Edited by: Devaki Divan
Ice creams, chocolates, chips, pani-puri, instant noodles—these are some of the food items that are uncontested favourites in places where they’re available. Although I am not particularly fond of some of these (hmm am I being quirky or what?). Anyways, for such items, people often give hyperbolised remarks like “Oh I can eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days” or “There is nothing like too much ice cream!”. I might even pass a courteous chuckle while being a witness of them. But, don’t you dare confuse this with my share of agreement! I question this as much as I question the logic in many Bollywood movie scenes.
Too much is TOO MUCH! The ‘t’ in ‘too much’ stands for toxicity, y’all. Okay, I can explain:
A) Too much of one thing sucks the pure joy out of it.
B) It starts to lose its value/charm.
C) The consequence of too much consumption(think vomiting for instance) may lead to aversion towards the object(no-no, this is not going to turn into Psy 101).
Yeah, so now you see why I believe so and also why I do not prefer to participate in burger-eating competitions. Oh wait, you don’t know about my burger tradition.
Okay, so I have loved McDonald’s burgers (yes, a symbol of American capitalism, but focus on the anecdote here please) ever since childhood. I can’t trace back the date but my parents decided one random day that I may only have one (or two) burger(s) every month. Their aim was to save me from getting carried away by the wave of frozen junk food. Additionally, my father wanted my excitement for one of my favourite food items to stay afloat. To date, I follow the tradition gladly.
This is not (just) about food. *trending reel audio plays in the background* I have extended this to other things in life. Take comfort movies for example. When one surrounds themself with such homogeneity in any form, it may limit their thinking. I am not saying that I practice what I preach perfectly. I too have my share of continuous association with things, both good and bad. Yet, I believe that letting things be and giving things (and people) space in this sense is important. Come on, especially after Ashoka with interdisciplinarity as a core value, you’re really going to go for too much of one thing?! Not very ‘Liberal arts/sciences student’ of you huh?!
Moving from the personal to the general, let’s see where else can this be seen:
- Class participation: It’s not an uncommon experience to hear the same answer in different (and sometimes fancier) fonts or see people asking questions they already know the answer to, just to bag those class participation marks. We get where they’re coming from—this capitalist world seems to reduce you to letter grades and numbers haha. And ofc we know that there are many students who are genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. Still, too much class participation may lead to somewhat futile and uninteresting discussions. Not to forget, it may intimidate those who are hesitant in sharing their point of view and are just waiting for the “right time” to speak.
- Celebrity fandoms: Admiring your favourite celebrity? Defending their worst career choice? Obtaining as much information about them as possible? Hmm I see, I get it. Before this gets controversial, let me first clarify that this is not concerned with any star in particular. Many fans tend to see their fandom as a part of their self-concept, so my focus is not on the associated defensiveness. Here’s when fandom gets too much and becomes harmful: from having unrealistic expectations of their idol to trying to emulate their favourite star while completely ignoring their individuality. Boy, I am not even getting into the extreme cases of abuse here. So fandom may be cute or a source of a sense of community but too much of it does not seem good.
- Perfectionism: This is for all those who get a self-esteem boost when they’re called a perfectionist but in actuality, are just those who find it difficult to accept failure in any way or have unrealistic standards of performance. Yeah sure, working towards one’s goals proactively is amazing but extreme cases of it are not healthy, as you may have heard.
In short, my reader, when things get too much, I think one needs a break, no matter how beneficial/loved those things may be. In other words, too much ice cream is a thing. Thank you for hearing me out!