India-US Relations Beyond Trump's Tariffs

Image courtesy of Google's Gemini AI

While the whole nation seethes with righteous and definitely justified anger at the US President, Donald Trump's bizarre decision to impose an appallingly high 50% tariff on Indian goods imported into America, there is an  urgent need to look at the issue dispassionately and not get weighed down by emotion.

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It is true that the reason for imposing an additional 25% tariff on the importing of cheap Russian oil by India is pure hypocrisy, as both China and Europe individually buy more energy from that country. Besides, the US itself trades with Russia in a not-so-insubstantial manner. To add insult to injury, Trump has also decided to cosy up to the quasi-dictator of Pakistan, Asif Munir. That being stated, the answer to the bullying tactics of the present American administration is not to rush into the arms of revisionist, dictatorial regimes like those of China and Russia. Add to that the fact that China has illegally occupied vast tracts of Indian land and continues to view India as a rival and a threat to its rise, we have every reason to tread carefully.

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This is the same China that fully supported our belligerent Western neighbour, Pakistan, during Operation Sindoor. Russia is in no position to be a strategic asset for India, given that it is in the doghouse owing to its ill-advised Ukraine war. What’s worse is that it is beholden to China for its very survival. Besides, it has only caused trouble for India on account of its habit of invading nations here and there. Its entry into Afghanistan in the 1980s saw the rise of Islamist terrorism in India’s neighbourhood, and its invasion of Ukraine has thrown a spanner in budding Indo-US relations.

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The Indian-US strategic relationship was carefully crafted over the last two decades and makes as much sense today as it did six months ago. That a mercurial US president, who has troubled relations with all of his nation’s allies and close friends, is giving India a lot of grief is undisputed, but that is something that the whole world is contending with. We have to remember that Trump is not America, and his handpicked team of lackeys who go along with his every mad whim and fancy.

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There is the bureaucracy of that nation who haven’t changed its worldview just because an irrational and seemingly semi-literate demagogue is in charge for a few years. Nor have the right-thinking politicians on both sides of the aisle, and even former members of Trump’s first cabinet. Everyone is waiting to weather the Trumpian storm, and so should India. At the same time, India is doing the right thing by continuing to exercise its long-cherished strategic autonomy by seeking to expand trade relations with China and Russia, apart from similarly engaging with the affluent European Bloc of nations and the United Kingdom.

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India, being the largest nation in the world in terms of population, has a tremendous advantage in that it has such a large market, which can not only help it grow economically even in the event of a fall in its export earnings, but it can also use that as leverage in conducting its global affairs. Not allowing free rein to the Americans in the Indian markets, in fact, lies at the heart of the current American decision to punish India with tariffs.

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For all the current problems we are having with the Americans, there is much that binds the two former British colonies. The Americans supported India during its freedom struggle and provided it with much-needed food aid in the 1960s. Martin Luther King based his civil rights movement on Gandhi’s principles of non-violence.

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It also helped us against the Chinese in 1962, and there have always been warm people to people contacts between the peoples of the  two countries. The English language and their status as the world’s most consequential democracies bond India and America in ways that are not possible with totalitarian states like Russia and China. The best and brightest Indian students have gone on to complete their higher studies in the most prestigious American colleges and found astounding success in America across myriad fields. Indian doctors, engineers, managers, CEOs, and IT professionals rule the roost in the United States of America.

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The two countries bond culturally as well, with the American way of life slowly permeating across India’s cities as towns, as evidenced by the very large number of Mc Donalds, Burger KIngs, Pizza Huts, and other American style  fast food chains present everywhere. People drink Coca-Cola and  use American social media platforms in practically every part of India and draw their cultural cues from the West, and hardly from Russia and China. India, on its part, exercises its cultural influence on America through yoga and spirituality. This is not a relationship that is driven by the politicians, but the peoples of the two countries. We need to remember that when we react to the actions of the men of straw who call themselves leaders of America.

