Searching for a hobby

Read the title carefully guys! I am looking for a hobby, not a hubby.

I was trying to register for a site today, where I was asked to list my hobbies. "What is a hobby?", was the question swirling in the cup of coffee on my desk. Is it something that you like to do? Then why are you not doing it as a profession? The evilly-inclined part of my mind appeared and started answering my question with another question.

Because I would be broke trying to call myself a "book reader" - came the answer from the angelic part. (If you have trouble following this, picture two figures, one evil-looking and the other with wings, dressed in white. If you still have trouble, don't ask me for another image).

The debate thus raged on. Luckily, there was another part of my mind, the one which I like to call "the cynical, lazy" part. This figure represents the "Thinker", but the only problem is that it never DOES anything. Let me slip into that part and see whats going on...

"Hmmm. So whats a hobby? It is something that you do because it breaks the monotony of your job. All jobs get monotonous after some time, right? Okay, not all jobs. Fashion photography, travel writing etc. Some of us have jobs to kill for and pay to die for.

What else completes the definition? A hobby must be indulged in fairly regularly. Good point. Playing a chess game with a neighbour once in a year doesn't qualify as a hobby. But when you seldom see the sun in a month, where is the time for hobbies? (A swig of water, to lower my stress levels, which increased just thinking about 'time').

Okay, lets move on. What hobbies can I choose, assuming I can pursue on weekends. I want a hobby that is not the usual "stamp-collection" types. Nor the wisecracky "eatin 'n sleepin". I want a real hobby. Take up a game? Naaah, too much muscle strain. Music? I have no ear for it (My family tells me that I have to be the most musically-uninclined person on earth. You have to admit. They are right sometimes)."

By this time, the bad and good parts of my brain had stopped their battle. They were as bored about this as me. A recent advertisement flashed by me - a recent one for one of those soda-cola types. "Chod na yaar. Pada raho shanthi se."

Great. Next time someone asks me for a hobby, I will say, "SCI Meditation". Short for Soda-Cola Induced Meditation. Yippeee!

(In the meantime, if you have got a suggestion for me, say psst.)