Dear Friends,
It is very enlightening to know that even FEAR can make money. A lot of money. Humans have evolved so much that they eliminated or controlled all their natural enemies. Apart from their own species, nothing can threaten to kill human beings. They developed such skills and techniques to make a tiger dance like a cat and a lion roll like a joker (if any was lucky enough to escape the poachers). Why even the world's largest animal, the whale, also dives into the depths of the ocean with its tail in its mouth when they see us. Only natural disasters still remain as factors that make us fear now and then, but these are also well predicted and taken care of most of the time.
Hence, humans had lost the sense of fear. But without fear, there is no fun. So, some great businessmen found the demand and designed various games to make us scared to death. And we pay for it.
The super-fast and highest roller coasters to drop you vertically at a hundred kilometers speed with turns and twists guaranteed to take the shit out of you, the sky drops, base jumping, skydiving, the haunted castles, the ghost stories, the horror movies, the Fear Factor, Lost TV series, and then the BUNGY JUMP. Yes, fear generates billions of dollars. The more fear, the more fun, and the more money.
I am not a Superman or an Indian film hero for that matter to sustain ultimate fear and keep laughing. When I went to the kids' heaven, Disney World in Orlando, it was so much fun until I boarded a roller coaster called Space Mountain. I am not a very big fan of roller coasters, though I love speed. But since it was called Space Mountain and showed pictures of all planets, I thought they would slowly take us through the parade of the planets and tell us about stars. Just ate a large chicken burger too as astronomy is a large subject and takes a lot of time.
Inquisitive always and to be the first to explore, I took the first seat in the 5-seat roller coaster. It started slowly but then it soon plunged vertically into total darkness where you can see stars all over (I don't know if they were really there or just in my mind). It twisted, dropped, turned sharply at high speed. The girl who was sitting behind me started yelling spine-chillingly as soon as the journey started. I wanted to shout "chup chup arre mujhe mat daraana meri amma." But my teeth were gripped too tight with fear all the time until the ride ended to make any sound, and I escaped like an unspoken hero. Are yaar riding bolo, racing bolo ya flying bolo...unspoken hero subh kuch karsakta hun but I don't want to buy fear again. I had to eat the same burger twice as it came out of my mouth as the ride ended.
Be confident or act like one, no one can tell the difference. Somehow I always managed to act confident and display a fearless look like the TERMINATOR on my face, and I never feared trying something new and adventurous all the time. So when I came to New Zealand, I found Taupo Bungy. It is one of the best bungee jumps in New Zealand because of its direct drop of 50 meters into the green Waikato river near the town Taupo, very scary and very attractive too.
I am a hero, you see, so I went straight to the girl at the booking counter and asked her to book me for a jump. She said, "Very nice, when do you want to jump?" "Right now," I was about to say when I heard "Eeeeeekkkkkkkkkkooooooooooohhhhhhhaaaaaaaa." I was confident that somebody slipped off the cliff and died and was about to run out when the girl asked me again coolly, "When do you want to jump?" I told her that someone must have slipped off the cliff and fallen. She smiled and said, "No no, don't worry, it's the bungy jumper." I was relieved and said, "Why do these timid girls come all the way and do these things when they are so scared?" She gave a nice smile but something behind that smile and asked me again, "Ok when do you want to jump?" I was about to say "Right now" again when I heard another death cry from a man this time, "Ooooh Godddddddd," as if he had just seen God and went to heaven with him.
"Tomorrow," I finally managed to say, gathering all my guts and trying to act as confident as when I came in. "Today I am very busy." I really wanted to say I won't jump, but being a man and not wanting to look frightened before that nice girl, I said that. Each jump costs $100, which itself shows you how much fear you are buying. Then I asked if I can see people jumping off and went to the jumping platform to get used to and get some more courage. But as I saw more and more jumping and screaming to death, I was not very sure if I wanted to show up the next day.
The next day I came back not to jump but just to see more people jumping off and screaming. I need at least that much entertainment for the money I paid. But as she saw me, smiled, and asked, "Ok, can you just stand on the weighing machine please?" I involuntarily stood on the weighing machine but told her that I am not going to jump. She smiled sympathetically and with a marker noted my weight 54kg on my hand. Then asked me for my belongings, nothing should be in the pockets. Like a schoolboy who doesn't want to go to school but scared to say that to his mom, knowing that he will be sent anyway, I emptied my pockets into a cover and stood there with a sad and frightened face, unable to stop them from throwing me from that height.
Then she asked me to follow her to the jumping platform. The platform itself is specially built, extending to 40 feet into the air from the vertical rock face. Another buddy reconfirmed my weight and started making arrangements. I was looking back and forth for a chance to run away, but they closed the gate. I was not even wearing shoes. I was just wearing my shorts and sandals. What if the rope slips off my feet...
