Dozen

A dozen days. A dozen mood-swings. A dozen experiments. A dozen analyses. A dozen conclusions. One decision. That is pretty much what the last dozen days did. As a child, used to being a prankster while being reticent, an irrational thinker with a rational behaviour and a born leader. Winning was not an option, but altruism was a habit. Life, from the onset, was binary.
Life was a bliss for him. Nothing was unachievable. Nothing was impossible. Until, he encountered time. Fascinated by the new competitor, he geared himself up. And the race began. Life, on the other hand, played double-cross. All along, the tutor knew about the competitor, but did not educate the pupil, the presence of the mysterious menacing and cruel opponent. He, as a child, walked straight into the race. Lest he knew that the race course had boxing rings. A total of three rings. Rings where there were no referees. Rings where there were no rounds. Rings where there are no winners. Only the opponent can tell who the winner is, the opponent – TIME. And so the race began. He and Time, both raced towards ring one. Boxed each other, and after knocking TIME out, he ran towards the ring two. And then, he was told rule number zero - “At any given moment in the race, you will always be a function of the past and present. Future will not recognize you, unless you hold you function true. Differentiate the function with respect to time, and the key for the future will open.” With that, he was asked to step out of the ring and wait for the opponent. Life, the tutor, smiled. Wickedly. For one, the pupil defeated time at the cost of some more time. Ah, what a tutor!
After coming across the ring of past, and waiting in the ring of present, he discovered something new. For, having to wait for the time to make the future ring as present, he wasted his chance in the past ring. The chance where he could have learned and understood his opponent better. He, having learned a lesson in the past from his tutor, decided not to regret and make full use of the future-present ring. And when the losing opponent from the past ring came to the future ring, the future ring became the present ring. And the fight began. “When you fight, your instinct takes over your mind. The mantra for a victory is to let the mind take over your instinct.”  And this is what happened. Life played villain. Time mocked. He got knocked. And time moved to the future, leaving him in the present-past ring. Gathering strength, he got up and walked towards the future ring. That is when he was told rule number zero-one - “Thou shall not enter the future-ring, if you are not the winner of the present-ring.” And, the race was over. He lost. The winner, lost. The undefeated champion, was finally defeated. He saw his tutor praising time, while winking at him. He felt betrayed.
Decades passed. And he started racing again. Wounds of time, take time to heal. So much of it, that no medicine can make you run faster and beat the invincible. He was finally fit. And he ran again, against time. No, this time, alongside time. Rule number one - “Return to the same course, will result in the elimination of the past-ring.” A sign of relief followed by haunting memories of the past-ring. The tutor whispers “To make it to the future-ring, don’t let go of the present-ring. Hold onto time, and beat the hell out of it. After all, time is just another competitor.”
Lesson learned. Fight begins.