October 11, 2015
Aji and Ajoba whirled into dreams with Chiyu entered for an inter-school mini marathon at Dahisar. It was their first live marathon; they are regulars at Olympic and World Championship marathons on TV channels; Aji dreamt of a gold medal imprinted on Chiyu by a pompous official. They were into walking, not marathons; for Ajoba marathons were inconsequent as body building; no brains in it, Ajoba argued while Aji disagreed; 'lets see you run for five minutes,' was her way of putting down Ajoba. At school, Aji had won a lemon-in-a-spoon race in Alleppey; Ajoba had come last in short runs of no particular distance at the Maidan. On Sunday, they were up at 5 against the usual 9; coffee, diyas to a pack of gods and still it was just 6. The runs, for various age groups, were to start at 7. Fiddling nothings, Aji and Ajoba sat in and out of their sofas. Then it was 6.30. Started out for Dahisar; were there by 6.45. Crowds were there on the road running beside Dahisar pool or river content with all the muck of Dahisar. Officials whistled around, bikers stood on the alert, ambulances quiet, police ready with batons for a quick lathi charge on children, parents were marathoning more than their wards. Aji and Ajoba sat on broken pavements near the Start. 7 turned 7.15 and then the first run of boy seniors..they stood on the start line...the bhagwa jhanda of Shiv Sena was waved, the runners started, the gun popped ..nobody really knew when it ended .. the 11 km run ..followed women seniors ....at about 8, the under 8 girls run was announced by a wailing announcer. 308 Chiyu..Aji and Ajoba were still..start said someone..and the girls ran ..half way Chiyu gave up on the one km marathon with stomach cramps...claps .. none knew the winner though officials were furiously scribbling pads...the starters of one run bumped into the finishers of a previous run...some stumbled and fell... a couple of cameramen and camerawomen were not clicking as there were no finishes to capture ....all have been promised certificates..good enough...graceful ... it was a Sunday celebratory chaos...maybe that's the way marathons should be...or at least the Indian way...or it may just be that we are better at a bouquet of bans ...of food, music....
Aji and Ajoba whirled into dreams with Chiyu entered for an inter-school mini marathon at Dahisar. It was their first live marathon; they are regulars at Olympic and World Championship marathons on TV channels; Aji dreamt of a gold medal imprinted on Chiyu by a pompous official. They were into walking, not marathons; for Ajoba marathons were inconsequent as body building; no brains in it, Ajoba argued while Aji disagreed; 'lets see you run for five minutes,' was her way of putting down Ajoba. At school, Aji had won a lemon-in-a-spoon race in Alleppey; Ajoba had come last in short runs of no particular distance at the Maidan. On Sunday, they were up at 5 against the usual 9; coffee, diyas to a pack of gods and still it was just 6. The runs, for various age groups, were to start at 7. Fiddling nothings, Aji and Ajoba sat in and out of their sofas. Then it was 6.30. Started out for Dahisar; were there by 6.45. Crowds were there on the road running beside Dahisar pool or river content with all the muck of Dahisar. Officials whistled around, bikers stood on the alert, ambulances quiet, police ready with batons for a quick lathi charge on children, parents were marathoning more than their wards. Aji and Ajoba sat on broken pavements near the Start. 7 turned 7.15 and then the first run of boy seniors..they stood on the start line...the bhagwa jhanda of Shiv Sena was waved, the runners started, the gun popped ..nobody really knew when it ended .. the 11 km run ..followed women seniors ....at about 8, the under 8 girls run was announced by a wailing announcer. 308 Chiyu..Aji and Ajoba were still..start said someone..and the girls ran ..half way Chiyu gave up on the one km marathon with stomach cramps...claps .. none knew the winner though officials were furiously scribbling pads...the starters of one run bumped into the finishers of a previous run...some stumbled and fell... a couple of cameramen and camerawomen were not clicking as there were no finishes to capture ....all have been promised certificates..good enough...graceful ... it was a Sunday celebratory chaos...maybe that's the way marathons should be...or at least the Indian way...or it may just be that we are better at a bouquet of bans ...of food, music....
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