An Object Lesson in Exploration

“Man is exploring the sea in order to increase his resources.”

That is why when you drown on a Wednesday afternoon, no one looks for you. It should be sad and it would be in any other world, but here it isn’t. Because you see, as you are drowning, you find yourself surrounded by a swarm of jellyfish. Except they are really hot air balloons. It is not a miracle, water is like air. Whatever floats here, floats there. You breathe in because you can.

There are people inside the hot air balloons. Tiny business executives pumping up the currents in their tiny grey suits. But that’s not all that is interesting about the hot air balloons. When one floats by you, a little too close for comfort, you realise you can see through the tightly stretched latex spheres. There are lights inside. Fairy lights?

There is a city inside. It kind of resembles New York. But it could be any city- Bombay, London, Tokyo. Cities are essentially all the same unless they are your own. In the unfortunate event of you stumbling across the balloon that contained your city, you would have to drown further to get away from it but we are not there yet, so float. Let’s look at the citizens of this Bombay-London-Tokyo town.

The fairy lights are actually the tube-lights of the office buildings. A man has spent 18,90,000 rupees or 21,050.82 pounds or 30,07,368 yen installing those and yet the inhabitants of those offices still complain about them relentlessly. That man runs a hot air balloon in the sea now. No one in his balloon city complains. Mostly because they don’t know he’s there, running it.

The inhabitants of the offices also complain about the coffee. They complain about their rickety desks. They complain about their staplers which keep running out of pins. But they are happy about the sea. They have their vacation plans all set. They’ll go on a cruise this year. Will they take their family? Maybe. It does not really matter. Because they will jump off the ship eventually with little hot air balloons tied to their backs like parachutes.

Man is exploring the sea in order to increase his resources. He is not drowning. Neither are you. Have you reached where you wanted to reach? Now unfold the hot air balloon and step into the tiny basket. Build your own city and don’t look at the ones already floating out there. Because you know who complains about the lights there? You know who complains about the coffee there? You know who complains about the staplers?

Build your own city here like the 30,07,368 yen man and wave at him when he passes by you.