Yesterday at the metro station, this girl who got out with me from the train was standing next to a bhutta wala (corn cob vendor) and peeling every other bhutta on his little cart. He got agitated and said -" madamji kya kar rahe hain, saara maal khol diya". She didn't even acknowledge him talking and continued the peeling ritual in search of perfect tender bhutta. It was until there was a pile of people around him that she had to make a decision (I could see she wasn't very satisfied). After it was grilled and ready - she said "bhaiya masala kam kyun lagaya hain!?" and then of course "itna mahenga laga rahe ho!" .
I was already agitated waiting in the heat for the car to arrive and at that moment I swear I just wanted to shake her and say - "it is just a bhutta not the man of your life; move on girl" but then a thought came to my mind - it is because we have been given the benefit of choice that Indians have become too picky and sometimes irrationally time consuming when it comes to the smallest things. Forget small, our ruling class in history was even given a "swayambar" (bride/groom choosing ritual) to choose who they want to marry! And then they say today that Indians go for arranged marriages! Really? I don't think so. We were since ages choosing each and everything we'd want.
Even arranged marriages are very similar to the situation I mentioned at the corn vendor. I'm not generalising here but when they say arranged marriage, it doesn't exactly mean that the girl hasn't given herself a fair chance to look around. I mean she has a gala time until pressure from the family(similar to people gathering around the cart) increases and then if she has the guts she brings in her love or says goodbye and marries her parents' choice. This is very similar to the girl who went through all the bhuttas and when she had to make a decision - she could either give the one she liked or trust the vendor blindly to make a better choice for her. Those who do the former end up in a love affair those who do the latter end up in an arranged love affair. One still complains, one still whines, one still hypes up stuff but at the end of the day - one does have the bhutta! Haha
This was obviously a very well versed example but even the street beggars nowadays have started pitching their wants according to their choice. Try giving a little boy on the signal something to eat out of sheer generosity and he'll say - "didi pepsi pila do" or even refuse to take it because he's not interested. Hello! I mean that's some CLASS. My some tiny single digit year old cousin once while having pasta tells the waiter - "can you please put "no broccoli" because its bad!". At her age, I'd be a. Lucky to be eating out, b. Fancy to be eating italian and c. Very choosy to be defining my order!
Nevertheless, it is definitely the lack of trust that people have become so knit-picky. I mean its tough to find a lady buying bread without asking - "bhaisahab fresh hai na?" Or if anything is available in cheap - "bhaiya purana hoga!". When I was in the UK, it was simple - if its cheap, its going bad soon and you'll see maximum Indians piling to buy from that section! So its only in our love India that people have high held heads because of the benefit of choice!
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