Oye Amritsar

I finally took the break that I had been promising myself since a long time. For a change, I took the leave before planning what I wanted to do with it. Since a long time (after watching Rang de basanti to be precise), I have wanted to visit Amritsar. I tried conning a couple of people into doing this trip but they wanted to hang on to the sane side of life (can also be read as were under the influence of their wives) and opted out.

So I landed in Delhi, met the usual suspects. Did a 15km run with Benaazir and Shantanu at the Hauz Khas Deer Park/ Rose Garden. Realized that Delhi infrastructure has only improved with time. Realized that Gurgaon might be bigger Bangalore now!

Managed to avoid the gurgaon malls for two days (No mean achievement that!). Managed to check-out all the usual haunts in Delhi (No mean achievement that as well!)

I took the Swarna Shatabdi to Amritsar. The Railway staff does try and make you eat your breakfast. I would have been woken up atleast four times for Tea/ breakfast/ the likes till I gave up on sleeping and started looking at the Punjabi landscape from the window. After a journey of roughly 6 hrs, I was in Amritsar. My hotel was some 100m away from the station but even then a cycle riskshawala conned me into taking a ride with him. Arre baith jao, 4-5 rupiye jo dena hai de dena!

The first thing that struck me about Amritsar was the noisy roads, incessant honking and the unbelievably chaotic traffic. Brought back the memories of all the towns that I have lived in. Everyone on the road tries to hustle you into a trip to Wagah border. You get the feeling that there is nothing more to the town but that half-an-hr ceremony of the change of guards. But I had two places on my mind before Wagah. The Golden Temple and the Jalianwalan Bagh.

First off the list was the Golden temple, it looks good in the day but is very crowded. May be because of the tourists or may be because getting a ‘dip’ in the day is more convenient. I took a few snaps and then just moved around the place. I did not go to Hari Mandir because of the long queue.

Next on the plan was the Jalianwalan Bagh. It has a despicable entrance. But once you are inside it, you feel the presence of the 2000 martyrs at that place. The marks made by rounds fired on that day are still preserved on a few walls. Check out the white squares on the following photograph. Then there is the well, Shahidi kuan, from which 120 bodies were recovered once the shooting ended.

I had the Dudh Rabdi Sevaiyan and chintoo’s tikkis to refuel myself and then I started for Wagah. The crowd is loud and the ceremony is elaborate. You do well-up with a strong emotion of nationalism out there but was this was not much compared to what I experienced later in the night.

After coming back from Wagah, I went on my own treasure hunt. Trying to get my hands on Kesar da Dhaba’s Phirnis. After a circuitous walk through the old town and trashing the entire ‘men do not ask for directions’ stereotype multiple times, I reached Kesar’s dhaba. On the way, I had figured out that somebody in Kesar’s household was getting married and it indeed was his daughter (People on the road tell you all this along with the directions). As it should have been expected, much to my disappointment, the place was closed.

But on the way, I had learnt that there are three other places which serve as good a phirni as Kesar’s. Ahuja Sweets, ‘The Unmarked Shop’ close to Kesar and one more to which the rickshawala took me.

I was back at the Golden temple as the twilight faded and gave way to the night. The sight was beautiful and the gurbani very soothing. I think I sat in the Hari Mandir for two hours and loved the sufi tone of the bhajans. And after a long long time, an avowedly non-religious person like me was moved by a visit to a religious place. I offered the Karah Prasad at the temple and ambled through the compound. Would strongly recommend a visit to this compound in the night to everyone who decides to visit Amritsar. ‘It’ is something!

Then I embarked on a legendary evening eating out expedition. I hit the ‘Bhravaan da Dhaba’ and ordered a lassi with a thali with aplomb. Only to get the disbelieving look from the waiter. He did almost say, ‘Will you be able to eat it all?’

