People are Crazy, Nothing would Change!!!

Author: Srinivas Saripalle

And here I was getting a massage in the lawns inSan Jose downtown on a bright sunny afternoon with people around me watching me in awe and envy.

I had just finished my 1^st marathon with Ekal, and scenes from the past flashed in front of my eyes as if spurred by the gentle poundings of the masseuse.

I went into a flashback to 10 years ago . . . I could hear my sister, Lalli, reading aloud a letter she received from Sibbu, Shiva as he was named by his parents. Her hands were trembling and eyes moist with joy and pride. Sibbu had finished his vocational education from ITI in the mechanical trade and had started working with a local ancillary to the steel plant. Sibbu’s parents had left their lands from an interior village looking for work. His father had a make shift food stall on wheels and his mother did household chores at people’s houses. Lalli would not let her kids do any work, instead she would play school with them.

I still remember, she would say ‘A’ for ………… and I would hear little voices ‘APPLE” and then ‘B’ for ………….. ‘Boy’, Sibbu and his siblings would repeat with mixed interest. I would watch my sister sheepishly, on the verandah of our house, teaching the kids from Ruabandha, a small settlement on the outskirts of Bhilai in Chhattisgarh. My sister had ordered a package from the Rashtriya Saaksharata mission to educate kids. I thought she was crazy, wasting her time. Nothing would change!

And then just six months ago, my wife, Rama, and her friend, Jaya, entered the house chattering in muffled voices, at 8:00a.m on a Saturday morning, excited with T-shirts over their shoulders. They told me they registered to run a marathon for Ekal is a non-profit and operates in remote villages contributing to the education of children. I thought they are crazy, wasting their time. Nothing would change!

They would never be able to run a marathon. Does anybody know how many miles it is?? 26.2 miles 46,112 yards!!!!  It is not a child’s play. That’s when her razor sharp wit cut me. She said, “Ok, you walk and we will run behind you”.

Then my parents came to visit us from India. History repeats, father and son can never agree. You should do this, you should do that yada . . . yada . . . yada. . . Now my son does not listen to me. But in the middle of it all, we got a call from India. Sibbu’s mother calls us and Sibbu talks to me in English and tells me that he is going to his father’s village to volunteer for an organization called Ekal Vidyalaya operates in over 27,000 villages and has educated more than 800,000 children like him over years. I thought, “Crazy Guy. Nothing would change!!”

And then my wife said “Hey why don’t you run along with us just for fun”. I accepted. What do I have to lose? Other than weight ….

This is how I started, very informally, slowly and in a very non-intimidating manner.

Naren, Chetan and Barinder were answering questions and coaching the runners. I was watching from a distance and I met Jay on the trails. Jay was one guy with a hell of a lot of positive attitude.

The first day it was just a warm up run and I saw Rama and Jaya running ahead of me. I increased my pace and panted. No way could I overtake them. Remember what she said,” You walk and we will run behind you”. I was running behind them way . . . way . . . way ... behind. This hurt me bad, you would think and indeed it was a big blow to me.

I could not give in so easily. So I went for the next weekend practice session. Still ... not much progress. They were always ahead of me. So I had to change my strategy. I started training at YMCA every day quietly and secretly. All this, just to be able to run alongside the ladies if not walk ahead of them. What a change! Look at me! I am training to be able run.

And then I started thinking, I called them crazy and that nothing would change, or is it that I am stuck in my own way of thinking and am not changing. It is I who needs to change not them. Why don’t I try to run the marathon? When I told my wife, I am running a marathon, Rama said, “You are crazy, you cannot run a marathon”. But it was not about the marathon.

Was it an Epiphany?

Ekal requires funds to help them meet their goals. We have 100s of friends. I can ask each of them to trust me and contribute $10 for a noble cause. It cannot be that difficult, if I tell them I want to run for them, Couch Potatoes. But you know what!!! At the end of the race, my waist size dropped from 38 to 34”. Who is laughing now????

Ekal Vidyalaya takes education to the remote tribal villages of India .  They are the "Vana Vasis" living in remote jungles of India where the basic modern facilities such as electricity, roadways and communications are yet to reach. These are the people who have been protecting the environment around us for generations and are still doing it.  Their children live the same way their fathers and grandfathers and great grandfather lived.  Nothing has changed for them for generations. The children in a typical family do not have time for education as they need to help their parent to make the living.  This is the reason the government schools fail even if school is operated successfully.  Most of the cases the teachers are not around. We can contribute our might to make a change.

Jay and I set a goal for ourselves. We ran the Bay to Breakers in May, a fun race with more than 60,000 runners – No Kidding, a distance of 7.46 miles. Then we aimed for the San Francisco Half Marathon in July over the Golden Gate Bridge. Can you imagine one side of the Golden Gate Bridge blocked by the police for us to run on??? Finally the Silicon Valley Marathon, 26.2 miles meandering through downtown San Jose and Campbell trails with a weather no other place in world can beat. What else can you ask for?

Jay’s enthusiasm and energy drove me all the way to finish the marathon. Of course, this time the ladies were behind me, but not very far. Rama and I were not far apart and I found out later that women are built tougher, can last long and are better long distance runners than men. So the writing was on the wall. So I have taken to swimming now.

All the while, Chetan and Naren were constantly supporting us with their experience. It was always a pleasure running with them. There was never any fatigue especially when we had all the port-run refreshments including the water-melons and the juices. There were Ekal water stations along the practice trail which Barinder and Ravi used to manage.

Any venture undertaken has to be built patiently; similarly one cannot run 26 miles without preparation. The preparation and the journey in itself is similar to what Ekal Vidyalaya is trying to achieve. The Ekal Vidyalaya starts one teacher schools at the convenience of the village.  The teacher is selected from the village who is 8th to 10th grade educated who know the children and has a rapport with the villagers.

This is the time to bring out your crazy side!!! We can change things only if we try.

Some real facts:

1. You need to first get a good pair of shoes.
2. You need to train every other day and cross-train every other day
3. You have to show up for the group run at the Fremont or Campbell trail every Saturday morning.
4. You need to eat right and get lots of rest. Eat lots of proteins and drink lots of water.
5. Identify 100 of friends and ask each to contribute $15
6. Start running with a smile. Run the distance in your mind and see yourself crossing the finish line.
7. Talk to the Ekal trainers and me if you still have a doubt.

See you at the trails!!!

Srinivas Saripalle is an Ekal volunteer who is 1^st time marathoner in 2008. He lives in Sunnyvale with his wife Rama, who also is an Ekal volunteer and 1^st time marathoner in 2008, and their 2 kids. He works in the semiconductor industry and practices music in his spare time. He can be reached at sri@syaam.org