“Have you ever wondered why the cheetah is the fastest of all cats?” I asked, still shaken.
Oddly enough, I’d just run into a leopard in the middle of the night. It was only the second time I’d ever seen one in the wild — and as I slammed on the brakes, it vanished soundlessly back into the bushes.
Moments later, as I drove on, a hare darted into the beam of my headlights and began sprinting ahead of the car.
Something out of National Geographic but the question persisted.
I am a man of science, and logic, mathematics and statistics. I do not believe in astrology, numerology, Feng shui or Vaastu. Neither do I believe in homeopathy or ayurveda for that matter – if it were to work, it would be modern medicine, as of now it is just hope packed with lead, mercury and arsenic. But people find succour in such things; so much so that it is government policy now.
I differ from such things. I believe scientific methods can explain everything to a certain degree. I am also a romantic and concede that there are no poofs and underlying laws that can determine the outcome of matters of heart; but we are talking animal kingdom here, and more.
What we pursue shapes us – as a person, an organization, a nation.
There is pursuit of love and constitutionally enshrined, pursuit of happiness. And of course, pursuit of wealth.
But the method makes us who we are.
Cheetah is the fastest animal on earth because it chases the second fastest animal on land, the Springbok. It would still survive if it ate carcasses, but it would not be Cheetah.
The West chases scientific methods and inquiries build the Jet-Engine, and Google and OpenAI. Sends man to space and most of the times brings him back.
Something similar Rabindranath Tagore hoped from India – where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way. He wrote in his poem.
But that shit didn’t happen. Instead, a lot of our success comes from Astrotalk and Aastha Channel. I kept thinking as I drove away.