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1 May 2004

Heavy meal vs. Heavy metal

Posted by Just a little unwell in Hyderabad! | 10:32am


First things first - I hate this template, but then the others aren't any better, so I'd rather learn to live with it. This prolly represents a typical Hydbadi's attitude (and being in this city for over a decade, i've more than morphed into one), faced with limited choices all the time.

No, I'm not complaining. Choice comes with a price - financial, social, ethical, environmental <-----space provided for other adjectives ending with 'al'---------> and maybe we didn't want to pay that price. We chose not to have too many choices :) What's the use having '13 channels of shit on the TV to choose from'? (and now the numbers have multiplied several times since the days when Roger Waters penned these lyrics) Those of us who wanted more choices moved to greener pastures, leaving the 'small city' environment undisturbed, for us resident Hyderabadis.

Though we made a wise decision by not opting to have too many choices, there is a flip side to this whole thing. I dunno if it can be said that Hyderabadis lead the most monotonous lives among dwellers of the top Indian cities. Around the net, Hyderabadis swarm the chat rooms and DBs for lack of anything else interesting enough, I presume. And on the road, the restaurants are all crowded and filled to capacity, with people waiting outside for their turn. All this fuss over food???? Then the get-aways - Necklace road, Tank bund, Lumbini park, KBR park and the likes - you need to worry about finding a place to park your vehicles, before you decide to park yourself at one of these parks. I dont understand the fun element - or am I missing something? Why this exodus to these getaways? What do the Hydies seek? Least involvement of their faculties? Whatever it maybe, they nevertheless end up in crowded places wherever they go - be it shopping malls, or multiplexes or the other places mentioned above. Limited choices and everyone vying for those limited options

Maybe we could do with some personalized choices - an evening at a Jazz bar, or a poetry reading session, or an art exhibition, or a classical dance / music recital, or just at a peaceful corner in a library (are there any good ones at all?)......... why aren't these happening or are so few and spaced far between? I got the answer recently when a musician was expressing that getting an audience of a few hundreds for a concert is an achievement. That could be less than the number of people waiting for their table, outside Southern Spice or any other eat-out, on a given evening.

Maybe a heavy meal wins hands down over heavy metal.



Current Music: nothing but silence


3 Comments | "Heavy meal vs. Heavy metal" »

  1. By Searching for solace

    1 May 2004, 5:55pm [ Reply ]

    I'd put it down to being afraid to be with oneself....as of now ,we live in a world where doing something hep/seeing something hep/being somewhere hep....are the only way to beat the rigours of life.You can't spend time with yourself cuz you are afraid of getting caught , doing nothing..nothing hep ,ie.
    You would rather choose a horrid crowded diner to hang with a group of pompous peudo asses ,over spending sometime reading a book you love or watchin a play you might like..Maybe NOT doing anything isn't so bad either...Maybe we were not meant to be continously occupied with something just to getaway from bein occupied with ourself..

  2. By JLU

    1 May 2004, 6:37pm [ Reply ]

    Sfs, thanks for your interesting persepective. Definitely, doing nothing is an option that's very much available. Not sure how many exercise it though. I was referring to non /less - availability of avenues to experience and appreciate creative forms of expression like music or arts or drama or literature. These need not be hep - they could be catering to niche tastes. In their absense, people are left with only commoditized entertainment choices like eating out, movies, parks etc. and they crowd up to them.

  3. By Neurotron

    6 May 2004, 9:05am [ Reply ]

    Agree on the template thingie. Entertainment/amusement is personal. Some seek it in external choices, few find it within. Guess who are the happy ones...perhaps we need to learn to be with ourselves more...

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