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While protecting India’s interests by not succumbing to their rank bullying tactics, it is important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should, in fact, look at the present impasse with regard to Indo-US relations as an opportunity to try and strengthen our domestic industries and seek out diverse export markets. At the same time, we should not shy away from the important economic reforms needed domestically and unshackle our private sector to grow boldly and ambitiously. We would also see if we can reduce the tariff we charge on our imports to encourage countries across the world to trade with us. That will also incentivise our local industries to become more efficient and give customers better value for money.

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There is much that is being said about the 21st century being an Asian one, and that is not something lost on the Americans who would want to hold on to their position as the numero uno nation of the world for as long as possible. India is well positioned to continue being somebody that the US will benefit from engaging closely with. The Americans will come around. They have to if they have any sense. In the meantime, India should play its cards just right.

Have you heard of Multimodal AI?

 

Image generated by Google's Gemini model.

While AI is the flavour of the times, there is so much happening in this universe that one is often left gasping for breath trying to make sense of the ever-new terms being bandied about. Generative AI has been the buzzword for quite some time now, and just when one sort of came to terms with what it possibly entailed, one hears of another one-Multimodal AI.

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Multimodal AI comprises machine learning models that possess the ability to both process and integrate information from diverse or multiple types of data like text, images, audio, and  video. It is quite different from the old AI models that can usually only work with  a particular  type of data (largely text-to-text generation)), because it can deal with multiple types of data inputs, analysing them to achieve a much more broadbased understanding of the issue at hand. This enables it to come up with optimal outputs.

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A multimodal model, for instance, could take a picture of Switzerland and come up with a text summary of everything important that one needs to learn about that place. This wasn't something that Generative AI models like ChatGPT could come up with when it was launched. All it could do was produce outputs in text when responding to inputs provided in the same way. The subsequent incorporation of multimodal made ChatGPT that much better at understanding and interpreting data.

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Why are Multimodal GenAI models better?

Unlike the traditional unimodal model, the multimodal GenAI model functions in a manner similar to the human brain, because it can deal with sensory inputs from multiple sources, which it can then combine and analyse to obtain a comprehensive as well as nuanced understanding of actual facts. This allows multimodal Gen AI models to successfully deal with the most complex of tasks and come up with stellar results largely untainted by mistakes and glaring errors, as was often the case with unimodal AI. As more and more businesses make a move towards Multimodal AI, they will benefit from its ability to be used for a wider and more complex set of applications.

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The Future with Multimodal AI

As we go along, Multimodal AI will greatly empower businesses to better respond to challenges that arise suddenly and out of the blue. Large-scale adoption of IoT will aid this process by providing large volumes of multimodal data to help it come up with bespoke solutions that speak to the customers’ exact needs. Given that multimodal generative AI models are able to process a range of multisensory inputs, these will be more amenable to use by even those with low or no technical skills allowing them to enhance their productivity manifold.

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With Multimodal AI evolving all the time, the number of innovative uses it can be put to is changing on a daily basis. Going forward, it promises to completely reshape the paradigm of what can be achieved with its help. Multimodal AI has opened up a whole slew of opportunities for developing the next generation of applications that will fundamentally alter the way the world goes about the business of daily living and working.

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Homestays to propel the Indian tourism industry to achieve its full potential

Homestays can go a long way towards boosting the Indian tourism industry by addressing one of the major impediments faced by it, that of room shortage. The NITI Aayog’s proposed policy, aimed at helping states promote the homestay concept, is therefore a welcome step. It envisages providing financial support as well as easing the rules for the homestay business. Among other things, the plan suggests simplifying the registration process and digitizing the operations function.[1]

By enabling home owners across the country to put their properties to dual use by converting them partly into tourist accommodations, this initiative helps them become part of the expanding tourism economy. Where homestays stand out from regular hotels is in their ability to offer tourists an intimate glimpse into the local cultural ethos of the land they are visiting. At the same time, it gives a fillip to entrepreneurship and local economies, leading to much welcome employment generations. What’s more, homestay tourism can help protect and preserve the age-old heritage that is the hallmark of myriad destinations across our vast and fascinating country.

