It’s drizzling

But it doesn’t matter.

I am running,

Around the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium

At Kochi.

The ground is wet,

There are water patches around.

So, I take careful steps.

As I go around,

I see a young man,
In a hoodie,

And track pants.

He is talking,

On the mobile phone.

Standing beneath an awning.

Must be to his girlfriend,

Because he is smiling.

I think to myself,

‘What a wastrel. Do some exercise. Get fit’.

But he is oblivious.

During my next lap,

I see,

A friend has joined him.

‘Two wastrels’, I think,

As I start panting.

My middle-age lungs,

Are aching.
But I like the suffering,

Because it makes me feel good.

When I stop.

On my third round,

They are peeling off their track pants.

I run on..

The drizzle has eased up,

A cool breeze is blowing.

My perspiration-drenched forehead

Gets some relief.

Running triggers

Something primitive in me.

This is what man did,

For thousands of years.

Before the invention

Of the wheel.

I can hear the thud of feet

Hitting the ground

Behind me.

It sounds like heartbeats.

Then these two young men,

Whom I derided,

Whizzed past me

At high speed.

Smooth electrifying movements

Of hands and feet.

‘What?’ I exclaim silently in my head

My perception was

Oh so wrong.

They are athletes,

And they are swift.

And they splash,

Through the puddles.

Fearless.

So I had simply

Misunderstood them.

That’s what happens to all of us

We misunderstand

People.

Places.

Communities.

Religions.

Spouses.

Children.

Parents.

Relatives.

Is it any surprise,

Society is so fractured.  

I feel like a fool

Message to me: don’t jump to conclusions,

Ever.