Wednesday, 7 April 2010

Writing Contest: Life is - Priyanka Ray

Life is - experiencing the Depth and not just living the Length
-Priyanka Ray

Ding- Dong ! The bell rings to mark the lunch time in a famous engineering college at India. Kirti & Pri both are on their way to college canteen !
‘Whats on the Notice board? Cant make my way through the crowded corridor’ -snaps Kirti at an annoyed tone. Sahana screams ‘Girls ! Its a notice for Rowing regatta for novices on our river. A foreign rowing club is here to raise money for charity and they are organizing the Regatta in four week’s time .Pri’s pair of eyes meet Kirti ‘s and they smiles together with a synchronizing wink !
‘Two more to make a crew ,now that is a pain’- concludes Pri in a depressing pitch. ‘Dont worry honey we will find two more crack heads willing to share same boat’ -assures Kirti.
Next day Kirti and Pri kick off their ‘Find our crew’ workshop. On their way to conjure a crew , they get bestowed with encouraging words and good luck wishes: ‘All the best Girls –it will be fun watching you drowning in the cold river water from the safe shore’. ‘Mind the depth is 14 meter girls, hope you have enough insurance ;)’ . ‘Boys are always better, they have got the power’
Kirti and Pri ,ignore these words ,as they know twenty years from now, they will be more disappointed by the things that they didn't do than by the ones they did do. So they choose to throw off the bowlines and ‘row’ away from the safe harbor.
With the help of few good men they ultimately find their crew at the last hour of entry closing day.
They meet the coach –he is strong- he is strict. He is the best ,one could ever ask for. Today is their first session on water- they start from scratch .They take the boat out of the boat house , along with the oars , place it on the river and take the strokes in the rhythms of their rising heart beat.
Do they struggle in the water to go forward ? Yes they do. Do they feel butterflies in stomach when the boat wobbles? Yes they do. Do they feel horrible seeing the mad expression on coach’s face shouting ‘balance the boat !!!’,Yes they do .Do they wish, they would better been on shore shouting for other teams ?No they don’t, cause the joy of learning to glide on the water, with the sound of the oar cutting through the river and the feeling of being free is too much to trade against. They are training harder each day with the ‘D Day’ weeks away. They do not care if they win, all they care is -the feel of the oar in their hand, the swing, the perfect catch, the pull, the drive and the run of the boat beneath them, after all “Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths one take, but by the moments that take one’s breath away”, and they have just known that.

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