Was this the aim

We are moving faster than ever. But towards what?Deliveries arrive in minutes. Expressways shorten journeys. Technology promises an easier life. Yet amid all this progress, a simple question remains: are we building the lives we actually wanted?In Was This the Aim? - When Progress Becomes the Destination, Ashiesh Kapoor explores what happens when growth, convenience and achievement become goals in themselves.Through familiar scenes from a changing India-the neighbourhood shop, the town bypassed by an expressway, the classroom transformed by technology-he examines the human consequences behind the language of disruption and efficiency. Who benefits when a system becomes faster? What happens to livelihoods when everything becomes cheaper? And what do the numbers we celebrate leave out?The inquiry soon becomes personal. We pursue higher incomes, greater security and another milestone, often postponing the life these achievements were meant to make possible. We prepare our children to succeed, but how often do we help them decide what success should mean?Blending reflections on economics, society and everyday life, this book invites readers to examine their ambitions, question what they have learned to measure, and consider what 'enough' might look like.For anyone who has reached a milestone and wondered why the destination still feels far away, it begins with one question:Was this the aim? And if it wasn’t, what was?