Oct 19, 2009

Observations with; and on; my Lonesome

Loneliness has reached its height I'm assuming.
Diwali; and i was - you guessed it! alone. So i went to this shopping mall to while away some time.
That too has become somewhat presumable. Given that at any given weekend one could find me at this particular shopping mall whiling away time. the bookstore is a good place for this activity.

An interesting thing about these bookstore is that at any point in time, you could find many people in this place. but serious buyers are very few, others are there only to look at the book prices and comment - "Itna paisa book me kon daalega yar!!"
Talks a lot about India's intellectual prowess dint it?

Now, people with a keen eye would point a finger right back at me asking "did YOU buy a book or not?!" I would skirt this issue by saying "Whatever worth reading has been read..."

The good people at the bookstore had to turn in for the night, early sleepers i might add. So they indicate the closure of the store by putting off the lights and turning them back on again - at 9 p.m. Isn't that cute, mama would have been so proud!
The manager must be a war veteran to send SOS' to customers.

I caught a book on branding though, just before the lights went out and back on again (not in the marketing section though - that remained dark, pretty much sums up the situation of the consumer market there) it talked about Chrysler, Sony, Dell, and McDonald's no i am not launching into a brand jargon thingy, i just got hungry on the Mac example and decided then and there to go have a Mac for dinner.
Big Mistake.

The line snaked around the cash register as if there was a 'Langar' going on. People of all ages, statures, nationality, gender and brand preferences where standing in line with their respective bawling kids. Its easy to see who's the boss here. Mr. Ronald McDonald of course!!!
The happy meals turn these cute & balanced little tots into ravenous zombies intent on acquiring their latest plastic contraption and bandy it around their peers - also called the happy meal toy.
Their parents of course watch helplessly as the the smiling cronies of Mr. Mac pocket away a nice round sum for some bread, cheese and soda.

I a.k.a slave to branding and the consumer lure, promptly fish out the said amount and hand it to the crony. He puts stuff on the tray and dumps it on me. I look for place, find place near a bunch of teenage girls trying to look older than they are, and succeed to a certain extent with their made up faces. There is no single seat in this place.
Sometimes i think its a crime to be alone. Go to a Restaurant - min. two seats, go to a theatre, the guy ll ask you for two seats, book a plane ticket, get off on the second booking!
I mean c'mon!!!

OK OK, i might be freaking out a bit there.

So i sit there in this place and stare out the glass partition that's between the common area and whats demarcating Mr Mac. I feel like a mannequin.

Though with a difference, they don't stare back at people passing by! (evil grin)
I guessed personalities for the people who were going by, this is addictive i might add! Do not try this until you can master the art of doing it discreetly otherwise they'll cart you off to the mental hospital.

A bunch of programmers tired of life, an aggressive short bald guy with an equally aggressive family, another bald guy with a babe for a wife/girlfriend - (i still hold out hope!)
3 women who looked like they walked off the ramp and right into the mall and then forgot where they came from because of the way they huddled and looked around for a way out.
a guy with a hairdo looking like he was trying to catch something on FM.
A chick with a fat guy who looked like she'd rather be with someone else.

Interesting - as i said.
TTYL

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