“I will not settle for anything less than the first position in my school marathon this time,” thought, Piyush, a tall, skinny student of a residential school, which housed students from various countries across Asia. Piyush had been preparing hard for the last few months to better his performance of last year when he had missed the gold medal by a whisker to Ibomcha, a non residential Indian. The sports day came; Piyush sat behind the curtains with bated breath to hear the official announcement for his event being made. After a few minutes, as the announcements for athletes to assemble for marathon started, Piyush stood up, stretched himself and moved towards the starting line. So excited was he that he had reached the tracks while announcements were still being made.
“Piyush, this time you not only have to win a gold medal but also represent our school at district level,” said Raviraj, the bald headed instructor, who was watching him from behind. “Yes, I will try my best,” Piyush squeaked, adjusting his hair which were obstructing his view of the track. He looked around, only to realize that a small crowd of runners of all types, from medium built to short heighted to plump figures had suddenly adorned the starting line. The crowd wished each other as it waited to hear the whistle announcing the start of the race. Suddenly, a quick loud whistle set all the athletes into motion. The atmosphere had come alive with the sounds of cheers, claps, and hoots.
The first lap of the marathon saw all the runners running in close proximity to each other as no one wanted to be left behind. But after the first lap, the running crowd, with their fluctuating energy levels, steadily started spreading over a larger area of track with some lagging way behind. The third lap saw Piyush, Ibomcha and one Purshottam leaving others far, far behind. All three now nearing the penultimate lap had a tough time to make a lead over the other as none of them showed any sign of slowing down. It went for a while that all three ran in tandem keeping an eye over the other, but in the penultimate lap, Piyush and Purshottam started to feel a dip in their stamina, which made Ibomcha come much ahead of them — so ahead that he was almost out of their sight.
It was in the last lap when Piyush and Purshottam were just around a quarter kilometer away from the finishing line that they noticed Ibomcha lying unconscious on the track. “Purshottam, see Ibomcha is lying unconscious in the middle of the track! What has happened to him?” asked Piyush tugging Ibomcha, wishing him to get up. Purshottam who was happy seeing Ibomcha lying flat on the ground, quickly put, “I don’t know, let’s go and finish the race first; we are nearing the finishing line.” “I am not coming, I cannot leave Ibomcha unattended, if you wish, you can go,” retorted Piyush, picking up unconscious Ibomcha into his both hands. Meanwhile, Purshottam went ahead running, feeling himself to be lucky enough to have got a chance to win the race. Piyush, on the other hand moved off the tracks carrying Ibomcha’s body to hand it over to the nearest first aid booth.
Piyush had tears in his eyes as he had missed his dream of coming first but he was content from inside for having helped a fellow human being in need and thus living up to his expectation of being a responsible citizen.
Though Piyush lost the race that year, his kind deed made him a winner for his life in everyone’s eyes. He stood head and shoulders above the other runners for what he had achieved was phenomenal; what others could only think of. He had proved that he believed in a life built around values, ethics and a sense of common brotherhood.
© Anchit Barnwal
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