Life is quite literally the road less-travelled! Well, who has seen tomorrow? In a sense, each moment we face is the newest experience of our lives, and these moments follow in instantaneous progression. Ever since I was allowed to drive, I have been navigating Bengaluru’s roads on two wheels. It began when I started college way back in 2003, and there’s been no looking back. As I transitioned from riding a scooterette then to a roadster now, a lot within and around me transitioned as well, and continues to.
On little rides with friends over notes, coffee shop hangouts, pub hops, casual urban road trips, and quiet dates; short visits to the stationery shop, the pharmacy, the vegetable market; an impulsive checkout of the latest fast fashion in town, or simply to catch the fresh blockbuster – the scooter was a loyal companion. And joining us on these memory-setting episodes that weave together what is defined as ‘life’, was the road.
As a journalist, the road has been a ubiquitous visage of my professional time, on which I headed to assignments, interviews, press conferences, or the unexpected spot coverage, and then to the newsroom and home again. After reporting innumerable news events, with an equal number of remarkable recollections to ‘write home about’, the two inseparable confreres remained my ride and the road. Today, while my profession is unchanged, my tasks and how I realise them have evolved. Not much riding anywhere, other than to the desk, and back home, but the road sits still, where it has always been.
The ride to work may seem like a mundane, routine effort, but accomplishing it every day, over the years, has garnered in me a sense of attachment to the route and more respect for the road. The route is so etched in my brain now that its approach seems like I’m on autopilot. Even the traffic scenarios are too predictable to be true. In all this familiarity, taking the road has been quite comfortable. Making my way through the traffic, the smoke, and the noise, in the rain, under the sun when I get to work, and under the moon and stars on my way back, there are two engines running at full steam – those of my motorcycle and my mind. Eyes transfixed on the road, with precision focus on the vehicles and humanity around, a million thoughts caress my brain cells. With heightened limits of concentration, even the thoughts that occur, do so vividly. There are images of life, family, my likes, books, travel plans, goals, dreams, my interests, doing good for others, what the future holds, a barrage of inextinguishable memories, forgotten friends, responsibilities, and priorities, all speckled with musings about work, and a prayer. Simple life lessons are learnt and hard decisions simplified. It’s therapeutic!
In all this cheery cacophony inside the head and outside, I notice my city in transition too – chaos, commotion, and concrete, wherever I look. Riding on the Airport Road flyover, I see the green in the distance churn into myriad other hues of brick and glass. Amid the vehicular density, the road is also losing its sheen, and there are people everywhere, even in the dead of night. I glide through all this change, watching other human beings going about their lives, and believing that they are coming to terms with their thoughts as well, on the road.
Life is one big road with lots of signs! From my vantage point astride my motorcycle, with the pace of a world changing and the speed of thoughts galloping in my mind, firm revelations emerge, between departure and destination. Often in life, we take others’ burdens upon ourselves, while sometimes, our burdens are lowered onto others, all for the sake of comfort and reassurance, and life carries on. However, not always does this work. The road, despite its blemishes and potholes, has steadily supported countless people on their journeys, as they discover answers to some of life’s questions, and arrive at their destinations.
(The writer’s views are personal)