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Roads

For me, roads are like a static conveyor belt that translocates me from one place to another. I do long-haul, overnight, solo, non-stop drives listening to downtempo, chillout and progressive trance music that stretch on to as much as 38 hours.

Nights

The congestion free roads in the night time and the right kind of music just teleports me to my destination. Nights turn roads into a black hole tunnel that makes me zoom as if I were time-travelling. I prefer night travel as there is nothing much to see except the road and the road divider dashes. I pointlessly look at the white dashes on the road and innovative thoughts and ideas come to my mind. I find solutions to problems; get ideas of captions for the photos I take. Zooming on a lonely highway in the dead of night with only Downtempo Music playing, I get so detached from the hustle and bustle of life, that I get a clearer perspective of most things that I generally worry about.

Music

If diesel is fuel for the vehicle, Music is fuel for the mind. Add the mesmeric effects of such kind of music, the kind of music that lulls me into a meditative trance and the perception of time changes. Result: I transport myself over great distances without feeling the sense of time.

My version of the explanation goes as follows. One of the main reasons is that they have repetitive tunes and very low beats per minutes. Just as during praying in ‘Hindu’ Religion, we don’t just say ‘Om’ but actually chant ‘Ooooooooooom’ as long as we can.

Ever observed time lapse and hi-speed cameras? The scenery sometimes whizzes past just as a time lapse camera shows. And in certain situations things appear like the hi-speed cameras played back in slow motion. Since the beats are slower than normal average, the mind thinks time is also passing slowly. So 1 hour becomes 15 minutes or 30 seconds can be visualized in 1 minute.

Mixes from Composers & DJs like Faux Reveur and MDB have affected intensely someone like me staying as far a place called India. As a matter of fact, this kind of ambient music is still not ‘mainstream’ enough to be heard among the masses. Be-warned if ever you listen to them. They will make you get lost within your own imagination.

Highway Hypnosys

One of the Incidents describes the situation best. This one particularly was my record run – Hyderabad to Kolkata in my Toyota Innova in 22 Hours. After leaving Hyderabad in the afternoon and passing Suryapet, I got onto the Khammam Road and then on I did not remember a thing as it grew dark and the only thing I realize hours later that I have reached Rajahmundhry.

The road was freshly painted, no potholes and no traffic. Yes I do remember a few diversions and signages. Add to that I was listening to my favorite songs all the 80′s music I used to hear in my childhood that lullaby-ed me to this state. And I was moving fast at 100 kmph average speeds as the road conditions permitted without making me feel unsafe. And that’s not all, the next autopilot session happened when I crossed Rajahmundhry and to my surprise I regained senses in the dawn when I had reached Ichhapuram (AP/OR) border. All throughout, I did not even realize that Vizag had passed, except one stopover where a Truck had overturned.

I travel to pacify my subconscious mind and it is those factors and features that affect the subconscious mind that makes the difference. More so, once I get into the ‘trance-mood’ I get solutions to problems and can strategize. The funny way to explain it? “Its like a big yawn of the mind and the soul”.