Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and me

It has been almost 3 months when I completed the Half marathon. Yes, I did complete the run; 21.6 KMs in 2 hours 30 minutes on 20th January and then left running for good :). After all it was only a temporary hobby. I have to thank wonderful people of Mumbai who came out of their home on a Sunday morning just to cheer the runners all along the running route providing banana, buiscuits, water and different kind of juices. Around Haji Ali, I also saw one guy offering Samosas to the runners :). The whole environment was energetic, be it the motivation with which all the runners came to the venue early at 4.30 AM or be it the sheer number of people who actually turned out to run. I also have to mention the amazing arrangements done all along the marathon route. Kudos to the management. 

Last but not the least, I have to thank that stranger who helped me in clocking this time. Well this stranger, a pretty girl in her mid twenties, nudged me around 4th kilometer  when I was slowing down at the end of the Bandra-Worli sea-link. This also came with an advice to keep on running and not to stop. I was not surprised as that kind of support from fellow runners was visible all along the marathon route. It amazes me that, this was a crowd of which every individual wanted to clock his/her best timing and yet managed to find time to motivate others and cherish the fact the fellow runners are also at their best. Now continuing the story of stranger, when I slowed down again at the end of 5th kilometer after coming out of the sea-link; surprisingly the same stranger met me again with the same smiling face and same advise not to stop. Well how did I respond, I told her that now onward I will run with her till the end of the race and asked her if that is ok :).

Pretty and benevolent she was; she smiled, then I smiled and I ran along with her till the 19th

14 Kilometers

Well, there was a cause and there was lethargy. Cause was to run for half-marathon on 20th Jan. It took me 3 months in starting the preparation for the same after publicly announcing that on the blog in October. All is not lost and I ran close  to 29 kilometers in December. Not a big milestone, but at least a start. My best so far is 14 kilometers in 2 hours. This was achieved through walking interspersed with occasional running. 

Few mobile applications have made these activities very easy to track and I must say that seeing the stats in a nice form motivates you to do better. I hope to finish the half-marathon under 3 hours, even if I need to walk for all 180 minutes. Next week will be crucial for practice as I want to complete full 21 KM on coming Saturday before the big day.

Here goes my route for morning runs and a snapshot of my outings in December.

I too want to run for a cause..

This is what I wrote for applying for a place in Mumbai Marathon and now I have been confirmed a slot for Half-marathon. All the energy shown at the time of writing the email vanished in a minute after seeing the acceptance :) . The event is scheduled on 20th January  almost 125 days away. But the idea of running 21 point something kilometers in less than three hour is itself too scary, to say the least. I dread the idea of just standing somewhere still for one hour.

Normally I go to gym thrice in a quarter and run for like 2.5 kilometers on treadmill in 25 odd minutes.  That roughly translates in 12 kilometers of aggregate physical running I do in a year. Besides this, I never indulge myself in any physical activity for the sake of fitness. No surprise, I weigh 82 kg now. BMI index falls just outside the upper range suggesting slightly overweight body. Last jeans I bought was 36″ in size which is a clear 4″ more than what I

A long wait, followed by some random Hindi poetry

Long time….yeah I know, but don’t have any explanation for this lethargy. Opened this page accidently only to find that 6830 people around the world have visited this page last year. Now, the fact that the last post was made some ten months back, does not do any justice with it, hence this post.

Lets revitalize this blog with one of the best lines I have ever come up with (as far as this fragile memory goes) and yes these are completely mine (COPYRIGHT :)). You are free to contact me to find out the other lines from this poetry at your leisure. Here it goes…

दिन नया है, जिंदगी की तकरार है

नयी है जरूरतें, और नया सवाल है।

पुरानी यादें और नये ख्वाबों के साथ,

जिंदगी आगे बढ्ने को, तैयार है।

Random status messages from one Facebook profile

1. "हीरों की बस्ती में हमने काँच-काँच बटोरे हैं,कितना लिखा फ़साना फिर भी सारे काग़ज़ कोरे हैं ।" : म. सिंह


2. ‎"रात की ओस दरख्तों पे गिरी होगी ज़रूर,. ज़िन्दगी अपनी भी कुछ यूँ ही कटी होगी ज़रूर|
ज़िक्र आता है तो झुक जाती हैं आँखें उसकी, मुझसे मिलने की खलिश दिल में छुपी होगी ज़रूर||" - ज़ैदी जाफ़र

3. "कहानी में तो किरदारों को जो चाहे बना दीजे | हक़ीक़त भी कहानी कार हो ऐसा नहीं होता ||" : निदा फ़ाज़ली

