Lost.

"Western man is so surrounded by ideas, so bombarded with opinions, concepts, and information sources of all sorts, that it becomes difficult to experience anything without the intervening filter of these structures. And the natural world – our traditional source of direct insight – is rapidly disappearing. Modern city-dwellers cannot even see the stars at night. This humbling reminder of man’s place in the greater scheme of things, which human beings formerly saw once every twenty four hours, is denied them. It is no wonder that people lose their bearings, they lose track of who they really are, and what their lives are really about.”

- John Michael Crichton

Hellmet

It is hot outside. The traffic is heavy and slow moving. It is a dead straight road. The maximum speed I can possibly sustain for more than 3-5 seconds is a jaw dropping 15 kmph. I never get beyond the 3rd gear on my bike. And then, after what seems to be an eternity, you hit the dreaded and long-since-hoped-against red traffic light. Now, there is no breeze either. The head reels thanks to the still air. I sweat. Profusely.

It is a narrow lane. It’s quiet and deserted. At every road intersection there is a speed breaker. Between every pair of speed breakers, there is a small rut/pothole. You can’t cross 15 kmph if you care for your bike, back or both.

While I do have a head, and since helmets are to protect those with a head, helmets and I should go hand in glove. But it’s a rather head-to-head relation, sadly. I drive in only the above mentioned two situations – bad traffic jams and narrow empty lanes which are punctuated by speed breakers and back breakers. Of course, to be fair, helmets do block the dust and pollution and most importantly, offers significant safety as well.

If you ask me, the helmet is needed only under certain conditions. We are responsible people, we know when we should be wearing it. Let’s not enforce it, always and everywhere. Maybe wearing it encourages rash driving and road rage. I have seen dozens of people stuffing their phones between their ears and the helmet’s inner ‘wall’ and chattering away. Of course it’s safer to talk that way, now that both the hands are on the bike’s controls. Plus, now they might just protect their phones as well.

In the driving situations, which I drive in, it is complete redundancy. I need a smart helmet. G-sensing, roll-pitch-yaw-sensing helmets with collision detection. Forget smart phones. My helmets should normally be wrapped around my ears, like a big pair of headphones, and then, in times of need (God forbid), just pop open. In 50 milliseconds. Best of safety and convenience. It’s funny, but do we ask car drivers to drive with their air bags inflated always? Just in case?

A festival of smiles

Celebrated the festival of lights which happened to be the festival of smiles this time around. A lot of boxes of sweets, a few boxes of crackers and a nice collection of memories in the taking. This Diwali was spent with near and dear ones - with 3 kids in the thick of action. Also spent some good time at home. Wished neighbours with whom I had not spoken previously. And vice-versa. Burst some crackers with bro and felt nice to feel the way diwali used to earlier.

Ever since we've become more aware about the hazards of crackers and smoke, bursting crackers is reducing. However, for this edition of the festival, we did allow ourselves some, since in the past one year we (dad, bro and I) have planted a total of 76 trees back home in Bhuj.


Would forming a good, clean, eco-conscious habit every time a festival comes around, not guarantee a more honest smile?

'The Miracle drug'.

Bumped into Fate a while ago,
And She must have been happy that day,
because I bumped into ‘her’ next.
I see time fly past me,
I know my clock ticks backwards,
But with her around me, I don’t age nor tire.
I’m far from greedy and comfortable being content.
On this trip, with every mile, a new smile, which lasts,and
Holds memories forever formed in these 2 years.
I try to capture, futilely, in words, this feeling called love.