It’s that simple!

Me: Can I have a vegetable sandwich please?

Waiter: Would you like honey oat bread, whole wheat or multi grain?

Me: Don’t you have plain white bread?

Waiter: No sir, we have honey oat, whole wheat, garlic, sesame and multi-grain

Me: Okay, whatever!

Waiter: And what would you like in your sandwich? We have jalapenos, bell peppers, tuna, American coleslaw, iceberg lettuce…

Me: Just a plain sandwich, you know with tomatoes…

Waiter: What dressing would you prefer? We have vinaigrette, thousand islands, and Italian, mayonnaise, mustard and sour cream

Me: Just with butter

Waiter: Okay, and your coffee? Do you want a cappuccino, latte, or espresso?

This is when you begin to think of the pleasures of the regular hot filter coffee or masala chai, the kind you get at the corner of the road. There is nothing, believe me, that can compare to the feeling of sipping hot chai on a cold winter morning and feeling it slowly warming your gullet as it goes down. And who can tell enough the pleasure of dipping a biscuit in it, softening it just enough, so that it becomes nice and pulpy in your mouth? It’s that simple—but isn’t it paradoxical that we don’t realise this at first?

Clothes that feel comfy

Just as with food, we subconsciously feel superior about the clothes we own. You want to try the latest fashions: Indian terrain khakis look nice; and isn’t that Armani suit just the thing you need for the annual meeting? Plus, you don’t have a lime green shirt among all your linen shirts, do you? And now that you have got one, what you really need is a pair of trousers to match! Hence, you want to indulge in every new trend; for every season, occasion and the day of the week.

Consecutively, spend hours trawling malls and making sure your clothes match each other, and also your accessories. And just when you seem to have got it right, you see a trouser on the rack across, which looks even better.

Now all this new stuff, like the food, feels nice for a few brief moments, especially when your friend compliments you or when you admire yourself in the mirror. But I am sure you will agree that nothing can beat the comfort of an old, stained khadi kurta or the well-worn pyjama and tee that you wear at home. That’s the apparel which is comfortable and cosy. That’s the ensemble you want to get into almost immediately when you return from work. It’s not trendy, on the contrary, it perhaps has even a few tiny holes, but you don’t care. Given a chance, this is the outfit you would want to wear to work too!

The reason for this comfort and fondness is simple: there is a sense of acquaintance about well-worn clothes, which feels like home or a good relationship. It’s made its adjustments to your body, it seems to know and fit every curve, its soft interiors tickle your skin like no designer suit ever can.

There is another thing too about it. You don’t have to keep up with appearances and you don’t have to pretend. You don’t have to worry whether it’s right for the occasion, or whether it matches the accessories, or think about all those stressful things that go with your public face. These are the clothes that allow you to be you, just yourself the way you are. So you may own an Armani or a Versace, but what you really wish to be in is that five year old T-shirt. It’s that simple!

Since when did money need ‘managing’?

If it’s that simple; how do we end up complicating things? Take the case of our money.

[contd.]