Normal Vs New-Normal

 

I always get air in my motorcycle tyres only at petrol pumps because many poor local air filler guys deliberately puncture tyres to get repair work. Plus, air is always “free” at petrol pumps. But after the recent Iran war made the finances of oil marketing companies tight, I noticed many petrol pumps had their air filling machines closed. Finally, I found one petrol pump where the air machine was working, so even though half of my motorcycle’s fuel tank was already filled, I went and got petrol filled.

I always say “normal” as soon as the petrol pump guy starts his work, to avoid paying for the expensive version of petrol which everyone thinks is just a marketing gimmick. After getting “normal petrol” filled in my motorcycle’s tank till the brim, I went to get “free air.”

As soon as the air filling guy saw me, he shouted, “Nitrogen?” I shouted back, “No, normal!” He said the petrol pump was giving only free nitrogen and the air machine was not working. Don’t know what happened to all the air filling machines in the city. As I moved away, I realised I had said “normal” instead of saying “air.” So, while petrol became “normal” earlier, now even “air” became “normal.”

This struggle to get “normal” things is really real.

I remember the first time this habit of shouting “normal” while buying things started - it was while buying packaged drinking water at railway stations. If you don’t tell them to give you “normal” water, they give chilled water by default, which takes several hours to come back to “normal” temperature.

In India, the phrase “normal” is often used by buyers in shops to distinguish between multiple varieties of the same product. Here are some common examples:

Biscuits: Many brands have cream-filled, chocolate-coated, or premium versions. Shoppers often say “normal Parle-G” or “normal Marie” to mean the plain, everyday biscuit.
Cold drinks: With options like Diet, Zero Sugar, or flavoured sodas, people ask for “normal Coke” or “normal Thums Up” to mean the regular sugary version.
Milk: Packaged milk comes in toned, double-toned, skimmed, or full-cream. “Normal milk” usually means the standard toned milk most households use.
Chips: With masala, cheese, and exotic flavours available, “normal chips” refers to plain salted potato chips.
Ice cream: Brands sell sugar-free, low-fat, or premium flavours. “Normal vanilla” or “normal chocolate” means the basic, regular scoop.
Tea: Shops may stock green tea, herbal blends, or masala chai. “Normal tea” means the everyday black tea with milk and sugar.
Rice: With basmati, brown, organic, and specialty varieties, “normal rice” refers to the everyday non-basmati white rice used in most homes.

“Normal” is basically shorthand for “don’t give me the premium, diet, or fancy variant - just the regular one everyone uses.”

As PM Modi used to say, “this is the New Normal” in the post-Covid world, now the “not normal” has become the “new normal” no matter what you try to buy. Asking for “normal” itself feels like an anomaly.

In today’s complex world, when everything becomes “not-normal,” perhaps the “normal” is the real “not-normal.”

– Rahul