"The best way to explore a city, is to run through it"
This truism apart, i find it really fascinating to explore whatever small part of the city i can by taking a jog through it. Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad are 3 cities where i've managed to do this, and an early morning jog lets me discover some aspects of the city which i never knew existed. I am writing this immediately after returning from a trip to Hyderabad, so i'll start off with that.
With the mumbai marathon season being around the corner, i'd made sure to pack my sneakers on this trip. On the day i left, i was not too enthusiastic about the place of stay supporting me with any sort of open spaces. I was to put up in White Fields, Kondapur- the heart of the Hyd IT city. Curiously, the landscape around that part is very similar to what Gurgaon is. An odd mixture of rocky terrain, glass buildings, dry heat, glitzy cars, and no public transportation. Except for the last bit, nothing that would really enthuse a runner.
Next morning i had to call upon every ounce of my motivational strength to pull me out of bed. The extra two hours of sleep with the warm blanket never seemed so tempting. The most active time for self doubt seems to be at 6 AM in the morning. Running a marathon? Forget it man. That was another time, another you. Now you are 6 kilos overweight and on wobbly knees. Whats the damn point? What's the point of running on rocks? my running shoes seemed to scream as i sat dazed tying them inside the dim light of my hotel room in the morning. Somehow i pulled myself away from the room and went down to ask the reception guy about a good route for the run. I expected a bemused smile and a furrowed brow on such a question which i believed no one before me would have asked him. It was after all, a guest house in the heart of the business district of the town. Instead i got a prompt answer- botanical garden saar...right across the road!
The place had a nice ring to it for a runner. If he would have said park i'd probably have started running on the road in the other direction, ground would have meant an open grassy surface without any tracks around it, just garden would have probably meant a small flowery place. However, a botanical garden immediately conjured up images of me running through an empty jogging track meandering across acres and acres of landscaped tree varieties separated by cute ponds with wooden bridges across them. Something straight out of central park in the movie Autumn in New York. And of course Winona Ryder taking a leisurely stroll across the grounds.
Yeah right, i thought, wake up and cross that busy road without getting run over.
When i entered the place, i knew my wildest running dreams had come true. Immediately when inside the impressive gates, a small wooden midget signboard stuck on the ground gave me an inclination of things to come. Walking track- 3200 m , it said. Pointing to a red gravel path which actually meandered between two humongous lily covered ponds and disappeared between tall trees and manicured shrubs. I pushed back my dropping jaw back and slowly started breaking into a jog. I knew i had to run through that track. Walking across such a landscape would have been a waste. No, an affront, an insult rather.
The initial 700 mtrs of the track turned out to be very well maintained. A broad walkway through which four people could walk abreast. Criss-crossing flower gardens and the two ponds. With pagoda shaped shelters dotting the path. And plenty of cheerful morning walkers wishing you a good morning. The rest 2 and half kms was even better. At one point, the road suddenly tapered off into a narrow one lane path which disappeared into thick dew covered shrubs. I didnt see any walkers ahead and headed straight through. Almost immediately the jungle closed in. There was barely a path visible now and nothing around except for the track through dense trees and shrubs. Surprised, i stopped and turned around. I realised i'd left the landscaped part behind, and this pathway probably circled around the entire park and would lead me back to the main gate. Encouraged, i continued running this secluded and dark track. It brought back memories of a similar lane in my village in Assam which used to lead to a smaller hamlet.
Dense, dark, and mysterious...this track piqued my curiosity and i become determined to run it through.
And i was glad i did. I took way-too-long to run that distance, however on the way i managed to disturb two wild peacocks, passed a curious sight of a man sleeping on a huge earth excavator in the middle of the jungle(it definitely was the under construction part of the park), crossed an old public urinal which looked deserted and suitably evil at 6:30 in the morning to be a part of a Ramsay brothers movie. And all this, along with the not-so-distant view of the under construction IT buildings seen through breaks in the foliage.
When i emerged out of this on the western end of the park (not without having to ask for directions though), i couldnot help noticing a signboard which pointed to the same direction i'd come out from saying - 'Restricted area, please donot enter'.
