A virus called "Speeeeeeeeeeeeeed"

One of these last Sundays I was reading my newly bought F1 encyclopedia, a neat volume describing the F1 cars, drivers and championship in some decent details. Looking through the list of champions, it can be seen that some 28 (or 30) special human beings have been able to win the coveted, probably the most prized title on earth one or more times during the last 50+ years.

However what was more interesting to see was the almost even longer list of martyrs!! The drives who were killed en route to the title or after winning it. It is simply amazing to see how one of the most dangerous motor sports is also the most prized and most fought for.



My mind raced to the question: what kind of death traps have we create for ourselves? And we are falling into those traps for so many years and will probably continue till eternity??
And i thought what is speed after all? Why does we have to value it so very highly to put our own life like a bait? Why does man really aspire to be faster? And since this disease called speed does not seem to be specific to any culture / religion or any geographical area (though some areas like Italy, Japan are more susceptible to this desease than others!) it does seem to be something that goes back to our roots, quite some years back.


Well....I think speed is a virus! A deadly kind which goes beyond any boundaries and which has probably killed almost an equal amount of people as any epidemic.
Is speed really worth our life .....I know, a lot of people who know me will definitely find it funny that such a question is being posed by me, of all people! The speed fanatic, maniac who endangers his life multiple times every single day! But believe me, in that one moment, this question did hit me quite heard.


I think some part of the reason maybe traced back to the times when our ancestors lived in caves and try to hunt down animals first physically and then with weapons. Its safe to assume that the first part would have failed miserably (for most of the animals ) owing largely to man's inability to run as fast as most other animals. Could that have instilled the desire to be faster in our genes?If yes, that may have been the first seed of this whole new game.


The other part however comes from he competition that is installed in us be default owing to nature's theory of survival. Man's natural instinct is to be the best, strongest of the lot, because only the best will survive. This desire is imprinted deep in our genes. In IT terms, it is programmed in our BIOS!! And you will find examples of this "programmed" competition almost everywhere, right from small school kids racing against each other to the ultimate competitions in Sports, be it F1, or any other sport.


Not to mention the presence of the huge materialistic aspect as far as the F1 circus goes: the amount of money paid is really extravagant, the glamour which is attached to F1 game creates such a hype that it becomes the bulls-eye for all speed-savvy youngsters.


The biggest part of this game however, maybe due to a hormone in the human body called "adrenaline" which is responsible for creating all the excitement and thrill associated with being part of the vehicle in speed.


The adrenaline, is responsible for the "kick" which racers (and dangerous drivers) get out of speeding and risk taking driving manoeuvres. It will continue to drive human beings to sensational, death challenging sports like the F1. Speed remains the primary motivating factor for millions of humans across the world on or off the track and in-spite of (or because of it?!!) the risk of losing life completely or whats infinitely worse, being handicapped.




Even after spending so much time in writing these words on paper, do not expect me to change course or willing to try to break free from this virus called "speed". (reminds me of famous MJ's song "Speed daemon").Personally, i am pretty much aware that speed is the single biggest threat to my life but i almost know i cant take much corrective measures for that!


Don't be too surprised if you saw me speeding past or making a dangerous manoeuvre cause speeeed is a virus of the mind, of the kind most difficult to cure!