...ek soch hai

Third post in a row which has soch (thought) in the title... what does it say about me, my mood, the times we are in???
On Sunday we were at the place called veg falafels at colaba. We ordered a falafel and sat down. Normally the service is quick. After all it doesn’t take too much to make one. This time we waited a bit. I asked at the counter ‘what happened’. ‘sir, the falafel bullets (fried fillings) are being fried’. Ok. Then he screams across the counter ‘sir ka balls fry ho gaya kya?’ translation in English – ‘have you fried his balls yet?’ Well I sure hope not.
Jasmine had a funny observation on Saturday. We sent to see the movie Billu Barber. Nice one. We saw it in Cinemax at Sion. We had aisle seats. The seats were so jammed that if anyone were to get past it would be a complete mess. There is no way to get past without jamming you knees and feet. There were a bunch of guys next to us. First they came a bit late, squeezing inside. Then they decided to get up soon after. Huge inconvenience. They return with bagfuls of popcorn and slurpys. This time I ask them to wait. Jasmine and me get up and let them in. I was talking taking any chances on him tripping over me with the sugary slurpy in his hands. They mumble their appreciation. As we are seated jasmine whispers into my ears. They are from Delhi, she says. Hmmm… ya ok. She goes on ‘only someone from Delhi will say thank you instead of sorry when you make someone get up.’ I almost fell off the chair. The only thing that kept me there was the tight fit of the rows. Jasmine can amaze you with sharp observations from time to time.
On another note, I was talking to Sonal (she works with me). She was talking about the hot new thing catching up with wannabe parents. Genetic engineering to ensure the perfect kids. You can choose the hair color, isolate the gene for obesity etc. you know the works. She was quite aghast and was soo against it. I thought about it a bit. Being the ever so moderate that I have become I replied ‘hmm. Why you so surprised? Sure I think this genetic thing is a bit under-researched to try out on kids but, why are you so against it? We try and mould our kids into our thought processes and try and raze perfect kids in any case right now. The concept of planning kids, when to have them, is a new fangled concept. I am sure our grandmothers would have been aghast at the very concept that kids must be planned. They are gifts of the almighty and happen on their own. Today we seek out perfect kids with what we have. We try and make them into ideals that we have set ourselves. Do remember that perspectives change with passing generations. Allow for change. The core need is the same. The solutions differ. Also I have learnt to be less critical of change. Time and again, attitudes have changed. What was unacceptable in the past is matter of fact now. A bit of moderation is what I preach now. Sure have your opinion. But a bit of salt please.’
I was reading an article in the Tehelka which had a critical piece on Gandhi. The writer (S Anand) gave tons of examples of Gandhi versus Ambedkar(not exactly 'versus', but read on...). “Gandhi was essentially a social conservative. This was BR Ambedkar’s main charge against Gandhi for his endorsement of caste and varnashrama dharma”. If it is true then he is probably right. It did make me feel a bit confused about my view on the great man. But then I realized my folly. Do I like Gandhi as a person or is he to me an idea. To me Gandhi is an idea. There are, there would be many examples of him not being correct. But as I have said, those were different times and thoughts must be judged in the perspective of surroundings and eras. Even if they were really regressive and wrong, so be it. That cannot take away from something that I find true. You are entitled to your Gandhi and I am entitled to my. After all Gandhi is an idea. Another example – Jack Welch. Yup – the GE guy. You can take what you want from him, leave what you dislike, but please don’t vandalize what you don’t want. I might agree with him completely but I sure learnt some stuff from his books. As also the movie Sarkar which had Amitabh as playing the title lead – Sarkar ek soch hai.