Running is a metaphor for Marriage.

Running they say is a metaphor for life. You get out of it as much as you put into it. You might think you deserve more and you might whine and crib. You might get angry at times and sore. But in the end, you realise that you have got what was your due and the euphoric moments and the times of happiness made it all worth it.

But in my opinion, (I know no one asked for it but hey! I am known for speaking even when no one is listening), running is a metaphor for marriage.

In India marriage is a misunderstood word. People usually refer to the wedding day as marriage day. But actually Wedding is the ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Marriage is the entire process and the duration of the union of two people in which they live together with the consent and approval of the families and friends. Matrimony, Nuptial and Wedlock are other words that recognise the social and legal acceptance of the union of two people. When I say Running is a metaphor for Marriage I mean this entire process of two people living together.

When you become a runner it is at first with a lot of apprehensions and doubts about whether you will be able to do it or whether you are cut out for it etc. But you enter into the fray because you saw someone running, or you got talked and brain washed into it like me or because your friends run and you don’t want to be left out, you heard great things about the benefits of running from your running friends, you saw your running friends having too much fun without you, your doctor or parents or relatives recommended it to you, the reasons can be many for why you started running.

You replace the word running with marriage and the reasons why you got married will turn out to be one of the above sentences J Ya ya ... there was love and all that..... but ultimately you signed the legal bond and tied the three knots or said ‘Yes’ or ‘Kabool hai’ for the reasons mentioned above. You get married because your friends got married, your parents forced you or your partner put his/her foot down, for security, for society, because that is what everyone is doing, because its the right thing to do, you are of marriageable age etc.

When you are running and the muscles heat up, the lungs scream and you cannot go anymore and you still carry on... you ask yourself why have I got myself into this? What was I thinking? Was I not happy and contented without this? I could have been sitting and watching TV or I could have been sleeping in bed for 4 more hours. Why did I get into this? Why do I put myself through so much torture? Do I need to carry on? You curse the world, you curse your coach, you curse your friends for putting you through so much torture and then realise that it was you yourself who got yourself into this in the first place. You want to quit and you want to give up.

You replace running with marriage. You ask yourself ‘why did I get married’? What was I thinking? Why did I have to do it? You curse your parents, you curse your spouse, you curse everyone who was involved, you berate yourself for being so stupid, you ask yourself what did you see in this? You tell yourself you could have done better or got better, you remind yourself about the various different things you could have done instead of getting married etc. You reach a point where you say you just cannot carry on.

But ultimately once you cross the finish line the joy and the euphoria of running makes you wear those shoes the next day gets you back on the track running despite everything you went through. It is the same as a lady giving birth to a child. No matter how hard and long the labour was and how painful, all is forgotten once she holds the baby in her arms. In that magical moment everything else is forgotten. The nine months of hell and torture and all the trials and tribulations are forgotten.

Similarly marriage is like the running where the road is ardours and full of surprises but ultimately the moments of joy and celebration is what makes it all worth it.