RISK

I came across this poem and I would like to share it with all of you.

To laugh, is to Risk appearing the fool.
To weep, is to Risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another, is to Risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to Risk loss
To love, is to Risk not being loved in return
To live, is to Risk dying
To hope, is to Risk despair
To try at all, is to Risk failure
But RISK we MUST
Because the greatest hazard to life is to Risk nothing.
The man who Risks nothing....Has nothing.....Is nothing.
He may avoid sufferings....but he simply cannot Learn, Feel
Grow, Love or Live
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave
He has forfeited freedom.
Only the person who Risks can be called a Free Man.

Kiss and Run

Don't get me wrong, this isn't about anything related to flirting or some nasty prank. I am still the good old decent guy. I am writing about some real incident after quite a long time, even posting on my blog after a long time.

The other day, I was enjoying my drive on my bike as the sky had cleared up(Chennai has been experiencing incessant showers for nearly a week). So were many others and hence a huge traffic.

I was waiting behind a Maruti Swift at a traffic signal for it to go green. The signal to turn right turned green and the vehicles to my right moved ahead. As I tried to move into the free space, a Honda car brushed past me. I had to stop abruptly. It was a close shave!

The Honda moved too close to the Swift before me. The distance between them was hardly a foot. Soon it was just few inches. Anymore further, the left rear view mirror of Honda would crash into the right rear view mirror of Swift.

But the Honda moved forward smoothly like a hot knife cutting into cheese and then CRASH!

The distance between the two cars had come down from inches to centimeters to millimeters and finally their front portions were touching each other side by side as if in a liplock (actually a tire lock). Had there been some CAR SENA like Shiv Sena or MNS for the cars "community", they would have attacked them for public obscenity.

Before the driver of Swift could realize what had happened, the lady driving the Honda launched into a tirade of abuses as if it was the Swift driver's mistake for the crash. I was simply shell shocked. Even the poor driver took some time to react.

Irony was that, the Honda's left rear view mirror was still intact and the Swift's right rear view mirror had been knocked off. Even before the Swift driver could react and as I moved my bike towards Honda's right to confront the lady, the signal turned green and the lady sped her Honda away with amazing alacrity. Maybe she realized her mistake and wanted to escape.

Moral of the story-
1. When a woman is at the wheel, maintain atleast a 10 feet distance or be prepared for her scorn.
2. Honda cars are sturdier than Maruti ones.