Far from Simple

I am a simple girl; I like my stuff clean, simple and basic. It doesn’t take much to impress me, yet I am pretty disappointed with Mumbai when it comes to finding substance.

Simple, Straight forward, Effortless- Does not really exist anymore.

Be it Food, Clothing, or even Religion, It’s all so complex.

Food:

I feel every-time I want to go out and eat; I am threatened by the overly populated menus. There are 100’s of items that are variations of same stuff. 

Let’s take this particular eatery for example. It is actually vegetarian and very small, but still there are fifteen different kinds of Biryani or Pulav entrees to choose from. That doesn’t sound so bad right, but the menu also consists of:

Ten different Papaddums

Fourteen Pav-Bhaajis, ten different kinds of Pav

Eight sandwiches

Twenty- three dinner entrees

Nineteen appetizers

Twenty drinks.

It takes a customer longer to choose than it does for the cook to make it.

Just give me some damn Pav-Bhaaji, do not ask me what kind of Bhaaji, do not ask me what chutney, do not ask me what kind of Pav, just give me some good ole’ Pav-Bhaaji!!

The worst part is, there is so much choice but no quality. Most food tastes no more than average or even bad.  

And you thought Cheesecake factory menus were too elaborate huh!

Now given I grew up in a restaurateur family, my standards are pretty high, so this might not hold up with most people.

P.S. This holds true for most of the high end restaurants as well.

Clothing:

Same prints, same styles, same tacky patterns with glitter and embroidery. What’s a girl to do to find basic clothing?  Even if I do find something I like, sizes are way off.

I am not a petite woman by any means. I am a size 12, blessed with some curves. But there is no reason I should not fit in a XXL shirt when, I used to wear a Medium-Large clothing back home.  I understand there are many petite and boobless women here that the market needs to cater to, but if you are marking sizes, at least make them accurate.  It’s part of the quality and service not being given to the consumers in spite of the high mark-up prices.  As simple as that.

Religion:

On the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, Shirdi Temple of Sai Baba in Mumbai accumulated rupees 40,000,000 in holy offerings including a pair of diamonds and gold head pieces worth almost 20,000,000.

What bothers me is that Sai Baba was a simple man who wore simple garb and spent his life in streets serving the people.  Sai Baba would NEVER approve this kind of money being spent on him like that.

Why even do it? This is a country with needy and poor on every nook and corner of the way.  Why not start an education fund for the children that haven’t seen a book in their lives?  Why not pay for medical treatments of the less fortunate?

I am all for offering stuff to the lord, but I know what any god really wants. He would rather have you buy food for the poor child sitting in front of the temple than buy a fancy bouquet of flowers in offerings.

If you are reading this blog, please understand you are not getting nirvana by bribing god with materialistic things or money. You will find peace by following his lead by helping those who are less fortunate.

My point:

So, what I am trying to say is, so much food here, but no quality. Clothing and color is everywhere, but there is no room for simplicity, if I wore a simple outfit, people will think I am poor and I cannot afford over-the-top, gaudy and “stylish” clothing.  They even sucked god into this over-the-top bullshit.

This post in no way reflects how i feel about being here. I am happy here, I just hate to see everyone trying so hard to survive that they are becoming someone they are not. Simple is refreshing, Just try it once :)

INDIA...it used to be simple. (As far as I can remember)