Politics in the kitchen

Cooking requires taste of the basic ingredients of the dish you are about to embark on. It requires you to plan your movements in the kitchen, as you would plan your movements in life; arrange all the spices and prepare the settings. Hope it turns out well and you don’t get caught at the drawbacks of the dish you have prepared, if a trained critic were to be around.

Talking about being caught, here I was wondering to my self whether it was me that they had brought it, part of me was slightly proud that I had been quarantined but then my conscience did not allow me to be that free. All and all it was interesting to be sitting near a BTech who was bragging about how he had raked in the votes in his wing. He did not know why I was in, and I was some-what proud that the stuff he was talking about was not even close to why I had been booked. There is something called a black list that each contestant gives to the election authorities so that his opponent does not have the edge on him. I was not even on, but much later I found out why I was in.

It all happened during the hostel elections; there is a place, lets call it the “jail”. I happened to be the passing out General Secretary. So evidently I was the center of all attentions. I had a few prominent friends who I was looking out for. There came the campaigning where I conveniently stayed out of all attentions., People thought that since I was silent, I was out of the game; I wanted to be out, but eventually there are external forces that make you do things that you don’t want to do. Then came the day of elections, and I was in my lab working, and coordinating some activities, later realized that I should have done indirectly. It was a classical case of being on top of the world as long as you are not caught. I was called to the Dean’s office for some official work relating to the elections held in my hostel (that’s another big story ). After which I just went for a cup of chai, where I received a call from the election authorities about my whereabouts. They asked me to wait there, by the time I knew what was happening I was on my way to the “jail”. I went, had no choice of course

Later I realized that one of my own friends had given it all away, and I became the most sought after person during the elections. As it happened someone I knew was there in the jail, he was on someone’s blacklist, and that did not go down so well with him. There were quite a few people in there, some of whom had come to enjoy, there was tea and samosas being served, I guess that’s since the duration of the wait was very long. I sat at one side with this BTech student and began listening to what he had to say, as I said before. He was quite enthused. I also heard that there were some people who were caught with more than 1 cell phone. It took some heckling and the promise that I would leave, leaving behind my cell phone. That they assumed would restrict my activities. On the contrary, I went to the lab and began “working again”.

While I was there, I was intrigued by the people there, some were complaining at the injustice done to them, while others as I mentioned were enjoying their stay there, some like me were just thinking of innovative ways of getting out of there. We always want to resort to unfair means to get things done, without that nothing really is possible(!), I guesss. And the worst part is that some feel proud to do such things . The notion of a clean system with only the meritorious, getting their dues is not really an option. Only those who are meritorious and have an aptitude for such trivialities get ahead with such things, or those who have the power to push their way through. Most of us just like to remain in the shadows rather and enjoy the benefits that such a world has to offer (people who have contacts). I feel the knowledge of such trivialities is necessary in a scene that you know the planned moves people have in place, in this world of “the crab in the basket” to get ahead. It would not be befitting to say that everyone needs the knowledge but some of us are not lucky enough in life so as to counter all the variables necessary to get ahead. Oh! did I mention that after the elections I had this discussion with my counter part of another hostel that we have to do away with such a system of unfair practice? I guess you need to know how the system works to bring about any change.

As the results were being announced that evening, I was sitting outside the election office with a few friends and the person I was supporting. he won of course and earned the worthy sobriquet from me for being “PO***”

(C) 2008 eddieskitchen-All Rights Reserved