & there will be regional realignments.
K) UAE & KSA could continue with Israel and America while Iran’s emergence as a regional power backed by Russia & China is a reality that cannot be wished away by the Gulf states.
L) GCC should engage Russia & China to get an understanding with Iran & Oman to get their shipments going via Strait of Hormuz during ceasefire agreement.
M) Iran will agree to dilute enriched Uranium as proposed in terms agreed at Geneva on 26th February 2026
N) Nuclear deal with some amendments likely to happen while Iran will retain its military arsenal.
O) An agreement between Iran, Oman and world powers will be agreed on Strait of Hormuz retaining partial suzerainty of Iran over the straits giving them this money for reconstruction.
P) In any situation Iran will not give back control of Hormuz, it may share it with Oman or a consortium of nations with recognition of its rights.
Q) Controlling Strait of Hormuz is the biggest leverage Iran holds and America & Israel turned Iran into a regional power controlling nearly 20% of the world’s oil and shipping route.
R) A strategic defeat for America & Israel despite a Pyrrhic military victory.
S) Petro Yuan trade will continue as America does not have the cards on Rare Earths it needs them even for its defence programmes.
T) Russia & China are commodity & manufacturing power houses a fact that cannot be denied.
U) The world is turning Multi-Polar as America’s unipolar moment is over
V) Supply chain bifurcations & restructuring will Continue from Petro Yuan to CIPS to Rare Earths to Semiconductors to AI to Data Centre’s to Pharma APIs
W) Countries will diversify and hedge against an unreliable America whose reputation has taken a beating since Trump came to power in 2025.
X) The American sanctions regime against Russia & Iran totally crumbled in face of this conflict.
Y) #PaxPersica in the Persian Gulf is a reality in some form or the other
Z) India will have to recalibrate its strategy, will need to expand its energy, trade ties with Russia & Iran; cannot rely on mercurial America; balance the equations out between Gulf countries specially UAE, Israel and Iran.
In the end, Washington Blinked, Tel Aviv was forced to accept it, Tehran played well while City of London takes the Victory Lap !