Happy Birthday

My joys of running!!

Life is richer by your experiences ,your learnings and by the love you give and receive.

Running has changed my life for the better, for all the cliched reasons and more. .

For instance….

The other day,one running buddy called to say her friend wanted to do something special for HER friend’s 40^th birthday. She wanted to do something special for runners specifically because the birthday girl in question loves running. My buddy wanted to know if I would speak to her friend and help connect her to runners who were possibly not as privileged as us and would benefit by this gesture. I wasn’t too sure how I would be able to help .But well, I did end up talking to her friend.

I figured that because of the DRG shoe drive that I have been handling and the social media posts I make to that end ,these wonderful women thought I could possibly guide them somehow .Anyways, thanks to this very shoe drive,I do end up meeting many such underprivileged runners. They come home and collect runable shoes and gear donated by other runners. I get to meet some of them and many I don’t. But I am always showered with love, gratitude messages and happy runner pictures. I accept it all happily and humbly on behalf of all the runners who donate the stuff.

One runner ,Alok, has come to my place a couple of times and collected shoes for some young runners who train at the Ramjas Sports and Mountaineering Institute in Patel Nagar. Along with Amit, who coaches these runners ,Alok makes the effort to support these runners however he can. Everyone has only 24 hours in a day and everyone has personal and professional and social commitments. The ones who still make time to go beyond have my respect always! So all kudos to Alok!

Alok and these runners (whose pictures he would send me every time he took shoes and stuff for them from the DRG box) were the first people that came to my mind to help make this 40^th birthday special.

I connected Alok to the birthday girl’s friend and she bought them 15 pairs of running shoes and winter running tees from Decathlon. All she wanted in return was some birthday messages from these kids for her friend. She planned to make a collage and a picture story for her friend.How cool is that!

And me, I was plain lucky to find myself  in the middle of all this awesomeness. Alok messaged to say it would be great if I could meet these runners and give away the shoes to them myself.That invitation was pretty difficult to resist ,because I didn’t want the awesomeness to be over yet.

So there I was at the Ramjas field one Thursday afternoon giving away the shoes to some happy runners.

They had ALL written out individual birthday notes for the birthday girl,mentioning their running achievements and goals.( Each one wants to run for India in the Olympics mind you. And each one probably believes dreams do come true!!) I was bowled over meeting the kids. They had a birthday cake ready too .

They sent video and picture messages for the birthday girl with me. I found many of them wearing the shoes taken from the DRG box and it warmed my heart that the shoes were being put to good use. 

Most of the runners training there are short distance runners training to clear the tests and get into the police or the Army. Most of them play at inter college and inter school level competitions.

Well, back to the anonymous good folks that spread the joy. Pictures and messages sent on Whatsapp. The physical notes collected from my place by her driver.

I am not one to go overboard or feel too excited about birthday celebrations. The idea is to celebrate LIFE..every single day ,right?

But THIS….I would like to think twice now about celebrating birthdays.

It was the lucky girl’s birthday yesterday. I hope her friend’s efforts paid off and brought her joy on her 40^th.

I share this story with you all with  permission from the lady I was talking to. She just didn’t want herself or her friend’s names to be mentioned.

BTW,I don’t know this lady personally. I have never met her. We are not even friends on FB!!

I had never met Alok before the other day OR any of these runners.

All this worked purely on trust.

I get asked sometimes how I ensure that the donated shoes reach the right people.

Well, love and trust make my world go round.

That axis on which the earth rotates is imaginary anyway!!!!

Jai Surkhunda Mata Ki!

While we were spending four blissful days in the hills of Uttarakhand last week, one thing on our itinerary was to hike up to the Surkhunda Devi Temple. We were told by the lady at the resort we were staying in,that there were two ways leading up to the temple. One was the cemented path ,leading up to it and the other was a beautiful trail. Obviously, we intended to follow the latter route.

