Surprise...

The alarm went off at 5.55 AM! Now, that's a Surprise for a Saturday...

We had a fully packed morning ahead of us. At 7 AM, we had to be at the park where my son had to run 3 miles and complete a round of exercises to earn his fitness stripe in his quest for a Black Belt. Right after, we had to drive into center city Philadelphia for his choir practice that starts at 8.45 AM and would go on until 12 noon. It would have been a Surprise if we got lunch before 1 PM...

I have been running with my son on these fitness tests everytime he is about to graduate from one belt to another. In the beginning, it was A Mile Run and that was not a challenge. As my son grew older (he started Karate when he was about 7) and as he moved from the beginners to the intermediate to the advanced levels, the fitness requirement went up to 2 miles. For a man who's sitting 12 hours a day in a high-back chair working and the rest of the time awake on a plushy couch watching TV, it's a Surprise I managed to wake up one fine morning and run 2 miles along with him...

I knew it was going to be a stretch the moment I heard the number 3! But I like to run with him, just to show him that I'm there for him and to motivate him to cover the distance. And all of us knew the morning was going to be as stretch given one thing after another. So we stayed in Friday evening and called it a day early enough so we could all wake up fresh and strong. Every single detail had been planned, I would wake up at 6 AM and make the coffee and tea. My wife would be up right behind me and she would pack the towels, the change clothes and the snacks he would need for after the run, before choir. And junior would be woken up at 630 AM, giving him enough time to wash, drink his milk and get ready to run out. Knowing my wife, it would have been a Surprise if she didn't plan it to this level of detail...

Everything went to plan until 7 AM. We were there at the park, greeted by all the other children, the instructors, chaperones et al. The Principal called for all the boys to fall in line and went through his routine of asking each student what his / her age was, what belt they were testing for and hence confirming the distance they needed to run. "Tay Jus", he said, "how are you sir"? "I'm well sir", he said. "You're testing for Black and how old are you sir"? "I'm 10 sir", came the reply, "so that's 3 miles, right"? "Hmm, let's see, testing for Black, 10 years old, no that's actually 4 miles sir, YOU'VE GOT TO RUN 4 MILES", he said! Surprise...

There was no fuss! Not even a reaction. Only the definitive nod of the head to indicate "Yes Sir". And then he moved to join his Karate mates who were now forming a semicircle to start doing some stretching exercises. Only, someone else was reacting. ME! I was frantically looking for my wife, who had quietly stayed in the back rows, doing what she does best, greeting other parents and wishing other children the best for their runs. I spotted her in a minute and ran to her. "He needs to run 4 miles, not 3" and I repeated what the Principal had said a few minutes ago. "My son is running 3 and I will ask him to run the 4th along with yours", said another friendly neighbourhood parent. It was NO Surprise that my wife did not panic. She has always been a huge believer in my son's determination. She looked at me and I said, "I'll run with him". I had no idea what I had just signed up for...

The run began! My son and his friend shot off the blocks. I was mad at him because I felt he needed to pace himself. Somewhere about the 400 metre mark there was a U-turn in the path and the runners had to run around one of the instructors and back on the paved raod. This was comforting because even though I knew I was never going to catch up with him, I knew I would meet him at least 2 times during this run (going by my previous history of running 2 miles) when he would make the U-turn and return while I was still running towards the U. I met him soon and I expressed myself. "You've got to run 4 miles, so pace yourself". He nodded but kept running like the wind. I was Surprised I just didn't break my run, go over to him and give him a piece of my mind...

The first 2 miles went like routine. The toughest part of the trail was at the very begnning, where the path was not paved but was mostly sand and clay, with deep tire marks from trucks that had rolled through. I knew that if I surived that part I would be better off with the rest of the path. When I hit that part for the third time, I started praying. "God, take me past this path, please!" God was kind and I did cross the path and approached the U-turn. I met my son again as he was returning on the path but this time I met him much earlier which indicated that the distance between him and me was growing. I realised there was no point telling him to slow down so this time I only shouted words of encouragement for him. I slowly got to the U-turn. When I saw him way ahead of me I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and felt the need to catch up with him. After all, this was a big day for him and the only way to show him that I was there for him was to run alongside. I started taking longer strides. 5 seconds was all it took for me to realise my folly. One good thing the school does is assign a buddy for people who are running longer distances the first time and I noticed young TJ, who was much bigger and stronger than Tejas, running by his side. So I wisely gave up the need to catch up with him and fell back into my own pace...