She was attaching the bungee cord to my legs and seeing I was too tensed, told me, "Don't be afraid. There is an easy way to jump. Instead of looking down and facing the depth, you just keep looking at my beautiful face and just fall back. You will be down in no time."
I was fighting my own fear and trying to win over it and absent-mindedly said, "I rather face my own fear and jump." Bang! She left the ropes there and called, "John, you look after this guy," and went away angrily. I told you she was beautiful, but I was really trying to face my own fear and win it. But now I am more scared as she might have attached the rope to only one leg, expecting to have great fun when I hang on one leg screaming.
Then the guys came and checked everything and told me, "Ok, now you walk to the edge, put your hands up and jump." "Oh, that's all," with a Terminator face again. I took a deep breath as if that's my last and slowly walked to the edge. Unlike a schoolboy, I always had the chance to quit, but then some part of me is saying that I should do it. I waved at the camera and wanted to jump like Superman but jumped like Hanuman.
Then the time stopped. I was descending only inch by inch in slow motion. It's a free fall. It's beyond ecstasy. I actually opted to touch the water, but due to my feather-light weight, I could not reach the water. The first time I came all the way down, I enjoyed it in silence. But the bungee pulls you up again a couple of times to almost half the height, giving you the same feeling all the time. Then I started laughing like hell with fun. As soon as I was on the ground, I was running to...take another jump.
We should always have fear. We should respect fear. We should know our limits. And then try to win over it and go beyond the limits. People associate adventure with danger. Adventure is something done under complete safety. Of course, accidents do happen. But if you compare the number of deaths in road accidents to the number of deaths of adventurers, you will know what I mean. More safety, more adventure. When I started the world tour, everybody was so fear-struck and said, "Why do you want to do such a dangerous thing?" I always told them that I am going to be much safer than many millions of Indian riders. As I wear a helmet, gloves, shoes, and safety gear all the time and ride according to rules and particularly not in a hurry to reach. Whereas they never care to wear even the helmet unless they see a policeman ahead. Just a seat belt which lies on your side all the time can save your life if an accident occurs. And if you still don't care to wear it, you are not only putting your life in danger but you don't care for all those who depend on you and love you. Life is so precious, and you only have one to lose with a silly avoidable mistake. So be safe, ride safe, have a lot of adventure in your life.
It is very enlightening to know that even FEAR can make money. A lot of money. Humans have evolved so much that they eliminated or controlled all their natural enemies. Apart from their own species, nothing can threaten to kill human beings. They developed such skills and techniques to make a tiger dance like a cat and a lion roll like a joker (if any was lucky enough to escape the poachers). Why even the world's largest animal, the whale, also dives into the depths of the ocean with its tail in its mouth when they see us. Only natural disasters still remain as factors that make us fear now and then, but these are also well predicted and taken care of most of the time.
Hence, humans had lost the sense of fear. But without fear, there is no fun. So, some great businessmen found the demand and designed various games to make us scared to death. And we pay for it.
The super-fast and highest roller coasters to drop you vertically at a hundred kilometers speed with turns and twists guaranteed to take the shit out of you, the sky drops, base jumping, skydiving, the haunted castles, the ghost stories, the horror movies, the Fear Factor, Lost TV series, and then the BUNGY JUMP. Yes, fear generates billions of dollars. The more fear, the more fun, and the more money.
I am not a Superman or an Indian film hero for that matter to sustain ultimate fear and keep laughing. When I went to the kids' heaven, Disney World in Orlando, it was so much fun until I boarded a roller coaster called Space Mountain. I am not a very big fan of roller coasters, though I love speed. But since it was called Space Mountain and showed pictures of all planets, I thought they would slowly take us through the parade of the planets and tell us about stars. Just ate a large chicken burger too as astronomy is a large subject and takes a lot of time.
Inquisitive always and to be the first to explore, I took the first seat in the 5-seat roller coaster. It started slowly but then it soon plunged vertically into total darkness where you can see stars all over (I don't know if they were really there or just in my mind). It twisted, dropped, turned sharply at high speed. The girl who was sitting behind me started yelling spine-chillingly as soon as the journey started. I wanted to shout "chup chup arre mujhe mat daraana meri amma." But my teeth were gripped too tight with fear all the time until the ride ended to make any sound, and I escaped like an unspoken hero. Are yaar riding bolo, racing bolo ya flying bolo...unspoken hero subh kuch karsakta hun but I don't want to buy fear again. I had to eat the same burger twice as it came out of my mouth as the ride ended.
