Essay Optional (Philosophical Topic) by Manoj K Jha Sir

Model Answer

Question #1. Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

There is an old saying, nobody buys a drill, because they want a drill, they buy one because they want a hole. It is not always what you want, but what you ultimately need that drives our desires.

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after”, For the commercial fisherman, it is a living he is after. It is money to have a home and to feed his family. For the casual fisherman, it is often the getting away from busy life or the solitude of a mountain stream.

People often think they are going fishing, but in reality, they are seeking something that fulfills their life and their dreams. Similarly, if we can develop this understanding, we can live a very fulfilled and satisfied life.

Self-assessment and introspection

It is important to understand what we want from life and choose a career accordingly. For example, someone who wants excitement and thrill in life, would be unhappy in a desk job. Unfortunately, most people never do that and realize it too late in their career and spend an unsatisfied life, as it's too difficult to quit by then.

Materialism and happiness

In life, we sometimes try so hard to accomplish things and gain status that we tend to forget what we are really after is happiness. People often believe that certain things will bring them happiness such as money, jobs, and material possessions. However, after they acquire these things instead of feeling contentment they feel a sense of emptiness.

We are not satisfied in general and always keep revising our goals, a small car grows to a big car to luxury car, but the state of mind of its owner remains the same, i.e., what We look forward to new things, as if they will provide satisfaction, however, as soon as we get them and realize, it did not make us satisfied, we target something more ambitious.

Modern world and escape from its busy life

Most of the time, people seek escape through holidays and vacation, but it mostly leaves people, without much satisfaction, as they live same way during vacations too, from going for shopping to rushing to cover maximum landmarks, while completely forgetting its not landmarks they are after, but break from the urban or monotonous life.

Similarly, many different interpretations can be made in religious terms and philosophical terms, but they are not necessary, if you can add them, it adds to the richness of the essay, but not including them won also cost much in terms of marks.

Here, link this to a few of the contemporary problems and establish that this statement is ageless and valid equally today. For example: growing reliance on gadgets in life. From being a means to an end, when gadgets became an end in themselves, is an interesting example that emphasizes the importance of a given topic. From using technology to getting consumed by technology and spending hours and hours each day for the same is a big issue which is affecting people's relationships, health, and mental well-being.

Thus, we seriously need to introspect and determine, where we spend time and why, is it giving us and our family a fulfilled life or not. Are we over dependent on technology? Once a person realizes a problem, the solution is not far.