touching distance Friday

That this is the last step in the journey does not make this any easier. It is the same shade less road, the same thirst, the same step after step after step of pulling oneself on. The spirit understands that the journey is almost over- the body does not. Amazingly HE has taken care of me all the way, there is not a single blister on my feet, my bad knee has not acted up even once, I have had no muscle pull, never a problem of stiffness while getting up. The only problem seems to be the sunburn. Since both Mangesh and I wear shorts and tee shirts while we walk our arms and legs are burnt. My arms look like the shriveled arms of a man 25 years older, there are also surface wounds in the skin and they burn all day. The only respite is when I cover them with the wet cloth but the burning restarts when the cloth runs dry. I am told aloe Vera is good for anything to do with the skin. We are carrying a bunch of aloe Vera leaves which I cut up every night and apply on the arms and legs.

When this is over I had thought many clichés would get validated if I completed the walk- one of them was the old mind over matter thing- at the end I would certainly testify to the truth in that one!.

The women have all tanned many shades and Aakanksha tells me the cost of getting her back to her original complexion will be something like 15000 bucks and that she will need to be on long l eave before she rejoins office since they would throw her out by not being able to recognize her. The cost of staying poor seems to be growing day by day.

For some reason we get up late today and hence will need to walk more in the sun to achieve our target. Sarry’s brother our corporate consultant sets us a target of 28 kilometers for the first session .I and Mangesh like true salesmen argue against it and in the end decide to say yes just to get him off our back. He revels in the make believe role of top management and we enjoy pulling his leg but he is actually doing a magnificent job of managing the back office.

Today the road seems all the more relentless and we have decided to keep going without break to end it today once and for all. By afternoon the search for shade is intense. We spot a roadside temple and decide to take refuge. It is a bajrangbali temple and hence we are sure we want to stop. There is a priest I there who is reading the ramayan over the PA system. He is toneless and so out of rhythm that I burst out laughing. “Look at the biggest sinner on earth,“ say my friends and start laughing too. When I ask them why I was one they ask me to listen to the words of the priest , he is tonelessly singing “je na mitra dukh hoy dukhare tinhee vilokat patak bharee ” (he who is not miserable on seeing the misery of a friend is the biggest sinner) “look at us “ they say , “we are your friends, we have been made miserable because of you , you’re seeing us being miserable but there you are laughing away” QED . Everyone laughs, we pour water over our legs and arms from a running pipe and much refreshed walk on.

The first session ends abruptly at around 1-00pm,one of us is tired and wants a few moments off and as we settle in the shadow of a bus shelter realize we do not have the slightest energy to carry on even one step. We call for the car and even waiting for it to come is a torture.

The last session is made interesting by the first use of the deterrent arsenal. As we stride out Aakanksha takes the lead and is at least 10 yards ahead of us when a young guy suddenly materializes and tries walking with her. Sarry notices and joins her though I and Mangesh are far behind. He is joined by first one then a second till we join them .They then cross the road and go to the other side and rejoin ahead of us at an abandoned petrol station. There are now six of them.
Sarry picks up a stone to throw at them. Now Mangesh notices them and calmly takes out his revolver (the cigarette lighter one ) cleans it and aims it at them. They look at it, one of them raises his hands in a gesture of give-up and they disperse. The day is saved.

We end the day with a 8 km backlog which I promise them I will cover even before they are awake and we drop off.