THE CURRY-LEAVES MENTALITY





  





Pic.: Madan Manik 
If we think, anything in life comes free to us, then, we are fools of the first order! Idiots!


In life, nothing comes free… Yes, everything comes with a price. If they say, it is ‘free’… Please, don’t believe them. They are fooling you… Or, you are fooling yourself!


When we go to a restaurant to eat, we see the menu… and, you know how carefully we study the price against each dish. Importantly, we check how much money we carry in our pockets or banks. But, at someone’s wedding reception, we hog as if we have been on a fast for months! Just imagine, how carelessly and how insensitively we waste food at such places!


Most of us eat there more than what is needed for our stomachs!


Hello, somebody pays by his nose for what we hog like gluttons and for what we waste like idiots!


They say, now a days, WhatsApp is free. That’s the reason why they want all of us to be on it. Then, they make groups… groups of all kinds. Why? Obviously, to ‘communicate’, to be in touch…


Let me tell you: it is such a royal waste of time, such a dumb ritual… that, I love to call it ‘the Curry-leaves mentality’.


Our kadipatta, that is…


So, what is special about these leaves?


For years, we have taken curry leaves for granted. You know, we have been getting them ‘free’ from the bhajiwala!


But, to get them free, you have to buy, at least, some quantity of green chilies or a piece of ginger… or, two-three neemboos, sir. Watch the bhajiwala’s face when you ask him for only the ‘free’ curry leaves!


Your bhajiwala doesn’t get those curry leaves free, you know that!


Everyday, hundreds of messages come to me - believe me, they come relentlessly – on WhatsApp. The first thing I hear in the morning is its buzz and the last thing I hear at night is also its buzz…


I just don’t read them… I can’t! And, they all go unread, unnoticed and uncared… yes, just like ships passing in the night!


Just because WhatsApp is free, you send all your crap, I send all my crap, we all send all our crap…


What has it added to the quality of our lives, sir?

How has it improved 
the quality of our communication?


Are we still kidding, fooling and operating from the ‘hog-at–someone’s-wedding-reception’ or the ‘curry-leaves’ mentality?

In life, we all value only what we pay for… what we earn… what we respect and deserve...


The rest all is sheer crap!


GERALD D’CUNHA


Comments

Kishore Nagpal said…
Gritty wake-up call!!!!! Thank-you.
-- Kishore Nagpal
January 21, 2014 at 3:36 PM
Vipul Patel said…
Loved the phrase: 'Curry-leaves mentality'. Vipul P
January 21, 2014 at 4:09 PM
Nitin Raj said…
I fully agree Gerry, thanx for the psot.
....... Nitin Raj
January 21, 2014 at 5:01 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...