Desert Dream!

One of the conquered dreams... Another of my earlier posts in another blog!

Sometimes when the whole world stands up against you, you just want to do something that propels you against the tide. You swear, you fantasize, you dream, you daydream …. This was one of those moments…. when I had just completed 3 semesters in college …. I just wanted to kickass….

I was just coming off from an accident. It happened 18 months ago. 18 months before, I was just living my dreams. Real dreams!!!!. I just waltzed through the best year of my life till date – Had the most loving and supportive family, had friends who would do anything for me, did amazingly well in athletics, was my school’s best sportsman of the year, captained school cricket team to a tournament victory, was my school’s pupil leader, could’ve easily made into the school badminton and hockey teams but pulled out, did reasonably well in my academics that got me into the college that I dreamed to graduate out of …. I just couldn’t ask for more. Then it happened….

It was not one of those high-speed head-on’s. A pedestrian walked in front of me. He did that when I was riding the kinetic Honda (Yes guys…. The innocuous looking Kinetic….now you guys don’t laugh at me). Braked hard but managed to hit him. He was not hurt and so did the kinetic. I just managed to get hit on my head above my left ear since I wanted to show-off my new coolers which I got the day before (Whoever invented the helmet, I salute you dude!!).

A few days in the ICU, pleading with the doctors to send me home so that I could go to my dream college, learning to walk a bit, trying to balance myself, a muddled head among others followed. Some visits to a neurologist, physiotherapist, confused head, oil face massage happened as well. Then I said bye’s to family and friends and flew away to Pilani.

Between then and now, 3 semesters later, I was just a physical presence. No ripping balls at the batsmen, no cracking shots over the boundary, no outrunning the athletes, no shuttling the opponents out at badminton…. I didn’t attempt to stick through the games long enough. I just gave up without a fight (Those thoughts…the ugly ones….maybe I just lost my game…. Maybe I just wont be the same again after the accident….Maybe I wont just win again….). The truth was …I was scared. I was scared to lose. I was scared that I would be hit for a six, bowled and have my middle stump knocked out, scared that I wouldn’t complete the run…..i was just scared.

I was seriously thinking of an alternate pastime. I thought my sports career was over. It was then I played a game of badminton with my brother…. Played well enough to defeat him. Played against other people, I wasn’t losing by much. Suddenly, I was winning (Not the Olympics…..but my own “local Olympics”….). Started to run…..started to play cricket…. I was making such rapid progress that I could now play (not for India!!!) in the local hostel leagues.

It was then that I told myself. Infact I was just swearing that one day maybe I will run the marathon. I was convinced that I was day dreaming. Nevertheless, I did a few laps everyday at the college grounds, and during each of the runs I would picture myself running the big marathon and everyone cheering for me through the finish line!!!!! (The ground didn’t have a soul except me most of the days!!!! You guys get the picture….A day dream can’t get better than this).

I was my college athletics captain in my 3rd year in college and joint-secretary of sports club in my final year. I graduated in 2004 and started work in Chennai. I kept doing the daily 20 minute-runs.

It was sometime in January 2005 that I came across the Chennai Marathon. I enrolled myself in the 5 km race and easily managed to cross the finish line. The week after, I came across the blog of a guy who ran the entire 42.2 km. At once, the “dream” I had during college days flashed across.

I knew I wanted to run the next year’s marathon.

P.S Completed 2 marathons so far - Bangalore 2006 and Mumbai 2007 [Don't ask for the finish timings!!!! I completed the runs... and need i say more !!.. ok ok. Maybe someday might run an under 5 hour marathon and then a sub 4 hour... keep dreaming!!]