In Search Of a Hobby-Kumar Bahukhandi

Author

Other day I was chatting to a friend on Face Book,it was very good till she asked me what my hobbies were?

I love to do so many things. But could I mention any of them to be a hobby? “Is it necessary for a person to have some hobby?” I thought. At the time of meeting a girl for marriage she asked me what were my hobbies. I found it so difficult to mention even a single one. I was in a fix. What should I say? What would she think if I said I had no hobby? I felt concerned then. I always enjoyed movies, reading,chatting to friends,partying and sometimes writing. But there is nothing special. Everybody likes it. Whether just liking something is a hobby? Having found myself exasperated I set out to master this mind-monster called “hobby”. I took out a dictionary and started searching the meaning of “hobby” so that I could fit my liking in it. This would give me extra confidence to answer anyone who would ask me what were my hobbies. The dictionary proved to be of not much help in making me comfortable.

My sister loved reading. My mother loved knitting and cooking. I felt so ashamed for not having a hobby. So I decided to choose a hobby for myself. But the big question before me was which hobby should I choose? I started observing people. What do they do apart from their regular work. I finally asked my sister how to find out a hobby. She suggested to first find out my passion for a subject. This included writing, listening to music etc. My answer was “no” to all these suggestions. Then I remembered a book in which it was mentioned that for becoming successful first step you have to take is to set goals. So I set a goal for myself to find out one hobby.

One day while I was reading a newspaper, suddenly my maid-servant who was cleaning the floor, caught my attention. I started thinking about her. Is she having any hobby? Definitely not. Because her goal was only to feed the family by working. She might not be getting enough time or money for such things as pursuing hobbies. I was elated over the thought that I was not alone for not having a hobby. But then she had a reason for not having a hobby. In my case I had time and money too, to afford a hobby. Again I started finding out my favourite hobby.

Then I read an advertisement in the newspaper for hobby classes. I inquired with them what type of hobbies they were teaching. They answered that the classes were for children only. I realised that it was too late for me to create a hobby at this age. So, I made up my mind to take assistance of my father. Finally I telephoned my father and asked him what was my favourite childhood activity. He said my favourite work was to beat other children. “Oh! it was a dangerous hobby”, I thought. “Thank God! I did not have a hobby”. I felt relieved. Finally, I realised I was already peaceful with what I was and dropped all my frantic efforts to find a hobby for myself.

Imagination can soar high ever beyond the realms of limitless sky. Is it akin to day dreaming or living in a fool’s paradise? Certainly for many, it’s a denial but a few amongst the pragmatic call it to be quixotic. At times caught in quandary between the deep sea and the devil, it fancies me to frequent in squandering with wild imaginations creating mental syndrome and bouts of heart aches for remaining in futility with the realities with life.

Yet the ecstasy remains unfathomed to trudge on its chimerical silhouette. Fear abounds me smearing my nous to be a consummate anchorite on building castles in air threatening my bravura of living with the realities of life. Bereft of its aftermath to cloister with my pragmatism still inebriation to plunge on wings of unsheltered imaginations happened to lure me beyond my reasons. A few glaring outbreaks of imagination by virtue of tryst with neurons can be alarmingly creative in its fervor and authenticity.

There is a poem by an English Poet W.E. Henley, called ‘Invictus’. The last lines go: “It matters not how straight the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I’m the master of my fate, I’m the captain of my soul”. Realise for a moment, all men folks had to cast off their eyes living blind, whereby, all women had to live with no ears indiscreetly deaf. Then the way the world gets surreal with inhabitants of blind males and deaf females may be grotesque.

It reminds me of a quote on Dr. Phil, “Men fall in love with their eyes. Women fall in love with their ears”. While the women folk devoid of their turgid beauty for display on ramps without any frills of their admirers. Ugliness of women may then excel the paragons of beauties in choosing the life partners without any social inhibitions and refrain from men folks. The world caught up in the corruption syndrome mainly on the plank of women exploitation can efface male hegemony and other social disparities. Women with no enemies around them even their peers not envious of each other for being gifted with better plumages. While men confined in darkness may then kindle their visions to visualise women more humanely and sacredly in different forms attributed in the role of a mother, sister, nieces, life companion and even committed friends.

Women solemnised to be inscrutable by men to be ‘unfathomed and unraveled’ may heave a sigh of relief for pre-possessing long cherished men’s fidelity. All the love epistles of the Romantic Keats written for Fanny Brown may be torn asunder, even tragic love lore of Romeo and Juliet ending up in wild goose chase, nonchalantly the Shakespearean’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ gets exalted on martyrdom of Braille’s dossiers.

May the silent witness of all actions now conjure a new world with the benediction to every man to be devoid of perception of sight while woman unresponsive to sound. Anjali Gupta may not face court martial, no more news of crimes being committed by police constables on teenage girls, Dawood may be in exile in India living a cloistered life, Saddam would have claimed to be a miner, Tendulkar to be a renowned chef, Bin Laden a mortician managing corpses at the cemetry, while Ash oblivious of celebrating Valentine’s Day with all beaus, parliamentary proceedings may no longer witness pandemonium, anathema like corruption, poverty, communalism, fight for religion and above all commanders’ war-terrorism is beyond human realisation. A quote by our former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, certainly is a true realisation for every living entity in our country: For you are the greatest genome, For this part of the globe”.