India’s Dichotomy
A couple of weeks ago, two incidents juxtaposed themselves in the oddest ways, showcasing once again the major dichotomies that India the country deals with day after day after day.
Other countries deal with extremes too but somehow India seems to go for the jugular when it comes to dichotomy. Or maybe it’s just my focus on my native country that makes it appear more severe than it is? Nah.
The first instance was the selection of Indian-born executive Satya Nadella as the new CEO of Microsoft, arguably one of the top global technology companies of our lifetimes. He immediately went from one of many relatively unknown executives to one of the most prominent Indians in the US and the global corporate world.
The second instance was the 3 member Indian team that went to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Stripped of the Indian flag due to a charge of millions of dollars of corruption of an Indian Olympic Association(IOA) official and the subsequent suspension of the entire IOA, their presence was humbling indeed.
While Indian Olympic participation has never been stellar, this resulted in the humiliating experience of the Indian team not being able to represent their country with its flag! [This could have been avoided if they had taken steps to do what IOC required in redrafting its constitution and holding new elections before the games, but no…].
It may seem odd to pluck two totally unrelated items and try to relate them but one happening on the heels of the other, they struck me as especially paradoxical – more so than normal in that yin and yang country where happenings, perceptions and reactions seem to swing between the entire pendulum of extremes all the time. No half measures there!
Dichotomy, did I say? What an understatement.
:
:
You can never have too many shoes. Or can you?
Last weekend was primed for relaxation after having survived yet another winter storm.
One way to do that was to take off on a shopping spree with my girlfriends. Sigh, but there were many bargains to be had…
So, I ended up with nine pairs of new shoes and let me tell you that they were all mine for the cost of a third of a Jimmy Choo. They were all great brands too – mid-market but high quality everything from Lauren to Anne Klein. Hard to resist when they are offered up at a fraction of the original price.
The receipt told me that I had saved over $600. In the true American way, to save you have got to spend. 😉 And then there’s always that nice feeling of satisfaction of having done something positive for the American economy.
After all, how could I not have those cute purple suede pumps? I mean, how could I not??!
You think I am kidding? Have you never heard the saying – “if the shoe fits, buy it in every color”?
One of my friends on the expedition told me that I had done very well considering that 9 is a good odd number (what is it with Indians and odd numbers, anyway?) and that this would bring me good luck. See, that’s what good friends are for.
As I was lamenting about where I would put all these shoes, my good friends (they are so good with advice) told me I had to throw away at least that many pairs of old ones from my closet. Throw away, give away but just get them outta there!
It was really much-needed advice. I am very, very poor at doing this, but I was determined, absolutely resolute about overcoming my weakness this time around. While Saturday was for bringing in the new, Sunday was reserved for throwing away the old.
Instead of putting a band-aid on the wound, I went straight for surgery. The result was that I found thirty (3-0) pairs that I was able to clear out. Major accomplishment!
Lest you think I am Imelda Marcos, let me assure you that these shoes were collected and used over several years. Sure, I do have a kind of low resistance for a good (or cute) pair of shoes but I must inform you that that should not have me relegated to having some type of mental illness. At least, I hope not.
The feeling of lightness and liberation was fantastic once I had bagged all the shoes to be given away (only two pairs were bad enough that they went straight into the dustbin). The next step is to move the bags from my garage to Salvation Army.
I confess I really want to feel that lightness again. It’s a good thing that I know I have lots more clean-up – not just shoes but clothes, books (the silly and bad ones), paperwork, other junk I have accumulated…maybe even unpleasant memories. Best to get them out of the way!
So, I have resolved to use at least one band-aid per week, and conduct one major surgery every 4-6 weeks. I can’t wait!
:
:
Photo credit:
Red shoes: By Albi V R (originally posted to Flickr as Good girls go bad) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 