As I waited for the grub, I realized that on the adjacent table a family of 3 was eating out from a single thali! And I had ordered, wait a minute, a humongous glass of lassi that had just been served to me along with that more than sumptuous thali!! But I did finish it all; much to the approval of the waiter who told me the story of two brothers who co-owned the dhaba had a spat because of the women that they were married to! And this is how 'Brothers dhaba # 1' came to being next the the legendary 'Bhravaan da Dhaba.' Got the feel of the local gossip- warts and all!

Anyway I had a wonderful trip and was all re-charged on my return to Bangalore. Would highly recommend the town to the readers of this journal!

The Ultramarathon Man

C'est Moi!

I did run (crawled would be more appropriate) the 50K trail run 0n November 16. Cramped badly at and after the 31st Km. But still I managed to run most of the time. Surprised myself, in a good way!

Now, I am waiting for the Mumbai Marathon that happens in January. This time I am running for Mumbai and am also raising funds for a Child Education NGO called Isha Vidhya. In case any of you are interested in making a contribution, let me know. You can also make a contibution online. If you decide to do so, let me know (I would just want to keep a track).

On God

It had never been done before, at least on the Indian Subcontinent. But if it had to be done, it had to be done by the God and from his own bat. In a way, it was poetic justice at its best. In 10 years (remember 1999, actually every Indian cricket follower remembers that heart breaking day), Tendulkar has given us a sweet memory that people like me will cherish for a long long time!

And as I followed the match through the meeting that I was in, I was on the edge almost all the time. I did let out a big cheer as Sachin hit that paddle sweep in his inimitable style. It was pure unadulterated joy! And I think everyone in the room realized that everyone else was following it as well! Indeed Sehwag set it up but it was Sachin who saw to it that there was no proverbial slip between the cup and the lip!

That Wednesday Night

One of the most dastardly acts of terrorism happened and it was all very surreal in a way. I think I was angry, anguished, sad, helpless and numbed by all that happened in those 60 hours.

Even as if was glued on to three different websites in office trying to figure what was happening, I was thinking of what would be the reaction to this and what should be a reaction to this. While a lot of groups have been formed on facebook/orkut and some candle-light vigils have been kept, little has happened otherwise.

That night has shattered the small cocoons that we hid ourselves in. The secure(?) apartments, the mall, the hotel or the restaurant everything seems a immensely vulnerable now. The normal Indian feels a little unsafe on the road, in the mall, in a movie theater or even while hailing a cab on the road. I think we will get over with this mass trauma(?) in some time. Don't think we have an option with this one.

Of course, we hear and make statements like 'the spirit of India is stronger that the resolve of the Terrorists.' We want action against Pakistan or against the Terror elements based out of the territories of the neighbour. We want the Indian government to beef-up the internal and the external security. We want the people responsible for this punished. We want a lot to happen!

But what can we 'make' happen? Or are we too overwhelmed to think on those lines. From my understanding of the entire episode, this was such a long and harrowing experience because of the unpreparedness, lack of resources and delay in response. I am unable to think of more than a few things to respond to this.

• Avoid being swayed away by fanatics
• Donate to the various trusts collecting funds for the victims
• Be a little vigilant and co-operate with the security people
• Mock drills in residential, commercial and industrial areas to prepare people to respond to such exigencies
• File regular RTIs with the government bodies (police, fire brigade etc) and make them work in return for our taxes. Guess, the army and the intelligence would be above the purview of the RTI act anyway

I know that the list may come across as inadequate. But still would be more constructive than forgetting the entire episode with a wave of mass amnesia!

I am hoping that we do not become paranoid as the US became after 9/11. I hope that our social fabric retains whatever little tolerance it still has. I hope that we do not view every Muslim with suspicion. I hope we do not elect the next government to govern ourselves for the wrong reasons and loud anti-terror rhetoric. I hope we do not lose our patience with anyone who tries to use the restraint word. I hope we avoid the lure of the jingoistic baiting by the media and the polity. I hope that we would be able to remain hopeful through this!

