Something fishy about it !

The other day I was sucked into a discussion on the benefits of fish eating and Omega 3 fatty acids and other such medico-gastronomic discussion over lunch with a few of my colleagues. What with stress and other such urbane issues plaguing most of the population, there was a stormy discussion on the lunch table one day where few of my colleagues were animatedly discussing the benefits of eating the right food to ensure that the plaque sits elsewhere and not on your artery wall.

Although I did not happen to be a part of the discussion from the beginning , what with joining on the table a trifle late, I kind of stormed into the scene when the vegetarian folks were trying to advocate the benefits of being so for the sake of the artery at least. Fiesty protests followed from the colleagues who were not so and it was somewhere around this juncture that my timely action of pulling a chair and joining in veered the discussion to the benefits of savoring fish and the Omega 3 etc.

Since almost all have read sometime or other in the papers about this oily substance that fishes possess and the benefits thereof, the discussion somehow came to the issue of when and how much fish should a person eat to keep your artery in shape.  Much to the chagrin of my Tam-Brahm and Gujju friends, the non-vegetarians on the table proclaimed that they consumed fish pretty regularly and this kept them healthy fit and fine. Due to my origins in Bengal, a kind of opinion was being sought from me as to what should be the optimum frequency of consumption. Fortunately no one asked for co-relation to the statistical data of coronary diseases in Bengal.

The lunch at canteen was anyway coming to a close so gathering up my plates I gave my dictum clearly. I told them “Guys, Bengalis generally do not give a damn on Alpha Beta Omega. We believe in eating fish only two days in a week…” Their jaws dropped as they had heard much to the contrary about it being a staple daily food in that part of the country.

As I gathered to get up from the table I completed the sentence “ …the day it rains and the day it does not”.

Imagine

My kid daughter is expectantly waiting for Christmas. After the Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations have been over in October and the memory of the festivities at the Puja pandal and the firecrackers have taken a backseat in her memory, the next big thing for her is to await the arrival of Santa Claus with bated breath. At her age she is not yet fully conversant with the concept of time more than a few days away and although the names of the months are well known to rote, the time interval of two months it is not yet comprehensible for her.

She has been questioning us constantly on such queries that plague her young mind. As is normal for kids of her age, she is unable to play the waiting game of another couple of month or so before the day comes when the grand old man in red will bring cheer and gifts for her. It is with this expectant tone that she walked up to me one day and asked me why Santa Claus cannot come now and must wait for so long. I explained to her in all its profundity that all things have a time in life. However the logic was lost on her.

Her next question stumped me “ Does Santa Claus live in the same snow covered mountain where Maa Durga stays with her lion ?” she asked, eyes big with curiosity. I immediately assured her that yes indeed it was the same mountain which seemed to satisfy her curiosity for next few minutes. Then she came up with the next one “Then Santa Claus and the lion must be good friends !”

With a twinkle in my eye I told her that they indeed were- they were the best of chums I assured her.

I was thinking about this rather amusing episode the other day and wondered that yes all kids the entire world over must be thinking in the same simplicity and living in their imaginative worlds like her and the life revolves around teddy bears and lions and Santa Claus etc. Yet every other day at some part of the world we have ethnic clashes, discrimination on divisive grounds over caste creed color or fights over religious beliefs. I wonder when and how does this wide eyed wonder and love-all attitude of a child yield to such a bitterness between human beings that they fight with severity worse than wild boars ?

I remember the irreplaceable song of Lennon “Imagine there’s no countries it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for and no religion too…You may say I am a dreamer but I am not the only one , I hope someday you will join us and the world will live as one…”