The Rat Race

 

The rat race is a seemingly endless pursuit with little reward or purpose. There is always somebody ahead. Ever pause to ponder, why we need to push, shove, nudge, elbow and shoulder to overtake one, then the next, then another, only to be overtaken by fellow humans or rather “rats” who stayed alive at our finishing line.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. —Lily Tomlin

The Rat race starts right from childhood. It starts off with the parents of a 3 year old being interviewed in order to decide who the better “rat” is for entering school. Once the poor rat is in, the life aka the rat race begins.

“Top of the class, bottom of the class, you’ve failed, passed, topper, failure,” Come on. It’s (rat) just a 4-year old. That’s called “killing softly”. This race goes on for about 12 long and gruelling years, and then we’re in “The Tenth”. We’re told, “Just do well here and you are set for life.” Little “the rats” know. They fall in the ditch and it’s like an abyss. Soon “The Tenth” is in the past and up comes “The Twelth”.  The greatest test, yet! There are boards, there are competitive, and then there is this new found urge to do ‘different’ things ;) Hell, that’s competitive and leaves everybody rattled, so much so, that we don’t realise that it’s just the sign of things to come. The thing told to us about being “set for life” is simply a deception created to hide the ultimate truth concerning life; life is a rat race.

Perhaps, the more intense the race and the more it is contested, the greater is the claim to an elevated level of development. By any reckoning, it appears to be a primitive stage, rather than an evolved stage of civilization.

It is a known fact that a very long time ago we were primates. Even though this was millions of years ago, we still live the “primate” way!

Primates are hierarchical. The higher up the hierarchy one is the better the chances of survival. We compete with each other over access to food, education, jobs, “mates” etc. Available resources rarely meet the demands made by wild primates or indeed humans and thus competition is a way of life.            

"No matter what you do in the rat race, success is not guaranteed, but if you do nothing failure is" —Paul Ulasien

Subsequently there is college, which is definitely the best time of anyone’s life, where the ultimate “rat race” ensues. Session exams are always a pain. So is the week long studying before the exams and “that” week of the exams. There is an explicit race in these exams. The race can be incredibly like chalk and cheese for different rats that are like chalk and cheese.  Some are racing to come amongst the toppers and beat their “friends”. While others are racing to fail in as many (or less) subjects as their immediate “adversaries”.

Nevertheless, the more interesting race starts a week before the exams, when the “elite” rats are running around to gather notes/books to get them photocopied. They’re often willing to pay extra to get their hands on the photocopies, just in time, and that is as early as a day before the exam. Yes, these rats are that elite.

School, college then what follows is obvious, a JOB.

First, as always, the rats have to race again. Compete against thousands of people. Those who get in, think for a moment that they’re at the finishing line. “Set for life.” Yes? No! The line just got further. Now the race is of a different kind, a marathon. Earlier rats used to crib about “not seeing” themselves work in a 9 to 6 environment, citing reasons like “it’s hectic”. LOL. Well, that is true, isn’t it? It’s more like 9 to 12 now, with atleast 12 hours obligatory.

“Raceism” or more popularly the rat race is not just limited to the professional front. Enter Facebook! We toil late into the night, unleashing an endless stream of status updates and tweets. Then there are always those farms, fishes, homes, mafias to brag about. I once read that this ploy by virtual rats is just an attempt to keep themselves relevant, desirable and in. Well, I think that’s a little offensive. Anyhow, if it is true, then it’s a race, the virtual rat race.  

It turns out virtual life is less about connectivity than self-branding.

People are like lost sheep that have gone astray and don't know who they are, so instead of   searching who they really are, they submit to society and do whatever is in. Be it related to career or “love” life or this virtual life!

At the end of the day, there is just one outcome of ‘The rat race’; fear. Fear of outcomes debilitates us. We begin dreading futile and little things in life. Moreover, that in turn leads to obsessing about the future and obsession is always a bitch! That will make anyone compulsive, cranky and unhappy. Not sad, but unhappy.

There are always reasons, mostly material, to be unhappy, Raceism being the major. The smart thing to would be to stop agonizing over them, especially when they are inevitable. Not only must one want to be happy but it is the very purpose of life. In other words, it is okay to be happy. It is okay to want to be happy.

God, we have been told, helps those who help themselves

`Raceism’ has come to stay in the world.