Law of Marginal Utility when Sources are Diminished

Sounds like a corollary of some law stated in your 12th Std. Economics Text Book? BINGO...almost! The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility was probably the most well fed law in the history of economics. Oranges, Apples, Ladoos, Gulab Jamoons, Rasgollas, Alcohol, Nicotine & Tobacco (later in college/b-school where the last three weren't taboo anymore) were used as examples to enunciate the principle.

For all the 'non-economists' the law goes like this... "As a person increases consumption of a product - while keeping consumption of other products constant - there is a decline in the marginal utility that person derives from consuming each additional unit of that product." Simply put, the more of something you have, the lesser gratification it gives you beyond a point.

Even the site where I am copying this from gives a foodie example.. 'This is the premise on which buffet-style restaurants operate. They entice you with "all you can eat," all the while knowing each additional plate of food provides less utility than the one before. And despite their enticement, most people will eat only until the utility they derive from additional food is slightly lower than the original.'

However, what one finds amusing is the corollary. What happens when you have just two ladoos? You enjoy every bit of it would probably be your answer...not just so simple, there is an extremism there too. What I saw was very strange, yet true. Unknowingly I knew that it was so. Here goes an abnormal observation to explain a commonplace law.

Nagpur was witnessing one of its finest seasons of monsoon. It pricks when it rains...so we stopped on the way to an already delayed meeting. In a city like that, people understand that you are stuck in the rain, even if it is the Circle Head of a leading telecom company. The out pour in the midst of nowhere saw us stepping into a rambled chai-patri (tea stall) which was quite big for its kind, though its roof was thatched. Located amidst very small stand alone government offices, it served as a lunch sit-out for the employees who carried dabbas to work. The people who generally work in such offices are from a pathetic economic strata. A typical person who I'm referring to would get stuck to his 'Govt. Job' label for a lifetime but will not manage to make a square living for himself. He is not in positions where bribes come his way and his hands would quiver even if he came across some. He would minimize all expenses on himself...wear the same shirt for three days in a row with a handkerchief around the collar to keep the shirt from getting dirty, carry an old bag that he bought from the second hand bag shop at a throw-away price, wear a chappal that looks like it hasn't changed ever since he started working, a watch that was given away by the mazdoor union on some leader's birthday and most importantly carry a dabba with home-cooked dal, rice and curry all in one compartment.

This is where your typical Mr. Right here enters the patri with his dabba. I watch him eat with the focus of a horse. He digs into his food articulately mixing the familiar items to form a delicacy of sorts...first some rice dug out of the mound taken and dipped into the small cup bearing the dal swiftly interacting with the sabji to form a familiar, rather routine but tasteful delight. I wait to see his hands reach his mouth to see if his eyes go elsewhere...but the focus remains. With every intake of his lunch, his focus increases. Until that point, where it multiplies manifold.

The box is empty and I think he is done. He craftily licks the palm of his hand. And them the thumb, the forefinger, the middle finger, the ring finger...even the little finger isn't spared. And as if to give it a grand finale, he puts all of them at one go into his mouth to clear off any possible remains that might have escaped the wrath of his taste-buds.

I wasn't too sure about the order of the fingers, that was just a logical guess. All the while, I was looking at his eyes and not his fingers or the mouth. The eyes had a sparkle. He knew this is all that he had for today, till he went back home for dinner, if he could afford some. I could see that in his eyes. But mind you, something told me his hunger was taken care of. There was no greed for more. He just wanted to be sure that he had all of whatever he had.

Lets finish the law before the perspective. When you have just enough, you can choose o be satisfied or crave for more, making you a victim of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. Again like in economics, where every term is defined, just enough would be equal to that amount which may give you a feeling of deprivation but shall not actually be so bad.

The perspective that immediately flashed was much more adorable than the law. His ungli-chant (finger-lick, translated literally) made me reflect deeply about attitude at work, in life and towards self-three things that makes 95% of the world to anyone reading this. If we stay as focused at work as Mr. Right's focus on his meal, we would not only be satisfied to our fullest, but shall also gain every bit of reward that is due to us...to the last Lick! If we give relationships the time, space and trust they deserve, we wouldn't crave for more in our last

You can't after all lick your fingers in a five star hotel after your Rs. 1000 +14.5%  VAT  you shell out for the dinner buffet. Neither do we gather the guts to wear our grandfather's keyable wrist watch on our trendy jeans and jackets. We wonder who is looking at our bag and footwear and restrain from using the old ones. That's still ok...


We buy newer stuff stocking more and more trying to be if not ahead, atleast at par with the trends which we unknowingly create.


Isn't our Mr. Right is better of than each of us for the levels of satisfaction and regret-lessness that he carries with him by wearing his same old white shirt with a handkerchief around the collar, the old bag from the second hand shop, the chappal that  is as old as his job, the watch he might have got from the mazdoor union and the dabba with home-cooked dal, rice and curry all in one compartment? Give it a thought...