“I hate public transit. The smell of sweat, bodies gnashing against each other, an occasional motion-sick traveler.. The more I travel by this, the more I want to ensure that sick people are banned from traveling.. Coughing, sneezing, sounds of burps.. I want to put a stop to it all.
And hence, this week I called it quits with public service. If I was going somewhere, it was going to be fueled by my unending desire to get somewhere and the ability of my foot or my bike to take me there.
I am riding right this moment. With the proverbial wind in my crop cut hair and the sound of the engine grunting like a Arabian in its prime. The standup comedy in my head that always goes into overdrive in a public transit is silent now. No running commentary, no deep thoughts, nothing. Just the rhythm of a random song and a catchy beat guide my speed and a tapping foot on the footrest.
Riding alone into a city I've never been to, to stay at a place I haven't heard of, to try to converse in a language that I can only understand in aural terms, to eat a cuisine I've yet to savour fully..the uniqueness of this experience does not overwhelm me.
To be closer to the elements, including dust, gives one an old-world feel in his life. It reminds one of a time when gadgets and gizmos didn't rule our schedules, where meeting a person for a cuppa somewhere brought more joy than interacting with them online (whatever the form). Even as my Blackberry rests on silent in my bag pocket,I do not bother checking it. Apart from this and my watch, I've left every other device back home. This trip doesn't warrant communicating with anyone unless absolutely necessary.
No faces, no name, no places, no dame – nothing intimidates my memories. It is akin to Bellerophon riding Pegasus to slay the Chimera. Astride this beast, nothing seems impossible, nothing seems out of reach – even the skies are for the taking. Yet common to fate and the ties that bind us both, the machine and me, to the real world, we return home. Knowing fully well that tomorrow will bring with it more of the impossible, and knowing fully well that the strength to overcome it lies not far from oneself.”
…
