The Silent Runner-Srilekha Iyengar

Everyday we get to see a lot of posts on running and people posting and bragging about the miles they have clocked on the tracks with selfies and putting snapshots of their favourite tracking apps on facebook and whattsapp to show the world how they have braved early morning sleep to conquer the running tracks and they deserve the claps and pat on the back.These are the normal runners like me who post everything they do onto the social media and announce that they have arrived in the running circuit but there are some hidden gems who clock miles but are silent on what they did every morning while the world is still asleep and i met one such runner on the tracks who has an infectious smile that lights up your tracks and you don’t need a dose of glucose to fuel your runs,presenting Srilekha Iyengar or “Sri” as she is fondly known as to friends.

I find it strange for someone who runs on a regular basis but doesn’t make any noise about what she achieves everyday without anyone having a hint of her prowness on the tracks with down to earth attitude and cuteness as Kitty,she is bound to mesmerize you with the halo of a beautiful heart.She has started running quite sometime back and did her first official Half Marathon last season followed by dozens of 10K runs in between which she does almost every week with her running buddies around the streets of central Kolkata and sometimes around the lakes of South Kolkata and if some of us think that she is yet to achieve a big milestone in the running circuit then let me remind you that people start running and go from one milestone to another in 6 months to finally fade away in oblivion but it takes a lot of guts and determination to enjoy running and be in the game month after month without getting much of limelight and still go strong and that is what she does everyday.I was amazed with her spirit of running as she started with a target but ran double the distance only to match her buddies on the run,it takes more than sportsman spirit which i term as “Human spirit” of enjoying what we do and it is what we lack in this world of high speed stress and fast changing terms of friendships people go around with. When she is not running she is crunching numbers at one of the elite financial houses and yet manages to infect the people around with a infectious smile and absolute cuteness.

Its always a pleasure to be able to match up steps with someone who has such a great spirit for life and love for friends and you don’t feel that you have just met and you forget the miles and remember only the Kitty Smiles.Way to go “The silent runner”

Pix coutesy: Sayantan “The Flying Shutterbug”