THE RACE- Short Story

                About The Author

  Nisha Punjabi

Nisha Punjabi, a graduate in English Literature and Economics, is a freelance writer based in Lucknow,  India.  From 2004 to 2005, she was employed by the Lucknow Times, the daily magazine of The Times of India  as a freelancer to write for them. Nisha Punjabi is introduced to the learner as a budding woman writer of India.

                             SUMMARY

This wonderful story discusses a common trend in (Indian) families. It is the story of Tarun, a brilliant athlete whose talents were not recognized by his family for a long time. Having felt lost and unwanted, Tarun lived a miserable childhood until he met Ram Narayan, no, until Ram Narayan, a well known coach of his days, met him in a park. The great man was of the first impression that Tarun could become an athlete.

Ram Narayan agreed to train Tarun on a single condition – Tarun had to qualify in the race on the Children’s Day. Tarun was very much confident about winning the race so he agreed to participate in the race. Thereafter he began rigorous practice to qualify in the race.

Finally, on the 14th of November, the great day arrived. Participants lined up for the event. Galleries stood breathless as the race started. In spite of all his hard work and day-long practice, Tarun slipped along a shallow path on the track and fell down. Tarun didn’t know what to do. He heard his mother screaming at him to get up and run.

Tarun got up and ran. Surprisingly he overtook a few participants and fell down a second time and then a third time. Even Ram Narayan shouted at Tarun to run. However, when the race ended, a boy called Pawan won the race.

And Tarun? Tarun was the last but the crowd grew proud of this boy who crossed the line last. What about Ram Narayan? He too was proud of training Tarun on account of his tireless, repeated attempts even after having fallen thrice.

Activity 1 (Character sketch)

Activity 2 -  Write-up