A Rider's Promise.

The other day I was having a conversation with a colleague about investing in a motorcycle. According to him, it was utterly foolish of me to invest in a Royal Enfield at such a young point in my career, where I could have started saving early. I could only smile. And it got me thinking. I, and him, had a very non-intersecting set of ideas. About ourselves. About our surroundings. About our lives. And then I wrote.

A motorcycle to me is beyond transportation. It's something else because it connects me with Life.

A bike is a soul ship. Biking, bridging, it's freedom, it's energy, it's expression, it's fear, it's controlling that fear, it's adrenaline, and you're gonna experience all these things in just one day being on a motorcycle on an open road. 

We humans tend to build up our lives into boxes. And the older you get, the more boxes you have. But these boxes tend to get smaller. And some start to have regrets. Motorcycles actually get you out of that box. Cause you are exposed, you are connected. Connected to the whole world out there, every life you come across, every stray breeze you fly by. Someone has aptly said:

'Riding is the closest a human can get to flying'

And so what if you melt into the crowd? So what if you dont have that one Chai-wala that you go to everyday after office? So what if you dont have the same home to go back to, the same bed, the same arm-chair for a while? So what if you have to get a banging from office if you leave on a trip all of a sudden? So what if the world out there is waiting to deceive you? So what..? It's really a perspective here. I like a little spicy in my pudding now and then. As a matter of fact, I love it. I hate to know everything every damn time. I like surprises. Nothing can always go as you have planned. Where is the fun in that anyways. Hitting a turn you least expected, is how I like it. 

So here I am. On duty. Somewhere in the middle of the Arabian Sea. Hunting for Liquid Gold. On a job, some would say mundane. Many would even doubt on this way of life. What's in it for me? It gives me the push down the cliff, so I can fly. It gives me that moment's thought, all that is required for me to go wild with my imagination, and my actions. And they set me free.

It's still early, some would say. But to me, it's time. To get out. To be impatient. Life is not a highway. It is a road made of intersections. Twists and turns. Created by nobody else, but you. Don't settle. Go. Ride. Find your own pack. Is your engine running? Embrace the head wind. Feel how it can change direction. Just like you can. And here's a promise. Wherever you're going, it won't be boring.

Happy 2015 Ya'll

Till next then

Ciao.

P.S: Thank You Komal.

My Ideal World.

 

A world without suffering.

A world without pain.

A world without guilt.

A world without war.

A world without hunger.

This would be my ideal world.

A world without greed.

A world without selfishness.

A world without fear.

A world without hate.

A world without strife.

This would be my ideal world.

A world without crime.

A world without tears.

A world without sorrow.

A world without disappointment.

A world without sickness.

A world without prejudice.

This would be my ideal world.

A world without jealousy.

A world without divorce.

A world without lust.

A world without poverty.

A world without unforgiveness.

This would be my ideal world.

A world without famine.

A world without drought.

A world without conflict.

A world without division.

A world without disasters.

This would be my ideal world.

A world with peace.

A world with love.

A world with joy.

A world with laughter.

A world with honesty.

A world with acceptance.

A world with forgiveness.

This would be my ideal world.

Till Next then

CIAO

Whispered into the Wind.

Whispered into the wind
every unspoken word
of love
that my own ears
yearn to catch.
Every moment
that floats
unseen,
unnoticed,
unheard,
untouched,
that I yearn to hold,
to memorize,
to imprint,
so I do not forget
ever.

Can I not hold
even one fleeting moment
inside?
So that when sleep escapes
into the storm of night
I don’t have to yearn
to search
in sheer panic?
For that
which I cannot see
cannot hear
cannot touch
but that
which surrounds me ?!?

Can I not?

Till Next then
CIAO

Did you hear the Whisper?

Did you hear the whisper
that floated by,
that you thought
was your mind
playing games
as usual?
Consumed
as you were
by the noise
inside your head,
did you hear the whisper?
That you tried to catch
but wafted away
even before you could listen?
Did you hear the whisper
like a gentle song
in a distant land
trying to come through
in the roaring traffic
of everyday existence
Did you hear the whisper?

If only I could. Or did I...

