Monday, April 27

Retail brain and random thoughts

I wanted a limbu-soda, so I went to a shop. The young man manning it was a marwadi. I ordered my drink and as I was sipping it, a woman came with her daughter. She asked the man the rate of a certain snack. He told her the rate, but not for a kilo. "25 rs. quarter Kg" he said. I wondered why he'd told the woman the price of a quarter because, @25/qrt, 100 for a kg was not difficult math. Then I realized that by quoting the seemingly smaller price he had made his snack look affordable. That, I thought, was ingenious way of retailing.
***
Before getting into any hard core promotion of alternative technology and green peace and people for animals and anti tobacco lobbying, I would like to glimpse the far end of possibility through the eyes of the richest man in the world. Without that any effective lobbying is chimera, methinks.
***
Ganesh had to put up with quite some opposition from Aurovilians regarding his entry into A'ville. I was sympathetic without compromising on other fellow A'vilians' right to opinion. Finally, a week back, he was announced in the AV gazette as A'vilian. To him it means a lot to be an A'vilian. It means little to me whether I am an A'vilian or not. But I can share in his Joy. He bought me 'Carlsburg' pack of six beers! I was happy to drink beer with him. *** ...And a simple thing can have its own complications: Krishna, too, faced a similar situation and he too was announced in the same gazette, along with Ganesh. It was Krishna who had asked me out to dinner before Ganesh. I had excused then, promising him a 'someothertime' thing. Krishna came to know that I had accepted beer from Ganesh. He seemed hurt. So now I have to treat him to some such beer treat. He will insist on paying, but ...let's see. *** Yesterday was the 'thank you teachers' day, and Mir's class had gathered in the Tibetan pavilion with us parents to thank all teachers and dine together. Just before things commenced, I got a call from my sister in Goa. Thereafter I began forgetting my 'goodmanners' and my poise and smile. I became rather forlorn and lost. *** It is quite confusing why many of us accept the drawbacks of marriage. I wonder if it is not to justify freedom to have sex with more than one woman. An elderly American of Jewish origin told me that Hebrew faith accepts moving on in life with another woman after you have finished business with one. He clearly told me that the bases of that was a matter of fact acceptance of the biological necessity or need in a male to mate with as many females as he can. Judaism has accepted that and has given it a religious sanction. At least Donald thinks so. *** It is not altogether true that as a rule, in animal kingdom, males mate with different females. There are species of birds (albatross for eg. or penguins or Dolphin) which are monogamous. Albatross is faithful, and lives long. It has the same partner all through it's long life. ***

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