My old car was having some overheating issues. I was advised
to drive the car slowly till that time that the problem is rectified. Hence my
speed dropped down to an average of around 50 km/hr. The drop in speed meant
that I was moving much slower than most vehicles on road. With lane system
non-existent in India, that also meant that cars, trucks, buses overtaking me
from right, from left every now and then.
Frankly driving slow changed my perception in a way.
Although I applaud myself for my driving skills and can really negotiate fast and
tough, but for the first time really I was enjoying my drive and there was a smile on my face.
I put the air conditioner off, rolled down the windows and the cool morning breeze, music
playing on the car stereo everything seemed so lovely. I was no more rushing as
I usually did. The cars running past me appeared to be in a 'race' and I was no
more in that. While I was never losing sight of the destination, the journey
seemed equally enjoyable. Driving slow was almost therapeutic, both for me and
for my car.
What was even wonderful was that I was reaching my
university in the usual time. There was no delay. Surprise! I thought I will be late, but I wasn’t.
Life mirrors roads and most of us seem to be on the fast
lane, rushing, racing, at times even cutting lanes, jumping signals in a mad
rush to reach our destination. In the midst
of all this we forget to enjoy the ‘journey’ - pick some ‘cool breeze’ on the
way, enjoy the ‘sun rise’ and the ‘sun set’, the ‘clouds’, ‘rains’ and catch an innocent
smile of a child, hum a ‘song’... the journey can be so enchanting.
But then we seem consumed with destination. More of
everything and more of more…destination seems like a shifting target. In the
end it is like a mirage, and we like the desert’s lost travelers. We just never get there because we never
targeted a goal; we just wanted more and more.
As a result our body ends up like my car – over heated, over
stressed and on the brink of a breakdown. Only like for my car, no one is there
to warn us to slow down a bit in our life. Hence we keep revving our muscles,
nerves and bones till they ‘wear out’ and ‘breakdown’.
(Also suggest reading 'Stress kills: Father remembers son, a Goldman Sachs analyst, who died at 22' @ http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/stress-kills-father-remembers-son-a-goldman-sachs-analyst-who-died-at-22/article1-1354791.aspx )
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