Boy, was i glad i did.
This truism apart, i find it really fascinating to explore whatever small part of the city i can by taking a jog through it. Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad are 3 cities where i've managed to do this, and an early morning jog lets me discover some aspects of the city which i never knew existed. I am writing this immediately after returning from a trip to Hyderabad, so i'll start off with that.
With the mumbai marathon season being around the corner, i'd made sure to pack my sneakers on this trip. On the day i left, i was not too enthusiastic about the place of stay supporting me with any sort of open spaces. I was to put up in White Fields, Kondapur- the heart of the Hyd IT city. Curiously, the landscape around that part is very similar to what Gurgaon is. An odd mixture of rocky terrain, glass buildings, dry heat, glitzy cars, and no public transportation. Except for the last bit, nothing that would really enthuse a runner.
Next morning i had to call upon every ounce of my motivational strength to pull me out of bed. The extra two hours of sleep with the warm blanket never seemed so tempting. The most active time for self doubt seems to be at 6 AM in the morning. Running a marathon? Forget it man. That was another time, another you. Now you are 6 kilos overweight and on wobbly knees. Whats the damn point? What's the point of running on rocks? my running shoes seemed to scream as i sat dazed tying them inside the dim light of my hotel room in the morning. Somehow i pulled myself away from the room and went down to ask the reception guy about a good route for the run. I expected a bemused smile and a furrowed brow on such a question which i believed no one before me would have asked him. It was after all, a guest house in the heart of the business district of the town. Instead i got a prompt answer- botanical garden saar...right across the road!
The place had a nice ring to it for a runner. If he would have said park i'd probably have started running on the road in the other direction, ground would have meant an open grassy surface without any tracks around it, just garden would have probably meant a small flowery place. However, a botanical garden immediately conjured up images of me running through an empty jogging track meandering across acres and acres of landscaped tree varieties separated by cute ponds with wooden bridges across them. Something straight out of central park in the movie Autumn in New York. And of course Winona Ryder taking a leisurely stroll across the grounds.
Yeah right, i thought, wake up and cross that busy road without getting run over.
When i entered the place, i knew my wildest running dreams had come true. Immediately when inside the impressive gates, a small wooden midget signboard stuck on the ground gave me an inclination of things to come. Walking track- 3200 m , it said. Pointing to a red gravel path which actually meandered between two humongous lily covered ponds and disappeared between tall trees and manicured shrubs. I pushed back my dropping jaw back and slowly started breaking into a jog. I knew i had to run through that track. Walking across such a landscape would have been a waste. No, an affront, an insult rather.
The initial 700 mtrs of the track turned out to be very well maintained. A broad walkway through which four people could walk abreast. Criss-crossing flower gardens and the two ponds. With pagoda shaped shelters dotting the path. And plenty of cheerful morning walkers wishing you a good morning. The rest 2 and half kms was even better. At one point, the road suddenly tapered off into a narrow one lane path which disappeared into thick dew covered shrubs. I didnt see any walkers ahead and headed straight through. Almost immediately the jungle closed in. There was barely a path visible now and nothing around except for the track through dense trees and shrubs. Surprised, i stopped and turned around. I realised i'd left the landscaped part behind, and this pathway probably circled around the entire park and would lead me back to the main gate. Encouraged, i continued running this secluded and dark track. It brought back memories of a similar lane in my village in Assam which used to lead to a smaller hamlet.
Dense, dark, and mysterious...this track piqued my curiosity and i become determined to run it through.
And i was glad i did. I took way-too-long to run that distance, however on the way i managed to disturb two wild peacocks, passed a curious sight of a man sleeping on a huge earth excavator in the middle of the jungle(it definitely was the under construction part of the park), crossed an old public urinal which looked deserted and suitably evil at 6:30 in the morning to be a part of a Ramsay brothers movie. And all this, along with the not-so-distant view of the under construction IT buildings seen through breaks in the foliage.
When i emerged out of this on the western end of the park (not without having to ask for directions though), i couldnot help noticing a signboard which pointed to the same direction i'd come out from saying - 'Restricted area, please donot enter'.
Boy, was i glad i did.
