Can anyone guess ???

CAN ANYONE GUESS WHAT I WANT TO DO AT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE? How are you at guessing? It requires no intelligence at all and is just pure luck. Not that I doubt your intelligence or any such thing – just that it’s not needed where guessing is concerned. Guessing games always fascinated me as a kid. Any and everything seemed to be a guessing game and somehow, I enjoyed them. Yes, we played those simple games and I know you are saying to yourself “how stupid” - but they were fun. I remember adults playing some of these made up games with me. Their fist closed and “guess what’s in my hand”. One could guess till they were blue in the face and still get it wrong. Often the hand was empty and no clue as to why I did not say “nothing” when asked the question in the first place. Another was - both hands behind someone’s back and then the question being “guess in which hand I have the sweet”. I was crazy about sweets and everyone knew it. I never got that one right either, as they obviously shifted the sweet from one hand to the other every time I guessed. Now thinking back, “yes I must have been pretty stupid”. However, before you jump in to comment, please note, “I must have been around 8 years old. I still know what you are saying, “he was eight and so dumb”. No, I was not “so dumb”. Those were different times. Today eight-year olds are “oh so smart” and some are ready to go out on dates at eight ! I recently read an article in the newspapers about an eight year old lad who took his dad’s car for a spin and drove it down a few lanes till he was spotted and stopped by the cops- I need not go into specifics. Kids today are smarter than we were at the same age . Then there was that common fun game wherein everyone is sits in a circle. The name of the game was “I sent a letter to my friend”. One kid ran around singing: “I sent a letter to my friend and on the way, I dropped it and someone else has picked it up and put it in his pocket. It isn’t you; it isn’t you” ……… and that ‘’isn’t you’’ carried on for a few seconds till the kerchief being carried by the one running was dropped behind someone. Then that person had to pick up the kerchief and run and try and catch the one who dropped it. While this was supposed to be a sort of guessing game as to where the kerchief was dropped, everyone cheated. Let me not digress – there is something I want you to guess. You see, let me put it this way! For ages now I have wanted to do something which could be a trifle contentious or possibly debateable. No, it’s not sky diving or para gliding. In fact, a few days ago the topic came up & someone casually remarked “try it Michael and tick it off your bucket list”. “Sorry, it’s never been on my bucket list in the first place”. Am rather petrified of going up in a plane and then jumping out from the open door – I imagine my parachute not opening , or the instructor’s parachute not opening or me floating off without my chute and the instructor trying in vain to get a grip on me . Then I somehow manage to grab at his leg 2000 ft above the ground and hang on for dear life as we both sail to safety . I have seen a video of that happening and I do not want to have a video made of me in a similar predicament irrespective of the number of likes it would possibly garner. As a matter of fact my daughter did this and she came home beaming one day with the video of her exploits in the air and no, I was not amused, much to her consternation. Some one else suggested “zip lining” and I was seriously convincing myself that I could actually attempt it. After all what could go wrong? You are not very high up in the sky - You are zipped up securely to a line – you have one or two safety harnesses , then there is a helmet , gloves and all the required paraphernalia and you just float across to the other side where someone grabs you and pulls you up . And then I saw a video of a colleague doing exactly that, and then lo and behold she got stuck mid-way, and while she hung there for dear life, probably praying the Our Father and looking brave for the camera , someone had to zip in behind her and pull her to safety . Mind you the pics were up on Instagram for all to see. To crown it all, people congratulated her on her post, told her she was brave, and someone commented “thankfully all went well, and you are safe”. She was a brave lady. There ended my zip lining fantasy. I thought about her ordeal & imagined myself in a similar situation hanging from the zip line – unable to move forward or go back. Then there comes a dust storm and the line starts swinging violently in strong gusts of wind and I am being tossed about like a rag doll while swallowing dollops of sand. The instructor wants to come and save me, but the wind is so strong that he dare not risk it, so he signals to me to hang on , not to shift and not to worry as the harness is secure! So I hang on manfully and am finally saved and everyone claps and says “thank God you made it Michael” and my wife hugs me with tears in her eyes and says “were you scared” and I say “NO NEVER- it was such fun to be dangling from a rope in a storm and wondering if I was going to die ” . Then my daughters put up the video on Instagram and there are likes and comments and people say “how brave I was to do that” and others about “what an ordeal it must have been” and all agree that “I am lucky to be alive” and above all – “all’s well that ends well” - and I have my few minutes of unwanted fame and I thank everyone for their kind comments . So anything that needs me to be up in the sky is out and that’s final. Meanwhile, I recently saw an advertisement for snorkelling, and it caught my attention. Have also seen some colleagues posing in a few feet of water – all geared up to the gills and supposedly snorkelling and so yes, I may do that sometime. Mind you - not definite as yet- no concrete plan, so don’t hold me to it - but there is a faint possibility that some day , in a fit of utter madness, or pure desperation ,I may get into that special snorkelling gear – the mask, the snorkel , the defogger, the fins , the bandana , the goggles& that probing pole that I sometimes see those experts holding and go in to the water to meet the fish and the sharks and whatever else is down there waiting for me . Or, on the other hand I may just dress up in the snorkelling kit and have a few snaps clicked and to hell with all the hype &drama. And yes, I will put up the snaps on Instagram and Facebook and you can all like and comment to your hearts content and I will thank you profusely as you are so kind. Politeness pays. This is really a poor story as I digressed again. I am sure you have not been able to guess till now so I will spill the beans. For ages now I have wanted to wear a diamond stud! A small discreet stud. Just one. Nothing big or flashy. For obvious reason (read job) I have not done so till now. But I will – some time – someday. Above all, I will be on “terra firma” when I wear it so that counts for something doesn’t it?