The idea behind a homestay is driven by drawing people from overcrowded urban centres who live extremely busy and often stressful lives to temporarily stay in the beautiful countryside in the lap of nature, housed in economical accommodation eating wholesome local cuisine. These offer tourists an immersive experience that lets them connect with the local culture and enriches them physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The rural and semi-urban destinations that welcome such tourists benefit immensely by adding a healthy and recurring income stream to their earnings. It also incentivizes them to invest in environmental conservation as well as the restoration and maintenance of heritage structures and properties. Overall, it helps them enhance not only their living standards, but also helps them invest in educating their children and thereby improve their circumstances in life.

Given that the vast landmass of India, ranging from Alpine forests in the Himalayan states and the shimmering sands of the desert state of Rajasthan to spectacular coastal destinations, incredible wildlife sanctuaries, medieval forts, palaces, and ancient temples has so much to offer to tourists, the business potential of the homestay model is boundless. In fact, it has the potential to transform local economies across the small towns and hamlets of India from the North to the South, and the East to the West.

What is required is for people to buy into this concept and use it to improve their lives. Their involvement in this has to be at a level that makes them genuine stakeholders in the opportunity. From inculcating high standards of hygiene, learning the nuances of etiquette so as to be able to interact comfortably with visitors from around the world to training them in the operational aspects of the hospitality trade, there is much work that needs to be done for the nation to reap the full benefits of a booming tourism industry powered by the empowering homestay concept, which promises to transform the Indian people’s lives.

[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/niti-aayog-lays-out-policy-roadmap-to-promote-homestays-in-india/articleshow/123453585.cms?from=mdr

Why isn’t India the tourism capital of the world?

 

Image generated by Gemini

There is no reason on the face of the earth (pun intended) for India not to be the tourism capital of the world. From the lofty Himalayas and the Thar Desert to one of the longest coastlines in the world and from historical monuments and a cultural heritage that goes back several millennia, India offers more in spades than any other nation in the world. It has ski resorts and beach resorts, jungle safaris and desert safaris, alpine forests and mangrove forests, mighty rivers and serene lagoons and everything else you can imagine, like exotic tropical islands and even an active volcano! Medieval palaces, forts, ancient temples, a millennia-old classical music tradition, a cuisine more varied than any other, and a unique way of life that has evolved over thousands of years.

There is nothing that any nation in the world has that can hold a candle to what India has to offer. It compares favorably with Rome and Egypt when it comes to ancient architecture, and its cuisines from across its various regions rival those of France and Italy. India's ski resorts are no less than what Switzerland offers, and its thriving wildlife offers more than what Africa does. From the frozen deserts and icy rivers of Ladakh, to the aquamarine waters of Andaman and Nicobar islands and from the rugged river-carved canyons of Gandikota and Bhedaghat, there isn't enough space to go into the details of what India offers the world. Yet, the international tourist arrival numbers for India are abysmally low.

France, a nation one-fifth the size of India, attracted 89.4 million visitors in 2024 (the highest in the world), when compared to an extremely modest 20.57 million international tourist arrivals in the same year. In fact, India did not even make it to the list of the top 10 nations attracting international tourists, being left behind by countries like Spain, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, China, Thailand and Mexico.

India earned as much as $35 billion from international tourist arrivals in 2024, a figure that would have been a whopping $151.4 billion if something like 89 million international tourists had arrived in India instead. That is not all that far from what India earns from its IT exports. Does one even begin to fathom what kind of difference that would have made to the Indian economy? With all that India offers, isn’t that a criminal waste of opportunity for a nation that has more to offer than any other in the world?

Why doesn’t India get the numbers?

