Zen and the Art of City Biking

Zen Seeker: "What has Zen got to do with the Art of City Biking, O learned one?"

Learned One: "More than you can possibly comprehend at the moment, O zen seeker. City biking is not just about commuting from one point to another, of knowing when to change gears and when to go full throttle. It is, in the very least, the Art of Squeeze".

ZS: "Squeeze? Did I hear right?"

LO: "Yes. Squeeze. It is the art of squeezing within obstacles to find a way, just like water finds its way through boulders in upper Himalayas. A city biker must find his path, no matter how many obstacles mar his way. He will end up with scratches, the obstacles will scream at him, but no matter what, he cannot stop, he must go on. And there lies Zen - to find a way around obstacles and to keep going on."

ZS: "Interesting."

LO: "There's more to Zen and the Art of City Biking. It tells us that some people may be in the biggest, most comfortable cars, but they move at a crawling pace compared to the city biker, who has to bear the harshness of sun, pools of puddle, black fumes of smoke and constant blaring of horns, but keeps on moving at a good pace."

ZS: "So some people would rather choose discomfort over stagnancy. Very interesting, but this is getting too heavy."

LO: "You haven't read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, have you? Don't even try! There's more. The Art of City Biking is also the Art of Skidding every now and then, but letting Time the Great Healer (and the neighbourhood clinic) heal your wounds, and continuing biking without fearing the next crash."

ZS: "Wow, that's a lot of Zen for a single post."

LO: "Let me close with one last piece of Zen. City Biking is about freedom, constant motion, obstacles, and exchanging comfort for speed. Last but not the least, the Art of City Biking is the art of synchronizing your office hours to drop that cute co-worker home without worrying about the traffic!"

ZS: "Well said! :) "

Epilogue:
The author travels roughly 70 km a day commuting from home to work and back. He rides an ordinary city bike, and really wants to purchase a Honda.

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Facebook invites I turned down this week...

• A prospective client I met for business. I mean, that's what LinkedIn is for! You can't award business to someone when you see some of the lame quizzes they like to take (I plead guilty to that!)
• That college batchmate whom I rarely spoke to. I mean - you didn't feel the need to socialize with me then, what's changed now?
• Someone from my ex-company. I'd like to keep my "updates" away from your judgemental eyes!
  
• An intern who works for me. Why? He's a great guy and all that - but I'll add him later when he's no longer an intern. I don't want him to see "Screwed up week..." kind of status updates from me when he logs in!
• Someone from school who never spoke to me when I was in school. Moreover, a male of the species. Not interested! ;)
• A cousin. I suspect she just wants to spy on my feeds for female activity to alert her folks (and mine too maybe). True - there are other cousins and my young devil of a brother on my friend list who can do the same, but given that they publish not-so-family-friendly stuff ("Which sexy tennis star should you date" kind of quizzes) too, we have an unspoken mutual agreement of not taking stuff to elders.
  

Am I making a big fuss of nothing? After all, its just Facebook - a platform for attention-starved bored youngsters. Nothing serious. But then - what is not serious to me can be very serious to someone else, specially someone whom I know only in professional capacity. Better safe than worry!

Have similar experiences? Share in comments. :)

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Freak injury diary

Saturday 5 am : Woke up to turn off the alarm, but didn't make it back to bed. I don't remember what happened, but I do remember my nose bleeding so much it was like Kill Bill! (Un)fortunately there were no witnesses so I'll never know what really happened.

Some time early this week, dinner time : Was cooking my special pasta for entire family, when burnt myself with a splash of really hot molten butter. Fortunately it turned out to be a fantastic pasta. :)

Wednesday, 6:30 am : Was working out my triceps (or whatever will become my triceps in a couple of months) and hurt my back. Ouch!

Same day, late night : Can't sleep. Back hurts. No gym tomorrow.

Enough injuries for the week, hoping for a great weekend ahead!