BUY WHAT IS NECESSARY

Everyone has their favourite grocery shopping place and I am no exception. I enjoy shopping in ‘Geant Hypermarket’ more than any other place, as I love the huge variety of colourful fresh fruits and vegetables they have. Everytime I go there, I am always tempted to buy more than really what I need when its only myself and my husband that I need to cook for.


Being a lover of fruits and vegetables and Geant being bit far away from where we live, I end up buying more than what we require and I tell myself, well, they’ll keep fresh in my fridge. I do this though I am surrounded by little grocery shops all around me where I live in such close proximity. One of the items I make sure I purchase from Geant is mint leaves. The fragrance of fresh mint is awesome. It can soothe, calm and uplift the moods. My husband enjoys black tea with mint. I also make mint chutney, a filling my husband and I enjoy in a brown bread sandwich with sliced cucumbers. This sandwich is a sure energy and mood booster, I promise. This may sound ‘yuck’ to those who can’t stand the smell or taste of mint. Well, prepared in the right way, it is very healthy and tasty herb. Yoghurt mixed with freshly ground mint paste with a bit of salt, is absolutely refreshing in the summer. Another delicious recipe that uses mint is Haryali chicken tikka (green chicken tikka). Wow my mouth waters already!


On Saturday afternoon I went to Geant. I was carefully selecting my mint and to my disappointment, due to the heavy rush, and perhaps a lot of people already having purchased little bunches of mint leaves, there really weren’t much mint leaves remaining for me to select. I picked 2 tiny bunches of mint when a middle aged man, tall and lean, with thick black rimmed glasses with thick lens, interrupted me and said, ‘Here, take these. They are more fresh’. He gave me from his plastic bag, two small bunches of mint, quite fresh and green, and to top it all, smelling fantastic. Just the kind I would require. I was a bit confused. Didn’t this man need for himself. . He probably picked his requirement, much before I did. As if he read my mind he said, ‘Well, I have enough for myself. Here, you can have them’. I took the mint from him and thanked him and as soon as he turned around, I went back looking at the slightly withered mint in the rack, searching for any good ones.

Out of nowhere, this man pops up again and tells me ‘ No, don’t take anymore. The ones you are looking at are not good. The ones I gave you are good. And please, don’t take more than WHAT IS NECESSARY!’. You should never buy anything that you really don’t need. Only buy what is NECESSARY. I froze for a moment. I said, ‘Okay’ and smiled. And the man smiled and left. This statement left me thinking. Each time we go out for shopping or even just window shopping, how many times do we spend money and buy things we really don’t need, be it food, clothes, accessories, anything. Its difficult to control the urge to buy due to marketing, attractive offers, free gifts on purchase, discounts, even the display of products can be tantalizing enough to make temptation soar. But in the midst of all that chaios in the mind during shopping, its always nice to remind ourselves, to buy just ‘WHAT IS NECESSARY’.