By: Lavanya Goswami (UG24)
Nothing spoils a game quite as much as an unequal playing field. This is a tribute to athletes
who conquer various difficult personal and social obstacles to excel in sports.
Have you ever dreamt of running? Now, for people who jog 10 km before breakfast, it’s quite
understandable — you’ll probably laugh it off with a “No, who does that?” …But I do. I
dream of running quite often. The wind rushes into my face, blowing off the cares the world.
Feet no longer grounded, I am free from the tires of my corps. I am a horse, an eagle, a fish, a
breeze. I am a dream with no barriers, galloping away with mighty speed. But that’s that. The
most running I have ever done is all verse.
See, it’s not my fault — the day I pick up my running shoes, it rains. It rains buckets of cats
and dogs, converting the sports field into an Olympic size swimming pool. When I manage to
complete one week of regular walking, it is rewarded by the most difficult assignment of the
semester to throw me off track. One month? Ha! Forget the 28 days – to – form – a – habit
rule. If you know why, you’re a woman.
Then, there’s my best friend who is everything I’m not. They spend every spare second on
dedicated sports practise. They start with a warm up, have a rigorous, non – stop workout,
punctuated with stretching, spring, rain, winter or fall. Every day is an effort to get better.
They are the epitome of hard work and dedication personified in the Greek Goddess Nike.
They too dream of running. But when they do, they are bounded.
They are bounded by categories, shapes, costumes and binaries. They start off from the rim of
the circle, but are pushed back to start from the finish line. The extra distance widens and
widens until the finish line is an illusion.
I still try to run with my best friend, just to keep company. I don’t like the narrow track, to be
honest, neither do I like the throngs of the race nor the finish line of a mirage. But my best
friend keeps motivating me, off and on again, “Life isn’t a sprint! get on track for the
marathon, a few metres won’t matter much.”