Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Past the prime..


One of these days, we had to go out to the mall for some general purchases, and groceries. Going shopping with the fairer gender has an obvious downside for the males accompanying them- but surprisingly enough, I was to find out later that there was an upside to it, too.

When was the last time you had time to look at the price gap between an in-house brand of cornflakes, and an established one? When have you ever noticed the difference between the nature of various brands of kitchen tissue paper ? (the toilet paper is another story, altogether!) Would you care to look up those arbitrary coupons left on the shelves and get the exact brand of Granola bars, and the exact quantity, to save a relatively paltry twenty five cents? Never. That is, unless you are left to grocery shop an hour instead of the customary once-per-week-ten -minute routine.

Aimlessly staring at an aisle filled with a surfeit of dogfood, I walked the entire twenty metre stretch without realising the fact that neither do I own a dog, nor am I one-technically. (Some people may tell I am one, but then I hate to think how my consort would be called as, if I was indeed a dog) Half-lost in a world of nothingness, I wandered along just to remember that I had to pick up a carton of milk. So, the milk aisle I went- I had eternity left for the bus back home, and just one item to purchase, before the others returned. (for LOST fans- by "others" here, I just mean my friends.)

Maybe it was the music playing on the headphones, plain curiosity, or the level of boredom in me- I actually bothered to check the "Sell By" date on the carton. Philosophy, they say, can strike the aimless mind anytime. I second it- down went a spiral of milk , Bollywood Flashback style..

A friend we loved, the camaraderie we had with some people, all those weekends we just lazed around on the lawns waiting to be fed with good food, the talks we had with someone who's not with us right now , the puppy love which blossomed in school, the nights spent talking absolutely nothing over the phone, and umpteen more occurrences in life - would they be remembered by us if they had not ended? Would they be treated with as much nostalgia and love if they had become a routine like a daily bath ? ( only for people who do that ;) ) I reckon the answer would be a unanimous no.


Maybe....Maybe, things are valued only if they have a Sell By date. Be it a carton of milk, or life.

6 comments:

Srivaths said...

what exactly do you mean when you say "A friend "we" loved?" :D

Sreenath said...

You and your crass comments.

IkM -- The IKM way of life said...

well..I notice that you wrote "the fairer gender"..hmm interestingly its supposed to be the fairer sex..is it Indian hesitation to use the S word? :)

Read mine on a similar note - but exaggerated a little for sake of humor :
http://beingikm.blogspot.com/2008/04/shopping-with-girlthe-flip-side.html

Sreenath said...

lolz- I generally use gender in terminologies and references instead of sex.. dunno if it is because of that ingrained indian mentality though
:D

IkM -- The IKM way of life said...

well as they say "u can take an Indian out of India, but u cannot take India out of an India"

Satish said...

pretty hilarious post man...especially the part where u referred to your experience with the dogfood section.