Now, I am not a religious person. I love reading the Hindu mythology though .I have fond memories of how I used to read out all the stories from Hindu mythology to my son when he was 6-7 years old as bedtime stories and otherwise, dramatizing on everything. He would listen wonder eyed. There were superheroes galore in all the stories after all. Another matter now that The Avengers, Justice League and likes have taken over and are saving the world.

Here’s the legend about Surkhunda Devi!

My friend Kalpana, with whom I was holidaying is not an overtly religious person either but yes, prays to a God now and then. I don’t!

Anyhow, our main agenda to go to Surkhunda Devi, like everything else during the trip was to enjoy the views and take in the lovely weather in the hills.

We set out the second day for Surkhunda Devi. The base to the trail was just 4kms from our resort. We walked till there, talking to the locals, taking in the views and generally having a good time.

The entrance to the trail we could not complete!

Just as we marveled at how pretty the trail looked from there itself and started hiking up…..passersby in a car (on the road below) honked incessantly to get our attention. When we looked down, there was a family in the car, likely tourists as us. The gentleman at the driver’s seat told us they had a very bad experience on the trail the previous day and that we should not go up that way. The lady sitting behind, told us in so many words “please go back”.

Ouch! What a dampener! We contemplated whether we should pay heed to their warning or just go ahead. It was just a 45min-1hr hike up we were told, after all. The hills seemed safe; the locals seemed harmless. There was no one else on the trail. But then it was complete off season and the rains had made the trail slippery and mucky. We climbed up a couple of meters more and decided not to go further and play it safe.

Even the retreat was pretty-no regrets!

On way back to the resort, we asked the local shopkeepers if they had heard of any untoward incident happening on the trail the previous day. They vehemently disagreed that there could be anything to feel unsafe about on the trail. In fact, they were offended at the very suggestion.

 Back at the resort, we repeated our story to the lady there and she jokingly announced,” you see, like they say, abhi aapko Mata ka bulawa nahi aaya hain”(Your calling is not here yet!)

And that’s when our fun started. Kalpana and I decided Surkhunda Devi had to be said hello to, come what may. We kept joking about manipulating that calling and blah blah.

Anyhow, the day we were leaving , we went up to the temple via the cemented route. It was a short, yet tough climb up. No views to be seen, because it was a very misty morning. And we were in a rush. We had to check out soon and return to Delhi.

Kalpana trotting up:)

Hello Mata Surkhunda😊 Humara bulawa aa gaya. Our calling is here!!

Hello Mata!

The mystery of what happened there the day we had to retreat remains. We figured, one of them might have taken a fall on the slippery trail or something. But when someone says 'bad experience', a lot of things come to mind. So, well! We chickened out that day.

It was Kalpana’s younger son’s Birthday and as she bowed before the deity, she told me she was glad she came to the temple  on Robin’s birthday. I am not sure if it was the religious her or just mommy her saying that,but it was rather sweet😊

Local legend has it that whatever wish you make there comes true. I had one wish -peace for all! So, I bowed too…and followed the works. Tika! Halwa! Daan! Who knows magic might happen?

“…there is no valid difference between religion and magic,no matter how many books are written to support the distinction…magic is religion we don’t believe in ,and religion is magic we believe in”-Ernest Becker

The Den!

I am constantly looking for love , goodness and innocent simplicity around me. I need to do it to find meaning in this rushed and crazy existence, to believe in the innate goodness of mankind. I want to look in my immediate neighbourhood and find things that make me happy…that very moment!!!

The responsibilities I have in life towards my child and family aside , I don’t dwell much upon my future and likes. I just want to live in the moment. Que sera sera. Who knows if tomorrow comes?

Recently,on a dusty dirty morning I went for my Sunday run with a pal. The run didn’t do me much good which is a bummer .I run with my heart 90% times and the least I expect my running to do to me is pep me up !!

Anyways,I can’t have things my way all the time .All days are not same.