If India doesn't get the international tourist arrival numbers it deserves, it has to be on account of the fact that very few of the international travellers who come here recommend it heartily to their compatriots back home or want to visit it again. This occurs because of the fact that India still has infrastructure issues. Rail, road and air connectivity have come a long way in recent years, but are still pretty inconsistent, with last-mile transportation often not being up to the mark.

India has many world-class hotels, some of which make it to several international lists of the world's greatest hotels, but it does not offer much by way of affordable accommodation comparable with other major tourism destinations. In particular, there are issues with regard to safety and hygiene, especially in areas that are not part of the well-known tourist circuits. International tourists expect things like clean public restrooms and the availability of safe drinking water, wherever they visit, no matter how remote the place may be.

Some international tourists might get put off by what they might perceive as restrictive visa rules. This is especially evident when you compare the tourism visa policies of other tourist destinations around the world. One would do well to make it possible for international visitors to come for even short-term visits, allowing them more flexibility when it comes to travel planning.

While India is a budget traveller's paradise, given the high number of expat backpackers you see in the country, the mid to high-end tourists often face quite high costs. Then, there is the question of the high taxes levied on hotels and travel services. To top it all, hotel rates and airline ticket prices are exorbitantly priced during the peak season, often making the visitors consider other destinations to visit.

Lastly, India has been rather lacklustre and inconsistent in showcasing its offerings in the world tourism market when compared to other countries like France and Italy, which have been able to develop a strong brand image in terms of what those countries offer to visitors.

How to turn the tide?

 

The critical building block with regard to putting India on the path to achieving the number one tourism destination in the world is to carry out a massive upgrade of its infrastructure.  Improvement in road connectivity, adequate accommodation of internationally acceptable standards and massive across-the-board improvement in hygiene and sanitation levels not just across the tourist destinations, but across the country. This entails a massive investment, which will pay back handsomely in the times ahead.

The safety and security of all tourists-domestic and international, have to be a matter of national pride and importance. Not only does it entail better policing, but also making the people realise that they have a stake in ensuring that the world sees India as a great place to visit, where the people are warm, friendly and well-disposed to people who visit their land. It would, in fact, be a great idea to train people throughout the length and breadth of this vast country to participate in the growth of the tourism sector. They could become a part of the very lucrative hospitality industry, helping them raise their standard of living.

India has a head start in digital connectivity thanks to its impressive mobile connectivity and the very successful rollout of its digital payments infrastructure. This can be leveraged by putting an integrated ticketing system in place. Besides, one can use apps and deploy AI to help tourists discover incredible India and make the best possible travel plans with ease and convenience.

India is a land that, at some level, beckons and fascinates the world, and this has been true since the dawn of history. In offering people everything that is good, profound and sublime in the world, it shows them the layered, intricate, diverse and nuanced aspects of its way of life. Visiting India in many ways is like finding the meaning of life itself.

We in India owe it to ourselves to show the world the very best of what India is. If we do that, there is no reason why India can't be the number one tourism destination in the world. In so doing, we will not only contribute massively to the enrichment of this vast and ancient land, going back millennia, but also bring the world closer to it. As the old Indian saying goes, "The World is One Family."

Startups in the world of AI

 

                                                                     

                Image generated by Gemini

Is it a great time to found a startup at a time when AI seems to be poised to impact every aspect of human endeavour and activity? Do the tremendous efficiencies that are said to accrue from deploying AI make it far easier to run a successful startup, or do the complexities arising from its adoption make things difficult?

With small businesses being the backbone of most nations’ economies, both in terms of GDP and private sector job creation, can artificial intelligence-powered startups achieve breakout growth through market-disrupting innovation? The fact that startups have access to easily available open-source tools, as well as a huge amount of high-quality data, does give them a leg up with regard to coming up with out-of-the-box solutions that are unconstrained by the hitherto high costs of research and development that something like that might have entailed in the past.

