“through the act of living, the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us. . ."

Monday, December 20, 2010

A Methodical Life



There is a method to starting a bike.

A deliberateness, a pause, before every step.

Keenly detecting flecks of dust, dried droppings

Of crows, of oil leaked and sticking like paste

Mixed, with the finest of grains

Wiping it all clean.


Flipping back the stand, inserting the key

And turning it right, assured of the green light,

You depress the lever; throttle closed,

Carefully pressing your foot down on the kicker

You pause – again, before bringing it down again

Gently, but firmly and swiftly,

Listening to the plug catching a spark.

As the engine sputters to life, you listen to the thuds, even.

With such intimacy, with almost love, you listen

To the throb; your bike is alive.


In the mornings,

waking up, unwilling to let go my dreams,

Listening to my breath,

I wish I had a method

A deliberateness, an awareness

Of my life

The way I started my bike.

********

Balachandran V, Trivandrum, 20-12-2010

9 comments:

  1. A one too many the previous night would dampen the kicker and the plug.
    Good way to express the coming to life of the motor bike.

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  2. I wish they taught this way the working of 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines in engineering classes. It would make mechanical engineering so so interesting :)

    Is that you in that photo?

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  3. that was like ZEN :)...being aware of every moment...but i think the very non methodical life is what makes it fun.. i hate routine. after three days of routine i do something to break it..Once anything becomes methodical.. u no longer are aware of what you are doing.. it comes naturally.. like brushing your teeth. Which is why when you are learning to do something new, you are aware of everything. But once you have learnt it, it follows unconsciously... without awareness.

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  4. @Insignia: Knowing the mechanism of a bike, need not necessarily make one a better rider! Yes, that's me - July 2007, en route Ladakh.

    @K: 53 yrs of non-methodical life had its fun, but on the whole, not quite good. The point is, even if you are doing a routine thing, you should be aware of each moment; in fact, when you try it, being conscious of every moment is much more fun. Watching ourselves in a natural flow of action - its a good feeling.

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  5. I got a feel of how you have enjoyed life.That is a good picture.Ladakh! Where all have u gone Balan?
    There is some fun in that kind of disorder.Some things look good in clutter.

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  6. I, like the bard presumably, have never ridden a bike.
    Yet I always believed that there is a method in my madness.
    Your post validated it. Thanks.

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  7. @ A Bystander: Welcome to the world of another madman! :)

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