LUCK
Achoo Achoo Achoo Achoo
Now, this was bad luck.
It was in his head.
He had heard it.
’If someone sneezes before you’re about to travel or do something important, it is a bad omen.’
He had heard of this superstition since his early Khandra village upbringing years.
Elders had always insisted that a sneeze taking place before the start of any work was a sign of impending bad interruption.
He tried to ignore these suggestions as he grew but the impending fear stayed even when he was in the army.
Today he was on his way to do something important. Armed with his spears he had travelled here to do battle. He was convinced that today would be a bad luck day for him.
He got out of his house in the global village.
A cat had just crossed his path.
He
It moved about athletically. He recognised the taby cat. Normally he would have admired this cat as he appreciated its feats on the idiot box.
But not today
Black cats are believed to be a bad omen; it is a superstition widely believed.
It spelt bad luck.
He had dreamt of bad luck last night.
He had dreamt of failures.
Now, he could not ignore the signs.
He thought to himself.
’It will be my doomsday.’
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He had dreamt of Sita and her bad luck with the deer.
She had been dazed by a golden deer.
Unknown to her it was Ravana’s ally, Maricha
The demon king had told the rakshasa Maricha to turn into a golden deer and graze in the vicinity of Rama's ashram. On seeing the deer, Sita would surely tell Rama and Lakshamana to catch it. When the brothers left Sita alone, Ravana would abduct her. Rama, saddened by the grief of Sita's separation, would be easily killed by Ravana.
Maricha found Sita collecting flowers and ran in front of her. The golden lustre of the deer which was gambolling around the hermitage lured Sita, who was awestruck and called Rama and Lakshmana to see the spectacular animal
Sita wanted the golden deer at all cost. She nudged the men along.
Ravana’s plan was working.
The men had tried hard with their archery skills. However, this gold would be hard to get.
It was evasive.
They had failed.
They had then tried hunting it down with curved sticks. They chased hard, reached close but unfortunately could not capture it.
The gold slipped away from their hands.
In consolation, they managed to bring some ’kānsya padaka’
They presented it to her.
Sita expressed thanks but was still unhappy.
She wanted Gold.
He dreamt he was the hero and would try and capture this golden trophy with his spear. He knew he was the underdog.
He had trained fearlessly with his spears and had managed to throw them hard and far.
But aiming for this golden deer would be a big challenge.
He woke up in a sweat.
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It was a very hot day.
Temperatures hit 34C with humidity of nearly 70%.
He got ready and left home with his favourite spears. He was sweating.
His mind was trying to focus on the day ahead of him. That's when he started experiencing the bad luck signs.
First the sneezing then the cat crossing his path.
It would be a hot humid bad day.
He entered the arena. Cedar panels clad the eaves of the magnificent structure.
He focused.
He could feel waves coming towards him.
They were in the form of continuing chants.
....rajni rajni rajni rajni rajni rajni rajni rajni...
He could not believe it.
It was the combined voice of a multitude of humanity.
He looked around.
The 68,000-seats were almost empty. There were some scatters of small groups. They were also cheering but the volume that he could hear in his head could not be generated from such minuscule crowds.
It felt as if more than 17% of the world population was chanting ’Rajni Rajni’
Whom were these chants for?
Were there Rajnikant fans here as well?
He was no Rajnikant.
He was a newcomer in this contest.
Yes — he had won before but never in these rings.
Five sacred rings to be precise.
Could he do it here?
The chants were getting louder, literally ear-shattering for him.
....rajni rajni rajni rain rajni rajni rajni rajni...
He started his run-up.
He had to gain momentum by running within the predetermined area.
With his arms bent and close to his head, he kept the spear in alignment and started his run.
He moved on to the transition phase as his back muscles contracted. He brought back the spear alignment with his shoulder and his palm up.
He was now in the final phase as the rotation of the shoulders initiated the release, which transferred movement through the triceps muscles, wrists and fingers to extend the throwing arm forward to release the spear.
He threw the spear into the night sky and turned his back on it, raising his arms in delight.
He was slowly moving up the ranks.
He was progressing.
This was good.
The bad luck was not affecting him.
Would his luck continue?
He started with an 87.03m throw. He threw 87.58 on his second attempt and 76.79m on his third.
His javelin ie the 800 gms spear about 2.6m in length, registered a best throw of 87.58m to bag the gold medal and win India's only second individual gold medal in their Olympic history.
He had won a historic medal for India.
He had won GOLD.
As he stood on the top podium, Jana Gana Mana the Indian national anthem was played at the Olympics, for a gold medal winner, for the first time in over 13 years.
He now focused on what he thought was bad luck.
It was all imaginary.
It was all in his head.
The sneezes were nothing but sneezes of Covid-19 all over the world. This had affected humanity in form of deaths and lockdowns.
It had resulted in mournfully huge and empty spectators fewer stadiums for the first time in the history of the Olympics.
His mind went to the cat crossing his path. Again it was just imaginary. He must have seen too much of the Chevy Silverado ad featuring Walter the cat which was running throughout NBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics.
Walter the cat had becomes the unofficial mascot of the Olympics.
....rajni rajni raj...ni… raj…niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj...
His ears pricked up.
They were not chanting ’Rajni Rajni!!’
Oh yes !!
They had been cheering him all along.
’Neeraj Neeraj!!’
…niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj niraj...
It hit him and hit him hard.
He had more than 1.3 billion people cheering him in their hearts.
He realised that even if bad luck had crossed his path today he would have overcome it.
After all, he had around 17.7% of the world's population wishing him good luck.
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Notes :
Arena -- Japan National Stadium
Khandra village -- located in Panipat Tehsil of Panipat district in Haryana
Global village -- Tokyo Olympic Village in Tokyo's Harumi waterfront district
Curved sticks -- hockey sticks
Kānsya padaka -- bronze medal
You have added a completely new dimension Prahlad, and absolutely brilliantly! Loved the build up and all the allusions from Sita and the golden hero, to the quest for gold and finally the chant of Rajni! You have nailed it and how!
ReplyDeleteWhat a story!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anamika .. A total turn in your narratives. Amazing Simply stunning from the Ramayan touch to the wonderful chant of Rajni. You have shown us yet another facade to your art of writing.
Great job Maama. Cool on how you used the Neeraj-Rajni transition. Also I didn't know 'Kansya Padaka' was bronze medal. It's really interesting how you connected that to the Sita story. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteGood 'luck' on deliberation :)
This is the best gift Neeraj could get after the gold!
ReplyDeleteWhat a build up. And such relevant life lessons. Yes anyone representing India at the global arena has 1.7 billions support. Oh and I loved the echo of his name. Thank you Prahlad. Simplicity with depth.
ReplyDelete