Follow the Leader

Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without.

-- Matrix Reloaded

Choice or should I say the Paradox of choice is an interesting concept by itself. A rather loose interpretation of the Paradox of choice worth pondering upon is... Life without a choice won't be worth living and a Life with lots of choice makes living hell. Nonetheless I assume that the choice to live is inherently a sub conscious one that makes survival possible and the key to survival is to choose whether to rely on the grey matter or on your intuition. Both are important in equal measure and personally I believe it would be impossible to rely on one more than the other. However my belief system was shattered the day we visited the Turkish Ocupied Part of Cyprus. For there Punit brought to my notice a third component to rely on which apparently is more important than the brain... well no guesses here, the third possibility to rely for survival according to Punit is the GPS specifically his HTC-Touch Phone's GPS system. To corroborate this fact he explained it to me that he had a choice to trust either his brain or the GPS system blindly... well again no prizes for guessing what he chose.

Further proof that this inane... o sorry Punit innate choice you made were the roads that we traversed. Lets dive in a little deeper and start from the glorius second the proclamation was made. I distinctly remember the time for it was not a second more than 10 past 8 and we were on the prowl for the most elusive turtle beach ever present in this part of Cyprus. The truth is that there is no dearth of Turtle beaches in this part of Cyprus but then comes the GPS and the exact POI (Point of Interest) located by Punit amidst a myriad illegible lines that forms the map. Let the truth be told that the elusive Turtle beach was located by mere sight of a board though it did not lead us to the beach and that is a different story.

But now starts the true story for the GPS is alive and kicking... though in its pre natal stage it was benignly subjugated to a position not meant for it by a mere bugger who can hardly convert 6 cents to INR and there stands tall the GPS which has a chip for a brain and an ability to calculate routes on the fly. True the GPS like this bugger could not drive a car but then that was hardly an impediment since it had Punit to do the same. The bugger's drive till the Gas station was hardly as significant as a tiny speckle of fluid that trickles down when done specifically the fourth time after completing it for the first three times as specified by my once dear freind and room mate who towards the end of his stay contradicted himself and thus prooved the complete insignificance of the above significant theory that he upholded. But the GPS did not waste time dwelling upon this significantly insignificant fact and finally took our jouney in top gear.

Just if you are wondering we began with taking 3 whole rounds of the Gas station since the GPS refused to go where the sane man travells. It had made up its mind to take the road less travelled which as proclaimed by SRK in DDLJ is difficult but in the end will lead you to all the riches. Thus the way was chosen and in the process we almost got a couple of cars to break behind us... but then how do such things matter. Leading the way was the GPS and following it as the path of God was Punit, for this he had to make many sacrifices such as driving with one hand and navigating using GPS with the other which lead to a few off road experiences, but then this was minor as compared to what was to follow. We have gone past Mass Graves and through no entry roads and even through roads that passed through buildings not to mention the many times when Sarvo and I felt we were going around the same bush but again how does it matter for we reached our destination and after all I believe this is all that matters especially when the journey was a lot more enjoyable than a sad little drive on a straight long highway.

P.S - The Fight for the best phone is now so complicated that every time I try to put up a fight your GPS comes in the way. So the publication of this completely insignificant post seemed like a good opportunity to set the record straight--or at least firmly crooked