Posted on 31st August 2009 by Dilip Muralidaran in country |crib |daily life |incident |opinion |questions |rantings
consumerism, dollars, Racism, rupees, sales
I had some nice fun catching up with Reva and Gautham this sunday. We met up at a very upscale coffee place in a book store.
While we were catching up on things and discussing my north india tour et all, i noticed something i’ve noticed shit loads of times before. I thought i would write about it today.
I’ve always had the habit of calling things in straight forward terms, for example what happens in every religious book off all religions, what other people would call culture, i would call sexism.
On a similar note, i noticed something which in my opinion can only be called Treason. I’m of the opinion that i live in india and we indians use the Indian Rupee as our currency for all sorts of trade activities within india for all indian goods of indian origin, made in india. I hope that makes things clear.
Now what i did see was books displayed and one or two of them books had “now at a new reduced price of US $ 45” or something along those lines. This is not the first time i see stuff like this on window displays of shops. While it is acceptable that exclusive items that are not available in india but made available exclusively by an isolated entity like a shop where in a seperate Indian version/edition of the product is not available the quotation of foreign currency might be unavoidable.
However what seems to be happening is people quoting american/european currency for the heck of it to give something a posh “im an imported good” feel to it when you turn to the last page of the book it perfectly quotes a indian version print and the local printing press’s name as well, this practice of quoting dollars on goods as completely ridiculous.
I don’t get it. Do i agree with the fact that almost all indian made products or consumer goods suck in quality? Yes, i certainly think so. I myself use much of foreign made consumer goods for quality and health reasons much but that does not mean that i have to read a US dollar price tag (regardless of the fact i may be paying dollar equivalents in rupees).
Regardless of how much shit i have in my country and how it may suck im an indian and im proud of it. When i buy something sold inside the indian border, i would want to be quoted a price in indian currency.
I just cannot accept blindly giving head to white skinned fanaticism. Its racism at its simplest form and communicating in a foreign currency inside the country, regardless of what country you are in is treason. Retailers please get this fact. I dont care if you bill me twice as much just because you sold it in an a/c showroom with a please and thank you. I will cough it up, in RUPEES.
Posted on 29th August 2009 by Dilip Muralidaran in emotions |happenings |incident |short story
Michael Jackson; King of Pop; History Album Casette; Tape; Personal; Childhood; Events;
The first ever Michael Jackson record i brought with my own money.
I explicitly remember this. I used to be a conservative goodie goodie god fearing south Indian iyengar brahmin boy who was nuts about English music, in particular Michael Jackson. I was quite famous for this eccentricity as well. I always used to win 1st prize in the school singing competition for Patel house team. It always was a Michael Jackson song, from 3rd grade to 10th grade. I still have all of those certificates and medals. When it came to the school correspondent’s funeral anniversary, it was always "Will you be there" which was the last song of the event, your guess is as good as mine as to who sang it.
I remember Michael Jackson’s history. I already had "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad" and "Dangerous" on tape. I used to beg each and every cousin visiting and put up a scene, not eat food, study straight through the night to score good marks in school tests. All for that one cassette which costs Rs. 150 every 5 – 7 years when MJ releases an album. In 1995 however the scene was different. My dad’s company was liquidated and shamefully we found it hard to manage one square meal a day after me, my brother and my cousin devoured all the little family money in the name of school fees.
Grandpa did not have the usual Re. 1 he used to give me as pocket money. His pension of Rs. 350 a month was not enough to buy rations at home. That does not stop me from laying my hands on this beauty now does it? I found work. I used to pack worms in a aquarium after school for 2 hours a day. My family never knew any of this, not to this moment. I used to get paid Rs. 4 every day. I waited. The very thought of touching those worms used to make me puke everyday when I used to have dinner. I skipped meals, I suffered but it was worth the effort.
I managed Rs. 250 and I took 29 C from perambur to Gemini Flyover. Spencer Plaza was about 6 – 7 kilometers from Gemini Flyover, I think. I did not have money after spending Rs. 3 on bus ticket since the cassette was a double pack. It must cost more than Rs. 150, I knew. I decided to walk. I walked, I was almost out of breath by the time I crawled my way inside Music World. The manager knew instantly at my sight what I wanted. He asked me to wait. I did, for 3 hours. It was about 1 pm when a carton labeled "EPIC/SONY" arrived and they stashed out the cassettes on the racks. Like a hyena pouncing on a carcass I jumped on the rack, despite no one being there since it was a Monday morning. I paid Rs. 250 and I happily rushed to buy several packets of mineral water and some bovonto to put off the fire that was burning inside all of me and of course, get rid off that dehydration.
I came home, took out the AIWA walkman I had sneaked out of my dads locker the earlier night and I plugged in. What happened next was nothing short of 15 amps of electricity flow through you the next half of the day.
Every year on the midnight of the 29th of August I play "Man in the Mirror" to remind myself it all starts and ends with myself. The good, the bad and the ugly. Today is the first time in my life I will play Man in the Mirror without the man who made it all possible.
Today is a day to remember, a day to cherish this man and to thank him for his gift that has changed things for me and many people that words cannot tell. If you feel it, then be here.
Meanwhile, Happy Birthday. King of Pop!
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