56. Thrill is worth a try, risk it

Avoiding danger is not safer in the long run

It is only recently, after he turned 70, that he sought to do away with the impulsive act he defined as 'thrill', something that seems to have eluded the forthright government official. Having known him from his pre-retirement days, I used to wonder why he would avoid using the 'red beacon' on his official car. It was a facility, he would suggest, that an already privileged officer can easily let go. Interestingly, his office gifted him the red beacon as a parting gift. 

Having found a new toy, he started floundering it on his private car to evade dispensing toll fee at the highways. Visibly elated but equally relieved, the feeling of deja vu lasted quite a few trips on the highway. Why would you do so when you were scared doing it? That is the fun of doing it, he would say. If one isn't scared, something is surely wrong, because the thrill is in itself scary. The day it isn't scary, there won't be any thrill in taking the risk.     

Howsoever thrilling, can such socially frivolous act be justified? Keep your moral prism aside, he stresses, any thrilling act has an intellectual side and is inherently creative. Without an iota of embarrassment, he tells me that hacking, the undesired act of breaking into the systems, was initiated by curious cyber kids who pursued it as an act of intellectual inquiry to draw thrill in the pursuit of knowledge. Little was realized then that one day hacking will be a big business.

Jumping toll comes naturally to us, as we are wired to breaking norms. Some do it, but most avoid risking it. Any act that helps stay clear of social norms or break institutional barriers evokes thrill, resultant adrenaline rush gives an unexpected kick. What is more, the sense of privilege that comes from being skillfully different heightens the right to enjoy oneself. You need to engage in the little things, within limits of civility, that would ordinarily bore you will suddenly thrill you.  

This is where the family during their Bali sojourn got it wrong, forced to unpack all that they had conveniently flicked from their hotel room, because it tantalized itself with hopes of possible fortune. Rest, as they say, has become history. That they had allowed the sense of obsession to get beyond what could have been the thrill of adventure dig them in. All said, the thrill of something new or weird is immensely alluring! One must not avoid getting one's thrill on. 

If there's even a slight chance of getting something that will make you happy, risk it. Author Helen Keller had remarked 'avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure'. With age no bar, life is either a daring adventure or nothing,  

First published in Deccan Herald, issue dated Oct 4, 2019.