opp. Malad Station (17)

Am I the exception, or are we all prostrate slaves to advertising? The tiny Jumbo King stand is wedged between chaat counters like an afterthought, or like me on the fourth seat of a Virar fast. I passed it up without a second glance and headed straight for the aggressively self-promoting MM Mithaiwala, with whose hoardings every available square inch of station frontage is plastered. Enormous (and disturbingly identical) burgers and vada pav leer in at you from every direction, and giant lassis beckon you to "test da thanda."

(Extended aside: Until this very moment I had never registered the double entendre of the Thums Up slogan. As ever, the ad flaks must've been working overtime on the Coca-Cola account. Now when will they reinvigorate the Limca brand? When will Pepsi stop sitting on Gold Spot? When will Sosyo gain the global acclaim it deserves? The answer is blowing in the winod.)

Maybe I should have gone for the Jumbo King after all. But I'm saving myself.