Later, I was out meeting a friend and as we were driving across a street in the neighbourhood, we saw this bunch of kids climbing a tree by the roadside in this scorching heat . We stopped to chit chat with them . There were 10-12 of them,the oldest one being 10 years old. As we chatted up we found out they were making a den (adda) for themselves there.

Not just that, there were two little master chefs amongst them too. I can’t really describe the minimum ware those two kids were getting their veggies and pooris ready in.They were planning to enjoy their meal  sitting in their den.My eyes nearly popped out at their expertise.

The quantity of food being prepared seemed less considering the number of kids hanging around . On being asked, one of the older ones told me whoever contributed for the food being prepared would only get to eat. Simple!! No Gandhian philosophies involved!!!!

Thereafter, they proceeded to show us who had contributed in what manner.Cooking oil,flour,salt,mango(yeah,they were making some chutney kind of thing to eat with the pooris).

The food was being cooked in a stove made of two cement tiles and the cooking gas was paper and twigs and pieces of wood picked from the roadside! Those kids had already learnt well about Darwin’s theory.

Maybe you can appreciate better from the pictures what I am trying to describe.

We marveled watching them for quite a while before going and fetching them some laddoos as  dessert after their meal.

Those kids!Just amazing!I hope the world lets them sustain their innocence and enthusiasm for a long long time!!

Yes,let it go!

I am sitting in a mall, away from my city, watching all kinds of people pass me by. Busy people, people whiling their time(like me),fat people, thin people, people in love, kids happy for no particular reason…..! The united colors of humanity!!!The works!

Killing time waiting to meet a friend , I feel I see my own life in flashback as I sit here. I thought one needs to be out in the open, in the hills and mountains, closer to nature ,to put things in perspective, to  think and dwell upon one’s innermost thoughts. But here I am, in a place as populated  as can be, and well, I am thinking clearly. No clouds in the head.

I am thinking, I have been ALL these people in various times of my life. I have been better than them,I have been worse than them,I have been JUST like them. How are these people passing me by,strangers then?

A few moments ago,I was feeling happy I’m  anonymous here ….nobody knows me. But,don’t they really? We are just not talking and greeting each other I guess but what is it that we don't know about each other. Do those things matter really?

Even as I have blundered ,loved,hated, cried and laughed through this existence,right now,at this very moment…I just feel calm,like I am in a really peaceful space.The lull before the storm-lol! 

I hope not!

I have made right and wrong choices in my life,which again, I consider wrong OR right only when I think in retrospective. I have done some good and some bad.I have felt disgusted with myself so many times. And I have given me the pat in my back for being a good woman too,many times.

That makes me a balanced person I guess.

No way!!!

I am as crazy as they come. I am not sure how I will react to the next nagging telemarketer's call, I am not sure if I’ll be able to resist that surge of love for my next poor patient  and not feel bad about my own privileges, I am not sure if I will not lose my cool yet again trying to get my message across to my old nursing orderly at work, I am not sure I will not AGAIN emotionally blackmail my boy to listen to me, I am not at all sure about any of this and so many more things😊

How bad is it not to be overtly ambitious about the future and just live and love in the present? How good is it? Is it too ordinary not to try and find any meaning in life ? What if I say “ My intentions are pure, my conscience is clear, I have no desire of being a shitty person” End of goal…ta-da!!!!

I attended the funeral of a dear old man the other day.He lived to be 85 years old. He was the literal “jolly old fellow”  and I can only remember him with a smile on my face. I didn’t know much of his personal life, his life’s struggles; he didn’t make or break anything in my life. But as I type this and think of him,I am smiling  and remembering the glow of warmth and love that radiated from him whenever I  met him.

I would say, if I could leave one person feeling that way about me when I am dead and gone,I’m good!

Time to go ..my buddy’s here. Also ,all these people around me can see right through me( and now YOU don’t tell me you don’t know me either…I surely know YOU!!!) –time to hibernate.

Just thinking aloud!!!!!

Ciao!