Leisure Pleasure

The other day this person asked me what is my hobby. It made me realize that now I have run out of hobbies. I m not into theatre and music definitely is not my forte. Films are too similar to television shows to offer relaxation and there is no way m taking up a sport. What I really need is to develop an interest in a subject deep enough to absorb decades of my life. For instance, take history. One can read thousands of books about it, or go to museums. I wish I were into history. Unfortunately, I am not.

Moreover, interest can’t be faked. Every now and then I can try to force myself to find history fascinating; I can buy a popular history paperback, open it up and stare at the words within. My eyes might be locked on the page, but my brain will glance with mock curiosity for the first few min before wandering off to some place else.

Recently, on holiday, I visited some ancient ruins. All I did was shuffle around alongside some random tourists. Everyone was being quiet n reverential, because that’s what’s expected of you. The same principle applies to art gallery museums. They are full of secretly bored people pulling falsely knowing faces. And I just cannot bear to be so hypocritical like them.

I m not saying all history and culture is rubbish or that everyone is as shallow as me; but I suspect that unless you are an expert or a hobbyist, then the average museum or gallery probably contains four or five fascinating items sprinkled among a whole lot of fillers. Yet if you dare shrug or yawn, everyone will think you are base. Or at least that’s how it feels. All of which makes it difficult to envisage developing a deep interest in history or art. So even these can be ruled out.

Perhaps ‘starting a collection’ would do d trick- though I’ve never understood how collectors pass their time. What do you do with a collection, apart from looking at it? You can clean it, I suppose, or build a display cabinet, but apart 4m that, what’s the whole point? Essentially, you are just accumulating atoms.

Talking of which let me tell u what else I don’t get: breathing. And that’s a load of atoms too. They go in, come out, go back in. BO-RR-ING. In which case, I might as well start nurturing it as a hobby. At least its one thing I will definitely stick to till the day I die.