MASALA PSYCHOLOGY | The Dosa Rorschach Narendra Nair <javascript:void(0)> An article in Times of India, New Delhi Edition There is an e-mail doing the rounds offering psychological insights into our personalities according to how we eat<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/MASALA-PSYCHOLOGY--The-Dosa-Rorschach/articleshow/4268499.cms#>a masala dosa. It goes like this.
Those who start from both ends and approach the masala later are people who like to wait for goodies to come but unable to enjoy them when they do come because, by the time they get to the masala in the middle, their appetite is blunted. People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends are usually in a hurry and tend to burn out early, especially those who do not finish the dosa and leave most of it. Those who do finish it, wiping the plate clean, are those who know that life is not always happy and moments of happiness are scattered, so they should grab them when they can. And the people who eat the dosa making the masala last for the whole dosa are perfectionists who are careful and balanced. People who offer the first bite of their dosa to others are ever-friendly. But the people who do not share their dosa are secretive about themselves, while people who open the masala dosa and eat it are open about their lives. The mail concludes, Enjoy eating<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/MASALA-PSYCHOLOGY--The-Dosa-Rorschach/articleshow/4268499.cms#>Masala Dosa! The problem here is that your enjoyment of a masala dosa could become seriously limited if you’re going to sit and watch how other people are eating their dosas. Worse, someone might think you are abominably rude. Further, there are many who have not been covered by these dosa analysts. Like the fellow who tears into his dosa like a hyena ripping apart the throat of its prey. Or the guy who folds the sides onto the middle, picks up the package and bites into it. Or the gent who attempts eating it with knife and fork, sending dosa parts flying into neighbours’ laps. Or the ketchup addict who pours liberal amounts over his dosa, and then spoons<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/MASALA-PSYCHOLOGY--The-Dosa-Rorschach/articleshow/4268499.cms#>chutney over it! Or this uncouth artist, who opens the dosa, throws curry leaves, onion, coriander and ginger out on to the table then mixes sambhar and chutney into the bhaji and folds the dosa back, making the dosa drip onto the table when he starts to eat it. But what about my friend who stymied the entire theory? She said she never ate masala dosas, she liked only plain ones. Even Freud would have been stumped.
