Life is a catchup game

Recently I visited the Buddh International circuit to witness the T1 Prima Truck Racing event. Yes, truck racing. There is always something exhilarating about a race track and the weather that day just amplified the atmosphere many a folds. And despite the various air horns and whistles blowing everywhere around the circuit’s main grand stand, the rain accompanied with cold winds brought a certain amount of calmness to the whole environment at the circuit.

 

The qualifying round consisted of eight laps and a total of six teams competed head to head for various positions. And even though the performances by various artists in the pre-main show event were good, their audio was not properly audible to me. Maybe because it was a circuit meant for racing and not for some rhythmic musical showcases by some talented people, or maybe because I was too eager to hear the sound of the rumbling engines.

 

The event began and off went the trucks speeding and cruising their way over this rich and thick asphalt circuit, with rain pouring down from the skies. I tried to perceive what the driver of a particular truck was seeing from his windshield, with the truck’s water wipers going to and fro to remove the rain drops from the glass wall that separates an individual from these double hydrogen and single oxygen molecules. The drops seemed to hitting the trucks hard, maybe because of their high speeds. 

But what really drew my attention was a truck that was green in color; yes I identified the trucks with their color rather than their performance spec sheets. The truck belonged to Team Castrol Vecton. In the qualifying round this green truck was left behind in the start itself, and the other trucks got far ahead of that poor green monster (not a monster truck). When the vehicles sped past the grand stand people cheered and shouted at top of their voices to show their appreciation and to motivate the drivers. But when the green truck arrived lagging behind, doing its best to reduce the gap between its other competitors, people started laughing on him. Mostly comments were also made that this guy would turn last, that this is not his day, that he should take a pit stop and rest his vehicle because he had already lost. But that truck did not give up. The driver kept on pushing to the limit and kept his perseverance on with its engine roaring through the wind and rain. And suddenly one of the other trucks got stuck on the side pathway, this was the green truck’s opportunity to overtake and get back in the game. And he did. The green one turned out to be second last in the qualifying race. And as the race ended one could see the smoke go off their tires, one could smell the scent of burning rubber in the air, and I got the experience for what I came to this track.

But this event gave me an insight, that this is life. And if you are coming last in the life, people might just pull you down even further with their discouraging, non-motivating and taunting remarks. But if one can look beyond these comments and continue on its path with due diligence success is sure to come. And although success might not mean coming first, but it might just mean not coming last and finishing in style.

  

But who I am to say or judge anyone, I came to see the trucks racing their ways and I too cheered when a truck went off road. For my mind is full of thoughts, mostly of noises at the Buddh International Circuit.