With innovation being made so much easier to achieve, even the smallest of startups can match the operational efficiency of much larger organisations. This empowers them to function in a nimble and super-efficient manner, enabling them to make lightning-fast strategic moves like rapidly coming up with new iterations and aligning very quickly to any market changes.

On the flip side, the high rate of obsolescence of the cutting-edge solutions offered by AI means that startups will need to work very hard to maintain their competitive advantage in the market. They could get trapped in a treadmill kind of race that hampers growth. Constant innovation and adaptation do not necessarily lend themselves to growth and stability, for a startup, as it would not be able to find its feet in terms of zeroing in on a niche for itself. Then there is also the fact that the regulatory landscape is evolving with regard to grappling with the cons of AI, like data privacy, algorithmic bias and ethical concerns about its use. Also, given that AI open source tools are available to everyone, the advantage evens out, and it is quite challenging to apply a given AI technology in a manner that others can't replicate.

Is AI- A Game Changer for Startups?

At the core of starting a new business lie its viability and chances of finding success. The very best of business ideas might not stand muster in a tough and cutthroat marketplace. It is important that your product or service should not only have sufficient demand, but that you should also have a fair idea of who your target audience is, as well as have your financial planning sorted. Besides, you should be aware of the kind of competition you face. On top of all of that, you need an insightful marketing strategy to achieve your sales and revenue objectives. While in the past you might have needed to hire experts to guide you with all of the above, you can now use AI to help you through all of these processes cheaply and in double quick time.

AI can help startups personalise marketing campaigns, carry out precise market segmentation enabling better targeting, leverage predictive analytics allowing for strategic decision making, and optimise the marketing & sales processes. It can also help with compliance related matters,   enhance security and protect against fraud. What’s more, it can also help a startup attract funding from investors by helping it get its financial analysis right.

Startups in the world of AI largely have a good thing going. Artificial Intelligence levels out the playing field for a lot of small-time entrepreneurs who were looking to launch their startups, but were intimidated by the challenges involved. In fact, there was never a better time for startups to launch, scale up and rule, the challenges notwithstanding.

 

 

The Age of AI: Finding Employment 5 Years From Now

 

Photo by Tim Gouw: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-white-shirt-using-macbook-pro-52608/

The world is sitting on an unemployment time bomb, the like of which it does not fully fathom at the present moment. This is because the way AI, IoT, and robotics are incrementally advancing in their capabilities, there is no field of human endeavour that will escape unscathed from the ever expanding tentacles of these technologies in the not so distant future.

While this will be immensely beneficial to the corporations that own and control these technologies, what of the people at large? Ultimately, there is also the not so unreal or unlikely doomsday prospect of AI becoming fully autonomous, going rogue, and deciding to take the destiny of humans and indeed all life forms, for better or worse, into its own hands.

This may not happen in the next 5 years, but who knows? When you might have possibly created and unleashed a Frankenstein’s monster, do you have any clue about what the consequences might be?

Moving on to more immediate matters at hand, are we prepared for the massive unemployment crisis that the world faces in the very near future? Imagine a future where there are no human teachers, engineers, doctors, accountants, cab drivers, pilots, actors, poets, painters, or farmers?

Not all of that will come to pass in 5 years, but some of it might. Are we even thinking about it? The way things are evolving with regard to the incremental adoption of cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, Machine Learning, and robotics, most of the jobs in 5 years from now will pertain to managing and harnessing these technologies across sectors.

It certainly makes sense to equip yourself with skills that are likely to be in demand in this new era of technology. By all means, attend all the online courses available out there that teach you about AI, IoT, Machine Learning, and all the stuff that is deemed to be important. Stay in the know about the developments that will have a bearing on your future career prospects and ensure that you have a healthy online presence that helps showcase your skills to potential employers.

But the nagging question is, will there be any real need for what you and millions of others like you bring to the table in this new technology (not human) shaped world order? The answer is that one does not know. While it is true that the advent of any new seminal technology always comes with its own share of challenges, but ultimately becomes mainstream and always opens up new pathways of employment after the dust settles, we are dealing with a whole new phenomenon here.

