bananas ?

Do you know what a banana tactic is ? I am duh sure you don't. You can't. And you won't if you stop here. That's a good reason in my rule book, so read on...

I call it the banana tactic. I still have a mild addiction to my own life, so lets just say the name is inspired by what follows below. What is plagiarism elsewhere is inspiration in art and academics. So, no hard feelings please.

B: see u later. be back soon.
d: leaving ?
B: nah - going to get bananas.
(it was around 2:30 then and B usually finds midday ghas-phus around that time)
d: WHAT ! bananas ? you have decided to eat bananas for lunch to lose
that extra 2 kilos you gained <censored>
B: its funny. people don't respect fruits anymore.

And then I was bestowed the whats and whens.

You feel hungry. You step out. Wait you don't. It's cold so you find armour for windchill. As you add more layers, you start thinking where would you go ?

Incidentally, this question could be a hundred-dollar question or a hundred-cent question based on your spatio-temporal coords. Here it's really hard to find good stuff to disguise as lunch material. And if you have one of the many Indian restrictions, you are better off acquiring a taste in raw leaves. Which is not that bad anyway ... oh, well... I learned fast.

So ... instead of hoping for a miracle, B hoped to get a banana or two. They never fail, kind of like books or dogs or shrimp - all of them are hard to hate. If something nice to eat is found, good for you. Oh ... something nice do come up once in a while, it's not thaaat bad. And if you will pardon my adultery with food, I even miss McD fries after not having them for half a year. Personally, I find stuff to sate my appetite.

Oh I veer again. The point is, when you want something, you set something as your gold standard. Then you either hanky-panky try to reach that. Or you say that you are not going to get it realistically, and instead shoot for something less royal ... so much less that you are never gonna be disappointed. Either way, you can be content. Take your pick. I christen the latter way of life as banana tactic.

I personally tend to choose the former path. Being obsessive with almost everything I do, I mean the stuff I really really have a passion for, I overdo what I should do. Kind of like trekking my way to El Dorado instead of watching it in 3-D in IMAX. Failures and disappointments are my closest enemies. They come with this dude called me.

I think it helps if one has a blend of no-compromise and banana smoothie. In the end, being content matters. Do we agree on that one ? Maybe not. I have a fascination about the 'process' being right more than the 'end'. I guess the banana tactic is not my kind of game. Still its a good tactic. And a good name.

Do you want to know about Salami tactic now ? Fear not, it's not mine. Ask Ask.