I am in the park...in fact I m running...there are lots of people in the park, some running, some walking while others are just sitting... I don't know who's running behind me or in front of me...I don't think much about that...I just want to run...my job is to surpass the person who's in front of me and to make sure that he remains behind me...am a known face in this park...nobody stays in front of me...I can run for longest, everybody in this park knows that...so as my family...they take pride in my running...they like me winning...I am a winner but I wasn't like this from always..
I came here for the 1st time with slippers on ...I came here just for having fresh bit of air...not having any intention of coming here regularly...I was amateur, confused about whether to inhale fresh air just by sitting on the bench or to take a walk...I decide to sit, to watch people walking around the park continuously without any sign of exhaustion on their face...they made it look so simple to me...I also got inspired and started to walk...but as soon as I got on the track I realized that they were staring at me and pushing me aside each time they passed me as if they were saying “this track is ours, you do not belong here...get lost kid!!”.. after receiving the same harsh behavior for number of times I got frustrated and decided to quit...and very next moment I got off the track and left the park...while having my way back to home I wasn't able to throw that track thing out of my mind...it was elite, lucrative, actually I liked running and I liked to be there...so the very next morning I was there with my sneakers on...I was on track again and from there on I kept running unaffected by the stares and pushes...days passed and I started to get hold of the things..
I noticed that everybody was trying to surpass the other person and when they crossed each other they tend to look as calm as possible and as soon as they pass each other they run as fast as they can...some run to win, to surpass everyone..some run because they love to run, some are those who just walk, they have got excuses like this way they can sustain for longer period, some want whole family with them since everybody in the family can't run so they decide to walk, some say they have grown older but most important category is of those who ran superbly in their early days but then they met some girl and started walking with her hand in hand and finally preferred just to sit in the corner of the park..lots of people in the park walking next to each other for years but yet nobody knows the other person, they identify each other by their looks and outfits, style of talking, style of walking etc. they don't even know each other’s names..but it’s an advantage because 1st thing times get waste if they try to know someone and 2nd thing they can give any name to the other person, like I named two guys who always come together in the park, “gay couple", I asked a girl her name and she didn't replied, I named her “miss attitude", I asked another girl and she gave me her name and no. too easily, I named her “soft target", but there were some people who were quite known to most of the people in the park and one of them was Ronny, he was among the best of the runners in the park, he’s got a good physic, used to run like a winner and he had defeated many people including me in the past in “10 rounds around the park” challenge..
Everything going quite ordinarily until one day I saw “Nisha” in the park, she was stunning beauty, delicate, surreal and from the very moment I saw her I knew she was the one...but the problem was she was here to walk and I was running...so I took a break from running walked with her and sometimes even stopped to sit to be friendly with her, to know her and to give her every chance to know me well, I missed running but it’s all worth because I was doing it for her.. I was in love and when you are in love you can do nothing wrong...everything going so nicely until 1 day I noticed that Ronny was stopping regularly to chat with her and I knew for a girl as beautiful as Nisha it was quite obvious for a guy to fall for her..it made me jealous, I knew she won’t give a damn about these kind of boys but the problem was he was strong and I was nervous and in course of some days everything went intense between me and Ronny, we exchanged stares and pushed each other every time we crossed each other...I could sense that something disastrous coming up and I started preparing myself for it mentally and physically and 1 day when I was walking with Nisha, he came and stopped in front of me and challenged me for “10 rounds around the park”...I knew he was doing it for Nisha because he had already defeated me in the past and there was no point in challenging me again...but I took a stand and accepted his challenge with a little modification that it was now “15 rounds around the park”...and the challenge would occur 7 days later...