The Real and long winded story of the Kaveri Trail Marathon

The reason why I am writing about the Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM) before the Bombay Marathon is because of the recency effect. I also think I might have romanticized the Mumbai Marathon a little, in my head. And a romanticized version might make this 'real' thing so mundane that you might not even want to read about it.

It has been about 10 days since the KTM now. But it seems that it happened a long time back. It might be because I have been off running in a way since the marathon. Clock roughly 25Km since that Sunday when I drove down to Srirangapatnam. Yes, the same Srirangapatnam where the story of 'Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan' took place. Do you remember the DD serial?

This was supposed to be a tough marathon. For me the toughest part would still be getting up at 3 in the morning and start the ~ 140Km drive at 4:00am. I think I would have cursed Shantanu atleast a few times for volunteering me as one of the drivers. I mean, I would have normally liked this kind of long drive, but at 4 in the morning it was a big struggle. Against the onslaught of the headlights and my own sleep. So after a few anxious moments, for the fellow runners in the car, we were at the starting point.


Somehow, the usual anxiety before an organized Race was missing. I guess it was because it was an RFL event. Another reason might be that this was supposed to be a ramp-up for the Ultra. I will post a detailed log on that in a couple of weeks.

The sky was clear. And that was scary. On a race day, I would always trade in a sunny day for an overcast sky. But as usual, the dice was loaded from the start! It was pleasantly muggy. And I thought to myself, this is close to Mysore so it should not be warm in the day. I did not have to wait for long to realize how wrong I was!

So there we were, almost unaware of what the course had in store for us. Off at the starting point. I chatted with Deepak for a while to realize that he is also trying for the 12-in-12 (Twelve marathons in twelve months) ala Bhaskar. This was his fourth marathon in as many months. And Bhaskar was trying for this 3-in-3. For me it was the 2-in-10 ;)

This was where I stopped a couple of weeks back. I started typing this piece and then I stopped because of the usual distractions. And then with the Ultra looming large over the coming weekend. I thought that I need to finish it.

The first 21Km were easy. They always are. You and your fellow runners are in a chatty mood. You keep talking to someone or the other depending on who is keeping pace with you (or with people that you are able to keep pace with). I think I was on my own after the fifteenth kilometer. The heat hit me around the 22nd Km mark when I started looking for the water station and it was still a good km away. But I think I was still in good shape till the 29th. The Sun was spewing fire by then and there were no trees in sight. It was very muggy, humid and completely unbearable. There were green fields but they were only to be good backgrounds for photographs. And at that point, I think few runners would have been able to muster a smile. So after struggling for the next 3 Km which was a small loop, I came back to the water station where I applied a lot of pain relieving spray.

And then it was just about getting one foot to go forward after the other for a long time. The water stations on the return leg seemed to have disappeared. I felt that the law of physics governing the time-distance continuum had failed. The number of runners on the return leg were fewer. I saw a lot of regulars stopping and taking a break. I was very tempted. Then I heard Amrita calling that there were just another 5 Km to go. I felt proud of myself. The last 7Km just flew by!! 'You rock!', I told myself. But a few minutes down the line, I saw the '6Km to go' mark. I cannot explain my disappointment.

'You suck!', I told myself.

I did not carry a timer with me. I never do. I like to depend on other runners for an indication of the timing. At times I hear, You are going strong' and at times, 'Are you all right?'

Today, I mean the day of the Kaveri Marathon, I was getting the strong comment most of the time. Especially on the return leg.

Yet, I was wondering if it were ever going to end. I was focussed but it was becoming incredibly difficult to keep the focus intact.

And then I saw Ashok. He had completed this marathon in a relatively inhuman time of 3hrs 20min and was sautnering on the track. I asked him, 'How much to go?' I got an answer that told me that the end was just another 100m away.

