Choosing Sides…..

Veg or Non-Veg? The intriguing expression of my host leaves me perplexed.  I know there are people who are ardent supporter of no cruelty against animals and they are in general vegetarian and this is the backbone of their argument against non-vegetarian folks. But that does not make me decide whether I am a deer or tiger. I was always proud that I belong to highly evolved species Homo sapiens, whose one of the specialty is being omnivore.  Besides having that quality, I am bon vivant. The only difference I presume from my fellow beings is (which I realize from their every other ambiguous expression), I eat when and what I crave for and which closest relative of that dish is available for me. I give full authority to my taste glands to decide what should glide over them so that they will relish it. Now I don’t understand that if I am a hallmarked “non-vegetarian” then why I can’t eat a well prepared vegetarian dish lying next to the platter. Why should I bother to winnow myself into group of vegetarian and non-vegetarian? Even my “purely non-vegetarian (a term I still can’t figure out)” friends tell me that if you eat non-vegetarian dish, you will not relish the vegetarian dish. Most of my “strictly veggie” friends diet is incumbent on religious sentiments so I can understand the preference.

I don’t know exactly how age-old is the war between veg and non-veg. I never saw a muglai chiken in an armour on one side of food court and other side led by palak paneer with their respective followers of seekh- kebeb with a javelin and aloo dopyaza donned with a shield.  In most of the parties I attended the counters for veg and non-veg are so distinctly and as faraway placed as possible.  And if a person entering any of the counter as if even try to venture in to the other counter, he/she is looked upon as an outcast. Even if you survive the looks, still u cannot escape the bombardment of questions that follows your profanity. Sometimes I feel jealous of naan and pulao, why are they never subjected to the big decision?

I decide something solely for my selfish body and taste buds, what right do I bestow on people to ponder about the national crisis? “Oh I never saw her eating non-veg before; all of a sudden she has started….hmmm she is in love!” Ahh this cupid metier suits him only.  I don’t know what act makes you answerable to dreaded question of “are you or are you not”. People say statistics is tough. Believe me the world is simpler out there. We know at what p value to accept the null hypothesis and when to reject it.

P.S. The article is meant for Indian folks. For one that Indian dishes are mentioned but nonetheless our momentary preferred diet can raise a question of being in love can only linger in Indian mind 🙂

Parlor gambol

Having a haircut is always a dilemma. Honestly I don’t know what will suit me and in the lack of a heartbreak or depression as such, I cannot get into the impulse of surrendering myself to the delight of professionals. Another problem is that if you are in a mall or city which has a penchant  for obnoxiously high-price contests then thought of entering a parlor makes you rebarbative.

Anyways my experience is of Delhi. When I search for one I wont find a parlor and then in a mall right next to one another there will be four. And its not that its for people convenience that if one is busy you have choice to enter the other. They all are free!!!! The sole customer being the owner and  the workers. Still it is highly unprofessional if you enter without an appointment.

Well anyways I asked the prices of haircut in all and they varied considerably. I tried the middle range. He even offered me a discount if I were a college student, its just it was buy one and the other will get free!!!!

So I entered to get yet another experiment on my hair. The usual pleasantries and within 5 minutes I had a haircut. But it was not over . For another 25 minutes the hairdresser along with an assistant started drying and setting my hair. That was funny because I don’t even have that much hair to set. So actually the price they offer is for making you feel good once you go out of their parlor. Back home after one wash you may start wondering whom you saw in the parlor mirror.

Then another instigation to my laughter. A heavy- built  sardar  sat on seat  next to me and a couple of workers started doing bleach and all. This was the first time I saw a man trying to get fair apart from that funny advertisement of fair handsome. Everytime I would laugh, my hairdresser would increase his time of setting my hair.

I really don’t get why do they have unisex parlor?…..the only unisex thing  I can tolerate is watches, wasn’t T-shirts enough blunder? Its not a pub for Christ’s  sake. It’s a place where we go to hide our weaknesses and thus be presentable and appealing to the other sex.  If our demerits are moulded into perfection under the same roof, its very unlikely that I will appreciate the true beauty of my Mr. Perfect!

Change- can we keep pace?

Change is inevitable., but when the frequency of change supersede your lifetime, or rather capacity of your chronological memory, wont you be at your wits end?

whats the address?

Akhilesh Yadav said to RE-christen 8 districts in U.P (TOI, 24 July 2012). Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar & Ramabai Nagar will revert back to Amethi & Kanpur Dehat. Bheem nagar, Prabudh Nagar, Pancheel Nagar will be renamed as Sambhal, Shamli & Hapur. Kanshiram Nagar , Mahamayanagar, J P Nagar will be restored to Kasganj, Hathras & Amroha.

Born and brought up in this name game era & more explicitly in its arena , state of Uttar Pradesh, I have rather personal experiences in this matter.  I used to live in a colony which was called Allahpur in Allahabad. But for quite some time it had been renamed as Bhardwajpuram. Probably in official document it was christened so but I never saw any change in our day to day life. If I had to pick up a rickshaw also they would understand  Allahpur only .” Yeh sab upar saheb logon ki baat hain, humey kya fark padta hai. Hum usey jis naam sey bulatey they wahi bulayengey” once a Rickshawpuller told me. My dad an alumni of King George Medical college, one of the prestigious college in U.P. was in doldrums that will he be referred to “Georgian” as people in India & abroad knew or a ” chatrapati shahuji marajian“?

What is there in name? Shakespeare once said but I guess there is lot…….mainly confusion!! When invasion used to happen , naming was at the disposal of domineering party and their dialect & script. Why was India  called Hindustan rather Industan, for the guess, be my guest. Whatever name  our city, town, village or rather street gets is part of our history. Passing an order to re-christen it seems a rather very easy solution but if you had been calling your daughter Khushi for 15 years & all of sudden you decide that you find a better name Harshita (though they mean same), lets see how many times she responds. Well fine I know the decision comes from government which in turn means from the people itself, how many agree that people never consent on one thing (which can be realized by dynamic change of higher commands). So if people can not make up mind on one government, how can they make up their mind on re-christening the name?

I do agree that we should  name places or streets in the honor of people. The martyrs have their due to be honored. It is done out of respect and to inspire people too. But we should at the same time remember that the motive behind this step should not the driven by ideas which promote religious and casteism differences. We do not want to reach a stage when no-one would like a street to be named after himself/herself as we will start seeing it as an ugly political war.

People in different sectors face many problem because of this ever-changing names. For example, surveys are done for various records like census data, voters ID, land-use records etc. In all these records if the name keep on changing who will keep the track? What if I am making a map for land-use for Mahamayanagar, should I leave the option of concerned area “open to editing”? Will it not be a wastage of Government money & time as most document go to trash just because the name keeps on changing?

I do welcome the step of Chief Minister of U.P. about reverting the names back to original. But I dread once again if the government change, people will be gifted the same old, tattered, regressing gifts in new wrapping paper. If only they knew that people do want a change but not just for the namesake….