You May Not Agree

 

The peculiar ways we do little things in our life, speak about how we respond to big things. When I was learning how to drive, I tended to look at the front side only. I had to be reminded to look to my right and left also to avoid bumping into walls or hitting the neighbouring vehicles. Often times when I am eying through the book shelves in a library, I have to look at the books one by one until I find that one book I want. A quick sweeping scan is not my thing. Last night, while I was watching a movie with a friend, I saw a London eye like Ferris wheel (if it was a Ferris wheel at all) on the screen and I exclaimed to her, ‘hey, it’s London!’ and her quick response was, ‘no, it’s Chicago’. A similar thing happened when I thought I saw a London bridge like bridge in the movie and I insisted again that it was London but my friend gave me an are-you-blind-look saying that it was New York. I had failed to catch the glimpse of the caption that had been there on the screen for a flick second maybe because as they say ‘the closer you look, the less you see’.

Our handling or view of life is much resonated in the way we handle a car, trudge through a bookshelf or watch the television screen. Do we see in big chunks or in small pockets? Do we look at things immediate to our eyes or do we look beyond and sideways too? It’s about perspectives; the scope of our sight, our vision which is reflected in our plans for life, our goals and long term ambition. Are we living for today only and just waiting to see the new day unfurl itself or do we make sure that it unfolds the way we want it to, that it brings us things that we want it to?

Our take on life also shows in the way we cook and eat food. While some of us like our fruits and vegetables to taste natural or rather original, uncorrupted with spices and salt, others among us can’t do without spices. There are people who love to see a nice colour balance in their food and there are others who rather think colours as nothing to do with their palates but best befitting the palette of a painter and his canvas. Some people like their food fully garnished even when they are eating alone and some just don’t bother. I have known real gourmets in my life and also people who eat just because they have to eat. But how does it connect to life and our treatment of it? If we replace the act of eating with the act of living and the food and its parts and parcels with the resources at our disposal, we might see that some people prefer a simplistic living, some like a little thrill in life, and some want to enjoy beauty in even mundane things. If we like trying out new food, does it mean we welcome new things in life? If we find ourselves creating our own recipes or tinkering with those of others, does it imply that in our daily life too we like breaking away from conventions? From the way we set our table to the way we hold our spoon or just don’t prefer a spoon at all, we reveal our attitude to things in life in general.  

Really our minor habits which come naturally to us tell about how we perceive life and respond to it.