Till next then
CIAO

The Story Teller

In my previous life I was a story teller.
Dragging myself from village to village,
where people would throw me some coins
to weave fantasy around their mundane lives
At my will
I would make them cry
and laugh.
Children rolled over and clapped with joy
as my characters
faced the most absurd plots I could weave
Except him,
who would neither laugh
nor shed a tear,
as he stood there
staring at me.
Challenging.
Would you like to hear a story ? I asked him.
”Not unless it is the story of all stories,” he said
And wherever I went he would be there
watching and listening,
challenging
”Can u tell me the story of all stories ?”
How could there be one story that defined all stories ?
and if there were
what value would I have ?
if there be just one story to tell ?
”You are of no value to me,” he said
”Unless you can tell me the story of all stories”
And he walked away
challenging,
never looking back
amused.
Silly man,
How could I make a living
If I told the same story
again and again ?
But I died.
Never being able to tell another story
Have you ever died of thirst
in the presence of a glass of water
that you cannot see?
And into this life
He came again.
He took my hand
and showed me the ocean
and asked me to see,
and to observe
For the story of all stories was there,
a story that had no end
and no beginning.
Each rising swell
a new Plot that arose from the ocean
and then merged back
instantly
endlessly
unpredictably
inexorably,
millions arising
and immediately going back to the source
The Source
The Story of all Stories
Till next then
CIAO

90% of our Brain is devoted to?

Gossiping !All of us have heard about scientists saying we use only 10% of our brains. So what is the other 90% doing ? Some say it is to connect with our universal and spiritual selves. Others say it’s all about the subconscious problem solving part of the brain.
But the theory I like the most is that 90% of our brain is reserved for an art that in our hurried daily lives we are fast loosing. The art of Gossip.
Apparently we need to gossip to come to terms with the pressures of everyday social interaction. We need to gossip, to put it crudely, to stop killing each other. And a sense of humor is so important to the Art of Gossip. In eastern societies there is an unsaid acceptance of the Gossip culture. Almost an addiction. For how would they survive some of the really harsh conditions with any form of dignity without a bit of Gossip and a sense of humor ?
For those that know and live in North India here are the keywords :
“Kya kar rahe ho aaj sham ko ?”, “Chal aaja, yaar, kuch gup-shup marenge’
“Aaj mehfil kahan hai ?”

Each one an invitation to idle gossip. Idle and free flowing being the key words. To ease out the tensions and pressure of everyday life, and to ease yourself back into harmony with the community, and therefore with yourself and . We have seen it all over, with the men around the Hookah in the middle east. The men gathered drinking in Greece.
In England the community gathering together at the pub.
The ability to gossip is the ability to indulge in a sense of humor. We loose that and we are lost. And I would like to believe that is true. That 90% of our brains are available for a wonderful sense of humor.
But as we physically move away from our roots, as we become more and more involved with the pressures of work, as families become smaller and smaller, and as TV and computers and the internet takes away time from the ultimate leisure activity that 90% of our brains are designed for – Gossip – what is happening to us as social beings ?
As we are finding ourselves more and more isolated, are we becoming more and more intolerant of each other ? Of each other’s points of view ? Are we loosing our identity as assimilated social beings ?
And is it possible that the rise of blogging and chat rooms are the new alternate forms of the ‘Gossip Society ? Is it the new Mehfil? Is it the 90% brain that is driving us there ?
However, surely being together face to face and with the physical intimacy that a warm gossip room brings, also brings with it a sense of responsibility. It is the adult form of play that children and the young of all animal kingdom do – play act war games and battle games and social games. It’s the adult form of what little girls do when they play with dolls and dolls houses.
The adult form is the Gossip room. the Mehfil.
So my question is that, is the anonymity of the blog and the chat room taking away the responsibility that being face to face brings? Are we playing out the adult social games as they were meant to be, or are we indulging in something half baked and therefore possibly dangerous here.
Dangerous? Not if we accept that there is a nature of Gossip in what we are doing. So lets bring back a sense of humour, shall we?
Or 90% of our brains will be destructive instead of constructive and harmonizing.
Till Next then.
CIAO