Conversion Syndromes

It's something I've been thinkin about lately. More related with the way I think personally, but its also something that anyone goes through, sometime in his life, sooner or later. Am I sounding too serious, or philosophical now? Apologies mates, cos what I'm speaking about is basically just the conversion of the root of all evil, Money.

It's something I went through on my last visit here, and its continuation after I returned to India. And now I have it again. The positivity and the negativity of it all. The battle between Gandhi and George, the cent and the paisa. Ok, in simple words, I can't help but convert the dollar into rupees, and vice-versa whenever I shell out some cash now. Maybe its my inherent love for mathematics and numbers, or maybe......as some friends who feel I haven't treated them enough point out, its my hesitancy to part with the green paper. Yeah you can argue I'm biased, but I feel its more of the former than the latter. Whatever the reason, I find myself doing it in various situations, while paying at the Burger King counter, buying a snickers at the snack bar, bidding on eBay, or just walking down the Safeway aisle looking at the prices of cereal, milk and the like.

Now the syndrome has two parts to it, based on my geographical location. How? Why? WTF? Patience, I'll explain. Now when I'm here in Uncle Sam's land, my conversion syndrome makes me uneasy inside. Helplessly, I convert the dollars into rupees, and the way the numbers add up, you can't help feeling a lil flat when you realise the astronomical (exaggerated) amount of money you spend (in rupees) for a movie-ticket, or a lunch. I know it's stupid and dumb to do so, but I can't help it! Not that it stops me from going ahead with my buy, or going on a diet (which is even more stupid in my case), but it still gets to me. For example, I go and buy a DVD or a book, then start converting and realise how much I could have saved had I got it from Landmark. Or I may have just eaten a regular cheeseburger from Jerry's and then figured that I could have eaten at KFC for a whole week in Bangalore for the same amount.

And now the flipside. When I return to India (Oh, by the way, I am coming back in a week), the exact opposite happens. When I'm out with friends to have a good time, or otherwise, I tend to automatically convert the rupees into dollars. Now, this is bad. It's even worse that just having a queasy feeling within, cos it makes you careless and an addicted spendthrift, if there ever was one. You have that false feeling of happiness, like, "Ahhhh..what the hell, this is just a few dollars, won't hurt much", and it's hard to stop the cash flowing. All this after convienently forgetting that you ain't earning dollars anymore and you still have a pathetic Indian salary. For example, the month I was in India before I had to come here again, I got fixed so bad that I ended up calling up the local PH and Dominos home-delivery numbers every night for two whole weeks before I realised my folly. Well, my stomach realised it first..but..err..nevermind. I've gone through the syndrome's whole cycle one time, and right now I'm going through the first half of the second round. Anywayz, as the saying doesn't go, six pence none the wiser, I might be able to fare better this time round. Let's wait and see!

Personal Updates: Have got four days of hols now, and I'm headed off to Philly tomorrow to be with my cousins for X'mas. The last few days have been busy too, just finished episode-17 of LOST Season-2! :P Yeah, once da man's hooked, he's hooked.

So, here's to a Merry Christmas , or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa or whatever it is you may wish to celebrate this holiday season. Cheers!