A drop of sweat rolled on to Vikrams left eye, and both his eyes closed for a tiny moment. He could feel his heart thumping against his chest. His breath was fast and heavy. His undaunting legs were speeding swiftly across the hardened dry turf. Every time his running shoes pressed on the ground, there was a burning sensation under the sole of his feet. And in spite of that, his legs pushed the ground harder each time. To someone looking from outside, Vikram was almost flying!
The sweat trickled down his eye, by the side of his nose. His eyes opened. The white finish line was now visible! He felt a surge of excitement in every cell of his body. All the hard work was finally paying off. Accomplishment, achievement, victory... well deserved, he thought. Vikram was running faster than ever before, leaving behind everyone else. He was already a champion. And the champion ran with all he had. His body was throbbing, and his mind pictured taking the trophy home to Radha!
Just about then, there was a slight but sudden loosening down on his left foot. His eye balls rolled down and in a quick flash he noticed that a shoe lace had opened up. His sight drifted back to the finish line, it was a matter of another hundred meters. Another few quick glances down, the laces had unfurled further and were dancing around and under his shoes. In the same moment, he heard a rough breathing right behind him. His heart swelled up! He couldn't get beaten in this race.
Vikrams world swapped left and right as the back of his head whopped on the ground, and his back smacked down even harder! He felt flames of heat ooze out of his skin, as he lay on the ground, furiously catching his breath. The white line though, had been left behind. Vikram was a Champion!
Next morning, I saw him being taken on the shoulders by a huge crowd. They were singing to him, the ultimate truth... 'raam naam satya hai, raam naam satya hai... '
