Of Jiving the marathon

Enthusiasm, anticipation and excitement in the same order is such an integral part of our life. Talk about beating the mundanity of life, and nothing can be better than surprising yourselves by doing something totally unexpected. A couple of things this year which i wouldn't have thought of doing, but for the opportunities. 

Out of nowhere comes this mail at work, asking people to register for the Sunfeast World 10k Marathon, Bangalore. First few weeks at work is always when the employee gets his time, space for self, and I utilized mine to the best by registering to run for supporting EY's cause of 'I run = they learn'. It is not the idea of running that enthused me, but it was about doing something out of an opportunity when it arose.

Until one is actually part of the marathon running in it, the concept of a marathon is usually unclear. The buzz it generates across age groups is tremendous. I can still feel those additional bouts of energy I received in form of the encouragement from people of all age groups ebbing me and all others, on to complete the last stretch which seemed so beyond me.

Bangalore I think should open up for more such and other events like street concerts, street plays, other community connecting initiatives promoted from time to time when parts of the city will be temporarily closed for vehicular traffic from time to time. The feel good factor is really infectious!

So what, if it's just for a day or a half?

Secondly, another thing i have learnt off late is to never say never again. I had this strange pride in telling people that i had two left feet when it had to do something with dance. Though almost all things to be done on stage pulled me in, dance never figured in the list. But since my MBA days this has somehow become something that i have started enjoying, loving maybe. It is all with the mindset, and if you still think you are such a hopeless dancer like i was, then you better have friends like i've had, with a lot of talent & patience. I  simply can't forget the dance performance at our MBA inauguration in the summer of '08.

And this time, summing up all the courage I could from previous experiences, I enrolled to be part of the dance group without nobody coercing, cajoling or scamming me in. This was for a Jive performance for the annual Ernst & Young offsite Party at the Golden Palms Hotel and Spa as a part of the employee talent program.

Since the time of registering to the day of the event, the group had five days to practice along with the professional choreographers who were specially contracted to help us out. First couple of days passed by, with work and illness taking precedence. It seemed so very convenient to slip away from the scene, but i am a stickler for commitments and thus I headed for practice on the third day. For my long legs, the task seemed ever-more daunting on seeing   people dance like they were born with feet only to dance. But the heart always seems to find answers and be assured and then it takes over the mind and its matters.

And it helps when, you find somebody who can just look at you and say, it's ok you're doing all right if not fine. Therein lies the source of inspiration and energy that we all look for and I found mine in my colleague Pooja. From then on, there was not much to look behind/around considering that not many were part of the dance group as yet. It took us some practice sessions in the escalator lobby in office, one session in a dance studio for half an hour and finally lots of impromptu sessions by the swimming pool at the resort to finally tap our feet to the right note.Once in the zone, the task simply became insignificant and the fun aspects took over. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if could enjoy all other work tasks similarly and accomplish it? Wishful thinking! 

At the end of the day it's a great feeling to be surprised to know what and how much we're capable of. All we need to do is keep pushing!!!