Boris had just opened his eyes and saw the orange hue across the horizon beginning to turn bright red. He yawned and pondered over the start of the day he had to spend in this park where his mother had left him last year along with his two brothers and a sister. She was quite scared and was barking furiously, is what he remembered afterwards, when a strange looking vehicle came along and out of the back door and three men jumped out of it. They were carrying with them contraptions meant to entrap stray dogs and whisk them away to the animal compound. It all happened in a jiffy and in a few minutes time she was gone forever and these little ones left to fend for themselves. Soon afterwards only Boris and his sister survived and she too left couple of months ago with another bloke he never liked. 

Boris somehow liked his life despite the fact that he was alone. He was a fine looking young dog with eyes as deep as you can imagine, an occasional indifferent look on his face, mouth often open with his long pinkish tongue hanging out and a smooth but thin fur coat of creamish white and golden adorned him from head to toe . As he stood up now, stretched himself as long as he possibly could, and perched himself  upon a small bump in the park his uncanny instincts told him that this was yet another day (he could never fathom why this got repeated every seventh day)  when he could get some love and affection from these human beings who came in large numbers to walk, run, stretch themselves for whatever reasons, and also get some food in the form of fruits (he never really cared for), sandwiches (he could occasionally munch), and biscuits – he really liked. He always used to have cravings for meat and would often chase crows and pigeons but so far never tasted any success. His mouth watered and he remembered a packet of food accidentally left behind a couple few weeks ago– a doe eyed lady and a rather grumpy looking swarthy middle age man. They seemed to be totally oblivious to the world around them and seemed very much in love with each other when the packet of food got totally forgotten. It smelled so wonderful, the smell of smoked fish and barbecued chicken coated in parmesan, the smell wafted through Boris’ nostrils and it drove him crazy – he just tore the packet to shreds and enjoyed the heavenly taste and aroma of that wonderfully marinated and aromatic meat. Boris smiled and cast his glance around the park known as Nehru Park situated just behind the compound wall of the Pakistani Embassy in Chanakyapuri  New Delhi. 

The Nehru Park in Delhi has been around since ages and is a pretty big one at that. The periphery around measures a good 3 kms where runners practice seven and a half rounds to complete one half marathon. Among the visitors there are people who are employed with different embassies, this area is full of them, having expats of different races and nationalities. It is also home to groups who cycle together, picnic makers, young couples totally lost in each other  is also home to different running groups for whom Nehru Park is like Mecca. 

As Boris glanced around,  two cars – a small silver grey one and a rather used looking golden colored Fiat. A few people came out  of the two vehicles, there were four men and a middle aged lady, Ratna, as usual pretty and elegent in her late thirties hardly looked like her age. With a figure like hers she would easily pass as someone five years younger – fair with a sharp nose and a funny looking smile , Anjuraj her husband of fifteen years,  middle aged, short height with a rather sturdy looking body and a kind face and someone who did not speak much. Sanjay, tall and stout who ran with his fists tightly clenched and with full concentration was the group leader of this gang of runners called the Sunday Fun Club whose size never really grew beyond the half dozen members who formed part of this gang. People came and  left, but the size never grew beyond this, like Ashish the one with the boxer like built and amazingly strong thighs who left for Naval training or Yogesh the ex- merchant navy man, a fine young gentleman, who took up another assignment at Mumbai couple of months ago or a middle aged couple – Vineet, a quiet man graying at the temples who had only recently taken to running with a passion and Charu, a petit young looking lady who had also only recently taken to running with a vigor, who had  just joined the group. Whatever said and done the group for certain strange reasons never grew beyond the average number six. 

Sanjay the group leader had decided that this would be the venue for today, despite  protests and howls from another member Hariom, one with a broad chest and extremely small hips with legs funnily bell- bottoming outwards as you looked down (he resembled the Cossacks In the old soviet type cartoons India used to get as subsidized packages – part of the then India- Soviet Union friendship) and one who would always try to impose his will on others tried to convince that they all run at Lodhi Gardens instead (another lovely park in Delhi). It was finally decided they start from Nehru Park and  all aim and run for 3 hours. Vineet and Ratna, the former since he was having trouble with his knee and the latter because s she had never practiced for such kind of running, she was more into yoga instead, excused themselves and paired up since Charu was absent today. Another member of this group, by way of introduction is Atul, a rather handsome looking  guy, just the right body type for  a long distance runner and extremely flexible (he can do a padmaasana and also lie down simultaneously !!) is one who though not very regular since he has to travel a lot joins especially on Sundays. Atul and Hariom are at constant loggerheads with each other since Atul religiously follows the teachings of a certain Guruji he has nominated for himself (his cellphone texts will often end with Haribol) and Hariom at times passes off this relationship in jest which irks Atul to no extent.  

It was close to 6:30 in the morning and a cold nip of a typical winter season about to start in Delhi in the second week of the month of  November, that Sanjay, Anjuraj, Hariom and Atul started their 3 hours run. 

