When the Hubli Passenger took off the top tied around waist at the finish point outside Railway Officers Quarters at Nungambakkam, a milestone, to be precise, 1000th mile since 8th September had been clocked uninterrupted. There is another reason to recognize this as this unbroken trend is to end after tomorrow!
My worthy seniors in the service want to prove the adage, ‘An old dog cannot be taught new tricks’, on its head. I am being sent for a week to Trump_land. To say that I have a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and am pensive would not be far from truth as the rendezvous is at CMU, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The biggest concern is losing the freedom to run topless in the middle of the road in Namma Chennai, I am sure the weather and sensibilities of my hosts would not permit this liberty. To get bound by shoes and embrace dri-fit gear for the joy of running would be sacrilege to me.
I have decided to prove my wife wrong in her thinking that I am a hardcore addict to running by abstaining from running till get back to India on 5th night. Please pass the word around the Hubli passenger would be off Chennai roads from this coming Sunday to the next. I shall make do with longer sessions of spinning on my charkha (hope it passes through the security check in US!).
Next major worry in the order of preference after running is food, would I be able to remain Vegan? Having put a stop to calorie guzzling running, guess I could experiment on a frugivorous diet for the duration in US of A!
In the last fifty days of running two articles, one in English and one in the vernacular press, about my running has increased the acceptance of people around to my, till now considered a little unorthodox to say the least, morning ritual of running 32K. Media’s great power was brought home to me recently. When I reached the US consulate for the Visa interview and was told that mobiles were not allowed I did not know where to keep it. An auto driver agreed to hold it for me for Rs. 500/- and when I said it was not worth Rs. 500/-, he asked me to go to the nearby Tea stall where the going rate was Rs. 200/-, even this was not acceptable to me. I approached a policeman who took me to his boss, he not only offered to hold my phone for me, but, also said to my pleasant surprise that he had seen me running regularly and he had read the article about me in the vernacular the previous Sunday and knows that I still keep a push button conventional phone. It pays to be in the News!
I am planning to relish my run every step of the way tomorrow knowing that I have to be off running for the next 8 days, it would be like starting at square one of the Snake and Ladder game when my pedometer will start with KM0 on 6th November morning again! So wish me Bon Voyage!!!
Have a safe trip, dear sir. Your presence on the roads will be missed dearly. Chennai awaits the return of it's humble passenger. Cheers.
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