The 4 X 400 m relay @ CWG 2010

Someone on facebook uploaded a video of the CWG finals of the 4 X 400 m relay race. I just saw it cos it was one of the rarest instances when our “athletes” make it to the finals of an international event. More than that, it was the women team who had made it on the grand stage! While watching the sprint something struck me and had decided to write about it right then. But it was not until before, I was in this beautiful Yankee restaurant with a bowl of minestrone soup and some crisp bread, that thoughts hit hard on the keyboard.
It was a typical race like thousand others that have been run earlier. But no…. I saw the same video atleast half a dozen times to make sure that what I was seeing was for real… This is a humble effort to recreate the race albeit with a different perspective on it.
The basic concept of relay is to handover the baton to the next runner awaiting at regular intervals of 100m. There is an allotted transition distance during which the runners must complete the transition in order to avoid disqualification. The team that makes it to the finish line first, is heralded as the winner. For this one, the Indian team was no more than an underdog or may be the space-filler in the harshest of terms. The favorites were the Nigerians and the English.
Manjeet Kaur, the first runner in the Indian team had a good start and she did manage a lead over her English counterpart in the 40th second but was tiring by the 45th and had to settle behind the Nigerian. After the transition Sini Jose was in hot pursuit of the Nigerian who by then, at the 1minute 3 second mark, had taken a huge lead. The commentator (commie) was screaming at the top of his voice. With the Nigerians way ahead of the pack, the English runners had caught up with Ashwini Akkunji, India’s 3rd runner. The English woman was breathing down Ashwini’s neck but she was in no mood of bowing down to the descendent of the imperial powers. Precisely at the 2:27.2 mark Ashwini, with huge strides, took the lead and the stadium erupted! The commie went berserk too. At 2:36.65 he yelled, “India is going for gold!!!!” Mandeep Kaur, took the baton from Ashwini and shot off her transition zone. Nigerians were there to win too and wouldn’t have given it easy. Mandeep Kaur and the Nigerian were running neck to neck struggling to get that faint lead. Rest of the pack was miles behind ‘em. Finally at 2.51.4 Mandeep took the decisive lead and kicked hard. From there on there was no looking back and the gap just widened. The crowd was ecstatic. The women of India, brought home The Gold ! An excerpt from the e-tabloid, The Hindu, read “A.C. Ashwini, a hurdler, ran the race of her life to overtake Nigerian Dammy Abogunloko and give India the lead midway through the third leg. Mandeep Kaur, the anchor, continued the good work as the host pocketed its second gold of these Games and its first-ever relay victory in the Games history. Manjeet Kaur and Sini Jose ran the first two legs.” They had overcome all hurdles and grabbed the gold. Mind you, a lot of the gold medalists come from backgrounds, socio-politco-economical, that we wouldn’t prefer given a choice. These young guns took that as a challenge surmounted and then thought about winning and so they did!
Well the blog wasn’t intended to be a narrative of the event but without that the crux wouldn’t be reached. So while the fantastic-4 were sprinting towards victory, something struck me. That jolt actually inspired this blog. Let’s look back at the race again. So, India had 4 runners. Each one was supposed to hand over the baton to the next one in the fastest and most efficient way possible. The commie yelled… “Here comes India..!!” and sometime later, “India is going for gold!” I drew a few analogies instantly.

1. The 4 runners represent 4 generations, loosely speaking, since independence.
2. The baton represents various responsibilities and the track represents the world stage.
3. Competitors are other nations in the race to glory and success.
4. The sport of running represents a specific activity and could be anything ranging from forest conservation to innovation.
5. Shoes and wear, would represent infrastructure
6. The process of carrying the baton would be conducting day to day activities required as per point 4.

Now having laid down these ground rules, I can merely say that – With the right kind of people who are focused and have a common goal, with proper training and right infrastructure we can provide transitions from one generation to other efficiently and create a better future. While other countries ponder over their drawbacks India keeps forging ahead and gathering Gold by the heap. So fellas I will just quote Swami Vivekanda to bolster the blogs message and bid adieu for the night.
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”