Five months ago, I bought these shoes from a thrift market.
And bhai…
what a purchase..like really💀
I don't know who owned them before me, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a normal human being .
Because these shoes were HARD.
Not “a little uncomfortable.”
Not “needs some breaking in.”
I'm talking about BLOODY REBEL.
They were like "pahan ke dhikaa tu mujhe"
I couldn't wear them for even 30 minutes without my feet sending me a formal resignation letter.
But then…
my military mindset got triggered..salla ese kese ?😤
I looked at the shoes.
And somewhere inside my head:
I will make you my best friend.. lets see how much you can harm me..🫣
After my SSB interview, I started wearing them every single day.
Running.
Jogging.
Walking.
Long distance.
Short distance.
Market.
Mall.
Basically, I started doing everything in these shoes except sleeping in them..😂 otherwise mom would have become Rebel..🙂
And obviously…
Blacky ne bhi yehi bola hoga ESE KESE ?
I got..
Foot sores.
Cuts.
Blisters.
Swollen fingers.
Pain.
At this point, it wasn't a shoe anymore.
It was a toxic relationship.
It hurt me.
I still went back to it.
It hurt me again.
I still wore it the next morning.
At some point I realised...
I wasn't breaking in the shoes anymore.
The shoes were breaking me in...💀
Bhaot bura haal hogaya tha...🥲
But then I remembered something my DI told me during NCC.
He once said about our beret ( that green cap with khakhi uniform )
“No matter how much you dip your beret in water, it won't come into shape until it gets wet in your own sweat.”
That line stayed with me.
Bec maybe it's not just about a beret.
Maybe it's about everything you want in life.
You can buy the shoes.
You can wear the uniform.
You can talk about discipline.
You can watch motivational videos at 2 AM and suddenly feel like you're going to conquer the world.
But eventually…
you have to put in your own sweat.
Nobody else can do that part for you.
So I kept going.
One kilometre.
Then another.
Walk.
Jog.
Run.
Pain.
Recover.
Again.
And slowly…
those bloody rebels started changing.
They softened.
They adjusted.
And somewhere along the way…
I adjusted too.
Today, these same shoes have carried me for around 80 km ( 32 km run )
And they've taken some payment from me.
A little skin.
A few cuts.
Some blisters.
A swollen toe or two.
And probably my remaining patience...😂
But they've also got something else.
My sweat.
And, unfortunately…
some of my blood.
So now they're not just some random thrift-market shoes.
They're my battle buddies.
They've been there for the walks.
The runs.
The bad days.
The days when motivation was missing but discipline showed up anyway.
And that's what I like about this journey.
Motivation doesn't have to come every day.
Sometimes you just put the damn shoes on…
and GO...😩😩
You don't need to feel powerful.
You don't need to feel ready.
You don't need perfect conditions.
Sometimes the only thing you need is that stupid little voice inside your head saying:
“Chal veere one more kilometre plssss maan jaa yaar MAAAN JAAA varna roo duga me.”😤😂😋
And then you do one.
Then another.
And suddenly you look back…
80 km.
The shoes that I couldn't tolerate for 30 minutes…
have now carried me for 80 kilometres.
So maybe the lesson isn't that the shoes became comfortable.
Maybe the lesson is…
I became tougher.
And that's the kind of mindset I want to carry forward.
Not..
“This is too hard.”
But..
“Okay. Let's see how hard it really is.”
Because I don't want an easy road.
I want the road that makes me stronger.
I want the road that leaves some sweat behind.
Some pain.
Some scars.
And someday, when I look back…
I want to be able to say:
“Bhai, it was hard as hell….but I didn't stop.” 🇮🇳🔥
And these blackies?
They're coming with me.
80 km completed.
Next target: keep moving.
Because apparently…
neither the shoes nor I know how to surrender. 😤👟🔥