As I said I had been preparing myself for the last few days, I saw that he had defeated people in “10 rounds” and he’s champ in that but this time round it was “15 rounds”, which might bring him out of his territory and force him to make a mistake, I had 7 days to prepare myself, I knew he was completely “Body over mind” personality, in these 7 days he would run hard and will prepare his body for “15 rounds” but believe me increasing your maximum strength by 50% in 7 days is very difficult if not impossible, on the other hand I knew that this time it was not about speed, it was all about finishing “15 rounds”, it was all about not collapsing in the middle..I ran for hours each time stretching my limits, analyzed the park thoroughly, where its smooth, where it has lumps and dumps, where it's more straightish, where more circular, where to lose speed and where to gain, tried to control my adrenaline, tried to learn some straight forward tactics like to start slowly and gradually gain momentum to sustain for longer and to conserve energy for later part...and most importantly I analyzed my opponent, his strength, weakness, what annoys him, in a sense I dig out everything I can about him...he was running for his pride, his ego but I was running for Nisha ,my love, my life, I had no option but to win..
It was judgment day, day of challenge...we started...he started fast to lag me behind from the word go...I started slowly as accordance to my plan...after sometime he started to run normally, he was not as fool as I had considered...he was saving energy...I was focusing on my plan...he was in 5th round I was in my 3rd ..I started to increase my speed...he was in his 7th...I was in my 6th...we both were tired but I had to run hard to be near him when he finishes his 10th round otherwise I knew he would definitely take a break to catch his breaths...I won’t give him that...but wait what he’s doing...he's taking his break in 9th round itself, bastard’s catching breath... this was not expected..I haven't planned this...I ran as fast as I can during this time to decrease distance between us...when he completed his 10th round I was just behind him...we both were tired but am bit more because he had taken some time off which had definitely helped him..we were in 12th round, water draining out of our body, we were sweating as hell, shivering, legs were trembling, we were on the verge of collapsing, just when I thought I am losing hold of things, I looked at her face, she's scared, she cares for me, I knew she would love me even if I lose but i don't want her sympathy, I want her love and I am gonna win it for me, I gathered myself and I was on my way again...we were in 13th round, time for my final trick, in the middle of 13th round I was running beside him and tried to match him with his speed, I knew nothing would annoy him so much as me running as fast as he can..it worked he increased his speed and just when he was about to finish the 13th round and was at his full speed, his foot got placed on one of the many dislodged tiles of the track and he fall off the track on the ground with a thudding sound and got hurt his leg very badly(I told you I analyzed the park thoroughly) ...he was finding it hard to stand up again..I reached to him...it was a golden chance for me to cover some distance or even a full round before he stands up again on his feet again...and then I realized it was not about winning challenge it was about winning Nisha, if I would leave him there and go on, that would send wrong signal to her..what type of man does that, thus I stopped and gave him a hand and helped him to get on his feet, I offered to complete the challenge on some other day as he was not in a condition to run, but that bastard got guts, he decided to go on...as soon as he took few steps he tripped again but this time I got hold of him...he realized that he didn't have the power to complete the challenge and decided to quit and finally I was the winner ..I called the ambulance and sent him to hospital..I proved my worth to her...we hugged and kissed each other and finally I proposed her “will you marry me?” and in few months we were a couple...
After the day I defeated Ronny, I was a respected face in the park...I was more confident than ever...I changed the rules of the game completely, made strategies, read the opponent, analyzed each and every portion of the park. Now I know everyone and everything in the park...I have a son and a daughter...I don't have time to sit and play with them that's why Nisha opted to stop to take care of them...once in a while I stop for them, to play with them, to meet my friends, to show my love to Nisha but I can't do this for long because I had to run...people would respect me and my family only if I run hard, fast and for long...choices may differ, some like to walk with family, some like to stay for them...but I choose to run because I know even if opt to stay they would get bore and would ask me to run again...that's why I like to run..
Oops!! Person behind me is getting closer to me...tell you some other really interesting things about this park next time because i have to focus on my running...and yeah 1 more thing, the tiles on which Ronny slipped...they were dislodged by me in the night before the day of challenge...I even put some stones in vicinity so that Ronny fall on them...I did this not to gain some time but to kill him or at least injure him because my dear this world is like park and life is all about running fast and hard, it has no place for those who opt to walk or stop no matter what the reason is..it is full of “challenges” and you got to win every one of those...doesn't matter what strategy you employ...because there's no substitute for victory.....
