Passion

Sunday, 9th of July 2006. Rome was on a high. Nearly half its population was in blue jerseys, with the mandatory word ‘Italia’ and optional number or player’s name. Italian flags were everywhere – rooftops, balconies, windows and a lot of people were proudly waving it all over Rome. The shops were rapidly running out of blue jerseys, national flags and plastic trumpets. Big screens were installed near the majestic Roman architectural wonders.

As the day passed, I found that the number of blue-jersey-wearing-Italian-flag-bearing-trumpet-blaring-chirpy-people around me was increasing. Even the attendants at Mc Donalds were wearing the Italian blue jerseys. Towards the evening beer was flowing down the roads of Rome. The drunk got noisier. Flag waving people were rushing through the streets in their vehicles.

By 7 PM the traffic was quite thin and was getting thinner. A few on the roads were rushing as though mad dogs were chasing them. Probably, they were getting themselves positioned in front of TV sets at home and big screens all over Rome.

Leonardo Express took me from Rome Termini to Fiumicino Airport. While moving towards security check at the airport, a couple of guys were kicking a football. I think the securities and airport authorities at any Indian Airport would have gone crazy at such an action. They smiled at us and we smiled back. One of the guys kicked the ball towards us and my friend kicked it back to them. Smiles were exchanged once again.

We were waiting for the flight. Suddenly a bunch of people went ecstatic. One of them was on phone. He conveyed some news to his group and the group went mad. They were jumping up and down and punching their fists in the air. May be the team they support had just scored a goal. My friend was so upset that the match was not telecasted live at the Airport.

We boarded the flight. The pilot made his customary speech welcoming the passengers and giving a few details about the journey. He then continued to make a sheepish laugh and announced that France and Italy were tied at 1-1. During our journey, the pilot announced that Italy had become the World Cup Champions. The passengers greeted the news with spontaneous screams and applause. They congratulated each other. One waved the Italian flag inside the plane. A kid went to the mike and shouted “Viva Italia!” with joy.

That was pure passion or mania. Passion is a funny thing. Passion leads us either to celebrations are heartbreaks. I shall be passionate about my studies. I shall try to learn anything and everything about my favorite subject. But, I cannot assume that my favorite subject is better than the other subjects. I shall be passionate about my work. I shall put my 100% in whatever I do. I shall try to design and develop efficient, bug-free applications within the given deadline. But there is no point in being devastated if something goes wrong. I shall take it as a lesson learnt and try to do better the next time. Life is a continuous process of refining oneself.

I shall be passionate about myself and my family and friends. But that doesn’t mean that I should believe that whatever I do or my family or friends do is always correct. I shall be passionate about my country and my culture. That doesn’t mean that I have to consider that India is the best country in the whole world. I shall always believe that India will become a lot better in the future and shall do whatever is possible towards it. I shall be passionate about my mother tongue and consider that it is a great language. But, that doesn’t allow me disregard other languages.

On a lot of occasions, we are passionate about things that are out of our control. I shall be happy if India wins in sports. But, what is the point in painting the player’s house black and burn effigies of players if they lose a match? I love arts. I like to read literature, listen to music and watch movies. They entertain me. But forming fan clubs, watching movies on first day first shows… I think that it is more of madness than passion.

I have my own opinion about politics. I like and dislike certain agenda of certain parties. I believe that politics is one of the best means to serve humans. But I can only feel pity for people who neglect themselves and their family to put politics and politicians ahead. It is more of stupidity than passion.

Passion is for lesser humans. Lesser the passionate, greater the human you are. Passion narrows down one’s mind. Passion makes you see only what you want to see. It doesn’t allow you to see the truth. Being neutral and level minded may help you to see the real scenario. Being devoid of passion may help you to prevent unwanted heartbreaks. But, on the flip side, it could make you boring. A passionless person is always considered a boring person no matter how practical he may sound.