Some of the best advertisements are the ones which has an effect on you from the inside! It tickles your ego and make you GO!
One such tagline was; ‘NEIGHBOUR”S ENVY, OWNERS PRIDE!’
That is the ad version of the phase “Keeping up with the Joneses”
Do you what that means?
The neighbour here is not only the one who is staying beside you but also the one who may sit with you in the bus or car, or the one who shares your desk in class or the one who is adjacent to your class or house or even country!
Our whole life is spent in becoming better than the NEIGHBOUR! That is the fact of the matter! Or even our social life!
It may be a simple thing as a SOFA (not that simple though!) or even a car! Each and every stage everyone likes to be better that their NEIGHBOURS!
Now I do not have to tell about what all competition happens between other neighbours!
This constant competition drives many while frustrates everyone else!
Which is why the phrase created as far back in 1930s is still relevant today!
So “Keeping up with the Joneses” is an idiom that describes the pressure to compare yourself to your neighbors or peers and try to match their social status, wealth, or material possessions!
The phrase was popularized by Arthur R. “Pop” Momand, who created the comic strip Keeping Up with the Joneses, which ran from 1913 to 1938.
As expected the Story in the Comic strip followed the McGinis family, who constantly struggled to match the lavish lifestyle of their neighbors—the Joneses—who were actually characters never shown in the strip!
Momand later admitted the idea came from his own real-life experience of trying to live beyond his means to impress people, only to realize his neighbors were doing the exact same thing!
He was so tired and frustrated with this that he left those NEIGHBOURS and went to a smaller place and made the comic strip!
You may not even know this history but many would have heard the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” or at least done that! Keeping up with the neighbours that is!
It is sad that an spend their whole life trying to impress those who they do not even like!
Then again when you have festivals like Navratri or Dusshera; you will love to meet your neighbours and truly wish for peace and happiness and not to mention great sweets and festivities! Only a festival deep rooted in culture can make you not compete with your neighbour!
Or you can simply say jane bhi do yaron! Which reminds me of that legendary comedy made by Kundan Shah!
Wishing you a vibrant and colorful Navratri filled with divine grace and prosperity!
SHubh ratri!
