Mysterious Extra in the Ordinary

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” ― Jimmy Johnson

Aria patted her baby palms filled with oil on Neela’s gown, she looked deep into Neela’s eyes, a smile lit up her oily face and a gust of love bonded them. Neela quickly picked Aria and they looked across the city of multitudes. Aria was Neela’s granddaughter and was just three years old. It was the usual oil massage bath for the child. As they gazed through the crowded towers of the city, Neela was swept back to her childhood.

 

Neela had a loving mother and four sisters. The house that they lived in was small and the food tasted the yummiest because the aroma wafted through the rooms. They loved to eat the food hot and it tasted the best because there was never any leftovers. Neela was the youngest, perhaps the most foolish. The wisdom and smartness that other children showed weren’t seen in her. She would babble loudly and let out any secret that was told to her. She did not have a great aptitude in studies but could run like Ninja. She had a fascination for sports but in those days sports wasn’t a lucrative career. Neela’s mother Sumitro was a graduate but could not take up a career as they moved from one city to another owing to her father’s transferable job. She was tall, fair and well built. She would adorn cotton saree, her curly hair was tied into a bun. She looked the prettiest when she washed her long hairs and the locks adorned her huge Bindi on her forehead. Her hands were sturdy and showed the scars of hard work that went in bringing up her children. She worried about Neela and often told her, ‘Neela you must not remain ordinary, add that extra to your life that will change you extraordinary’. Neela wondered how but she remained ordinary and unknown in the crowd.

Neela’s sisters were affectionate and loved studying. They nurtured a retaliation to change their lives but Neela had no aspirations as such. For Sumitro, Neela was a pet. She loved her the most and spent most of the time cajoling Neela to move ahead in studies.Life was going on normally until one fateful day when Sumitro did not wake up that morning. Life came to a standstill. Neela was just 12 years old, neither tears rolled out nor could she realise that she had lost her mother. With time she became a quiet child, but sports brought great joy in her being, it seemed as if her hidden potentialities surfaced in abundance. Neela’s father and siblings supported her and over the years she slowly found her place in the school athletics. The school coached her the best and Neela found her way to Nationals and International meet. She was tall like Sumitro and would always remember Sumitro’s words. She never felt she was extraordinary even when she won the races. She felt it was just a form of potential. She kept looking out for a time when she would have that extra in her.

When Neela was twenty years old, she was selected to participate in the 800 meters international meet. It was an opportunity for Neela to prove herself, it also meant that she would represent the Asian games. Neela was never stressed, it was pure joy for her one. The event was to be held in New Delhi, her sisters and father hugged her and wished her best wishes as they saw her off at the airport. She flew to Delhi with a few other athletes and her coach. She never forgot to practice sincerely. On the D-day, the stadium had a roaring crowd, but none of Neela’s kith nor Kin were there She always remembered Sumitro and wondered whether she would have allowed her to travel alone, Perhaps she would have been there with her.

The 800 meters race had participants all over the world. They were adept in their strength, speed and endurance. They had great tactics to win, but for Neela, it was pure bliss. She loved running. Every athletic race that she participated made her even more zestful. Today was no different for Neela, she was assigned a place between the tall girl Susan from Kenya and Jarmila who belonged to Czechoslovakia. The stadium was a colossal one and the tracks were well laid.

The race began at the right time. Neela started running fast and could maintain a reasonable speed. She gained momentum in the middle of the race, and in the last 200 meters, she began to sprint in large strides. She saw Jarmila glide swiftly to move ahead, but it was way easy for Neela to defeat her. Neela began raising her pace as it was the last stride. Neela also pondered whether Jarmila could win the race, but she kept her pace steady as she wanted to keep her energy for the last lap. When they reached the last 50 Metres of the race, she saw Jarmila looking distractedly towards the other end, and a second later she got lost in the audience. It was providential for Neela to win the race but she shouted hard and showed Jarmila the winning post. Jarmila quickly glided back to the present and escalated her pace to reach the winning post. Neela ran like a bullet but reached the winning post seconds later, Jarmila had won the race. People sighed loudly saying that Neela had missed out on winning the race because she had cautioned Jarmila. Neela did not want to win a race of deceit. She said that such a win would not have had her efforts.

Neela stood tall, jubilant and proud of herself that day in the midst of the uproar. She knew that she had put in the ‘extra’ along with the ‘ordinary’ that her mother had kept telling her over the years. Neela’s exuberance in the magical moment brought in memories of Sumitro’s smiling face in front of her. Subsequently, the ‘extra’ got added to the ordinary in Neela’s life. The ‘extra’ came from her beliefs as ‘extra’ sympathy, ‘extra’ love and kindness, ‘extra’ joy, ‘extra’ magic in life, ’extra’ uprightness, ‘extra’ efforts, ‘extra’ diligence. Neela’s life was filled with rich experiences, extraordinary meaning and mindfulness. Neela never looked back in life. Today’s time spent with Aria was the ‘extra’ time, ‘extra’ feeling of warmth and of course the ‘extra’ love and fondness as she cuddled the oily palms into hers.

“If you pursue happiness, you are an ordinary person. If happiness pursues you, you are an extraordinary person. Do not chase happiness; let it chase you.” ― Peter Deunov