Change - the inevitable constant finding in our life. However minuscule it may be, its effects run really deep. Take for example the author in question - A simple broken helmet visor can instill subtle but far reaching consequences in someone’s life.

It was just yesterday I found the visor of my shiny old helmet damaged; the reason being my carelessness, while keeping it on the shelf. While any other day I would have chosen to neglect it, I chose to repair it as soon as possible. The events of my life prior to this had been somewhat tinged with a shade of grey to inspire me to such a decision. Moreover I had to go on a long drive with someone special - I mean my darling, my Hero Honda Passion.

The shopkeeper told me that he had no clear glass visors and that I would have to do with a darkened one instead. As I loved driving at night, the first question that popped into my mind was - Will the darkened visor compromise my night time visibility? I asked the same to the shopkeeper. With a smile on his face he answered back - It will just darken things a little, not render you blind.

Apprehensive that I was, I still chose to go along with the change. As I started to drive I felt a little extra cautious because there was a little part of my brain whispering to me - Your vision is a little diminished by the dark visor. I chose to abide by it and kept my senses on red alert for the full length of my onward journey. As I reached my destination and took off the helmet of darkness which I had voluntarily put on myself, I realized a significant thing - The world does seem brighter but my senses hadn’t been affected at all by the darkness. It had helped me improve my perception of the things around me.

What I realized at that specific moment was life presents us with this kind of dark visors once in a while in the form of tests, challenges and many adverse situations which dull our senses and our spirits. Some cower under the fear that in the journey of life this hindrance of their perfect vision may lead to accidents in the highway of happiness. Still there are others who choose to accept this as a challenge and work towards augmenting their abilities while still being under the shroud of darkness so that they can work their way around even in the darkness. It is these people who perceive the multifarious joy the world around them has to offer when the darkness is lifted from their eyes. While the former may or may not survive long enough to see the veil lifted from their eyes, the latter more often than not reap the fruits of their labor in the bright sunlight.

Driving a motorcycle is one of the analogies I hope to associate with the journey of life. It is thrilling; one gets to change gears once in a while, one encounters bumpy roads every now and then, the bike needs refueling and regular maintenance to ensure that one can traverse a great distance, one can choose to be fast and furious or to be safe and long lasting; one can choose from the many diversions where to go and where to leave his tire marks upon the highway of happiness and many other aspects which bring out the similarities.

A helmet is the conglomeration of the goodwill the people around us bestow upon us for our safety and the steps we ourselves take to ensure our success. Our vision leads us to our destination. The GOD always prefers testing His subjects before leading them to newer roads. He does this by clouding our visions once in a while so that we learn to trust our senses and our faith. This helps us in ways we cannot even imagine, the darkness helps us see the light within. So it is our job not to be deterred by the darkness of the visor because, remember, once it is removed a bright world beholds us.

The return journey on the darkened visor wasn’t as difficult because I knew that brightness lay ahead. Hoping for many more such trysts with darkness to unveil the light within.