tea gardens
Friday, April 04, 2008
its jsut another ID stupid
The anonymity of the Internet amazes me.Today i have been in conversation with at lest three people who think they are talking to a friend of theirs,but are not.They are talking to me.On the Internet your log in defines you and today I am using my nephews log in just for a lark.Of course its not easy trying to sound like an 18 year old(its been a while since I was 18 and the slang has changed to something I just don't get)but i try and after a while I tell them that they have been talking to the wrong person.The reactions are the best.From oh me god to aiyo I am sorry to hey I am bored so can we chat even though I don't know you at all....well its interesting this.None of them talk in sentences,its always a word or two so I am learning to talk in monosyllables.learning to sound sullen and disinterested(i think that the cool thing according to them so I keep it going) but after a while i run out of things to say....in the meanwhile my nephew is probably working overtime sending sms to all his friends warning them that his moms sister is in disguise and they should log out as soon as they see his name on chat(be warned he tells them,if she can sound like me think of all the stuff she can get out of you....air raid warning please eject and don't talk).Well it will take a while for him to warn all of them so i continue to learn teenage lingo and have fun
Getting back to basics
The ration card....its one of those vital pieces of paper that define us very much like the passport,except that in this case it also provides for basic necessities in life like rice,dhal,sugar etc.The idea of course is that of public distribution and government social responsibility hence the price is low and by and large there is a hierarchy there of lower income,middle income etc etc.There are white cards,yellow cards and green cards.Most of the well heeled and reasonably affluent don't use this card for anything but an identity thing but some of us do venture out to buy stuff and that's where it all starts.
Start with the identify bit.There i was at the gas agency trying to change the gas connection to my name(it belonged to my dad).First question.....ration card?.Yes I add after just a wee bit of hesitation.You see I don't have a ration card,neither does the husband,but wise father didn't think it fit to delete my name from his card(he never trusted my ability to plan anything so must have done some forward planning for this day).Well obviously that's not good enough so I settle to change it to my mothers name(she is a natural heir so that's fine).A lot of paper work and more running around government offices but that's another story.I decided that it was also to be done another day so off I went to buy sugar at the ration shop.
There is somethings to be said about the ration shop.For starters,most to the people in line for basic necessities are from the lower socio economic class,they wear sarees,smell of stale sweat and are usually there with a few small children in tow.They also cannot afford to go to fancy supermarkets to shop.Well there I was feeling guilty as hell for having an air conditioned car,enough money to shop at a supermarket and all but I did want to buy sugar nevertheless.Lets look at it objectively,the government owes me that much,after all I pay taxes and they need to provide basic foodstuff right?.So why did I take the precaution to change from jeans and t shirt to kadhi kurta(bought from government kadhi shop at government price),why did I park the car in the corner of the road so no one could notice that I arrived in a car,why did my hair get tied into a ponytail and why did my designer sunglasses stay back in the car?.Actually it was guilt,somehow I felt that I was taking what was not mine,but another rational self said that this is my right so I must exercise it.I stand in the ques,and one woman pushes past me to jump the que.I am ready to protest,until I notice that she is tired,pregnant and has a child in tow,had just finished loads of work in some fancy house(i got all this listening in on the general conversation) and she could do with a rest so I let her be.No one bothered me,they asked if they could buy my share of oil(they assumed I wouldn't need it) and I told them they could but the oil ration has been stoped on my card.The women were kind enough to notice that I didn't have a clue as to procedure so they pointed me in the right direction.
The woman at the counter gave ma a nasty look(or was it my imagination) and only relented when I spoke in tamil and identified as one of them.What i noticed was that she had probably fallen into a talcum powder box this morning.Caked with powder her face as quiet a sight and she took her own time to get the bill organised.She asked if I wanted anything else and I replied that I didn't (I wasn't sure what i was entitled to and didn't want to ask).Well we waited for a while and got all that we wanted.Interestingly in the ration shop you bring your own bags and there was no plastic bag in sight.Everyone has cloth bags.Here were reasonably poor folk,being environmentally responsible(without knowing it) and there just down the road were the fancy people with fancy cars using all the plastic in the world and not giving a damn as to what damage they do.
Somewhere in all this I ask myself whats with us the educated lot,can we learn a few lessons from lesser mortals and can we teach them some things too.maybe its time for a little give and take.Maybe its time to go back to basics and find somethings which we have lost in out fast paced lives.
Start with the identify bit.There i was at the gas agency trying to change the gas connection to my name(it belonged to my dad).First question.....ration card?.Yes I add after just a wee bit of hesitation.You see I don't have a ration card,neither does the husband,but wise father didn't think it fit to delete my name from his card(he never trusted my ability to plan anything so must have done some forward planning for this day).Well obviously that's not good enough so I settle to change it to my mothers name(she is a natural heir so that's fine).A lot of paper work and more running around government offices but that's another story.I decided that it was also to be done another day so off I went to buy sugar at the ration shop.