The sheer scale and frequency of change ushered in by the fascinating as well as scary bouquet of  AI technologies (including Generative AI) have seemingly made it impossible for humans to keep pace and pivot to newer ways of performing a job. For whatever you might think you can do better than an artificial entity, it will be proven false faster than you thought was possible. For instance, the impending arrival of Agentive AI, with the ability to make autonomous decisions  without human oversight and thereby achieve predetermined objectives, promises to be a total game changer in terms of what it will be able to achieve and accomplish. That is because Agentive AI will be able to think critically like human beings and be able to display initiative in dealing with complex environments all on its own. What on Earth would you need humans for?

The high priests of technology are, in fact, quite upfront and honest about the likely detrimental impact of advanced technology on people’s job prospects in the very near future. For instance,Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, the AI company that came up with Generative AI assistant Claude, believes that Artificial Intelligence might replace 50% of all white-collar jobs in the next 5 years. 

Elder statesman and politician Bernie Sanders has expressed his fear that the benefits of AI will accrue only to billionaires, shining a light on an expected struggle against corporate greed as well inequity brought on by the AI revolution.

Nothing highlights this more vividly than the New York Times article about the  catastrophic state of employment amongst recent fresh college graduates, with more and more companies looking to deploy AI in preference to recently graduated college students.

The world needs to wake up and smell the coffee now. A strategy has to be put in place to ensure that AI and all the other wonderful technologies that it incorporates are harnessed to serve the interests of everybody and not just the all powerful tech giant or those in a position of authority over the common man. Using it to fight disease, illiteracy, and climate change, for example, is something to look forward to, but not deploying it to serve the economic interests of a few.

Like democracy, we have to ensure that technologies like AI are for, by, and of the people and used for their common good. The necessary rules and regulations have to be framed and implemented so that their use is property codified and works within a system. Above all, people’s right to work and a livelihood must be strengthened by technology and not decimated. The time to act is now.

The World of AI is Here and There is No Escaping It

 

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-bright-lights-373543/

In the good old days, when AI was something that nobody had really heard of or cared about, you would come across stories of alien invasions in the shape of literature or scary sci-fi movies. These would more often than not paint bleak dystopian scenarios of hostile alien takeover, which would in most cases be thwarted either by nature causing the aliens to die off or involve the humans getting their act together and ridding themselves of the extraterrestrial menace that threatened their existence. Sometimes, as in the movie Avatar, the human race were the aggressors in far, far away galaxies.

 So much were people taken in by the whole business of the possibility of hostile aliens lurking amongst us that people routinely started reporting alien and UFO (Unidentified Flying Objects). Why, the US Air Force even launched an official investigation, which went under the name of Project Blue Book, to probe purported UFO sightings. 

 While the world still obsesses with alien life and UFOs, with conspiracy theories being a dime a dozen, people are now assailed with the prospects of a life altering event that is no less scary than a full blown alien explosion- the advent and rise of AI. Technological advancements in the realms of AI, Internet of Things, and Machine Learning threaten to make mankind redundant in the sense that every economic and social function that it performs can be carried out artificially in a much more efficient manner by such technologies. 

 From teaching, reading, and writing to healthcare, art, entertainment, factory production, banking, and military functions everything can be performed by artificial entities, increasingly without much human oversight. The way that technologies pertaining to these are advancing, the day is not far when there will be no human involvement in the decisions such entities will make. Who is to say how these autonomous entities empowered by artificial intelligence might evolve with regard to their thought process? Could they decide that the human race itself, with its proclivity to exploit and damage the very resources that nurture it, should be put to sleep and a brave new world order comprising indestructible machines or robots who exist in perfect harmony with its environment? 

