Kissa
My 18-year-old nephew’s bike costs almost 14 times what my first scooter cost.
And I caught myself comparing the two.
My nephew recently turned 18.
His parents gifted him a bike. A good one. Costing a few lakhs.
My first reaction?
“Itna mehenga?”
At 18, I had received a scooter from my aunt. It cost around 7% of what his bike costs today.
Of course, that was almost 30 years ago.
I had the same reaction when he got his first smartphone, costing around a lakh.
At his age, I didn’t even have a mobile phone.
And yet, I am genuinely happy for him.
So why was I comparing?
Perhaps because we naturally compare our generation with the generation growing up today.
But the world I grew up in at 18 was different from his world today.
Prices have changed.
Lifestyles have changed.
Even our idea of what makes a “big gift” has changed.
And so has the financial situation of the family.
What my parents could afford then may not be what my sister can afford today.
That doesn’t make one gift bigger than the other.
Or one love greater than the other.
It simply means the timelines are different.
Perspective
We often compare generations as if everything else stayed the same.
The gifts.
The opportunities.
The struggles.
But the world around them changed too.
A scooter costing a few thousand then may have carried the same excitement, effort and love as a bike costing a few lakhs today.
The numbers changed. The emotions may not have.
My nephew got his gifts in his time.
I got mine in mine.
Both are part of our stories.
Different timelines. Different gifts. No need to compare.
