www.outlookindia.com | Idle Worship, Or The Non-Resident's Role Play

www.outlookindia.com | Idle Worship, Or The Non-Resident's Role Play

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Love thy neighbour

I remember a beautiful story (I forget the source now) about a farmer who followed this commandment very earnestly.

Jones was a flourishing farmer with humble beginnings. Being the first farmer in that area to use hybrid seeds, he got considerable media attention. A young journalist who was looking for something more than just what the 'hybrid' seeds could offer hit upon an unusual angle to this story. Apart from using the seeds on his own field , Jones was also distributing the same to his neighbours for free. This surprised the journalist because he thought being a smart businessman Jones would think about his profits and not distribute his seeds around. What he didnt know was Jones was a better businessman than anyone could ever fathom. Jones believed that if only he was using the 'good' seeds and his neighbours were using 'bad' ones, then his crop would also be of lesser quality due to cross-pollination and also pest attack from the neighbouring fields. By giving his neighbours the 'hybrid' seeds not only did he ensure that his crops were of the best quality he was also being lauded a good Samaritan.

I usually remember this story in the context of 'foreign affairs' and especially in the case of India. I believe that no country can achieve its fullest potential having troubled neighbours. India's neighbours have always caused her anxiety, more because of their internal problems than their issues with India.

I fully support India's external affairs policy of helping its neighbours rebuild their country and the lives of innocent civilians there. Be it Afganistan or Nepal, extending a helping hand without really interfering into their internal matters will not just do them good but also help us in the long run. Even if the show of strength continues at the borders, the other diplomatic measures should be taken forward with all the countries including Pakistan. Even if people say that the language best understood by Pakistan is the language of strength, as long as we can change the public perception inside that country into believing that we mean no harm, we have won half the battle.

Like the Jones in the story our efforts should be towards not just building our nation but also spreading the 'good' seeds around.

One weekend,a dozen cosemtics

Packing for a weekend trip with a pair of jeans and two t-shirts/tops, but a dozen or so cosmetics baffled me. I was trying to fit everything into a small back pack but all my 'appearance-preserving' items demanded more space.

It got me thinking as to how till sometime back all I needed was a brush, paste and a bar of soap for the umpteen camps, events, trips that I have been to (OK,granted, a little more than some time back). And if I were going to a relatives or friends place I wouldn't even bother taking the tube of paste and the bar of soap. But now starting with my head and running down to my toe, every body part is clamoring for attention from a new product. I cannot place the entire blame on the Lakme, Biotique, Himalya and the likes for coming up with products for body parts which my grand mom would have considered unworthy of attention. Anybody want to know what a cuticle cream is ;)?

Coming back to my packing for the trip - I decided that my hair would need a wash once I landed after a grime-ridden train journey. That meant carrying three different products for the ritual - the first one used before the wash, one during the wash and last one after the wash. I definitely cannot skip taking my basic cleanser to wash myself, but then again I cannot use the same for my face (because the companies/magazines say that the skin is totally different on my face as compared to the rest of my body, but then how does my skin look the same everywhere?). That means two bottles of liquid stuff. Whoever the hell came up with CTM? (do not try googling for it,nothing on the first page will be even remotely akin to what I am talking about - cleansing, toning, moisturising),the first time I heard/read the abbreviation I thought it was something to do with computer technology.


After I have a wash I need products so that my skin is not damaged and to 'lock' the moisture in (somebody tell me what the 'key' is). And this is contingent upon the climate/ weather of the place I am in - the sun demands SPF and the clouds something else. Seriously!!!. Every few days I would also need something to take the dead skin off my face - yes, skin dies as well, if you did not know that before.

Let me stop here before I begin to recount the number of products that I packed to add colour to my face. And if this sounds crazy, I actually skip half a dozen products that my girl friends/ cousins use.

These are the times when I miss being a child when you don't really care if you were having a bad hair day (not going to bother explaining what that is, because I am still trying to understand what it really means) or your armpits smelled a little. You thought when one said 'oily' it meant your puri's and batura's and not your skin; 'combination' was about teams during a skipping game or hopscotch. Back then as long as you brushed your teeth and washed yourself everyday you were good to go. Sigh!!!those days....

Fre(e)ading

I always thought that reading for free in a bookstore is not decent. How would they make their money, if everybody started reading sitting in the comfy chairs? Well,my morality stands corrected after I did the same some days back. I felt sneaky while doing it but then I was just one among the many.

