What do you do on a lazy sunday morning? Read the newspapers? Generally chill around? Go for a run? Play Badminton? Work out?
So many options right?
And still most of us are confused and bored and don’t understand what to do. We just while away our time, watching TV on mute (yes, that is what i do!), looking at the garden repeatedly deciding if it needs watering, aimless walking through the house looking if something needs repair and mentally making a note that some things really do, opening up amazon.in looking if you need something or just aimless lounging in the sofa. Not content, still.
This is the trouble of choices. I was recently having this conversation with a colleague on how we Indians do not really appreciate choices, or probably we feel intimidated with them. Like in a restaurant, a typical middle class man would be baffled with the choices on offer.
“Can you please get me a coffee?”, the man would ask rather thoughtless.
“Sure Sir. Cappuccino, latte or Expresso?”, the over enthusiastic waiter would question.
“Ah! Ahem.. the first one should do”, replied the man totally zapped and feeling like an engineering student being grilled during his VIVA.
“Cappucino is a wonderful choice sir. So, would you like some cream on top”, the enthu cutlet pops again.
The man is now completely intimidated and just replies, “Ah.. ah.. yes. cream. yes..”
“And how many spoons of sugar do you like in your cup of whipped cream layered Cappuccino sir?”
Whip.. what? I ordered for coffee. The man thinks. But with an ego filled mind and not wanting to look like an ignorant bumpkin just mutters, “Ah! one spoon.. one spoon sugar”
“And would you like some cookies to go along with it sir. Or may be some grilled sandwich?”
Done. The man blows his mental fuse. “COFFEEEEEE. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT ORDER JUST A CUP OF PLAIN COFFEE?”, the man thunders out of the restaurant with everyone staring at the outburst.
But well, that is the predicament we live in. Being brought in up a pre liberalised era, we are not aware of choices. It was the era of rationing and we would be happy with the little something that would be doled out in terms of food, oil, whatever..
We were content with the single white modern bread that we religiously ate every weekend for years and years. We didn’t know about the plethora of Brown, multii grain, oats, rye filled and the other seeming innocuous loafs sitting in the bread aisle. No!
A news article reminded me again of this “i don’t like choices” attitude. Parents are apparently confused which nursery school to put their child in, as there are so many options around. Each with varied facility and different board affiliations – CBSE, ICSE, IB,etc. and different age groups for eligibility – three, three and a half, three years 4 months 6 days.. Options! Options again lead to intimidation and confusion.
What was the choice during our times? The sole English medium school near our house which fit our budget. Choices bring in confusion for the normal indian and it would be a generation to be comfortable with all the chaos!
So yes, till then it is going to be difficult to order a coffee, unless of course you are in the good old India Coffee House.