So, what label is it that you are wearing?

Dave scrutinized Rohit’s sunglasses for the tenth time and looked as puzzled as ever..where the heck is the label on this?? was his question at last….

Poor Dave has forever been perplexed by the severe ‘lack of labels’ in our life. Why don’t we buy D&G or Esprit. Why no brands around?

Its kind of poignant too, his complete lack of understanding of why we don’t buy designer stuff despite being able to afford it. (Yeah, if we squandered our entire salaries on it, that is).  Come on guys, surely if its in the shops, its meant to be bought? is his constant query. The happiest I have seen him was when he found the Armani shirt he did not need reduced from £850 to £810 and of course rushed forward to buy it.

Its not as if I don’t like shopping.. I’m a seasoned ‘sales’ veteran. I do dabble in a bit of retail therapy now and again. But I like it to be on my own terms.

Maybe its my Indian upbringing. I mean I grew up with my mother and all the ‘aunties’ of the campus constantly comparing notes on how much each had managed to get an item reduced before buying it. Used to be a matter of great pride if you bought the side table at half price or got the best deal on a jar of coffee.

I love haggling too! Pity I cant do that anymore in the UK but I’m unashamedly a fan of this dying art. Still would do it in the ‘galiyaras’ of chandni chowk or Palika Bazaar every time I return home. “Arre…. bechna hai to sahi daam batao.” Where’s the fun in shopping without this?

Dave would be shocked and horrified if I gave him details of our shopping habits.

Personally I think he’s completely wasted, being this upper middle class Brit who has never been to anything other than these mutely pretentious (the more dimly lit the shop, the more expensive it is) shops selling absurdly overpriced stuff….a cotton T-shirt for example with nothing else but a big screaming logo in the front for £210?

I like to think I’m an empowered shopper. (anyone remember surf’s ‘Lalitaji’?) I mean, if you are driven to buying everything that the big retail bosses want you to buy, where does your intelligence or individuality come in to it?

I have had to laugh at the price labels in some of these shops. And at people who’d still buy them simply because they have a particular logo or name printed on them. Designer clothes are like those penis extension cars people buy to announce to the world just in what bracket their earnings lie. They may not look good in them or even feel comfortable wearing them, but as long as there is a name on it….. These happen to be human beings with an inherent lack of confidence in their own persona or presence…..those who look around every time they contemplate anything other than breathing and see what others are doing. What’s ‘hot’ just now, or what’s ‘cool’, depending on which of these phrases is currently more ‘hip’. Ha.

Ive always looked at Victoria Beckam, for example, and wondered if she ever manages to shake out this feeling that the whole world is watching her and is able to step out of her designerwear for long enough to actually enjoy living. The poor dame looks perpetually haggard and distressed. Even for someone who’s made a career out out of wearing D&G couture and not to forget, their mega size sunglasses whether indoors or outdoors, it seems a bit excessive.

Anyway, point of the matter is, I would rather buy a fantastically tailored coat from that little known high street shop than absurd looking designer stuff that I’d be afraid to wear to a party in case I spilled my drink on it.

Exactly what constitutes racism?

Such a potentially explosive topic.. do you find yourself a victim of racism at times? What is racism? Not being considered a part of the group?

To be honest, whatever the dictionary definition, most of the times when laymen like us refer to an individual or a set up as being racist, we are merely commenting on the unfriendly nature of the place or individual. I am by no means denying the existence of serious racists in our society. That would at best be naïve and at worst dangerous.
But I get the feeling that we use this word all too commonly without thinking of the weight attached to it.

As for myself, the most vivid memory of feeling truly outcast because of who I was or where I came from, is sadly not of working in the UK but in Bombay when we moved, right after finishing medical college, to work in Bombay hospital. The fact that I could not speak Marathi always came to the fore (Rohit is a lot more accomplished in these matters and was speaking workable Marathi within days).

I’m sure there is a lot of covert ‘racism’ in our own country towards those that are different to you. Its not racism as per strict dictionary meaning, but its probably the more widespread of the two.

I for example, hear frequently about how the NHS is institutionally racist. About how, any foreign doctor has to be twice as good as a local graduate to measure up. About how the locals have a far better rapport in the unit despite maybe not being as knowledgeable or hard working. But is this not more about the inbuilt empathy or rapport that you feel for anyone from the same background or upbringing as yourself? And conversely, about the innate tendency to maintain a distance from or be suspicious towards anyone different to you. It is, I suppose, a natural instinct. I for one, have now come to terms with the unmitigated hostility doled out to me in, what is simply another state in my country. I now recognize it more as a case of xenophobia. A reaction simply to someone you don’t know or recognize as being different. It’s the ‘outsider’ syndrome, rather than racism. However there is a very fine line between the two and hostility towards outsiders can easily progress to overtly racist behaviour. We all remember the truly horrific episode in Mumbai not so long ago, of course.

Wake up, indeed..

Went to watch this movie- 'wake up Sid' and I thought it was a cute movie, well made. But this is not a critique of the movie. The predominant thought as I drove home was not how charming or good looking Rishi Kapoor's son is (Yes, I'm a fan of Kapoor senior)...I pondered instead on the simple message of the movie, that you need to let the mind be free, in order for an individual to achieve anything. I cant remember how often I've felt that as students in the current system of education we were merely being driven like sheep towards a common exit- to come out as factory productions of the ideal graduate. But there cannot be a common exit...each individual is different. The current system only succeeds in stifling the natural talents and inborn instincts of some of the most incredibly gifted students.

Macaulay brand education, which was meant to produce an effecient bureaucratic class for the Raj anyway (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1833macaulay-india.html) is today simply an instrument of the state. There is very little, if any, room for spotaneity or originality. We must all be clones.

No doubt the educational system in the country needs a fresh perspective and a complete overhaul. But this looks like a very distant dream, especially because the powers that be are engaged in a constant battle about which poltical party is able to influence the curriculum the most and twist and turn facts to reflect their ideology.

The educated elite of the country have no doubt lost faith in the entire setup. How else do you explain the intense enthusiasm that surrounds any politician who has studied abroad? As if by the mere act of having studied at Harvard or Cambridge, they have gained extra insight into the business of running this country, or would be more dependable or honest than your other run of the mill politicians. The level of faith in the Indian educatioanal system is pretty much at its nadir. What we need is someone with a backbone to take charge of the educational system and prove the naysayers wrong.