Anybody who's taken off to the hills or to some other quiet spot for a holiday knows how the experience calms the mind.
There must be something about the hills and the sea, about fresh air and miles of green coverage, about the sounds of birds and insects that is enormously healing.
According to psychologists, people who are born and brought up in cities are twice as likely to go mad than those who live outside cities. Even those who are genetically disposed to psychoses like schizophrenia can avoid going insane if they don't have to live in cities. So the shrinks say.
It's a grim thought. Cities are where people are forced to live in order to earn their bread. Cities are also where many choose to live for the stimulation and diversions they offer.
But madness, of course, is a very relative thing. And the line between sanity and insanity a very fine line.
I think this as I sit in the shade of a beach shack one morning and gaze at the shimmering sea and the foreigners lying on the hot sand in the hot sun, tanning themselves. Some of the bodies are slowly turning a lobster red. Even the dogs are sitting in the shade.
Completely mad, the Indian waiter says to me, shaking his head and gazing at the sun bathers. Only someone mad will lie in the hot sun like this all day.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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Some time back a few doctors in Mumbai discovered a strange phenomenon – people who had to abandon holidays because of the paranoia they had developed- fear of open spaces! The opposite of claustrophobia-my father used to needle all the retired people to leave their flats in Mumbai and go to a quiet location and live peacefully- they thought he was a little potty- I think the artificial buzz of the city gets to people- the journey everyday from one distraction to another gets addictive and people generally hate to be left alone with their thoughts- the concept of vague music in lifts/aircrafts etc is for the mind to get distracted as people are actually uncomfortable when there is silence. As for goras wanting to become darker , our darker brethren are doing everything to become fair and lovely.
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