4. "अभी न पर्दा गिराओ, ठहरो कि दास्ताँ आगे और भी है" - Guljar

5. "जो वादा तूने किया नहीं, मुझे उस पे क्यों कर यकीन था।

ये तेरे हुनर की हद थी, यामेरे जुनू का था वाकया।।" - शार्दुला

ठहरो, कि दास्ताँ आगे और भी है

I used to be a voracious reader. Not that I don't read anymore, but the frequency of books has dipped to a all time low, barely managing a book each month.  Especially I miss reading good Hindi literature. Good books are not available in nearby bookshops. Pity, the city Mumbai is. But just few weeks back, I found one website called Kavita Kosh, which is a great collection of Hindi prose and poems, hence this post. I read few of my favorite books such as Rashmirathi etc on the website. I'll recommend this if you are really into Hindi literature.

One more thing. Despite spending a whole lot of good part of the day on internet, I still feel that reading a book in hard-copy is a completely different experience. I don't get the same feeling while reading books online. No upgrade of the e-book reader will be ever come close

You are beautiful

James blunt music, I was listening for last one hour. And this one was the best of lot..

"You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Few lines from the hindi books,

I am reading for last few days,

"टुकड़े-टुकड़े दिन बीता, धज्जी-धज्जी रात मिली।
जिसका जितना आंचल था, उतनी ही सौग़ात मिली।।

 जब चाहा दिल को समझें, हंसने की आवाज़ सुनी।

 जैसे कोई कहता हो, लो फिर तुमको अब मात मिली।।

 बातें कैसी ? घातें क्या ? चलते रहना आठ पहर। 

दिल-सा साथी जब पाया, बेचैनी भी साथ मिली।।

Freakonomics,

 ....Super freakonomics, What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! and Simply fly are the four books in line to read this week. What else, two episodes of LOST are also there to watch.

There are as many nights as days

“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” : Random thoughts from internet

Don't look back

...is the second episode of first season of the TV series called HEROES. It has only been two episodes and I have begun to think that its going to be a fun like LOST. Even though the first two seasons were sitting on my idle harddisk for very long time, I couldn't find myself watching this before.

So lets hope that it turns out to be as great as I have heard from friends.

To heroes.........

Bihar was never a case of bad governance;

.... it was a case of absence of governance. This was one of the lines spoken by Chief Minister of Bihar while accepting the Economic Times Business Reformer of the Year award. Without naming his predecessor, he so eloquently put his request for more funding, giving the business community a larger sense of assurance on safety and better investment opportunity.

Whether Bihar will get the attention of buisness leaders or not. Whether the 11% growth rate will be a one time wonder or it will be sustained. Whether Nalanda university will get its due reputation or not. Whether the land of Goddess Sita will shine or not. Answers to these questions will unfold only in future. My take on all this is  : "Last 2-3 years have brought hope for a better future, hope that things can change and its only the matter of time". Hope is biggest thing which, Nitish goverment has given to us.  

Remember what Rancho baba (or Ingdu :P) said in three idiots. He meant that hope is the only thing which gives that extra strength and belief to your heart to fight the odds in toughest of situations and  fools you to think that "AAL IZZ WELL".

Outsiders in Mumbai

Posted by AJ on September 14, 2008

Mumbai is awake. Atleast some of the people here think they are. That’s why few sons of soil have taken it upon themselves to protect “Marathi Asmita”. How will they do it?? By ensuring that every person staying in Mumbai should speak marathi, by beating the north Indian taxi drivers, by forcing McDonald to write its name in Marathi, by halting the movie releases of A Bachhan.

I won’t discard the whole idea as there are some arguments for it. Still it’s unreasonable from all the other angles. Let’s talk about some of the good aspects of this fight.

1. Going just by the fact that Mumbai is in Maharashtra, Marathi people should get bigger pie of its success. They have all the right to be respected here, same with their language too.

2. Marathi people should get the major chunk of the employment opportunities first.

2 books and 3 idiots

Watched "3 idiots" few days back and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the best movies this year, I'd say. Considering that it is based on the book "Five point someone" and the media rounds about the ugly spat between the author and the lead actor from the movie; my verdict is that the movie has done full justice to the spirit of the book, not sure about the credit/compensation given to the author. This movie has few over-the-board moments ( will be appreciated only by the guys who have not been to a college like ICE) which have been over-shadowed by the numerous fantabulous scenes.