'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' has been an object of my curiosity since I read about Hermione reading it in the last Harry Potter book. The exorbitant price pushed me into reading it on the spot. I blame my behaviour on the price. The over-rated book took over my over-rated morality.

I learnt a lesson in the process "it doesn't hurt to be cheap :P", at least not physically.

Full-circle

Times in my life when I am astonished at how my parents and me have come a full-circle, are a few more than what I would have anticipated some years back. My parents have started listening to me not just hearing me out, I have started taking decisions for them, they are mute spectators when I call the shots....ok, am i sounding like a dictator here?..not that they didn't listen to me before but now the balance of power somehow seems to be tilted towards me than ever before. And all this in a very nice way; subtle way of them resting after decades of toiling, sacrificing and agonizing; obvious way of them evolving with times and wanting to give in to the younger influence in their lives.

My 'dad-daughter' activity this weekend makes me reflect on this more than any 'mom-daughter' activity ever. Maybe I just take it for granted that my mother has started listening to me and my opinions, however bizarre they might be. She certainly has changed her views on feminism, politics, casteism and I am getting there with gay marriages.

Dad and daughter replacing the front-door lock is a play fit to be enacted on Broadway. The tools strewn all over, raised voices, sweltering heat making it worse, all in all, the drama involved would make Uncle podger seem mild.

"Pa, its not done that way, will you just let me do it..." was the turning point when my father started assisting me and not the other way round. He just said "OK" and went on to hand me tools. He did not shout as to how he was right and I couldn't do it. He did not say how many times he had done this before. He just said "OK". After decades of playing second fiddle here I was, tightening the screw.

When the screw was going in circles I could see my life was doing the same.

Rocking the young

Shut up and Vote !!!

Mohana is woken up by the jarring noise of the stopping fan. Another day starts with the power cut. She goes to brush her teeth greeted by the air swishing out of the pipe. After battling her way out of the house she finds her heart in her mouth each time the rickety bus falls into a pothole, or should I say a crater? Are you going to stop me here and say 'Deja vu', say that our system sucks, politicians are selfish, the country is going to dogs, etc.?

There might not be a panacea to all your worries and questions but there is certainly one question that the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes team would like to ask you..."so, what are you doing about it?" We lose our right to complain when we don’t exercise our duty to vote.

Janaagraha and Tata Tea together want to rock the young, not to sleep but out of their slumber. And they are doing this in style with their Jaago Re! One Billion Votes ‘Shut Up And Vote Tour’ courtesy Thermal and A Quarter, a pioneering Indian band. Rock shows for democracy is an innovative concept to integrate youth into the democratic framework of our country. The ‘Shut Up and Vote Tour’ by the rock band hopes to stir the conscience of the progeny.

So, get out and vote first, then you can make all the noises in the world to stop the jars and swishes from your fans and pipes.

(first posted on: http://jaagore.com/blogs/readComment.php?id=28)

Gossipice (gossip + spice)

   Early mornings are 'Internet time' for me. After my walk my mind is all fresh to absorb information - both the useful and the useless brand. Though my ever-whining conscience does drag me to the useful, let me admit that I don't reject Gk which people might call gossip. When I say gossip its strictly family and friends related. The circle is so large that I usually don't have time for the 'Kareena-Saif' variety. No offence to them, they are pretty good at churning out 'news' spicy enough for the front-page of certain newspapers but not for me.

   I discovered recently that I can get more 'news' by just reading what my people write on each others "walls" and "scrapbooks" than by actually talking to them, that too just a mouse-click away. No wastage of time or resources on meeting people, e-mails or even phone calls. What my third cousin wrote on my first-cousin-once-removed's wall might be more authentic news than what I get second hand from an aunt. Yes, I am slightly jobless right now to be reading 'wall-to-wall' gabfests.

    The concept of privacy settings hasn't sunk into most peoples minds. It gets even more interesting when friends put up photos and status messages without realising that some 'friends' also happen to be close/distant relatives or at least that the parents are also friends outside of the virtual world. I have had people frantically trying to reach me through all modes (e-mail, scraps, phone calls) when I congratulate them on their 'engaged/committed' status not to thank but to forbid me from telling anybody who knows their folks.

   Thanks to all the networking sites I am well updated but I don't think its helping me attain sainthood any soon. But what the heck my 'spice less' life is sprinkled with some 'gossipice'.