CUPPA:) ** freshly updated**

The LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLONG and SHORT of DiVeRS itY…


Malls in India are becoming like the ubiquitous Mallus- they are beginning to rear their beautiful, aggressive heads all over the place and in your face (Sreesanth hovering in your head?). Stalling and shilly-shallying in malls and multiplexes over the weekend has become more like a routine drill one monotonously drags oneself through, without really being hit or bit by the monotony. Window-shopping and price-tag-ogling in those exquisite lifestyle stores, pre-booked movie-hogging in an OCS surround sound environment and caramel popcorn-popping in those perfectly plush pushback seats, birdie/birdo-gaping in the verandahs, alleys and free spaces, cappuccino-guzzling/ grenita-gulping/ panino-pelting in a milling café, assorted cuisine/furious fast food- dining or lunching in those exquisite fine dining restaurants/joints has become so much a part and punch of one’s weekend.

If you think I’m attempting to enter the mall maze right here and now, it suffices to say that I, a frequent mallee, am just giving you a blazing introduction to the mall culture; a mallee being my term for a mall addict. The introductions done away with, let’s now get to the core topic stinging my thinking equipment- DEALING with DIVERSITY.

Last week, at a very prominent mall in the city, I happened to cross paths with so many different people/mallees that I couldn’t really help getting all baffled at the striking differences in people- tall and short, fat and thin, short-haired and long-haired, calm and frenzied, haughty and humble, naughty and nice, composed and insecure, well-dressed and ummmm undressed;), svelte and crude, so on and so forth. I stood there observing all these people, never for once realizing that a lot of these people I was observing were doing the same thing as well.

It was then that I understood that jobless people doing the hopeless rounds for free in a public space do nothing but judge the other jobless people around. I repeat: JUDGE, and not observe. Hell, everyone knows that people are made differently, that variety is the spice of life and that some people are ‘differently-abled’, but that doesn’t really stop us from pointing out the differences in harsh, mean ways. When I was trying to observe the contrasting attributes in people, the first two analogies I pointed out were ‘tall and short’ and ‘fat and thin’- how much more judgmental could I get?

From a different perspective, I suddenly saw that people (including myself) are constantly and consistently judging the inconsistencies and incongruities in the people around. In retrospect, I know that judging people is ‘sucky’ (in my language) and yet, I’m such a sucker for passing funny comments about every peeping Tom’s peephole voyeurisms, Dick’s teeny-weeny and Harry’s hairy legs, to enliven the mood among a close-knit group. Cutting a long story short- where is that line between pulling someone’s legs for fun and ‘judging’ someone all wrong?

Is your line short or long, dotted or continuous, finite or infinite, dark or light, straight or crooked.. Oops, I guess i got all judgemental all over again. Some lines can never be straightened.. :)