Friday, July 28, 2006

Something fizzy

Soft drinks here come in only one size and it is called unlimited. Once you buy a glass of soft drink, you can refill it free of cost again and again and yet again for as many times as you want. People seem to prefer soft drinks here to water. I have been amazed to see families carry home huge cartons of Diet Coke cans home from the supermarket. It’s incredible because, I was always under the impression that people here were health conscious and that soft drinks had high glucose levels and so, to put it in simple words made people fat!!! In office there is a guy who finishes almost one litre (people here measure in Oz and gallons i think - though I shall never get used to the idea) of soft drinks everyday. It is no wonder then, that he is 5 feet wide and 5 feet tall and when he walks, you'd think a wall is moving. I have been quite petrified of soft drinks ever since the infamous incident of pesticides was discovered in India in 2003. People here assure me that in the Uncle Sam's land, such a thing is impossible. Pepsi/Coke/ [your soft drink company] would have to down its shutters if something like that had been discovered. Whoa! Talk about mass discrimination on the basis of the water!!!!

Back home, there is a rather limited variety of soft drinks that are available. Here, the numbers are mind boggling. You get to choose between 30 different varieties and even as I speak, they are probably launching a new variety and disbursing it for free at gas stations (yes, I got to taste a new flavour of Coke last Friday) Vending machines are everywhere; near the super market, down the basement which no one visits more than a month, close to the parking lot, at the canteen. You're probably lost in the middle of nowhere if you cannot locate a vending machine with 100 metres (again - I believe that people use to measure distances in miles here, I have no clue how much a yard measures) of your vicinity.

Every morning I watch intently an ad on TV which says that people here are getting fatter and fatter and soon airlines are going to charge the rate of 2 seats for an obese person. Should motivate people enough to cut down on the gallons to save the miles. More on gallons and the Oz, miles and yards and pound soon....

Oh! Just a passing thought...most of the men and women who win the 100 metres sprint are Americans. When you have spent all your life counting yards, how do you beat the world to 100 metres????

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey. Found you by chance. Are you the same Anwesha I studied with in La Martiniere?

Akash said...

So now I understand. Yesterday, I didn't find any pepsi/coke on the shelves of the supermarket. So I enquired with a staff there about the reason. He said that one 5 by 5 from Uncle Sam's had taken all the pepsi/coke.

Anwesha Chatterjee said...

@Nalini: Ssssshhhhhh...don't tell anyone ..yes! How are you? Long time no news.

@Akash: Yeah, that was the 5X5 guy in house #150. He decorates his living room with used Coke bottles

Akash said...

One more info... that 5x5 recently filed a case for divorce 'coz his wife dared take a small sip from one of those coke bottles.

Hey, Nallini... thanks for spilling the beans .... FBI was actively searching for this info for god knows how many years... come again .. spill more beans...

Anwesha Chatterjee said...

@Akash: And I thought you preferred that nobody should probe into your personal life? So, why not respect my privacy as well?

Akash said...

And I thought you preferred that nobody should probe into your personal life

Not 'nobody' really. That would be pathetic and horrible if none is interested in me as a person. Rather, I shall not indiscriminately allow ALL to take a peek into my personal life. That's very messy and unnerving. I think it's true of everyone.

So, why not respect my privacy as well

I do respect. Make no mistake about that. However, on my part the interest is there to know you personally. So when your friend let slip your place of schooling and you subsequently confirm, I think I should thank her.

Akash said...

OK. OK. If you insist. Lemme press the delete button. Click. It went to the recycle bin now. Click. OOpss!...*crushing sound of the bin being emptied* and now it's vanished for ever. Trust me I don't remember annnythingggg about which school you were in. Privacy restored:)

jhantu said...

consume a can of coke and then run on whim--- the motto of the ummrican

Anwesha Chatterjee said...

@Jhantu: if you see the size of the people out here, you would realise that they forget all about the running on whim part.

@Akash: Sigh!!!! I do not know what I should say. Tumi ektaa paagol Dr. Sen (or whatever your surname is) I scrap using my real name and write stuff that happens to me all the time. So you know, in reality, there isn't much of what I would like to call privacy. So, I guess, if you visit this page again, you would have refreshed your memory, and I would not take offence.

Akash said...

@anwesha: thank god that you didn't address me as Prof. Sen (Ohh. I love the title). Kintu tai bole oboseshe paagol..*sob sob*.. jai hok .. sei je ekta gaan chhilo na, "jokhon keu amake paagol bole...":)))))

Anwesha Chatterjee said...

@Prof Sen: porer line ta bole daao. You seem to be a big music buff!

Akash said...

If I write out just the lyrics, it may sound like lamentation of a wimp and that'd be great injustice to the excellent teamwork by the composer, singer and the lyricist. Listen to it through the following link (I'm afraid you have to do it online). The singer is Manna Dey.
link

Anwesha Chatterjee said...

@Akash: I could not place the song when you mentioned it. Yeah, its quite a well known song - cheesy lyrics though!

Akash said...

bechara pulok babu (pulak banerjee the lyricist)... onek buk bhora koshto niye gaan ta likhechhilen ...