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Farhan appealed once again, only through his eyes. He didn’t believe in wasting his energy talking or arguing. His bright grey- green eyes sparkling like a million watt bulb did the talking effortlessly. It appealed to the teacher… “Miss please give me one chance. I will win the race for our Gandhi house,” it said. Finally finding his voice he said in his awkward, breaking , pubertal voice, “Ppplleeaaassse Ms.”

Ms Naidu, knew that he wasn’t the right choice. They would lose precious points and the position of the House, would be compromised on the Leaderboard, but she couldn’t refuse the pleading child. “Will you practice diligently? Everyday?” He nodded his assent. “You know Hafeez is a faster runner and we need the points he will get on securing the first position.”

“Yes Ms,” piped up Hafeez.

“Hafeez you have 3 races to run on the final day, lets not tire you,” wisely suggested the House Captain, prim and proper Pranjal.

“Ms we can ask someone else, Farhan will become better with practice but we can ask Raghav.”

“Raghav is not there on Sports day. He will be going for the state level Debate competition,” Ms Naidu informed the group.

“So, Farhan its upto you. If you put in the effort, I am sure you will be able to do well.”

***

The Sports day finally arrived. The athletes had everyone’s attention. All the houses, Tagore, Subhash, and  Nehru were engaged in a tough fight. Gandhi house was leading by a slight margin, with stellar performances in the 400 metres and the 4 X 400 metres relay.

Next was the 100 metres dash for the senior boys. Always a show stopper. Each boy ran as if he was Usain Bolt reincarnate. The parents were jumping in their seats calling out the names of their children, the students of the houses were chanting the names of their house, interspersed with that of their ace runner. The air was electrified. The announcer called for the finalists of the 100 metres to line up. Last minute tips were being shared by the portly House Mistress or Master.

The PT teacher had to threaten dis qualification at least twice… but the energy just bounced off the participants.

“Tweeeet!” warned the whistle.

“On your marks, Get set … Gooooo!”

Like bullets from a pistol the boys shot down the track, “Go!” “Yayy!” “Faster!” the long legs moved up and down, pushing the ground as they flew through the air. The arms pumped the air, as if punching it out of their way, eyes steady and focused.

For the officials waiting at the finish line the seconds seemed so long.

They thundered down the last few metres and Shikhar from Tagore house edged past Kaushal from Gandhi!

Amidst the euphoria of Tagore house, the breaths half drawn in the Gandhi house could not be heard.

Now the scoreboard read:

Nehru – 520

Subhash – 500

Tagore – 530

Gandhi- 530

A tie! Everything boiled down to the last race of the day! All the careful planning and preparation blown away.

Ms Naidu called all the 4 of the relay team and passionately told them to “Do your best! You can do this!”

The 16 boys were called to take their places.

After a quick hug, they went off to the various places marked on the track. The track judges told them the rules once again.

Once again the PE Teacher got everyone lined up and blew his whistle loudly, “TWEEEET’!

“On your marks, Get Set,  Go!”

Off went the first lot of the relay teams. The boys were pounding down the tracks, their legs going so fast they were a blur. Batons were exchanged in the blink of an eye. Gandhi House had Kaushal in the first leg. Smarting from his recent loss he had put in all his energy and strength and wrestled a good lead. Away went Freddy, baton pumping up and down as the legs seemed to have a life of their own. As he curved the track he saw Rajat, jogging to keep up with him before he dashed away, like the wind. At the far end he could see Farhan bobbing up and down as he warmed up to take the baton and bring the race home.

The gap had narrowed down considerably as the racers put in their last ounce of reserve.

Go Farhan! Could be heard all around the ground. It was a surprise for all, for he generally finished last… Here he was the last of the relay team. A frenzy gripped the spectators as it was a nail biting finish. Ritwick from Subhash desperately cut ahead, in a last bid effort to do or die. Suddenly Farhan started taking longer strides, talking to himself, in the third person that too.“Go Farhan, you can do it!” Eyes straight ahead… arms and legs a blur, breathing so hard, it echoed around the track. They would have put horses to shame as they ran with all their might,

The resounding shouts, laughs and cheers were so loud, it could be heard on the moon, for sure. The team and all participants jumped on Farhan, tousling his hair, patting his back and lifting him up finally.

The score on the board showed:

Nehru – 525

Subhash – 510

Tagore – 530

Gandhi- 550

At last Farhan had kept his promise.

Picture Courtesy: Pixabay for representation only