It had been five weeks since his mother forced him to join the karate classes of Sakpal Sir. For 16-year-old Vinay, it felt like these were the worst five weeks of his life.
Being obese was reason enough to attract unwanted attraction. But by being the last to complete any exercise, Vinay made others feel better. It made him famous in the class, for all the wrong reasons. He became the definitive source of popular entertainment for everyone. Everyone was glad that Vinay was in the karate class. No one else worried about having to face the ignominy of finishing last in anything. Running, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, or actual karate poses – you name it. That not so coveted last position was for Vinay.
“Fatso, lift your leg,” all and sundry in the class, especially the seniors, derided him.
“Eat less, move more,” the sarcastic among his mates called out.
Sometimes, Sakpal Sir himself shouted at him while he was in the middle of a squat, “Vinay, go down. Are you doing a squat or a bum dance?”
The more decent lot among his classmates sometimes encouraged him. They said, “Come on Vinay, you can do this.”
But as he gasped for breath after another round of only the warm-up exercises, Vinay knew he couldn’t do this. He had never been able to do it, ever since he was much younger. He knew this wasn’t his cup of tea, right from the start.
His blood boiled as the guys poked him.
“Buzz off,” he told one of them, when he touched his tummy from below, while he was trying a push-up.
His face lost colour when the girls sympathised with him. “Will you please keep away?” he insisted when someone gave him a pitiful look.
“Don’t play with fire,” he warned when someone persisted tickling him the wrong way.
At the end of the first week, he returned home determined that this was it, he wasn’t going back. But his mother insisted that he go. She didn’t let him bunk anything. She was adamant. For the following two weeks, every day when he went to the class, he cursed his mother. Why did she push him to come to a place where all he was going to face was embarrassment?
He cursed all his mates when they forced him to run with the others before the actual exercise class began. He tried his best to save himself any further torture by laying low during the classes. He tolerated the taunts that he got from the leaner athletes. He spewed venom at everyone after going home, refusing to have dinner.
By the firth week, it was all getting too much to handle. Everything about the karate class got on his nerves. There was a limit to everything, and Vinay had reached that limit. He decided that enough was enough. But he didn’t know how to get out of this situation. Every time someone gave him an awkward smile, his blood boiled. Whenever they saw him uncomfortable while doing a push-up, his eyes turned red. Often while limping back after two sets of squats, he cried alone.
***
On that particular day, Amod had taken a special liking for Vinay. He came close to Vinay, teased him, and then ran away as fast as he could. He had been doing this off and on right from the first day. But today seemed like a special one. Today he was persistent and teased him again and again. It started as soon as they did the warm-up rounds and continued till the end of the class. It was getting too much to tolerate for Vinay.
“Hey hippo,” Amod called out Vinay, running ahead of him during the warm-up.
“Go away, rat,” Vinay teased him back, while tottering along at his slow pace.
“Plumpy, let’s race to fifty squats,” Amod continued, before the class started. “Come on fatty,” he pushed Vinay, “let’s do it before Sakpal Sir comes.”
Vinay glared at him in wrath.
“Don’t stare at me like a fat buffalo,” Amod laughed, standing across him during the class in a pose. “If you have any guts, come and do this with me.”
There was no way Vinay could match Amod in speed and flexibility. All through the class, Amod moved like a dream and Vinay watched him. He heard his taunts and kept glaring back at him. On a couple of occasions, Vinay got up and tried to get hold of him. But Amod was always a few feet away by the time Vinay could react to his pushes and pulls.
The class ended. But Amod and his terrible teasing didn’t end. While going down the stairs, Amod started pulling Vinay’s leg again, this time in front of everyone.
“Today, Vinay is going to eat double his normal, which, by the way, is four times our normal,” he said and giggled. “Because he broke his own record today. He did five squats today, one more than last time.” Everyone laughed aloud.
“Will you keep your trap shut? I don’t need your permission to eat,” Vinay replied with red eyes, pointing his finger in rage.
“You need to keep your trap shut, fatty. The best time to keep it shut is while having food,” Amod broke into a big guffaw and others joined him. It was becoming more than simple fun now. It was becoming a matter of pride, a question of self-respect.
Vinay could feel his pulse racing and his nose flaring. He grumbled beneath his heavy, pacing breath. If Amod would have been any closer to Vinay, Amod would have been dead meat. With his eyebrows twisted and forehead wrinkled, Vinay stared at Amod.
“You can’t do anything except staring. You can’t touch me,” Amod continued.
Vinay decided that enough was enough. He got all his energy into his legs and pushed himself to run. Amod noticed the movement and started running faster. He dashed down the stairs like a hare on steroids. Vinay, even after trying his best, was nowhere close to him. Everyone ran behind the two of them and cheered the two camps.
“Come on Vinay, today is your day,” Vinay heard a voice. “Don’t leave him today, crush him like an insect,” said another.
“Fatso, try as much as you can, but this is not possible,” someone from Amod’s camp sneered at Vinay on his way down. “An elephant can’t match a swift tiger in speed,” said another.
When Vinay reached the ground floor, Amod was at least twenty feet ahead of him. He had reached there a few moments earlier and had stopped for Vinay to catch up. He looked behind and sneered at Vinay, catching his breath.
That’s when Vinay changed track, out of the blue. He went to the row of pots of plants kept on the side of the wall. Amod watched him and provoked him further. “Oh fatty, finally found something your size?” he sniggered. “But don’t worry, those flowerpots are much more solid. They are not like you – a balloon filled with air,” he added with a grin.
Vinay was breathing fire by now. He picked up one of the big pots and held it above his shoulder. Amod saw it and ran away. With one swinging action, Vinay flung the pot in the air. It went a long distance in the air as everyone watched awestruck at its smooth flight. While Amod ran, Vinay’s weapon raced faster and curled down on Amod’s head. Amod fell down unconscious on the spot with the impact. Everyone ran towards him to check if he was fine.
Vinay stood where he was. Someone cried out loud for water. Someone else got it and sprinkled it on Amod’s face. These were tense moments. Amod got up after a few minutes of being unconscious. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Vinay remained unmoved. He had a sultry smile of satisfaction. Amod scratched his head. They were no major injuries, except some bruises. But he had sprained his ankle due to the fall. He stared at Vinay.
Neither of them spoke. Nor did anyone else. With an expression of newfound respect for Vinay, Amod limped back to his bicycle in silence staring back. Vinay wiped the sweat on his brow, cleaned his shirt and walked back. His stride today had a swagger of triumph. Everyone stayed silent and watched as Vinay rode back home on his bicycle.
Sakpal Sir was watching from the second-floor gallery. Vinay’s act was unacceptable. He rusticated Vinay from the karate class.
But unknown to everyone, with Sakpal Sir that day in the gallery, was his friend Jaspal who ran a gym. Jaspal took the number of Vinay’s mother from Sakpal Sir that day.
“No, not another one,” Vinay cried in revolt when his mother told him that Jaspal Sir had invited him to join his gym. But he knew there was no chance of winning an argument with his mother.
Three months later, Vinay bagged the gold medal in the inter school competition in the shot-put event. He was the new star of Jaspal’s gym. He was their biggest prospect. Jaspal Sir told Vinay’s mother, “He will get gold in next year’s junior men’s shot-put event. He is a special talent.”
“Hello Champ, way to go,” Vinay heard as he stepped on the dais to take his shotput medal. It was Amod from the audience, sitting behind his mother, next to a flowerpot.
***