The trick to floating on water is to let go. To trust nature completely (and blindly). Unfortunately, letting go doesn't come that easy to most of us.

Two other things come close - learning to ride the bicycle, and learning to use the trackpoint. The thrill of having accomplished something that is, at immediate thought, quite inexplicable, is beyond words. It's a high that keeps you going for a couple of days.

When a friend first taught me to float on water about two years back at a desolate hippie beach in Gokarna, I had a tough time. I couldn't loosen up and I couldn't let go. Consequently, I would sink. I finally managed to float when I did let go entirely, when I 'trusted' without any questions.

The first time was a mind-altering experience. It was magical, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a few days. I was fresh out of an insipid MBA, and attempted to valiantly mix pseudo-philosophy with half-baked management concepts.

I did it again a couple of days back - this time at a choppier beach in Kashid, and the feeling was just as beautiful. Lying down, letting go, floating away. Looking up at the sky, bobbing up and down with the waves, ears shut out by the water.

Is there a better way to go blank? Forgive and forget?