Mile 3 ended and Mile 4 began! It was a Surprise I was still running. I got to the dirt track and prayed again. I got past the dirt track and on to the paved road and I barely crossed him on his return from the U. He was way ahead of me. "You can do it buddy", I shouted. I don't know if he even heard me. I could hear him grunting but I didn't see him stopping. My wife's assessment of his determination was spot on. At my own pace I made the U-turn and got back on what was the single longest straight stretch on the trail. When I hit that part of the trail, I realised I was alone. I kept chugging along. I looked for him. He was gone. I couldn't see him anymore. "Oh my God! Did he give up? Did he just stop and walk away towards the start line? No! That would mean he would need to come back next month and start all over! God, please no!". And then I saw him come around the curve. Past the straight stretch, we had to run around a lake and then came the home stretch on a grass path between a hill and the parking lot. A few morning walkers had hid him from my view for a brief while and I was so relieved to see him and his buddy come around the lake. I was not Surprised anymore...

I passed 2 ladies who were walking. "Your shoelaces are untied", shouted one to me. "I know, but I can't stop!", I said. "Be careful", she said. "I will", I said and kept moving. I wasn't really running, I was just moving. The next few steps seemed like eternity. My eyes never left him as I watched him run the loop around the lake. And I was praying. For him. He was more than a quarter of a mile ahead of me. And then it happened. Even as I hit the start of the loop around the lake, I saw him disappear behind the hill at the end of the loop. I knew he had done it! He was but a few paces away from the finish line. And I knew that if it was not for him, I would have left this race long ago. A little over a quarter of a mile left to conquer, I looked up into the sky. I thanked God for giving me Tejas. And I wasn't Surprised, when I heard myself saying. "God, let me finish this race"...

Tejas L Kaushik, albeit taken by Surprise, completed his 4 mile run in 45 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by 100 jumping jacks and 30 frog leaps, went on to a 3 hour session of choir practice and has carried on his day with elan and is just now having his dinner at 730 PM, after which he plans to work on a 499 piece Lego Model of a fighter plane. It's no surprise that my wife thinks he must retire early so he can wake up at 7 AM again to go to a Math Bee contest Sunday morning.

Oh! I measured his height after my 3 hour afternoon nap and I wasn't Surprised. He was Ten Feet Tall...

Friend...

I never dreamt this day would come!

His ship docked at the Jersey City harbor mid afternoon today. After a long ride on the NJ turnpike, I eased my car on to Port Jersey Boulevard a little past 5 PM. I was searching for #302 but couldn't find it. I tried calling him but he wouldn't pick up. I could see long lines of cranes and containers on either side of the road so I was sure I was in the right place. I tried calling him again, but there was no response. I let my car keep rolling down the track. "Waterfront Observation Deck", a road sign said. "What's the worst that can happen?", I thought. "I'll get a view of the water, so let me keep pulling forward"...

"No entry beyond this point", screamed another sign right ahead of me. I stopped the car and looked to the right. More cranes and more containers. Then I looked left. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "This cannot be true", I thought. I made a quick U-turn and in front of me was the observation deck. And right below the deck on the right hand side corner of the road was a cul-de-sac. I pulled up into it, parked my car and jumped out. I looked out on the waterfront. I'd never seen this view before...

As wide as my eyes could take in, from my left to right were an isolated tree, the Goldman Sachs building (the tallest in Jersey City), the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, downtown Manhattan, the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in intertwined fashion, the Staten Island Ferry and the island itself. I have never hid my love for New York city but this was a view I had never seen before. It was truly magestic! Just then the phone rang. He said he had just come out of his ship and was waiting for me on the street. I asked him to stay on the phone, turned back to the water and took one deep breath. I let the view soak in. Mother Nature was celebrating my reunion with an old friend...

I have known him since school, but since he chose to go a different school at some point, it was really college that brought us back together. The first cultural tour, mad Mardi-Gras nights, night-out study sessions and gut-wrenching stage performances are only some of the things we shared. Those 4 years at college and several later created a bond that would never be broken...

He started sailing soon after college. We'd write to each other letters on paper. He'd be back for breaks after gruelling journeys. And we'd go back to our revelry, enjoying each other's company. Slowly the journeys grew longer. I moved to a different city. We still stayed in touch somehow. And then suddenly we lost touch with each other. He was still sailing when I moved to the US and several attempts to reach him never bore fruit for four years...

He was never technology-friendly. He would have responded to at least one of my emails if he was. But fate and facebook always re-unite friends forever. On Jan 1, 2012, he found me on facebook and send me a friend request. God, was I thrilled to hear from him again? He was in India and I was in the US. But we stayed in touch until he set forth for his next journey. I realised he had stepped up several notches in technology, only when he emailed me from his ship a few days later to let me know he would soon be docking  in New Jersey...