Be confident or act like one, no one can tell the difference. Somehow I always managed to act confident and display a fearless look like the TERMINATOR on my face, and I never feared trying something new and adventurous all the time. So when I came to New Zealand, I found Taupo Bungy. It is one of the best bungee jumps in New Zealand because of its direct drop of 50 meters into the green Waikato river near the town Taupo, very scary and very attractive too.
I am a hero, you see, so I went straight to the girl at the booking counter and asked her to book me for a jump. She said, "Very nice, when do you want to jump?" "Right now," I was about to say when I heard "Eeeeeekkkkkkkkkkooooooooooohhhhhhhaaaaaaaa." I was confident that somebody slipped off the cliff and died and was about to run out when the girl asked me again coolly, "When do you want to jump?" I told her that someone must have slipped off the cliff and fallen. She smiled and said, "No no, don't worry, it's the bungy jumper." I was relieved and said, "Why do these timid girls come all the way and do these things when they are so scared?" She gave a nice smile but something behind that smile and asked me again, "Ok when do you want to jump?" I was about to say "Right now" again when I heard another death cry from a man this time, "Ooooh Godddddddd," as if he had just seen God and went to heaven with him.
"Tomorrow," I finally managed to say, gathering all my guts and trying to act as confident as when I came in. "Today I am very busy." I really wanted to say I won't jump, but being a man and not wanting to look frightened before that nice girl, I said that. Each jump costs $100, which itself shows you how much fear you are buying. Then I asked if I can see people jumping off and went to the jumping platform to get used to and get some more courage. But as I saw more and more jumping and screaming to death, I was not very sure if I wanted to show up the next day.
The next day I came back not to jump but just to see more people jumping off and screaming. I need at least that much entertainment for the money I paid. But as she saw me, smiled, and asked, "Ok, can you just stand on the weighing machine please?" I involuntarily stood on the weighing machine but told her that I am not going to jump. She smiled sympathetically and with a marker noted my weight 54kg on my hand. Then asked me for my belongings, nothing should be in the pockets. Like a schoolboy who doesn't want to go to school but scared to say that to his mom, knowing that he will be sent anyway, I emptied my pockets into a cover and stood there with a sad and frightened face, unable to stop them from throwing me from that height.
Then she asked me to follow her to the jumping platform. The platform itself is specially built, extending to 40 feet into the air from the vertical rock face. Another buddy reconfirmed my weight and started making arrangements. I was looking back and forth for a chance to run away, but they closed the gate. I was not even wearing shoes. I was just wearing my shorts and sandals. What if the rope slips off my feet...
She was attaching the bungee cord to my legs and seeing I was too tensed, told me, "Don't be afraid. There is an easy way to jump. Instead of looking down and facing the depth, you just keep looking at my beautiful face and just fall back. You will be down in no time."
I was fighting my own fear and trying to win over it and absent-mindedly said, "I rather face my own fear and jump." Bang! She left the ropes there and called, "John, you look after this guy," and went away angrily. I told you she was beautiful, but I was really trying to face my own fear and win it. But now I am more scared as she might have attached the rope to only one leg, expecting to have great fun when I hang on one leg screaming.
Then the guys came and checked everything and told me, "Ok, now you walk to the edge, put your hands up and jump." "Oh, that's all," with a Terminator face again. I took a deep breath as if that's my last and slowly walked to the edge. Unlike a schoolboy, I always had the chance to quit, but then some part of me is saying that I should do it. I waved at the camera and wanted to jump like Superman but jumped like Hanuman.
Then the time stopped. I was descending only inch by inch in slow motion. It's a free fall. It's beyond ecstasy. I actually opted to touch the water, but due to my feather-light weight, I could not reach the water. The first time I came all the way down, I enjoyed it in silence. But the bungee pulls you up again a couple of times to almost half the height, giving you the same feeling all the time. Then I started laughing like hell with fun. As soon as I was on the ground, I was running to...take another jump.
We should always have fear. We should respect fear. We should know our limits. And then try to win over it and go beyond the limits. People associate adventure with danger. Adventure is something done under complete safety. Of course, accidents do happen. But if you compare the number of deaths in road accidents to the number of deaths of adventurers, you will know what I mean. More safety, more adventure. When I started the world tour, everybody was so fear-struck and said, "Why do you want to do such a dangerous thing?" I always told them that I am going to be much safer than many millions of Indian riders. As I wear a helmet, gloves, shoes, and safety gear all the time and ride according to rules and particularly not in a hurry to reach. Whereas they never care to wear even the helmet unless they see a policeman ahead. Just a seat belt which lies on your side all the time can save your life if an accident occurs. And if you still don't care to wear it, you are not only putting your life in danger but you don't care for all those who depend on you and love you. Life is so precious, and you only have one to lose with a silly avoidable mistake. So be safe, ride safe, have a lot of adventure in your life.
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