The waning joys of not knowing

Many things in life are most enjoyable when they are least expected. Like a surprise birthday party or meeting someone randomly after a long time. The pleasure of having an unplanned holiday or randomly finding out about a new song from your favourite artist is underappreciated.

The same goes with rain, when there is a drop of rain on your face and you look up to see the clear sky closing up with dark menacing clouds. There is a feeling of joy, maybe it is biological and we are wired up to feel it. For that one instant, you forget about the day, about upcoming deadlines, not having packed an umbrella, the major traffic that will unmistakably pile up and just enjoy the raindrops falling on your face. There is something raw in that moment, the feeling of being connected with nature, which we mostly try to avoid.

I was devoid of this pleasure today, which is the primary reason for inflicting my exasperation on you. It is not the fact that I didn’t get to enjoy the rain, but more so that I was made aware of the exact time rain was imminent courtesy of meteorologists and the good ol’ Google. So, I knew when exactly it would rain today and it did. It was so routine that it felt more like a dentist’s appointment rather than the complex natural phenomenon involving the topography, pressure systems and the apparent movement of the Sun.

Waiting for something is fun when you are not sure it would occur a hundred percent of the time. Otherwise, horse derbies would be empty and India vs Zimbabwe matches crowded. Waiting to receive a reply back to a letter, not sure if you would get one. Waiting for the newspaper to read about who won the grand slam because you weren’t allowed to watch it at 2 AM. Not knowing if there would be traffic on your route, so reaching the destination an hour early and just enjoying the place. The peace of not having anything to do but just to stand back and let life pass by for that time is cathartic.

I could live with knowing some stuff that was probable, but now the world has moved on to try and predict anything and everything. Just open the web to see the cricket match’s score and you get a WinViz percentage chance of India winning. Now even Big Basket knows before me that my pack of coffee is about to get over and recommends me to restock my supply. But is such microscopic prediction of our life and everyday activities beneficial or even the correct approach. For there are times when even I do not know what I want. There was a day when I did not have tea to drink for my pack was finished so I tried coffee and fell in love with it. I would never have had this experience if my tea was automatically restocked based on some prediction algorithm. I now think how many new experiences have I been robbed of, chances to explore a different part of myself or just stopped from being miserable. For when we are in uncharted territory or are uncomfortable are the moments that bring out our ingenuity and the creative process.

Not knowing which movie was good, which restaurant had the best kebabs, places to visit when in Paris, and the charm of experiencing and failing and succeeding is the real deal. At the end, having a great anecdote to tell and the bragging rights of finding that place are the things we will miss. Are we losing our individuality or is this the next step in the evolution of humans as a social animal? A blob of all the knowledge, experiences and leftover dreams, all crammed in one giant being, the internet.