Run !

Does that word sound strange to you? It doesn’t relate to your life, or does it? It takes great courage to realize and even more to slow down. What I write next might not be applicable to everyone, or at least to the majority of the world. Before going any further, we have to travel to India and rewind the time by 25 years. It is here that our protagonist, our hero a.k.a “random guy” is born. As in the usual Rajnikanth (a south Indian movie actor) movies, our hero is from a poor family with the sole bread winner is in the mid 30s and has to take care of a family of 5. The hero’s mom is a typical home maker taking care of the in-laws, the house chores and whatever little time she gets, its spent worthwhile  gossiping about the Ambujam maami (another random person) who stays 3 streets away with the next door neighbor. The scenario where our hero is brought up – a family that doesn’t encourage loans, should save a lot at a government bank which provides 10.493% interest. This of course is for the possible education expenses which would crop up 17 years down the line, not to mention the immediate fees to get the son admitted to kindergarten. Having told the typical characteristics, we now describe our hero’s grandmother. A woman who is always concerned about how the nearby people are doing, and how better off they are. This constant chattering of comparison along with the random mumblings of the mother fuels the father to earn more for the family and be on the move all the time.

Our hero’s age is now aged around 5 and is under the constant pressure to top the class, get first rank and maintain it throughout the year and the years to follow. The typical day starts, our hero gets up at 5 AM, studies for 2 hours, gets ready by 8 Am, and is about to leave to school which starts at 9 Am. When walking out, he sees his grandfather, the most peaceful man you can find in the house. He envies his grandfather for perfecting life and the peace he has attained. He has a cup of coffee in his hand and is drowned in the newspaper. Our hero later in the evening, comes back by 4:30 PM, has a small snack, and has to run tuition at 5 PM, returns back at 8 PM, has dinner and goes to sleep at 9 PM. By the way, sports is not in our hero’s dictionary. Fast forward to tenth grade, our hero slogs day in and out, apart from the usual studies he has to prepare for AIEEE, SAT, IIT, COMED-K, TNPCE, CET, ABC, DEF, GHI, JKL, MNO,PQR,STU,VWXYZ entrance examinations. Time flies and after two years, the day where the two year toil would be seen in terms of ranks, grades which would “ultimately” seal our hero’s career and life. Luckily, he gets a top rank and is destined to get into a top university.  Life seems to have suddenly slowed down, no more nagging comments from his mother to study,  a sudden attention from the nearby people who didn’t even know his existence, phone calls from some random relatives whom he was never aware of! But life has another twist waiting for him, on the day of counseling he realizes that his country is torn into bits and pieces in the name of religion and caste. And unfortunate for him, although coming from a low income family, he is actually in the forward caste which effectively means he has fewer seats to choose from. He now ends up getting a lesser deserving university than what he is supposed to get. A guy who is 500 ranks behind our hero ends up getting into the top university. A dejected and sad hero, who is sad for the very reason he got into a university which he thought was less worthy of him. A few days pass by and he realizes that he has a bit of freedom, no tuition to attend, no extra classes, and finds some time to do a few things he has never done before. Sports was new to him, he is drawn to the game of cricket. He does relish the game and plays to his heart’s content in the first semester. And as you expected, this affected his grade and his GPA. Our hero failed to realize that he had to continue his excellence streak by scoring over 9.5 on 10.0 right from his first semester. He stumbles in his first semester, scores a mere 9.493 on 10.0 and as you expect, his new cellphone incessantly keeps ringing and keeps getting calls from his home town, numerous minutes spent by his parents in trying to understand what went wrong, the reason behind such a disaster! Our hero realizes that he has to get a good job and earn more money to improve the life of his family. He is once again drowned and begins what he is best suited for, studying. Fast forward four years of college life, he is now preparing for numerous interviews, GMATs, CAT, GRE, TOEFL, WXYZ, STU, PQR, MNO, GHI, DEF, ABC etc. He finally gets into a company which pays him very well and everyone is happy. He deposits his earnings regularly in a government bank which offers him 9.493% interest rate. His parents are happy, he is relieved and at the same time a bit apprehensive about what is going to happen next. He is built to be apprehensive, he was trained to think the unimaginable, all the worst case scenarios. Two years in his job, he realizes that his parents are up to something fishy! They are hunting for a suitable bride, a girl from a family with an equal status. Good for him, they find the right girl whom he gets to meet a couple of months before the marriage. Fast forward 2 years, our hero now has a son, he has numerous pressures to handle. He has to save for his kid, plan expenses, take care of his parents, and compete with external and internal players. The rest of his life, is spent on career, taking care of the family, their health, finances and what not. Our hero’s kid is now a big boy himself and finds his grandfather amusing. Yes, the 30 year old father who was on the run all the time. The kid’s grandfather, the most peaceful man you can find in the house. His ritual starts off with a morning walk at 5 Am to get the milk followed by a cup of coffee with “The Hindu”(newspaper) in hand. Everyone thinks he has perfected life, he has found the balance what should be found in life. Our hero in the meanwhile is taking on the world. No amount of salary is enough, no position in his career is high, there is always the next big thing which he has to catch. He is running behind it, the next big thing of his life, he is dying to get there, that next spot, that next increase in salary. Suddenly that day arrives, a day he thought he would never see. Retirement, he is stunned by the very fact that the world wants him to stop running. He looks back, he finds a life of accomplishments, milestones he had overcome, the materialistic life he had achieved. He looks forward, he doesn’t know what to do and then a spark ignites in his head. Some voice in his head asking him to remember the days he wanted to eat the “doodh peda” on the way to college. He decides to go for it the very next day! But alas, he just realized, sugar is not advised to be consumed as he is on the verge of becoming a diabetic. Our hero realizes, he was running so fast, a pace which blinded him from taking care of his health. Suddenly the voice speaks to him once again, what about the sport you abandoned after the first semester of college? How about playing that again? But alas, there is no one who wants to cricket with a 60 year old man. His body cannot take it anymore, for a guy who has been running all throughout his life, now has to take up an activity which would involve as little physical movement possible. He finds no other work apart from reading newspapers, books and taking a stroll in the nearby park. He inevitably gets up at 5 AM because his body is tuned to work that way, he finds the morning boring! He has nothing to do, then decides to go for a walk and at the same time get the milk needed for the day. He finds that activity soothing, he comes back from a nice walk, has a cup of strong coffee in his hand. The newspaper gets delivered to his house just when he is about to take the first sip of coffee. His grandson now walks by, he is just in time to catch the bus. He looks at our hero who is now a grandfather and thinks, “what a perfect harmony”! Coffee and newspaper, what a wonderful combination to start off the day with and here I am running to catch a bus to school. He stares at his grandfather, the most peaceful man you can find in the house. He envies his grandfather for having perfected life and found the balance. At a distance, a bus screeches to halt. The grandson’s mother, now aware that he is late for the bus, shouts from the background. “You are late, catch the bus, Run ! “

Tagged: poems, stories

Posted in: I WRITE