A Spark of Insanity…!!!
Having decided that I wasn’t having much fun, I set out to find what the reason was.
Hold on! I seemed to have jumped the gun here!! That’s the problem with telling a story. If one gives a detailed account of all that happened before, one might bore the reader. One the other hand, if one rushes through to the crux of the matter without laying the proper groundwork, one is in the danger of losing the reader. The trick is to find the balance. And I seemed to have committed the second of these two crimes! So let me track back a little.
I am, at present, studying for my Master’s in Business Administration. Prior to this, I was working in Satyam and even before that, I got my Bachelor’s in Technology from ICFAI TECH. I love football and I firmly believe that Arsenal Football Club is the greatest club in the world. No question about that! I read quite a lot of books, mainly focussing on fiction. I hate people who fight in the name of religion and people whose sole aim in life is to seek sympathy from others. I think that should do regarding my profile.
It’s been about a year since I have joined college for my MBA. And over this past year, I have had some outings with my friends. At first, I thought I wasn’t comfortable with these people yet. Later I figured that maybe I was just plain indifferent. Finally, I decided that I simply wasn’t having any fun at all. And so I tried to find out what exactly the reason was. But try as I might, I couldn’t point out where the fault lay. And then, New Year’s Eve happened.
Guys, the thing about New Year’s Eve is that it sucks. Sure it looks great on TV, but in reality, it sucks. And my plan for New Year’s Eve was like almost every other New Year’s Eve. I normally spend it by settling myself under a comfy bed sheet and dream about my latest exploits on the international football arena. In short, I sleep. But this time, it was not to be. This time, my friends convinced me that sleeping on the night of New Year’s Eve was a part of the Original Sin!! So we went to the beach for the night. And we weren’t the only ones who got this bright idea. Oh no!! Apparently, in this city, the thing to do on New Year’s Eve is to get to the beach and enjoy the fireworks. Very Original!! Anyways, we all had a great time. Atleast all my friends had. I just trudged along. All around me, people were shouting with joy, screaming with delight and generally giving verb form to all the adjectives that one generally associates in these circumstances!! For my part, I just failed to see the point. Fine, it’s a new year. Big deal. What was all the fuss about anyway? There would be another one 365 days later.
Living the Moment
A couple of my friends were absolutely living the moment. They were very energetically blowing trumpets, wishing every passer-by a happy New Year and generally glowing with happiness. Looking at them, at that moment, I realized what it was that I was missing. A Spark of Insanity.
Don’t get me wrong though. I mean it as a compliment. Because, without that spark, one won’t be able to enjoy much in life. Take me for example. I am probably happy only when The Arsenal wins their games. If they don’t, I can get irritable and frustrated and generally make a nuisance of myself among my friends. That, you all might agree, is a sad life. But, when I look back, I have indeed done some insane things. Don’t believe me? Well, which sane person stays up all night playing games with a friend and then goes off to work without taking even a wink of sleep?! Who takes multiple cups of coffee to keep oneself awake so that a conversation consisting of such mundane things like irrelevant gossip about friends who got married to some serious discussions about various philosophical stuff throughout the night and into the early morning?! (Back me up on these, Dirac!!) It’s insane, I tell you. But it was extraordinary fun! I had absolutely loved it. And thinking about these things, I realized that even I had that spark of insanity. I just needed to let it glow.
And that is what i have been trying to do ever since. The New Year gave me something to think about, something to work on. And i believe my friends here are seeing a marked difference in me. I have just been letting the insane part of myself take over more. But at the risk of sounding clichéd, too much of anything is not good. And i obviously would not want to go completely insane!! One only needs a spark of insanity to enjoy life, not a whole battery’s worth!!!
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“It’s a match made in heaven!! Even the Gods are coming down to watch it. It’s mind-boggling!!”
“You mean, the imagination boggles?”
“Yes!!”
I inspected my imagination. He was right. It boggled.
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But that’s for another time…..!!