I did what I usually do when only 100m is left. Put the engine on full throttle and start sprinting. But it seems that the 100m expression was just figurative. The finishing line was atleast another 300m away. Those '100m' were the longest 100m ever. But I did finish the race with a flourish.

I hope I do that the will and the energy to do an encore in the 50Km run coming up this weekend!


PS: Do check out the photographs by Sudhir. Mind you, that the course looks beautiful only in photographs. Its extremely cruel otherwise!

Also check out the snap, timing etc at the Previous post on KTM

Time

Usually, I do not like posts where in people post lyrics of some song on their blogs. If you really want people to checkout that song you can just make a plain recommendation. But am making an exception to what I would usually do.

Have always loved this Song by Floyd. Because its haunting, scary, revealing and inspiring all at the same time. Today it keeps coming back to me. And I am sharing it with you!

...
Time, Album: The Dark Side of The Moon

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you are older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells

My Second Marathon

I ran the Mumbai Marathon at the beginning of this year. And last weekend I ran the Kaveri Trail Marathon. Shaved around 35 Min from my Bombay finish time of 5hrs 15min. And even then I felt that this was a weaker race. It was very hot and humid. The track was a difficult track to run on and I struggled after the 32nd Km. But I did finish it with a flourish. Practically sprinted the last 300m.


More on both the runs later.

Got this from a friend. Check out the message on the Auto rear-window. Just awesome. The enigma called 'Love' aka 'Lou' (in namma Bengaluru) explained.

In case, the font seems really small:

L: Losse of time (sic!)
O: Out of Mind
V: Vest of Time
E: End of Life

Was totally blown away by such an insightful four liner!

Thank you, Sachin

Yes, I am a few days too late on this. But there was no way that this post was not being written on this blog!


Sachin, this is for you.

Thanks for the years that have gone by. In the last 20 years, you have given a lot of moments to us to be happy/ elated about. You have also given us moments that just wrecked our hearts. But most importantly, you gave us hope. You gave us hope that India can be good at some sport. That an Indian can dominate and decimate the rest of the world, with elan.




Probably, Ponting would overtake Sachin on a couple of statistics. But he will never be able to even come close on how the world has held you in awe over the last two decades!


Here's to the 'hope' that you will bring home the 2011 World Cup!

The Realization

This was almost like the first time a little girl (wanted to be clear about the 'little') called me 'Uncle' on a train journey. I was shocked not because of the actual event but what it meant to me! The days of uncling people were over and the days of bhaisaabgiri were in!

Anyway, I have been reading Paul Krugman for a few years now. At times I think he is too leftist and may be unequivocally Democrat (US Politics) but overall I am addicted to him. So when I got the alert from WSJ that the Swedish Academy has decided to award the Nobel Prize for Economics to him, I swelled with pride. May be it was because it was a first of sorts - being cognizant of the Nobel prize winner before the list was announced.

How you explain knowing the name of a nobel prize winner? Mathematically - With more and more names thrown at you with the passage of time, the probability of such a event happening just goes up and up. So it is also a cold realization of the fact the one has aged! Never expected it to be this fast!

Rock On! and Jaane Tu...

I know when I write about Rock On!, I would not be the first one (or the last) to write about it. At this coming at the time when I should be writing about the Bomb blasts in Delhi and Pakistan or the Bajranj dal hud-dang in the name of protecting Hinduism. May be, I am writing this because a friend's wife told me that she thought of me when she saw Farhan Akthar (I wonder why no unmarried women is telling me this!!!). Or maybe because of the wide eyed, sugary sweet Prachi Desai.

But really, I just had to write about it. So obviously, it seems that I liked the movie.

I think people have written peans about the movie. How they liked the characterization and the plot and the script. Some people felt that the movie was long.

