Dosa dilemma

(This is a satire piece)In the Calcutta of my childhood the best place to eat a dosa was the Madras Tiffin Room on Chittaranjan Avenue. Taken there by an accompanying adult I would choose between a plain dosa or a masala dosa. Life was simple. Recently I came across an ad for an establishment that offers 22 varieties of dosa, including Pav Bhaji Dosa, Spring Roll Dosa, Chicken Butter Masala Dosa, and Chettinad Butter Masala Dosa. The famous paradox of Buridan’s ass, named after the 14th century French philosopher Jean Buridan, places a donkey equidistant from two identical stacks of hay. Unable to choose which of the two to eat from, the indecisive beast dies of starvation. Can too much choice – in dosas or anything else – turn decision-making more difficult instead of making it easier? Up until the 1970s, early 1980s, there were two brands of car available in India. Today there are 15 car makers, each offering several models, in different price ranges, and with different features. The consumer is king. But undecided lies the head that wears the crown. When television came to India the sole channel people could watch was Doordarshan, in black-and-white. Today viewers can choose between over 900 authorised channels, not to mention many unauthorised streaming links. And they can do so on full-colour TV sets with a selection of screens in a plethora of sizes and specifications. In the 1952 parliamentary elections, a total 53 parties contested, out of which 14 were national organisations and 39 were regional. According to the Election Commission, by 2014 there were no less than 1687 registered parties in India, a thirtyfold rise from the time of the first polls. Democracy is all about freedom of choice. The greater the choice, the more the freedom. And freedom of choice – regarding dosas or candidates – also means the freedom not to choose. Except choosing not to choose is also a choice. That’s the paradox of freedom of choice: You’re free of everything except the necessity of choice itself. Ask Buridan’s ass, RIP.Read alsoWhen people think you love their pets as much as they doWhy men will always be barber-ians