Double or Triple Standards

We have all heard of double standards prevalent in all societies across the globe. A good friend of mine decided to add another dimension to it over dinner. ‘The Indian society’, he said, ‘has not double, but triple standards. One for me, the other for my wife and a third for the other fellow’s wife’. I thought it was quite cheeky. But the fact of the matter remains that it’s true.

‘My standard’, elaborated my friend, ‘is that i should be allowed to get ‘a lift’ from the other fellow’s wife. Simply put, i should be allowed to flirt around. My wife should have the second standard, not to let other buggers like me approach her. She should be comparable to the likes of Sati Savitri. And the third, applicable to those whom i flirt around with, is that they should allow only me to get near them’. Odd.

‘The third standard doesn’t make sense’, I complained. ‘Well it does’, he continued, ‘if you understand that the majority of such people are those who want to achieve a lot but don’t have the will to go out and get it, professionally or otherwise. So they feel at least one place should be reserved exclusively for them, that too with no strings attached. And this is the mentality which leads to the beginning of any dirty office politics.’

Quite an insight, ‘So what’s the solution?’ ‘What damn solution? If anyone gets a solution, shoot him. It’s the flavour of India, and i am a proud part of it…cheers!’