I am writing this because this movie brought back the memories of all those live performances that I have been to. Rock and non-rock. I think there is something about being in presence of music that you can connect to. The sound track of the movie is great. Farhan is no great singer but Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy do a great job of making him pass off as a rocker! And the soundtrack, it just keeps coming back to you. Also, because I believe that there is a huge market for Hindi Rock. I am secretly hoping that some good Hindi rock bands will take the cue and dish out some nice music. And someday, the Hindi rock scene would rival the Japanese rock scene as well (Am telling you some of the Jap songs are just awesome!!)

I also saw Jaane Tu... [I am running a huge backlog on Movies, so please bear!] Again, since this movie has been written about to death, I won't even try to write anything about the movie. I just wanted to mention that this movie has a great music as well. The classics from this album for me are Tu Bole, Main Boloon and Kahin to Hogi woh. I especially love the Rahman's rendition of Tu Bole. I think the last two songs that he has sung were just about ok (Khwaja mere -Jodhaa Akbar and Tere Bina - Guru) - as far as his singing is concerned. But with Tu bole, its pure Magik!

Recommending

Would really like to recommend the Faking News blog. Really loved its coverage of the contemporary news items.

Actually wished that I were writing all that. But guess, I have been taking myself too seriously for sometime now.

Reading Two Books in Seven Days

I have started reading again. I mean I am always reading something or the other but lately I have felt have my attention span has been waning. Over the years my concentration has deteriorated and my interest levels have dwindled. At times, I have blamed it on my context and at times on the lack of familiarity with the context of the book and its characters. At times, I think, it might have been sheer fatigue with the written word.

May be I read too much of the dark/sad stuff and the poison slowly seeped into me from the pages. At times, I fear that I am becoming (have become?) one of those lamenting, numb characters from one of those books that I just love. I think therein lies the appeal of those profoundly sad books. They touch something somewhere inside you. And you are startled by it - and if you are lucky, you discover something about yourself. Anyway, as I said, I might have been reading too much of this stuff. So on purpose, I have been laying off such books.

I have changed the kind of books I read. And I think I like this change.

I read the Maltese Falcon and then the City of Djinns. Nice books both of them. I think the vagabond in me liked the city of Djinns. And the Falcon was ok. Then, I started the Moviegoer. It is a book that I have wanted to read for a long time. But as I started it, I realized that it is another of those self-discovery books. Nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact, it is one of the Time's top 100 books from the last century. But just that these days, I am not in the frame of mind where I can ingest, digest and love such books. So I gave it up mid-way. Maybe, i will pick it up again. Someday!

Then, I started 'The Day of The Jackal'. I told you that I am loving the inane these days. But Forsyth tires me easily. Not with this book but he has done that with aplomb in the past. So for no reason, I gave up reading this book midway. Certainly, no reflection of how interesting the book is. Am clarifying here as I do not want any hate mails from the ardent lovers of this book. Like the one who loaned me this book. May be, I will also turn into those who swear by the Jackal sometime down the line!

But last week has been phenomenal. I read two books. And to the readers of this page, I would like to recommend them. Its Not About The Bike by Lance Armstrong and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami.

The former has a significant amount of American showmanship. But even if you normalize it for that, it is a wonderfully inspiring story. And what delights you is the fact that most of what is being said in that book happened. I never knew that Lance came back from death (His Doctors had pegged his chances of survival at lower than 3%!!). You feel the climb up the col du la madone and the chaos from The Tour de France lands right into your room. It sure did fire my imagination in a way that no book has done in a long time.


Then there is the Murakami book. This is a usual Murakami book if you have been reading him for some time. But as a runner ( :-) I think I have earned it!), this book is just delicious. There are things in that book that only runners will understand. And like me, he is also a re-creational runner (Though it seems that he trains harder). So at times, it seems like an intimate conversation. How often do you get that in a sheaf of papers bunched between two hard boards?

The Slight

It might have been so slight that it went unnoticed. Or may be, people did notice but decided against bothering themselves with it.