 The fact of the matter is that the world of AI is here, and there is no escaping it. The question is, what are we going to do to prevent its complete takeover of our lives and ultimately our very existence? Do we have it in us to ensure that AI is leveraged as nothing more than a very useful tool that can help us do the various things we do efficiently? If you hire a househelp, you do so to make your life easier and not let your househelp become your overlord who will decide your fate. 

 Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a cohesive worldwide strategy to regulate the use of AI. It has been left entirely to the captains of the ever-expanding and growing technology behemoths for whom profit trumps every principle known to lead to the betterment of humankind. That cannot augur well for the world. Look at the way that the unregulated access to social media has wreaked havoc with the development of the impressionable minds of children and teenagers around the world.

 We cannot even begin to visualise the kind of capabilities AI will possess in five to ten years from now. It will be able to bend our notion of reality as we now know it and replace it with another one, which could possibly be more bizarre than we can possibly imagine. Is “progress” worth that kind of price? This is something that the greatest scientific minds of our times have been repeatedly pointing out to us, and we better pay attention. AI has to be regulated, controlled, and tamed. It is a matter of our very survival

A Concrete Cage: How Big City Living Can Squeeze the Life Out of You

 

Photo by Fabio Souto: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sao-paulo-urban-cityscape-with-modern-architecture-33263986/

Living in a big city is soul sapping, especially if you have grown up in a small town. You invariably move to a big metropolitan area for reasons of growth and ambition, attracted no doubt by tales you have heard of wealth and fortunes made by others when they similarly left their small town homes for the big city. But when you arrive there you are immediately intimidated by the scale of everything you encounter.

 Yet your ambition drives you on and you throw yourself into getting to know your new home and learning the big-bad city’s ways until you are fully incorporated into its pulsating rhythm.

 Slowly, but surely you achieve everything you ever dreamt of and often more than that. But the big city extracts a price in terms of changing the essence of you. It strips you of your simplicity and your sense of justice and fair play and feeds your ego in a manner that nothing comes in the way of your goals. Some hold on to some semblance of who they were once and find that comes in the way of getting ahead of others. Many take leave of their moral compass and make their life all about achievements, conquests and acquisition.

 A bigger house, a second and third house, a fatter bank balance, a trophy spouse, a luxury car, expensive holidays abroad and all that. You forget that your life is finite and with each passing day you have one day less to live. Living like there is no tomorrow wrecks your mental peace and your physical well-being.

 

It has to. Even machines break down. You are but a human being and cannot forever be in high gear in pursuit of more and more. Living in a big city puts you on a hamster wheel, where the purpose of your existence is satiating your never ending greed.

 

A big city is like an empire- it feeds on growth driven by pure unadulterated greed and ambition, which is accomplished by the exploration of others. Just like an empire had its heyday and a decline and a fall, one’s life and time in a big city gives you the highs and then lays you low. You suffer physical, mental and spiritual fatigue. A distance develops not only from your family and friends, but you yourself.

 

You feel the need to reconnect with who you were and rediscover the sense of peace and balance you once had. Going to live in a small town that is still connected with nature can help you do that. Live a simpler life with simple everyday goals like buying milk from a neighbourhood vendor or walking in the nearby woods inhaling air that is pure and not spiked with hydrocarbon fumes heals you physically and mentally and restores peace to your soul. The slower rhythm of life brings deep peace in your life allowing you to sleep like a baby. Every day you wake up to a morning that makes you feel that you are happy to be alive.

 

Keeping things simple and opting out of the race to acquire more makes your life worth living again. You value the time that is left for you to live much more, counting every second that you get to live a blessing. You finally do things that are truly important to you like spending time with the family and not staring at a computer screen. You read those literary masterpiece that you always wanted to instead of immersing yourself in inane and endless social media interactions. When you travel, it is with the intention of discovering a new place that you haven't visited before, but always had on your bucket list of destinations that fascinated you. You go there not to advance your career, but to please your inner self- your soul.

 

The big city will always be there, beckoning you with its beguiling charms, but you may no longer care for those. You have moved on.