My tryst with God

At the outset, I would like to appropriately qualify this blog. “My Running Reflections” is supposed to be a running blog, but this one qualifies as something far more sacrosanct for me - something that extends beyond the boundaries of running or any sport for that matter. It’s about an ephemeral moment when I revisit some sweet childhood memories – all within a matter of few seconds!  

IDBI Federal Life Insurance – New Delhi Marathon (26^th Feb 2017)

It was around the end of 2016 when I learned about Sachin Tendulkar’s association with the NDM event. For the first time, a running event was going to be more than just a running event for me. I was charged up to give my best performance on the big day. The months of January and February were largely focused on speed work with tempo and interval runs forming a significant share of weekly running mileage. 

The days passed by and then comes the big day - 26^th Feb, 2017.

The excitement was in the air. As I entered the Stadium, I continued performing my ritual warm-up drills, but my mind was elsewhere. I kept scanning the sea of people to catch a glimpse of my childhood Hero – the Master, the Blaster, the God – the One and Only, Sachin Tendulkar.

All warm-up drills performed, pre-run banana eaten, pleasantries with fellow runners exchanged – still no sight of Sachin Tendulkar. I was disappointed at the hype I had created in my own mind. For the last two months, all I had thought about during my personal time was the sight of Sachin Tendulkar flagging-off the race and I achieving my best ever half-marathon time on that magical day!

But, alas - that was not to be.. 

With a feeling of despair and utter disappointment, I accepted the fact that Sachin had not come. I bent down to tighten the shoelace for one final time before the run commenced. Just as I gingerly tied the shoe-lace knot, I heard a loud boisterous eruption. Even before I got up to see what it was – a broad smile had flashed on my face; I knew the master had arrived.

What I saw next was intense, emotional, nostalgic and beyond words. With a large flag in his hand, Sachin stood just a few meters away from me (the fact that I made it to the first few rows from the start-line helped!). 

The first thing that struck me at seeing Sachin was the radiant glow on his face – a glow that one cannot be born with, a glow that certainly cannot be acquired through the use of cosmetic creams – a glow that one attains through single-minded focus and dedication and going through the grind for one’s quest for excellence day after day, month after month – for almost 25 years! 

A few moments later, I felt a sudden turbulence of thoughts and flashbacks from my childhood days. It was almost like the sight of Sachin had nudged a few blocks of nostalgic memories that were comfortably placed beneath the layer of sub-conscious memory, and were now trying to regain equilibrium. Some moments that instantly crossed through my head:

• IIT Delhi second year, Karakoram hostel (2002): We were watching a one-day international match in the Hostel common room and Sachin got dismissed cheaply. The gentleman sitting next to me (an M. Tech student three years senior to me) was visibly disappointed and started abusing Sachin like crazy. After exercising restraint for a few minutes, I decided enough was enough and beat that senior like a mad man. Subsequently, I was banned from the hostel common room for six months. Well, I was a kid back then with limited maturity (but in no way suggesting that with the advantage of maturity that I have gained over the last 15 years, I wouldn’t do that again – I still believe that the gentleman got the treatment he deserved!)
• The day of my Roka ceremony (2^nd March, 2008): I was getting engaged to my would-be wife! Everything was great – all relatives were ecstatic, grand preparations had been made at a Banquet Hall. The only little bit of a concern (at least in my mind) was that the day coincided with Common Wealth Bank Series, 1^st Final – India vs. Australia. As the function progressed, I kept furtively escaping every few minutes (on the pretext of feeling hungry, nature’s call, need water and what not) to catch a glimpse of Sachin on a large screen where the match was being telecast in an adjacent restaurant. The master scored an unbeaten 117 and the auspicious day became a little more auspicious.
• Sachin’s retirement day (15^th Nov 2013): As a kid, I always feared what would I do when Sachin retires. It almost felt like I would not have anything to look forward to. But of course, those were thoughts as a kid. Now, I had grown up – in fact, I was a father of a 3-year old kid. When Sachin walked back after getting dismissed for 74 for the final time, I just couldn’t hold back tears. Yes, I cried like a kid (yes, it was embarrassing, but so be it!). My kid was visibly concerned to see me weeping and looked at his Mom to explain what was going on. My wife explained to him that Papa is sad because he will not be able to watch Sachin’s batting anymore. The three year-old kid came to me after a few moments and said – Papa, Youtube pe dekh lenge (we will watch him on YouTube). As innocent as it may have been, it did give me a lot of comfort!

There were many other spontaneous flashbacks, but these were the prominent ones – all within a matter of few seconds.

The run started..

Sachin was cheerfully looking at the passing cavalcade and cheering the runners. What happened next was magical. There was a brief moment when Sachin and I made an eye contact. Sachin smiled and showed me a thumbs-up. Of course, he was doing that to the crowd but for that brief moment it felt like it was a personalized good-luck gesture for me.

The energy level went through the roof. After that magical moment, there was no way I was going to settle for anything less than my personal best.

The challenge for me was to hold the nerves and run as per the plan. I often make the mistake of running the first few kilometers faster than the desired pace. I had planned to take at least 20:30 for the first 5 kms. At the end of 5 kms, I realized that I had deviated from the plan by good 45 seconds and finished it in 19:45. I did manage to get back on the plan after around 8^th km mark and by the time I finished the race, I had managed to achieve a new PB for half-marathon distance – 1:28:33 (bettering my previous best by 1 min and 6 seconds).

Clearly, it was a race that I would remember for reasons bigger than just my personal best timing! My tryst with God was magical and the lucky charm seemed to have continued into the next big event too.

Urban Stampede 10km run (5^th March, 2017)

Managed to secure second rank with my personal best timing of 40:47 for 10 km run.

So, back to the original topic - The Tryst with God. 

What next now? The desire to meet Sachin remains and meet in a more personalized manner. But, it should feel like a meeting earned through hardwork, discipline and elevation of self to a level where the meeting makes sense not just for me but also for Sachin - and, I have miles and miles to go before even remotely  entertaining a thought like that!  

Sundeep Singh

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About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and holds an MBA from IIM Kozhikode. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running, he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s best run till date is NDM 2017, which he completed in 1:28:33.