Today was yet another dragging day at work but for one exception. I received a forward from a colleague, N. Yeah, nothing new about getting a forward when you are in the software industry (that’s how we spend half of the day right?). The exception was that it was not a mushy forward or a funny one, no sir, rather it was a hacker’s puzzle. I am a big sucker for puzzles and riddles and I got started on this one right away (with work pending, mind you!!!). There were 23 levels in all and I was able to clear the first thirteen. I was very proud of myself, even though I had 10 more levels to go. My PM screaming reminded me that I was in office and I reluctantly got back to work. Towards the evening, I started chatting with a friend, P, who was basically getting bugged. I sent him this puzzle just for the heck of it, but when he cleared the 13th level (fundoo P!!!), I was hooked. Then, we both sat n worked our way till we cleared the 23rd round (thanks to google btw). Basically, had fun solving it, the drive to get till the last level was amazing. Nothing much actually but the whole episode got me thinking about our penchant for the unknown and the unseen.
"The fear of the unknown"…that’s what the unknown is famously associated with..fear. But, I beg to differ. In daily context, I see the unknown associated with intrigue, excitement and mystery. Right from college days when your first crush was kewl, suave and mysterious only till the moment you got talking to them or when u sat in a circle with all your friends on a Saturday night trying to get talking to the spirits to know what happened after death, or when you just had to know how a particular movie ended (oh gaaawwwddd!!! I hope he gets her, he loves her soooo much!!! Why can’t she see it???) or what was Da Vinci thinking while painting "The Last Supper" or just what if his entire theory about Christianity is right or when u play a video game for the very first time and just can’t wait to see what the next level holds or when you think what you will be up to this very day the next year or when you read the "forecast for the day" on your way to the office…at several such instances, the unknown tempts us, excites us and yeah, I admit, sometimes, scares us as well.
I could never really figure out the why behind this obsession for the unknown. What do we find so exciting about it? The things that surround us do not really intrigue or bother us much. In fact, the things that are most obvious are the ones, which we miss out on most of the times. We are always on a quest to find out the story behind the story, the pages within the book.
But, today, when I thought about it on my way back home, it somehow made sense. The whole thing just fit. If not for this curious nature of ours, mankind would still be in the stone age, leading a life just like any other animal. Imagine no malls, no CCD’s, no Crosswords, no computers, no pizza huts, no Levi's, no shopping, no Sensex, no blogs (!!!) awwwww, that would be a boring time!!! The whole curiousity aspect of our nature has given a whole new dimension to our existence. Maybe this anticipation and excitement about what the future holds is the key factor in making life a journey to look forward to. Seriously, how many of us would be interested in living if we knew beforehand what exactly each day held for us??? Nah, that would be sooooo BORRIIINNNNG!!! :)
"The fear of the unknown"…that’s what the unknown is famously associated with..fear. But, I beg to differ. In daily context, I see the unknown associated with intrigue, excitement and mystery. Right from college days when your first crush was kewl, suave and mysterious only till the moment you got talking to them or when u sat in a circle with all your friends on a Saturday night trying to get talking to the spirits to know what happened after death, or when you just had to know how a particular movie ended (oh gaaawwwddd!!! I hope he gets her, he loves her soooo much!!! Why can’t she see it???) or what was Da Vinci thinking while painting "The Last Supper" or just what if his entire theory about Christianity is right or when u play a video game for the very first time and just can’t wait to see what the next level holds or when you think what you will be up to this very day the next year or when you read the "forecast for the day" on your way to the office…at several such instances, the unknown tempts us, excites us and yeah, I admit, sometimes, scares us as well.
I could never really figure out the why behind this obsession for the unknown. What do we find so exciting about it? The things that surround us do not really intrigue or bother us much. In fact, the things that are most obvious are the ones, which we miss out on most of the times. We are always on a quest to find out the story behind the story, the pages within the book.
But, today, when I thought about it on my way back home, it somehow made sense. The whole thing just fit. If not for this curious nature of ours, mankind would still be in the stone age, leading a life just like any other animal. Imagine no malls, no CCD’s, no Crosswords, no computers, no pizza huts, no Levi's, no shopping, no Sensex, no blogs (!!!) awwwww, that would be a boring time!!! The whole curiousity aspect of our nature has given a whole new dimension to our existence. Maybe this anticipation and excitement about what the future holds is the key factor in making life a journey to look forward to. Seriously, how many of us would be interested in living if we knew beforehand what exactly each day held for us??? Nah, that would be sooooo BORRIIINNNNG!!! :)
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