Friday, August 04, 2006

Yun Hi Chala Chal

"Umm..Shekhar?", asked my friend Rajat.

"Yeah?" I responded absent-mindedly.

"Why are we walking so fast?"

"Are we...?" I paused in my tracks.

"Yes we are!!" responded Rajat, with a 'Duh-dude, what were you thinking?' look.

"Hmm....ok." I replied, and trotted off at the exact same pace again.

This little piece of conversation, ladies and gentlemen, happened not an hour ago. Rajat had I were headed to the mess for dinner. And as usual, I set a scorching pace.

I don't know what it is with me, but I just can't seem to walk slow!! Yeah, I know it's weird, but...that's the way it is. I love walking fast. It is unnatural for me to walk slow, and at a leisurely pace...even when it's only dinner I'm headed for. It is as if I'm in a hurry to get somewhere. The question is: Am I in a hurry? And if so, where to??

Look what happened post-dinner too. As I briskly started walking out of the mess, Rajat called out.."Hey!!" It took me a full 2 seconds to realise that he was a couple of feet behind me. "We're walking slow this time", he told me. I heeded the warning...only for a few minutes. Once we met up with another friend who was also on his way back to the hostel, I resumed at my normal pace.

And was immediately told to check my speed...

...by both my friends.

The problem is one of pace-mismatch. Once you are walking alongside a fella who's hell bent on walking at his / her own speed, what invariably happens is that you adjust your speed to his / her speed. And while most people don't mind walking at a slow and leisurely pace (I call it a 'dreamy walk', with not many positive overtones), I seem to be making my mates run along with me.

*smiles*

I recall that even as a kid I had a penchant for walking fast. I do not remember how old I was, but I'd once asked Dad who he thought was the person who could walk the fastest.

"Gandhiji", Dad had replied.

"Hmm...ok. And where could I meet him?"

I don't remember whether Dad smiled or not, but he surely did ask me why I wanted to meet Gandhiji.

"Well, to race him, of course!! We'll see who walks faster...Gandhiji or me."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

~smiles~
but if u have frnds like me..
how can u walk fast;)

Shekhar said...

mini: *sigh* how true... :)

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