I have never considered it practical for a movie director to show all the things at the screen , which have been imagined/written by the story teller. Many movies  based on the bestseller books have done quite well in the past and 3 idiots is one more addition to them. However, you ask the one who has read the book before watching the movie. Chances of his replying in favour of the book are much more. The ready examples are "Jurrasic Park" and the "Da-vinci Code". Even though,   these movies were fantasic, but can never be compared to the book. Simply put, they were not able to depict the detailed imagination of author on the screen. Having said all that, I did enjoy the movies too.

I have also bought two books, "अँधेरे  बंद  कमरे" by Mohan Rakesh and "राग  दरबारी " by S.Lal, hoping that

ho0h0ohidshrp'hwrepegwljbsdk...

... and that was why there are no entries made on this blog for this long. I am back, like so many other times. 2010 is just on the brink and will come with lots of promises. The next week will be the one where many resolutions at personal front will be made. Some would like to loose 6 kg, some would like to stop procrastinating, some would like to learn swimming and some others will take a resolution to hit the gym regularly. There is no dearth of ideas, resolutions. The more you try to find out , the more amused you will get. Personally, I'll try to pursue some of them :P.

Now that, I am in the midst of a quarter-life-crisis and struggling with the increasing waistline and decreasing hairline, it appears a time for thinking, thinking and some more thinking. The mantra for new year will be not only to think, rather to bring some of the ideas to reality. Not that I am planning to make a nuke, but whatever you plan, needs some amount of action. So that's the resolution for new year. Nothing specific.

Now that the new year resolution is almost set, its time to say about other things. The last "the movie" which I saw, was AVATAR. Watching it in 3D was just great experience, that too in a heritage theater (Of course, it

Allergy advice

Allergy advise written on some buscuit wrap. "मुझे तो समझ में नहीं आया; आपको समझ आवे, तो हमें भी समझावें...". Please explain if you understand the advice.

Different takes

Just to show, how people on two opposite sides of war perceive the history of war. I clicked this picture at Trafalgar square in London. This shows the british take on the 1857 sepoy mutiny. Remember the history lessons, you attended in school; they never suggested that somebody will ever commemorate the heroes/villains from other side. Found one interesting one line British description of the mutiny, which goes like..

" To live in India, now, was like standing on the verge of a volcanic crater, the sides of which were fast crumbling away from our feet, while the boiling lava was ready to erupt and consume us...The infanticide Rajput, the bigoted Brahmin, the fanatic Mussalman, had joined together in the cause; cow-killer and the cow-worshipper, the pig-hater and the pig-eater... had revolted together." - Thomas Lowe, British Chronicler, 1860

Some thoughts to ponder upon..

Sultry days

Trying to make an attempt to come out of the realm of inconsistency, here it goes. Things were happening over last few months and are still continued. There were distribution of pink slips, abundance of green masks all around you, dancing of sensex on some unfamiliar tune, people confronting the truths (sach ka samna) and then people trying to save themselves from some jungle in sony world and so many other things.

Amongst all this, as always, I read few books. Mentioning books here is the easiest of ways to fill some space in this phreaking thought's portal. So there was "Sultry day" by Sobha De. I felt that this book had an ok story, but was unnecessarily painted a sultry look. Also, I never had any penchant for this type of writing. Nevertheless some people may like it.

Another was “If God was a banker” by Ravi Subramaniam. The best way to describe is like you are reading another Sobha De piece with some MBA jargon thrown in between” – comment made by anonymous. Personally I liked it. It will be a good read for anybody interested in an MBA roadmap.

Next in the line are:

“I bought the Monk’s Ferrari”

“Those small lil things”

“How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life”

Indian memsaab

Sorry for the long abscence. Now, there can be plethora of views why I am so irregular about things. Some things in particular, this blog being one of them.

It's not that I didn't have anything to write. Infact, so many things happened inbetween that I cant keep track of them. But come on, its only me...

Will try to be a bit more regular.

Today I read a fantastic Novel "Indian Memshab" by Suchita malik. It narrates the whole world of a beaurocrat's life through his wife's eyes, a fascinating world.

Will leave on that note..

Books

This week, it will be books. My last read was "Hotel" by Arthur Halley. It was unique in terms of it's fantastic  detailed description of a  Hotel.

Schedule for next week is,

"You are here" by Meenakshi Reddy

"The Google Story" by David Vise

"Sign of the Cross" by Chris Kuzneski

If possible I'll also try to understand some of the theories behind the demography of the world by reading "Human Geaography" by Majjid Hussain.