Raving Rambling

A man once asked Nietzsche, “How can one develop one’s personality?” And Nietzsche replied, “By living dangerously.” I read this anecdote many years back and instantly fell in love with it. At that point I truly believed I was living dangerously. And what could be better than developing one’s personality while at it! We (my friends and I) had gone on several treacherous treks and come close to meeting our maker earlier than intended more than once. We used to race our Enfields at 100+kph for several kms at a stretch on India’s famously unpredictable roads where a holy cow or the ubiquitous pothole could accelerate your trip down the highway to hell. We would venture deep into forests supposedly infested with cheetahs and wild boars, and spend the night in the open, bragging of meeting the wild ones head-on, while being on the verge of peeing in our pants at the slightest rustling of leaves. While we continued in our delusions, here was a famous philosopher telling me I might actually b...