THE MYTH OF MAKING LIFE EASY THROUGH HARD WORK

INTRODUCTION

We are told: Work hard now, life will be easy later.

But for most, that later never arrives.

This promise — whispered by parents, shouted by teachers, printed in textbooks, and glorified in advertisements — is a holy lie that keeps generations running on a treadmill… going nowhere.

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PART ONE: WHERE DID THIS MYTH BEGIN?

In agrarian societies, hard work meant survival. No crop, no food.

In colonial India, the British promoted hard work — not for Indians’ upliftment — but to create a loyal clerical class that would maintain the empire.

Post-independence, governments replaced empires, but the factory-like schooling continued — producing obedient workers.

Today, corporates replaced governments. The message remains: “Work hard. Sacrifice your youth. One day, you’ll be free.”

But ask around.

How many retired people are actually free, happy, and healthy?

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PART TWO: THE CORE LIE — "HARD WORK NOW WILL MAKE LIFE EASY LATER"

Let’s break this lie down.

1. The timeline trap

You are asked to:

Study hard till 25

Work hard till 60

THEN enjoy life

But this assumes:

You’ll live till 60

You’ll be healthy at 60

You’ll still desire joy at 60

This isn’t life.

It’s a long postponement of living.

2. The false equation

Hard work = Comfort

But in reality:

Hard work leads to chronic stress

Long work hours lead to failed relationships, poor health

Promotions lead to EMIs, disease, and divorces

Ambition leads to envy, anxiety, and burnout

You don’t get peace.

You just get used to a higher level of struggle.

3. Comfort is not a result of hard work — it’s a result of contentment

You can work less and live well if you reduce your wants.

But that would crash the entire economic system based on making you feel you need more.

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PART THREE: WHO PROFITS FROM THIS MYTH?

Corporates: They get cheap, loyal, lifelong labor

Schools and Colleges: They sell degrees as escape plans

Banks: Your “dream home” becomes their income

Media: They sell you stories of “success through struggle”

Governments: They get a tired, unquestioning population

Nobody wants you to slow down and think.

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PART FOUR: REAL EXAMPLES

1. The Software Engineer

30 years old.

Sleeps 5 hours.

EMI of 75,000/month.

Parents proud.

Body breaking down.

He believes: “Just 5 more years.”

2. The Village Tailor

Earns 500 a day.

No debt.

Grows food.

Knows how to cook, fix, rest, and love.

He’s not lazy — he just knows life is now.

3. The Schooltopper

Became an IAS officer.

Works 12 hours.

Gets respect.

Wife and kids don’t see him.

He’s a servant with a better salary.

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PART FIVE: WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?

Work hard? Yes. But for what truly matters.

Learn to say: “I have enough.”

Redefine success as:

Time to rest

Time to eat slowly

Time to be with children

A healthy bowel movement

Clean water and a walk in sunlight

See hard work as a tool, not a path to salvation.

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CHARLES BUKOWSKI-STYLE POEM:

“THE GLORIOUS STRUGGLE”

they said

burn your youth,

chase that chair with the spinning wheels,

call it ambition

and they'll clap.

you burnt your eyes on screens,

your knees climbing floors,

your weekends for deadlines,

your bones for slogans.

they said — this is success.

i asked — where is joy?

they said — later.

later came

with pills and pressure socks.

the only spinning you did

was in a CT scanner.

no child remembered your laugh.

no body part remembered rest.

you called it sacrifice.

it was theft.

your heart gave its last beat

to a meeting invite.

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HEALING DIALOGUE

Between Madhukar the Hermit and Raghav, a 36-year-old corporate employee from Bengaluru who believed in hard work as a path to freedom

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[Scene: A peaceful courtyard outside Madhukar’s mud home. Birds chirp, neem tree sways gently. Raghav sits nervously, dressed in branded weekend clothes, checking his smartwatch. Madhukar smiles, seated cross-legged, weaving a bamboo basket.]

RAGHAV:

I’ve done everything right, sir.

Graduated top of class, joined a big firm, worked nights, switched countries, saved, invested…

And still… I feel trapped.

Why?

MADHUKAR:

You confused earning a living with living.

Tell me, Raghav — when was the last time you felt alive?

RAGHAV:

Maybe… on my honeymoon?

No, wait — when I was trekking in Himachal years ago.

But those are exceptions. Life is not a holiday.

MADHUKAR:

Why not?

Who said that?

RAGHAV:

Well… how will anything get done if I relax?

MADHUKAR:

Done for whom?

You said you work hard.

Who is benefitting?

RAGHAV:

My family. My company. My future.

MADHUKAR:

Let’s test that.

You said “My family” —

Do they see you?

Do they eat with you?

Do they feel your presence or just your payments?

You said “My company” —

Do they love you?

Will they protect you if you fall sick for a year?

Or replace you with a 22-year-old?

You said “My future” —

Whose dream is that future?

Did you choose it, or was it sold to you?

RAGHAV:

(Silent, then softly)

I don’t know anymore.

I thought this was the way to earn freedom.

MADHUKAR:

Freedom from what?

RAGHAV:

From poverty. From dependence. From insult.

MADHUKAR:

And in the process, you became dependent on:

The boss

The app

The doctor

The delivery boy

The air conditioner

You lost your own hands.

RAGHAV:

But I’m respected now.

My relatives admire me.

My neighbours envy me.

MADHUKAR:

That is not respect.

That’s fear of your mask.

You wear a branded shirt — they call you “sir.”

You lose your job — they call you “poor fellow.”

Respect based on money is not respect.

It’s just organized hypocrisy.

RAGHAV:

Then what should I have done?

MADHUKAR:

You should’ve first asked:

What is enough?

Until you answer that — your chase will never end.

RAGHAV:

How do I know what’s enough?

MADHUKAR:

When your hands do the work your body can digest…

When your heart sleeps without noise…

When your child looks into your eyes, not into a screen…

That’s enough.

RAGHAV:

But isn’t that laziness? Shouldn’t I push myself?

MADHUKAR:

Push yourself toward what?

Toward ulcers?

Toward therapy?

Toward “weekend parties” that feel like funerals?

You are not lazy.

You are simply exhausted from running toward illusions.

RAGHAV:

But if I stop now… what about the EMIs, the bills, the lifestyle?

MADHUKAR:

Let them go.

Your lifestyle is not your life.

A wolf doesn’t own a mattress — and still sleeps well.

A crow doesn’t earn salary — and still lives 20 years.

But the human, the most intelligent animal, lives in anxiety…

Because he traded simplicity for sophistication.

RAGHAV:

(Whispers)

So all this time…

I was trying to buy peace using struggle?

MADHUKAR:

Yes.

Like trying to extinguish fire by adding wood.

RAGHAV:

What do I do now?

MADHUKAR:

Stop running.

Start being.

Wake up with the sun.

Eat with your hands.

Sit with your elders.

Plant your own spinach.

Take your daughter to school on a cycle.

These are not sacrifices.

They are returns — to yourself.

RAGHAV:

And my career?

MADHUKAR:

Let your career follow your conscience.

Not the other way around.

The world doesn’t need more hardworking machines.

It needs present, whole, joyful human beings.

[Raghav stares at the soil beneath his feet. The neem tree drops a leaf. For the first time, he notices its shape.]

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