The Perfect Gift

I generally don’t read books but on 17 September 2015 I just tumbled upon the book “The Secret”. I was fascinated by the cover so I started reading it. I read 10 pages and that was more than enough for me to get motivated and feel positive. At that point I got a call from one of my friend who was registering for the Mumbai Marathon. I had asked him to check with me whenever he registers. As motivated as I was I told him to register for me. Next morning when I woke up, I realized my mistake. It was a decision taken out of excitement rather than logical thinking. The maximum I had run in my life was 10 kms in which I had to walk the last 5 kms.. It’s easy to register for a marathon but difficult to prepare for it.

I had 4 months left so I decided to see what I can do. I googled “day by day schedule” if you want to run the marathon in 4 months. I decided to follow that schedule. One month went by. I was nowhere. I sat on my chair, took a deep breath and googled. Day by day schedule if you want to run the marathon in 3 months. My searches kept changing but I could not follow any routine. Finally it was just one month left. I decided enough is enough I must do something. I called the helpline number for Mumbai Marathon “Hi I am Deepak Ramnani. Actually I had registered for the Mumbai Marathon by mistake. Is it possible to get a refund?” I got the reply as a big “NO”. Those of you who know me will know that I never waste money. So that day when I heard “NO” I knew I was going to run the Mumbai Marathon. As expected I didn’t follow the one month schedule either. I just went for some random runs and some yoga sessions. Finally it was only a week to go before the marathon. I again googled. “Day to day schedule if you want to run the marathon in 7 days.” I liked this last schedule as it had three main things. Rest a lot, eat a lot, don’t push yourself too much. I followed this 7 day schedule religiously.

Finally the marathon was just a day away. 17th Jan 2016 was a special day for me for two reasons. I was going to run my first marathon and 17th Jan is also my birthday. Yes you could have wished me. (Depends on audience response). I had to go to sleep early on 16th as I had to get up early on 17th. To make sure no one disturbs me, I put a message to my college WhatsApp group. Even though it is my birthday don’t call me as I am participating in Mumbai marathon so I will sleep early. That day I learned about human psychology. If you ask someone not to do something they will do that thing before doing anything else. I got a call from a lot of people. Some of them had not wished me for years. After answering to all their calls I finally went to sleep. I could sleep for only 2 hours. I woke up at 3 am as I didn’t want to be late.

Fearing that I won’t reach on time, I decided to go early and book a cab. I tried booking through Ola, Uber and taxi for sure. However, there were no cabs nearby so I decided to go by auto. At halfway,I knew that with this speed I will never reach on time. I switched to Taxi. This is when I realized I might be short of money. Over dependence on Ola and Uber had cost me. I started to chat with the driver and told him I have only 200 rs so please stop after the meter touches 200. I will walk from there. The cab driver asked me “Is this your first marathon?” “Yes” I replied. “Have you practiced for it as I have heard many people got sick and even died last year?” If there ever was an award on how to demotivate people he would have won it. I angrily replied. “If you say another word, you will join them in heaven.” In these interesting talks we forgot something important. The meter had already crossed 200. In fact, I was just 500 mts away from the starting point. He dropped me at the starting point and I took his number and told him “I will pay you the remaining 40 rs. Later.” He smiled and said “You concentrate on your race sir. If at all you finish it by any chance, we will party later.” I didn’t know how to reply to that so I rushed to the start line. By the time I reached there I was 10 minutes late.

As I crossed the start line, I was looking for some motivation. I found one girl. She was tall, beautiful and fitted well to my requirements. I decided to run the marathon with her. At 5 kms I was in love with her. I knew I could not spend the rest of my life with her but no one could stop me from running the next 16 kms with her. After too much of struggle we completed 15 kms. I was exhausted. I could not keep the pace anymore so I let her go. We were together for 20 kms. The last one km was very painful. I had cramps all over my body. As I was crossing the finish line, I raised my arms and started searching for her. I could not find her. When I was looking around I realized how happy everyone who crossed the finish line was. I myself was happy to achieve this feat. I was a winner like everyone else. The Marathon is probably the only race where everyone wins. And I had won. As I was going back home, I got a call from my mother and she asked me what I gifted myself for my birthday. I replied “I gifted myself the best birthday present ever.”