The MASTER of his DESTINY

INTRO
He was a wise old man counting the last few days of his life on earth. I was a teenager who admired him for his wisdom, knowledge and humility. Once in the process of his - 'to and fro of getting admitted and discharged' , I visited him in the hospital. While encouraging me to work harder for my future, he said: "A philosopher once said 'Man is the MASTER of his DESTINY' ". I was awestruck by what I had just heard. 'How true it is!How mellifluous it is!' said my teenage heart. It was a moment of epiphany. Only to realize in the coming years that it wasn't really true!

The MOTORCYCLE conundrum
It was getting really difficult for me to balance between work and studies in recent times. Life ain't so rosy for doctors as people imagine it to be.  I was in an ambivalence whether or not to continue work. I was getting frustrated, so I decided to take leave for a month. Where else would an introvert go except his home. And then, there stood in front of me another ambivalence. Should I go home riding my motorcycle or should I take the bus?

On one hand, if I take the bus, it's going to be a boring journey and it'll obviously take more time; On the other hand, taking my motorcycle is a risky deal as it might rain anytime and my front tyre is as flat as an infant's bum. But if anything God has given me via Testosterone - apart from a hairy body and a balding hairline, it's an ounce of COURAGE. Perhaps 'OVERCONFIDENCE' is a more appropriate word. So I took the motorcycle.

I had to go from Gadag to Jayapura (a village 21km away from Sringeri). It's a 296 KM long journey. You heard it right - '296KMs'. That's not a distance a sane man chooses to ride on a motorcycle, that too with a flat tyre and an overcast sky. I didn't use the word 'OVERCONFIDENCE' for no reason!

The JOURNEY of PREDICAMENT
I had just crossed Harihara after having lunch. Lo and behold! A red colored rectangle with a '+' and '-' started showing up on the dashboard. And the stream of thought in my mind at that moment was like - " Battery.... Service guy didn't check.... I ignored..... Now I'm screwed..." 
 
Even with my limited knowledge I knew that if my bike turns off, I wouldn't be able to start it as it doesn't have kick start. Now I had two options - Either continue my rest half of the journey without taking a break and ensuring my bike doesn't turn off or get a new battery. And I did manage to get a new battery for my motorcycle at Malebennur (A few KMs away from Harihara). But the battery guy warned me - "Your rectifier seems to be gone. New battery won't avail you for long".


To be continued...

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