Boris saw these four people start their run and wanting some human company badly, immediately scampered off and started to run behind these people. All four of them continued with any one realizing that Boris was merrily trudging along just behind them. They ran from the park and met up with Gurinder after a very long time. He was offered to join in the run by the fun club but he politely declined complaining of the frequent travel he had to undertake for the sake of earning his bread, and how it was hampering his preparation for the upcoming Airtel Half  Marathon and said he was just planning to do circles around the park Gurinder tapered off  and went on his own. The group continued. They ran around a circle and turned right running the wrong way avoiding the incoming vehicals at high speeds and sauntered towards the Teen Murti marg. The group ran in pairs where Anjuraj and Atul and Sanjay and Harom had paired up and Boris for once running behind one pair and then switching over to another, as he fancied, was noticed by the group now. They allowed him to run behind them since he did not looking threatening or in a mood to bite any one of them in the calves – in fact he just cantered along undeterred   They now met Dinesh on Niti mark who was leading two women and a man but eventually caught up with the fun club group and started running with them. Twice they came up situations where Boris, on following the group, ventured in to hostile territory where he was met with members of his own race who barked furiously at him but the group chased away these intruders – nothing serious happened and the run continued. Hariom was mentioning how Commander (Rajesh of Indian Navy who is an excellent runner) once took them to a place where they train the cavalry regiment made of  tall fine horses acting as the Presidential bodyguards. The group agreed and decided to enter this from the crescent leading them towards the Talkatora stadium. Boris followed. 

As they entered this isolated place they realized this was something they had ever experienced before. The track was quiet and looked deserted but once inside they saw the track was covered and mud and horse dung and a lot of straw strewn all over the tracks. Now, this combination made for a heady running experience – the runners enjoyed every moment of the cushioning effect of the mud, dung and the straw and it relaxed them. Boris also found the experience new since his paws by now sore of running on the asphalt also experienced the same relaxation as the runners. He was amazed how much these human beings could run and this somehow sobered him and created in his mind some respect for these beings who were tall and slender and ran with these strange looking things tied to their feed, but Boris also had no problems he could also run as much – it was already 10kms gone and he was feeling fine. 

The path was lined up with tall wild grass growing on both sides, weeds of the variety which has come to India in the 60’s with the wheat imported from the US during the food crisis grew in abundance. Insects humming and the sound of an occasional peacock in the background made for an experience where you could very easily mistake yourself somewhere in the suburbs of Himachal rather than in the heart of Delhi. The Peacock finally appeared walked in the middle of the path and flew just when Sanjay was about to approach it – this was a small bird and since it was a female was not very beautiful (it is just the opposite with Peacocks compared to humans) when they saw commander running towards them in the opposite direction and stopped for a small chat – they all thanked him for his knowledge and his sharing it with the group and continued on their separate ways. Towards the end of this stretch they could all hear a group of dogs barking and Boris felt he could be in trouble. Dogs are extremely territorial and do not take others coming into their territory with kindness. And then they appeared, the black one - eyed, the thin mongrel, the tall bloke who looked like the leader, teeth gnawing and about to bite Boris – amidst all this din the group continued to run and Anjuraj shouted at the biggest who just scampered away taking the rest of his gang. Boris now felt very comfortable, he knew that these were kind people and would save him from any such future situations. Dinesh was very tired and wanted to go back to the park – he said he had never run more than an hour and a half. They all agreed that he should go back. 

Boris continued with the rest of the group but  his energy was beginning to wane when the four of them decided to take a break – 10 minutes for water and some biscuits which they offered to Boris as well. He accepted these gratefully and ate with a lot of politeness. The group started to like Boris, and as they were about to resume a Sardarji came up asking for directions for AIMS where he said he was taking his daughter to appear to for an entrance exam.  Sanjay explained but he still looked confused and hooked up with them again as they turned around for their return journey. Another round of frantic instructions followed and Sardarji appeared satisfied and determined this time to find AIMS. 

The group left towards Rajpath from President’s House. The sun was up and bright and they decided to  run on the grass lawns besides the road. Another dog, black in colour with a strip of white coat  running from his nose, in between his eyes and upto his shoulders, with a shaggy tail and small brown eyes  followed Boris who was in no mood to share the company of these humans with him.. They communicated something between them which fell in between a spectrum of indifference and hostility. Suddenly the black dog veered sharply to the right took an about turn and went back to his territory. They had been running for close to two hours now. All of them appeared jaded and constantly in need of water. 

The experience on the road leading from Mansingh Road towards Akbar Road  road was terrifying for Boris. Here the number of dogs was rather large and they constantly followed and hounded Boris. In fact, one of them even bit him on his back and Boris bit back. They were all then chased away by the group. The run continued. A small scare near The Claridges and then another water and a biscuit break and they were all enroute, back to Nehru Park. 

Anjuraj picked  up pace, as usual,  towards the end of the run followed by Hariom in hot pursuit. Boris unperturbed by the race results continued with Atul and Sanjay. And then suddenly he was gone ! 

The group assembled near the hump with a very nice and a warm sun  shining through, after their cool down and stretching routine was over. It was so nice to laze around in the sun at nine o ‘clock of a Sunday morning in that lovely park with flowers in full bloom -  the lovely dahlias surrounding  the circular green grass patterns with poppy and daisy growing in the middle. A huge group of parakeets descended and then flew away just as quickly. And amidst all this, the running group missed Boris and talked about him  to two fine young  ladies – one who was fair and thin and talked aloud and the other a well built lady who had a kind looking expression on her face; they had come with their families and had a rug spread over , as in a picnic, waiting for their husbands to finish their routines of whatever they did with a basket full of fruits and sandwiches (cabbage with cheese spread) and gently offered the fare to the whole group.  Sanjay was busy explaining how a dog had followed them for more than two and a half hours over 25 kms and how he ran elegantly and without a complaint. All were surprised and the Commander mentioned of a similar dog running alongside in the past.   Then Boris appeared and every one called out to him.

Boris adored all the attention that he got from the people around him every somebody running his fingers through his coat someone petting him heavily he was offered all they had to eat – refused the sandwiches had other nibbles and generally liked all the attention he got. Pretty soon they shall all leave and Boris would be alone and would again look forward to the day after another six have gone by. Boris wondered what these humans refer this day to as……………..

Written by Anjuraj Singh

Sunday Fun Club.