It’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle

It is an experience I cherish almost everyday, I get those shrugging shoulders, them queering pair of eyes, that disgruntled look, those quick steps hurrying back to the pavement, the sudden change in pace of pedestrians crossing the street and the look of despair from the traffic guard on duty at the corner.

The questions I am commonly asked mostly with looks of genuine concern and sometimes sheer irritation often go this way; there’s the most frequent one “Why so fast?” rather “eto tada ki bhai?”; then there is my favorite “what’s that extra noise from your bike?”; and not to forget, the question which makes me feel so Herculean “ aren't you afraid?”  .

Some hate me for it, some love me for it and some just don’t care, some call it a passing phase whereas a limited few can relate to the feeling.

It is not about how fast you can ride or how well you can swerve, it is never about the heads you turn and definitely not about the stunts you perform; it is about the adrenaline, about the figment when time freezes just for you, about trusting your instincts and finding yourself, it is about the eternal bliss because I believe that among all the looks, shrugs and questions I get from everybody somewhere deep down I successfully create a small emotion of awe for me and my bike as I ride down.

It is not a hobby or a means of navigation, it is not an infatuation, it’s a lifestyle.

The Idiot Box

The apple falling on a young Sir Isaac Newton’s head in the late 1600s and Billy, an ADHD stricken 13 year old American boy on the verge of obesity, switching on his television set while munching on potato chips in the mid 1900s can easily be considered the two most prominent and ground breaking incidents in the history of mankind.

Much like any other innovation of man, the television too along with the gift of technology brings with it its own share of evil.

From a far fetched idea to a commodity just for the elite to becoming a basic need synonymous to food and water, from the world war to globalization to recession to the World Wide Web, the television has witnessed and withstood it all.

From the most powerful CEO of the wealthiest company to its lowest level employee if there is one thing common after they both go home is the activity of switching on the television set and relishing the same set of channels, such is the power of television.

The father of media and advertisement, the advent of television till date keeps defining and redefining the concept of accessibility and viewer ship through its far reaching and lustrous form of entertainment, of which the whole world has fallen prey today, Mr. Jenkins and Farnsworth, can proudly say.

It is often quite truly said that the moment we switch on our television sets, we shut down our brains. The television simply redefined the concept that “seeing is believing”, it brought about a revolution and almost all sponsors started fighting for a space inside the formerly grotesque box in the corner of the room, which has today evolved into a window to the world.

From death defying stunts to moral shaking reality TV shows, from informative news to rich documentaries and the latest media sensations, the television ignited the spark which gun fired the beginning of a mad rat race with the ultimate objective of featuring on the idiot box for one and all.

The Biggest Enemy

THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF MANKIND

It is often debated what or who the biggest enemy of mankind is. Some say it’s the global warming, some push it on terrorism and a few wise ones blame the economy, national policies and the impending world war.

Some say it is the corrupt politicians and some blame it on cancer and hunger.

Like this the list just goes on and on and the blame game just gets deeper and darker as we race to our own nadir.

They say know your enemy well to win the war so the real question here is do we know our enemy? Are we appropriately aware of what exactly the impending threat is that haunts us?

Do we not come to a general consensus when we sum up all the above mentioned threats? Do we not face the stark beacon as we move towards the end of the tunnel? Or are we too scared to admit that the biggest enemy, the deadliest threat, the ultimate nuclear missile to mankind; is man himself.

Yes, it’s true, today we don’t have to climb perilous mountains to face our enemies, we no longer need to gather our troops and spur our horses to war because we ourselves have become our very own personal brand of enemies to us. Today, the enemy leeches within us in the form of our cold conscience aided by our stooping morals and an absolute fearlessness from a supreme power as we race on a track made by the devil, the finishing line of which holds the imminent doom of mankind.

How do we define ourselves today?

Man; The creator of the nuclear missile? Or can we say the Nazi of the concrete jungle? Maybe we can appoint him the reckless polluter causing global warming? Or my personal favorite, the ones who promote war in the name of peace.

We need to curb this epidemic disease starting right from our own homes.

From respecting the old and the women to having a clear conscience, from promoting moral richness over materialistic wealth, from making love talk instead of money, we humans have a very long way to go if we are to break free from the shackles of the devil which resides within us.

Though tedious and troublesome at the first glance, all that the path to moral goodness requires is an inherent will to take the first step. Such is the beauty of ethical uprightness that her doors are always open for us, all that she asks for is the first gesture to step in.