Of Shopping Malls And Contemplative Moods

Well ..it has been a busy fortnight ! I've been running around like a blue-arse fly and finally i get this much awaited break and return back from my internship early.We flee to the nearest shopping mall to have some fun, vent out the stress and to just laze around there and grab something to munch upon.Now u would say ""A SHOPPING MALL ! "" Well i love shopping malls .. blame it on the dearth of quality malls on my side of the world of just the fact that i am a ghare-loo baccha.

So after strolling aimlessly in a huge departmental store and with the staff giving us looks as if were guys from taliban looking for some contemporary american punk, we were forced to grab a bag and drop in a few items just to assure them that we had no ulterior motives.And the things we brought would put any A.I (average iitian) to shame .. a toothpaste! a soap ! a family pack of pens :) . The neatly packaged food stuff there set my digestive system bells ringing ...while my cibophobic buddy tried hard to dissuade me from entering the food court , i decided to check out the new "ma ma mia italiano jointo" (just realise i am trying to be as authentic as the joint claimed to be). Now this friend of mine hates italian stuff right from sonia gandhi to quattrochi ..he has this ""italian food sucks"" record ready on the hit list. Well its not just italian that he hates ..he'll blow up any chinese, french, mughlai or rather any food joint in sight. Bas khana sada ghar ka khana ...wahi chahiye use. So that pretty much explains my poor physique!

After throwing all tantrums i picked up from "Tarzan" (c.f my previous post) he finally let me go for one dish as he waited impatiently as if there were a thousand ants up in his pants.The guy at the order counter there , said in a typical Paresh Rawal style "" Aga bai penne pasta magta hai"" I hesitantly said yes wondering if i had come to the right place. A short wait and a waiter brought me something i prayed that should not be what i ordered .

On a quarter- plate he brought me some pasta and four slices of preshrunk garlic bread . I felt i was being fed Baby Food! Well now that it was there i chomped on it in a manner that would clearly qualify me for the mid day meal scheme. As my friend stared at me in sheer disgust refusing to even drink a pepsi i went on shamelessly.


It was nice to see little kids in bright fluorescent frocks and pony tailed hair having a good time. no tensions no worries.I overheard a lil kiddo saying " arre mamma kaha ja rahe ho mujhe kuch dilwaoge nahi kya" That was so cute! These are some of the magical lines we always await like "beta bolo kya chahiye!" I am lucky i still am asked these questions back home and there are many people to ask me this.At the same time ...i think its a wonderful experience to take a kid to a shop and ask him/her bolo apko kya chahiye..the gleam in their eyes ..the smile on their face is just amazing .


` The other day i was into one of my those contemplative moods with the title track of " Kal Ho Na Ho" in the backgound ..i tend to go into these cycles quite frequently nowadays.Questions like where am i headed? where do i see myself 10 yrs down the line? What am i living for?What are the things that matter most to me? Wht do i do after i graduate? go for an MBA mint obscene amounts of money ... live and die in office become a workoholic head a fortune 500 company ? then what ?By the time i am home most of my family is asleep I cant meet my mom my kids no healthy discussions over dinner.. just a swanky mansion and deafening loneliness.


On the other hand there is the typical 9-5 kind of "sarkari" job maybe in the PSC or in a PSU ..with ok types pay packages... but atleast i get to go home and be with the people who matter the most to me.At the end of the day its my life and I need to decide what kind of a tradeoff i can afford. Haso ...khush raho ...muskurao - Kya pata Kal Ho Na Ho.I think I' d enjoy a cornetto with my family rather than paying my kids money to go for an icecream at a five star.Memories are ones most cherished possessions... nothing can exceed them in value. The golden moments that me and my mamma had together are invaluable.


I may sound weird but thats the way i am srating to be. Thats the way i would probably like to live my life!