Variety is the spice of life , is a much abused cliché .
It starts with food, goes on to clothes and touches every aspect of life.
A random google search throws up this explanation
Diversity makes life interesting, as in Jim dates a different girl every week—variety is the spice of life, he claims.
After all "Polygamy is the opposite of monotony"
Of course there is no mention of Mary seeking the spice of life.
When you listen to the same music , over and over, you either get hooked on to it or move away from it. No music worth listening to, leaves the listener unaffected. So the next time you listen to the same music, the experience is so different, and when you listen to a kind of music for over 25-30 years, it becomes a unique experience by itself.
It starts with food, goes on to clothes and touches every aspect of life.
A random google search throws up this explanation
Diversity makes life interesting, as in Jim dates a different girl every week—variety is the spice of life, he claims.
After all "Polygamy is the opposite of monotony"
Of course there is no mention of Mary seeking the spice of life.
What does it mean in day to day life ? Variety in cuisine has come to mean changing your dietary preference every day from Mughlai to South Indian, Continental to Thai and so on. Why do you need so much variety; to break the monotony of course. My question is don't we need a staple diet to build up monotony in the first place. How else can you break the monotony ?
Secondly, no two experiences are the same as any experience depends on both the subject and the object .
When you listen to the same music , over and over, you either get hooked on to it or move away from it. No music worth listening to, leaves the listener unaffected. So the next time you listen to the same music, the experience is so different, and when you listen to a kind of music for over 25-30 years, it becomes a unique experience by itself.
Kolaveri kind of Music comes and goes, but MS kind of music goes on forever. Firstly , it is not monotony as every time you listen, the experience is more intense, and even if it is so, why should I want to break this heavenly monotony.
Cuisine is one area where spice plays a major role. Here again, if you ask anyone hooked to the delicacy called curd rice with lemon pickle, he or she would swear that it is not the same experience but every time it tastes better and better.
These days it is fashionable to serve a variety of cuisine in a single meal. The other day, we attended a wedding lunch at a five star hotel and as per norms, there was a lavish spread covering recipes from every region across continents. The diners are not happy with the taste of one region, but help themselves to a micro portion of every dish that looks appetizing. It is not uncommon to have Manchurian, chicken tikka , noodles and dosa punctuated by Thai soup and Chocolate soufflé
The next day many complained of stomach upset and with so many dishes, it was indeed difficult to identify the culprit. My own reading is that it was the random order of consuming a random combination of dishes that did it.
In the pre-refrigerator days, the left over, from the day meal could be carried over for the evening, but any food unconsumed in the evening meal had to be given away. I remember the typical call of the beggars who would regularly make their rounds at night to collect these left overs. The housewives also kept aside some food for these people. These alms seekers mostly ended up with small portions of all kinds of food in their bowls, much like what we find on the plates of variety seekers in a five star hotel.
So much for variety.
