At boarding, I don’t watch much television. Honestly, in the last 5 days, I watched less than 5 minutes of TV. I don’t really get to read the newspaper much either. If half of world population suddenly turned rabid, I wouldn’t really find that out quickly either, unless someone told me about it, or if I sat down for a spot of tea with one of them rabid people. Only yesterday, when checking out the prices of the new Trek Madone did I realize that the US – Singapore exchange rate was like 1.3! I thought it was low, but had no idea it was at those levels. Its like living in a bubble!
Anyway, tonight, after a long run/bike/run I sat down in front of the human race’s favorite invention attempting to find a light hearted comedy. Unfortunately, at that time, all I could find was a movie about horses which I didn’t want to watch, and the news. So there I sat, watching the news. News is generally classified into two broad categories, that occasionally overlap: good and bad. After a while, I couldn’t quite take it- almost every single thing broadcasted to me tonight fell most unmistakably into the dark side! What must have concerned most viewers was the astronomical inflation of the pice of just about everything, especially food. And then there were all the protests surrounding the Olympics, in the very first leg of the torch relay. And Interpol giving serious security warnings to Beijing regarding the Olympics…
Forgive the whiny pessimism. but tonight, the news made me see the earth as a big fat powder keg waiting to go off. It seemed that all that was required is a small trigger to begin the next chapter of horrible history, another great depression, another red october. I was genuinely nervous. I sure hope and pray things turn around.
And yet, I am reminded of that awesome sight that I saw this evening while in the saddle. Riding along Changi coastal road, on my way back home, I caught sight of the twilight sky. The sun was setting on the other side of Singapore, some fifty or so kilometers away, and although I couldn’t quite see it, I saw its radiance reflected against the sky. It was nothing short of beautiful. Shades of violet and orange interwoven in a magnificent tapestry. Words definitely don’t do the ephemeral experience of that twilight any justice. Maybe the world isn’t that ugly after all.