There is somethings to be said about the ration shop.For starters,most to the people in line for basic necessities are from the lower socio economic class,they wear sarees,smell of stale sweat and are usually there with a few small children in tow.They also cannot afford to go to fancy supermarkets to shop.Well there I was feeling guilty as hell for having an air conditioned car,enough money to shop at a supermarket and all but I did want to buy sugar nevertheless.Lets look at it objectively,the government owes me that much,after all I pay taxes and they need to provide basic foodstuff right?.So why did I take the precaution to change from jeans and t shirt to kadhi kurta(bought from government kadhi shop at government price),why did I park the car in the corner of the road so no one could notice that I arrived in a car,why did my hair get tied into a ponytail and why did my designer sunglasses stay back in the car?.Actually it was guilt,somehow I felt that I was taking what was not mine,but another rational self said that this is my right so I must exercise it.I stand in the ques,and one woman pushes past me to jump the que.I am ready to protest,until I notice that she is tired,pregnant and has a child in tow,had just finished loads of work in some fancy house(i got all this listening in on the general conversation) and she could do with a rest so I let her be.No one bothered me,they asked if they could buy my share of oil(they assumed I wouldn't need it) and I told them they could but the oil ration has been stoped on my card.The women were kind enough to notice that I didn't have a clue as to procedure so they pointed me in the right direction.
The woman at the counter gave ma a nasty look(or was it my imagination) and only relented when I spoke in tamil and identified as one of them.What i noticed was that she had probably fallen into a talcum powder box this morning.Caked with powder her face as quiet a sight and she took her own time to get the bill organised.She asked if I wanted anything else and I replied that I didn't (I wasn't sure what i was entitled to and didn't want to ask).Well we waited for a while and got all that we wanted.Interestingly in the ration shop you bring your own bags and there was no plastic bag in sight.Everyone has cloth bags.Here were reasonably poor folk,being environmentally responsible(without knowing it) and there just down the road were the fancy people with fancy cars using all the plastic in the world and not giving a damn as to what damage they do.
Somewhere in all this I ask myself whats with us the educated lot,can we learn a few lessons from lesser mortals and can we teach them some things too.maybe its time for a little give and take.Maybe its time to go back to basics and find somethings which we have lost in out fast paced lives.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Lost life
In the 1930s,girls were neither seen or heard,so any girl trying to break the mould was asking for trouble.She however had no intention of keeping the faith,a free spirit,she choose to follow her heart going after what most kids do in childhood,climb trees,scrape knees and generally get into trouble.This naturally made her popular with the boys(starved for female company as it were).Her sister had to follow her around reluctantly as she was under strict instructions to keep an eye on the younger sister.When the family realised that there was no point in putting restrictions,they allowed a little freedom.As the years went by she blossomed into a lively teenager who used the soot on the vessels as eyeliner(those days her family looked down on makeup of any kind....they still do)and flowers in her hair.Unfortunately in small villages in Kerala,there are only some things that girls are meant to do.Their lives are dictated by social rules and those meant that by 18years if they were not married and well on their way to becoming mothers,then they were destined to be put on the shelf and their lived reduced to a miserable existence.Small wonder then that her parents one mission in life was to find a husband(and one who could tame her wild spirit).They did of course find someone ten years older that her.He was a family friend and the entire community convinced the patents that he was the one for her.His qualities were that he worked in a city(a big one at that) and had a government job(very important in those days of middle class values).Her wishes were never in question,marriage was something that had to be gone through.It was a stage in life and the sooner one got used to it the better.The question of love never entered into it,it was an arrangement.A meeting of families to fulfil some social obligation.
Young as she was the transition wasn't easy,nor was it easy to live with a man and his family that were so different to everything that she had known.Here was a family of loud mouthed individuals(as opposed to her soft spoken world).Here was a family that lived off the land,tilling and toiling in the fields,killing their own meat,fishing for their meals in the river that ran by and when a hard days work was done and much squabbling later,it was a time to drink up and turn louder.Her world had changed and changed for ever.Suddenly the free spirit was gone,she gave up on a life that was watered down before her eyes and the free spirited girl was replaced by a woman who in later years would turn bitter and self pitying....(to be continued)
Young as she was the transition wasn't easy,nor was it easy to live with a man and his family that were so different to everything that she had known.Here was a family of loud mouthed individuals(as opposed to her soft spoken world).Here was a family that lived off the land,tilling and toiling in the fields,killing their own meat,fishing for their meals in the river that ran by and when a hard days work was done and much squabbling later,it was a time to drink up and turn louder.Her world had changed and changed for ever.Suddenly the free spirit was gone,she gave up on a life that was watered down before her eyes and the free spirited girl was replaced by a woman who in later years would turn bitter and self pitying....(to be continued)
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