As I waited at the Bangalore airport for my flight to be announced, I remembered travelling days with my parents as a kid. I remember the life with very few or no options. We accepted what was given and were happy.
For us travel was mostly by road. My father had a passion for roads. But sometimes he would also take us on flights. Those days it was only Indian Airlines and no fancy airports. We would begin with dressing up. If we were flying, we should be dressed accordingly….that’s what me and my sister thought.
So off we went, reached the airport and as we waited for the formalities to be completed we behaved as if we were regular flyers…trying to act as women with attitude and feeling very happy about it. And then after the boarding we would open some heavy book and pretend to be reading while waiting eagerly for the air-hostess to serve us food. We would get the food fast if we were on the front or last row, but if we got seats somewhere in the middle….the wait was long. Those days choice of seat was not an option. We would pretend to be reading while keeping an eye on the hostess. We used to love airline food those days. After the food there was nothing more to look forward to and we would wait keenly to reach our destination.
That was the time when life did not offer us many choices.
I wonder if we are happier with less options…
We have options in every field….for travelling there are number of airlines to choose from….once you do it …..the airport again offers you a number of shopping outlets, you need to decide where to spend your waiting time. In the aircraft you have choice of seat…you pay extra and get a seat with extra leg room…and when it comes to food, you again have a choice…..you keep thinking whether to opt for veg sandwich or cutlets and you choose the sandwich and later wonder if cutlets would have been a better option….
….options force you to take decision and then you wonder if you took the right one.
From just ‘Fiat’ and ‘Ambassador’ it is Cruise, Honda City, Pajero, Swift, Nano, Polo, Tata Indica……
From just a bsnl landline it is Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Idea, Docomo…..
From just Indian Airlines it is Indigo, Go Air, Spicejet…..
From just Doordarshan it is Star TV, Zee TV, Colors, Sab TV, Discovery, Star World……
Choices are so many…. When it comes to ice cream, you need to choose between Almond Fidge, Mint choc Chip, Hot Chocolate Fudge, Choco Chip, Hazel Nut……large, small or medium….single, double or triple scoop….can’t decide…
Why not go for our simple old coffee…but again you need to make a choice between Chococinno, Irish Coffee, Café Latte, Cappuccino, Macchiato, café Mocha, Espresso….coffee used to be a simple affair once upon a time….
Forget about coffee…why not grab a pizza….you begin with serves – personal, family or medium…not sure how large would be the Pizza, still you decide on one …followed by toppings – mushroom, chicken, paneer, capsicum, olives, red paprika, baby corn, jalapenos… and if that was not enough the next question – any extra toppings needed? Enough to confuse you…. You are there just to enjoy a simple pizza and not to answer so many questions before you get hold of your pizza.
Too many choices make our brains exhausted…. And we wonder do we really need so many choices in life….
Sangeeta1409's Blog 
Beautifully narrated our feelings. Really too many choices make us materialistic.
Good recall of events just like a philosopher.!