How many of us have actually lived a life devoid of regret? We always hanker after a second chance, a second innings, if you will, where we will play bigger and better.
What’s fishy is that even though we all have this hunger for redemption within us, we’re not very keen on granting others second chances.
Before you Freudians dissect this theory and declare it to be a vote against capital punishment, let me assure you that I am a simple twenty year old whose range of thought does not extend beyond my family, my friends, my home and my college; and yet, within this tiny world I live in, I see so many closed doors in place of welcoming thresholds.
We’re quick to judge and slow to forgive.
I think part of this deep rooted desire to divide the world into black and white comes from watching the infamous and typically Indian telly serials-no kidding, the saas bahu serials, where the heroine is always modestly dressed in pastel colors, and the evil mistress always wears shimmery eye shadow and bindis of gargantuan proportions (even to bed). Like my friend V says-”If it’s bad, it’s all bad.”
What I’m trying to say is that we have been conditioned to judge people by their appearances, their first lapses, or something as trivial as their choice of entertainment or their favorite color. Ok, scratch that last.
Oh, and woe betide someone who’s in the Bad book.
Even if he proved be a heartwarmingly generous fuzz ball later, he’d always be “the shark that didn’t pay for all of us when we drunk ourselves silly on HIS birthday at the bar.Imagine.HIS birthday. Tsk. Tsk.)
While part of my rant maybe directed at what my friends deem a “craven” taste in music- (because I’d pick Buble over Black Sabbath any day of the week and twice on Sunday.), this is about so much more than social isolation and clique wars. This is about creating an atmosphere so vile that it cripples an individual’s ability to be himself.
Spare us the trouble of waiting to see if you can emerge like a phoenix from the ashes, we’d rather just sweep the remains and prepare for next Sunday’s barbecue.
A second chance is something you should campaign for if any of these things have happened to you
- Lost a loved one over an argument
-Fallen out with friends because of one misunderstanding
-Been kicked out of a team because of one match you fouled up
-Earned a bad name because of that one thing you said
-Been put down, and unfairly so, because of that one stand you took
- Been asked to go home even before the show began
Chances are,all of these things have happened to you.
Second chances!
For sequels are almost always good*.
*The almost in the above sentence was inspired by a particularly melancholic afternoon spent trying to watch Superman IV.
Ps-I’d almost decided to write an entry on why people always insist on hanging out at food joints, for this month’s theme of Straight From the Gut.
Why must one always end a fun day out or a group outing, with a completely unnecessary sojourn to a coffee shop or a la dee dah lounge/bakery/local chaat wala’s ?
I didn’t think the Editor would run it though.
Cheerio!