Life has its ways! The first time he touched here was a school night for my son. And I couldn't go out to see him. So we only talked a couple of hours before he set sail again. He was going to Italy but would return soon. Alas! When he came back to New Jersey, I was holidaying in sunny California. What a shame we couldn't meet...

If there is one thing life has taught me in the last 3 years (even before I started using facebook!), it is that you never lose the relationships in which you have invested in. Those people you believed in and shared with always have a way of coming right back into your life in the most surprising of circumstances. I just got back from my holiday yesterday when my phone rang. "I'll be docking in Jersey City about 2 PM tomorrow. Can you come to see me?, he said. "You should not miss this chance, drop whatever you have and go see him", my wife said...

I stayed on the phone as I slowly rolled my wheels back through Port Jersey till I found him at the gates of Global Terminal Container Services. He smiled at me, cut the call, walked over to the car and joined me. I don't know how the next 3 hours passed. We did what we always did best. We drove around, we ate dinner, talked non-sense and laughed like hell till I dropped him back at the dock at about 9 PM and only because his ship leaves again at 5 AM and I had promised I would help my son with an essay tonight. I guess I don't have to describe how I felt or how I feel...

In all the things we did together in all these years, there is one thing that stands out for all to see. Everyone who knows us together knows this. Whenever it was, whatever we did and wherever we went, it was always he, who came and picked me up. From his simple silver plus during college to his shiny Santro later in life, it was always me riding the passenger seat, enjoying his driving and his company. To Besant Nagar beach, through Madras city and to every possible eatery that we could spend our money in, he drove me...

In my wildest of dreams, I never dreamt this day would come. When I would be the one to go pick him up and take him for a spin! Thank you da KARTHIK, for letting me return the favor...

Poetry in Motion...

Her name is Lucerne!

Just like all other Hollywood romances, ours began in Hollywood too. At the Hilton in Universal City (home of the famous Universal Studios), to be precise. At 345 pm on a cloudy Thursday afternoon to be even more precise. Just below the Sierra Ballroom in fact...

I usually don't do this in the first meeting, but within 30 minutes, I asked her to dance with me. It was still cloudy. The floor was open but filling up fast, so if we had to find our place on it, I had to move fast. Boy, was I delighted when she said, "Yes"...

The gentleman I am, I led her to the dance floor and first let her take her spot. After taking my own, I carefully took her in my arms. My left locked in hers and my right clasping her waist, I held her close to me and looked her in the eye. The music began...

We moved slowly at first. We made small strides and stayed in our space. We moved in tandem with the many others who had taken the floor with us. It was that time of the day the dance floor was full. Our moves were not only restricted but had to match the timing of the plethora of other dancers. We were told that soon, the crown would filter to only those who were in it long haul. We waited as we gently paced the floor...

The experts were right! The party hoppers soon left and only those remained who had sworn to dance all evening long. The floor that looked so tightly packed, opened up its expanse and beckoned us to be free. And just when we thought it couldn't get any better, the clouds vanished. The floor was bathed in sunshine...

We started to move. Our steps picked up pace and we even started to move across the floor. Sometimes, we would move just one right and left step, sometimes 2 and 2 and sometimes we went from end to end without breaking a sweat. Still, we were only getting in the mood...

I was dressed in blue and she was in white! I was leading her moves (like the man should do) and she jived to mine. My eyes were always roving the floor so I could lead her right. I never needed to look at her once. I knew I held her tight and I knew I'd never let her go...

Soon we were on song! The music just got better with every single number and we moved and jived along like we'd been together forever. We moved forward and sideways and left others behind. We were swaying with the wind and laughing in the sunshine...

Our hearts beat as one. Our feet moved in unison. Every minute I prayed that nothing would stop this run. And life conspired to create a magical ride. Even through nightfall and rainfall, we didn't lose our rythm...

We danced together for 5 long hours. We stopped only because we had to. If I had a choice, I would have asked her to dance all night. And I just know. She'd say, "Yes"...

She's not mine! But we share something special. And deep down in our hearts, we both know it. Because days like this are neither designed, nor dreamed of. They just happen...

The above is a metaphorical account of my blissful 5 hour drive through Interstate 5 (North) from the Universal Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles to the city of Cupertino in the South San Francisco bay on the afternoon of Thursday 12 April 12 in a lovely white Buick Lucerne...

Talk...

You don't see each other
You don't speak a word
You write and you don't
But you say a lot...

You have your life to live
Yet you make some time
A picture here, a gesture there
Is all it takes to share...

You say what you feel
You feel it is right
But you know when you hurt
And you apologize...

You wait to hear
But never impose
And even a little Smile
Can cause a lot of cheer...

You know what you want
You'll wait for the time
A heart full of hope
And faith, that's so sure...

You talk...