Fasten that seat belt for God’s sake!!

There is no other species in the world as contradictory and confused as humans!

I’ll tell you why I think so and by the end of this blog I’ll have you nodding your heads – wait a minute – I said nodding in agreement; not nodding off to sleep!!! 😉

We all love our lives don’t we? And so we should. Nothing wrong in that.
We all want to enhance the quality and increase the quantity of our life right? Well nothing wrong here either.
So we go to great lengths to squeeze out all the extra years that we can out of our lives – like we do to squeeze out all the last bits of toothpaste from the tube!

We spend a fortune on medicines and drugs, elixirs and potions – hoping to postpone the inevitable and keep Lord Yama (God of Death) at a respectful distance.

We perform pujas and penances, chant mantras and prayers, so that the Gods will bless us with many more years on earth – and if we get to keep most of our teeth and at least some of our hair too till the ripe old end, then boy we’re truly blessed!

Inspite of back problems and creaking knees, we still make an effort to bend down in front of our elders, in exchange for their mandatory blessings for a long life – “Jeete raho – may you live long” is music to our ears!!

We extend our hand, palm upward, for the palmist to analyse our life line. The longer he predicts it is, the wider is our smile and the deeper is our sigh of relief as we tell him to keep the change. All of it!! Now what was that he mentioned about 10 children…..? That’s rubbish!! 😉

We check out auspicious times before we step out of the house so that the divine stars and planets ensure our safe return. Sneezed while at the doorway?? Uh oh that’s not a good omen – better get back in and wait for 2 minutes. Or sneeze twice more. Odd numbers are okay apparently! 🙂

So you see…. we’re eager for help from any source for that long long life. And why not! Life’s Good after all. And we have just the one life, unlike a cat. So we might as well do all we can to make it last!

So far so good!

Then, and herein lies the contradiction and hence my confusion…….

Then, why do we make a fuss to wear that helmet? Isn’t it recommended for our safety and therefore the longevity of our life? But no, a law has to be passed and it has to be made compulsory before we reluctantly put it on; sometimes simply balancing the thing precariously on the head without strapping it on. And we think the cops are stupid for not noticing that!

Why do we text or talk on the cell-phone while on the move? Again there’s a law against it but who cares!! “Have phone, will talk!!” right!! We are particular about the expensive protective cover for the phone but a protective helmet for our heads??? Nah!! Such a nuisance!

Why don’t we fasten that seat belt? Is it just an accessory or has it been designed for our safety? Shouldn’t we instinctively be fumbling for the belt the minute we sit in the vehicle, without a seat-belt warning beeping away or a traffic cop chasing us, to make us do it?

Why do we ignore traffic signs or pedestrian crossings and jaywalk? We curse the authorities for making us walk  several extra steps, and we’d rather cut short our life with a hop, skip and jump across the road.
To deter people from crossing the road randomly, the authorities in Abu Dhabi put up barriers all along the length of the road dividers in the main streets. But some determined and dedicated jaywalkers simply dashed across and climbed over the barriers to get to the other side. While those who couldn’t go over it, sawed away some sections at night so they could go under it!  🙂

And so it goes on …….. Our life, our safety, our responsibility right? Yet, we need laws, rules, warnings, fines and the traffic cops to enforce us to do things for the good of our own life? Confusing. Contradictory.

You get my point guys?

Then fasten that seat belt for your own sake!!

 

 

This post was originally written for Anindya when he invited me to do a Guest post for his blog My Daily Journal. You can check out it out here.
Thank you very much Anindya!!
He’s got a wonderful blog where he features several versatile genres and styles of writing. And he reviews music and music bands too. Go on and take a look at his blog! 🙂