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.
