The run, a thank-you note to Mumbai

Some of the world’s best athletes will give a very good run for their money in the Mumbai Marathon. Others will go that extra mile for something more than the money. Divya Subramaniam and Suparna Thombare report

“The run will be our thank-you note to Mumbai”

Mumbai’s dabbawalas, will shift gears on January 21. From rushing to meet the deadlines on dabba delivery to racing to meet the finishing line at the 7 km race in the  marathon. The 45 who will take part feel they have a strong chance of winning the 7 km race.

“Thanks to our job, we dabbawalas have great stamina,” says Ankush Medge, who has been running for the last three consecutive years. It isn’t surprising that training for the marathon is no a big deal for them — they are used to travelling close to 12km every day. “We practise by riding our bicycles a little faster than usual,” says 20-year-old Pandharinath Bacche who delivers dabbas from Bhayander to Grant Road.

“Dabbawalas, in a way, have become the face of Mumbai. Their representation is crucial to the Mumbai Marathon,” says Pawan Agarwal of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust. Jalinder Karvande from Goregaon makes a confession. “The first time we participated it didn’t mean much to us. But now it means a lot. We have been respected for our organised manner of working. And we want to give something back to Mumbai. It’s a thank-you note for recognising our efforts,” says Karvande.

The gang will be sporting AIDS awareness T-shirts alongwith the Gandhi topi and chappals. “I wish there was an award for the 7 km run. Last year,  one of us had finished first,” says a wistful Eknath Khandbor.

“We are all in this together for our school”

I am running because the school needs money,” says Lavanya Seshadri (13). The kids from Tridha, a Rudolph Steiner school in Vile Parle, are running the marathon for the first time, and they are running for a cause. The school needs to raise money for a new school building, and this is one of the reasons that they are sending a group of nearly 100 people including about 25 students and the rest consisting of parents and teachers. “The other reason is simply to increase awareness about the school and what it stands for,” says Marilyn Menezes, one of the parents from the school who is organising the group for the marathon. The excitement is even more because this is the first time that the students from the school have qualified for the marathon.

“We have been increasing one class every year and this is the first time that some of the kids in the school are over 12,” says Ruth Mehta, one of the trustees of the school. “We hope to send kids every year from now on.”

The kids are inclined to agree. “Even if there is no need to raise money next year, I might just participate just for fun,” says Seshadri.

“It makes me believe I can do whatever I want”

A few turns down the Carter Road promenade transforms them from shy gangly teenagers to spirited sportsmen. “I just love running and all the fun that we have when we train,” says Vijay Das (15). “I have been running every day. I am looking forward to running with others on the big day.” Das is one of the 20-odd from Bandra slums who will be running the marathon to raise money for Navjeet Community Health Centre, an NGO. They are all participating for the first time and will be running the Dream Run.

The person behind the enthusiasm is Laura Gallo, a social worker from Italy who along with her colleague, Anna Maria Albanese, is volunteering for the NGO. The enthusiasm and the fun is palpable as Gallo eggs them on by leading the way. “I want them to feel they are part of the mainstream and to show them that they can do something for the people around them,” says the chirpy 26-year-old.

As they run some more laps, they lose their inhibitions. “I have never done anything like this before,” says 16-year-old Rajiv Jaiswar. “This is my way of believing that I can do whatever I want.”

“I stand for all those who couldn’t make it”

They have already set the bar at the marathon. Last year, the top three spots in the wheelchair category all went to NASEOH (National Society for Equal Opportunities for Handicaped) students. “I will run the Mumbai Marathon for as long as I physically can,” says three-time participant Santosh Khandekar. “I want to represent the disabled people of the country who are not getting an opportunity to participate,” says the hearing-impaired youngster.

For Muzzamil Ansari, the marathon has given him a chance to prove himself. “I would have never got a chance to participate in a sports event if it were not for the marathon. It is a feeling of emancipation to run in front of such a huge number of people,” he says.

The kind of challenges they face as runners is very different from most of the crowd. “Other runners need daily exercise to stay fit. The important thing for them is to finish the marathon and for that they need to conserve stamina. For wheelchair participants, it’s more about learning to navigate faster as they are not used to high speed,” says the group’s trainer Vinod Chalak of NASEOH.