Vaishali told me a simple story on Thursday that has still not left me.
I told a modified version of the story to my daughter at bedtime yesterday.
This story will stay with me all my life like a burn mark that refuses to fade. Some stories are like that.
Here is the version that I told my daughter:
This is a story of a well-dressed man who is walking on a lonely road.
After going some distance, he hears the footsteps of another person walking behind him. He senses that the other person was wearing shock-absorbing sports shoes and was walking briskly.
Soon, Mr. Smart Shoes overtakes our walking man. He breathes out a curt "Hi" as he passes by. Soon he is out of sight behind a clump of trees on a road bend.
Our walking man decides to walk briskly because he doesn't want to be left behind. His shoes are formal and not meant for sports. He is determined, for some reason, to overtake Mr. Smart Shoes.
His walking pace increases and he begins to jog. When he catches sight of Mr Smart Shoes, he begins to run. Our man is breathless as he overtakes him. Mr Smart Shoes glances at him in admiration. A sense of pride and achievement washes over our man as he reaches ahead to the end of the road.
He kneels down in exhaustion as drops of sweat rush down his face and neck soaking his formal clothes.
He notices his watch as he wipes the sweat from his face.
It is then that he realises that he had to take a turn on the road to reach where he had set out to go.
His destination lay elsewhere but in the heat of the competition, he had forgotten all about it.
