A life-changing stroll on Sukhna

As I walked behind him trying to keep up with his athletic pace, I wondered if this would be the beginning of a sporty union. Over kathi kebabs and cold coffee at Hot Millions on the Mehfil road, he had almost started to sound fun, unlike the constipated, overly proud gallantry awardee suitor I saw earlier.

Any other place nearby where we can chit-chat more? He asked.

“We can go to the Lake.” I replied.

Little did I know that this was a test.

He started to walk and talk, his conversation and footsteps moving at an equal pace. We were nearing the Regulator end and I was feeling tired but could not tell him.

We stopped next to the overhead tank close to the grand peepal tree. He smiled and asked, “Phir, kya Socha?” As if almost suggesting that I had passed the physical test and he was now ready to take the leap of a lifetime with me.

I smiled back, thinking “Ab to chal liyaa, aage ki phir dekhenge.”

Twenty-three years on, I am the one making him run the life’s marathons and the one hydrating the pitstops.

Navneet Grewal, Chandigarh