Why do we wish? Think before you do.

This is the season where we can see a lot of wishes being exchanged. Wishes for christmas, new year, sankranti, morning, evening and others. People even visit or call up, just to say - "Wish you happy new year". Why do people say this... this phrase! Probably they mean "I wish you have a happy new year ahead". Wait! what is the difference? Well.. you chant the two and you will find some difference. The first one comes from the mouth but the second one comes from a bit deeper (the heart?).

So what am I trying to say? The phrases like "wish you happy new year", "happy birthday", "good morning", etc.. have become so popular that people don't think what they mean by saying them. They just come from the mouth so naturally and instantly that we don't bother to think about them. And why should we - the person who receives the "wishes" is also like us. But if we do think, the next time we would either "not wish" or "wish them from the heart".

What do we mean if we say "Happy Birthday"? I guess we don't really mean "this day (birthday)" and only "this day" must be "Happier". People are so obsessed with this phrase that they are not willing to try human's wonderful creativity and imagination to wish in a better way. For e.g. we could have said some thing like "Bad day, oldman!" or even "I wish you a happy new year". There are not many people who wish like this, because of the instantaneous and universal nature of the phrase "happy birthday". To me, we are actually expressing and wishing less by the usage of these stupid phrases.

Coming back to our topic - "why do we wish?", why do we wish - it is afterall an another day. This Jan 1st also we cooked our food, we watched the TV, and we slept. There is no change (or "extra" happiness) in our routine (except for the holiday we got). But people kept calling us and say "happy new year". Does it really make any sense? The answer is "no" and "yes".

"No" for the obvious reason - it does not make any difference. We do not see many people of the earlier generation celebrating and wishing on such occasions, probably because of the pain and suffering they experienced in their lives. But the life style has changed so drastically that people cannot digest if somebody forgets to wish, cannot resist wishing and even feel guilty if they forget to wish. It is very important that we look at it with an open mind, the failure of which is probably the reason for many "ideas" to change to "mass practice" and finally "superstition".

"Yes" because it will keep you in touch with your friends, relatives and others. Wishing, greeting and expressing will help build relationships with others which at a macro level constitute the society we live in. According to a psychological study, the gossips that we share with others will keep us mentally healtheir and happier. Wishing to be "Happy" does keep us happy indirectly.

So, be concious and open minded and "donot wish". But if you want to (or have to) wish, try to "wish" in the way you wish by avoiding the unavoidable pharses.