The Games, as usual, have their own diplomatic element in full flow. It seems so, at least, on the set of things that are close to India. It started off with the invite for the opening ceremony going to Sonia and Rahul. Reaching out to the power center but a slight of no small dimensions to our sovereign head. Of course, this was extensively chronicled and discussed in the media. More in the Hindi/regional newspapers and with a small mention in the English newspapers.

But this thing with Nepal can become disturbing. Deuba, the newly elected president was to go for the closure ceremony of the Olympics. But as soon as, Prachanda (of the CPN - Maoist) was elected Prime Minister, an invite was forwarded to him for attending the closure ceremony. How does it matter?

Nepal has had a strong dependency on India for a lot of things. From trade to defence, India has had a major (not to the liking of the likes of Prachanda at times) role to play in Nepal's affairs. With this kind of change in the leadership in Nepal, things were to change. It seems that China is trying to precipitate the change. We might have to take appropriate diplomatic steps to keep Chinese 'encroachment' under check. The MEA might want to make some right noises that this point in time.

Bhutan is turning into a democracy. It is a state where we have had a strong (at times, intrusive) role to play. It might be a good idea to play our cards right to ensure this relationship does not go the Nepal way.

And what do we do with the slight? Forget it, not sure if anything can be done on that part. Apart from biding our time and taking the odd chance when Taipei is under discussion.

Hopes Of A Golden Olympic

Twenty four years back, China won her first ever gold medal at the 1984 LA Olympics. It was at a shooting event (50m rifle). Will we be the leaders in the medal tally some 24 years down the line? Sounds wishful, at best.

In the year 1984, China took back another 15 gold medals. Of this an amazing six were bagged by Li Ning. Yes, the guy who flew to light up the torch this year. I guess he was the man for the task. It seems that the Chinese had been training for the 1984 performance for years. It was talent supported with a lot of planning, resources and a belief that national pride is strongly co-related with performance at such events.

In contrast, Abhinav Bindra was a lot of ambition supported by a wealthy father. The three boxers, who have given a lot of hope of taking the medal tally beyond the solitary medallion that we already have, have come out of our own sporting system. But at most other sports, we just suck!

May be the time is ripe for privatisation of sports. At some level it is happening anyway. With the LN Mittal Champions trust supporting Archery, Prakash Padukone's Baddy institute is also flush with funds, Apollo tyres supporting tennis and then Hindujas are supporting shooting. Hopefully, other sports will also see more corporates participating in their development. May be, we will be the generation that will be able to tell the generations to come that it all started with the golden moment of 2008.

We may not be the leader at the 2032 Olympics but we would be a force to reckon with. This is dedicated to the hopes of that Golden Olympic!

इंडिया टीवी जिंदाबाद

The enclosed piece was reported over and over again on India TV. Not sure if it was classified as breaking news or not. But if you go by the past record of India TV when saas ne bahu to chappal se maara has been breaking news, this incredibly hilarious news item would have been a day hogging breaking news as well.

Sit back, relax and enjoy!

May be this is based on this 'news item' that was aired on channel 9. Guess someone on the content team of India TV saw this and has become a source of 'sensational' humour for compulsive channel surfers. [I wanted to write - surfers on the boob tube. But the flat panel/ LCD TVs have taken away the most pleasing way of deriding the television].

India TV was at its crass reporting best when they showed some sonographic imprints claiming them to be of the unborn foetus that was in the recent abortion controversy. I guess all this and the Talwar episode would make the News channel develop some kind of self-regulation. I am all for free journalism but this make me feel that some regulation (Self??) might be of help. Hope the present state of freedom in news reporting will not be used by the government to put a regulator in place.

Its high time that the channels wake up to the events and people behind all the breaking news and put some kind of guiding journalistic ethic in place!

The Magical Machine At The Railway Station

So I was at a railway station this month after a long time. And it was such a relief so see the familiar bedlam thrown at myself. After confirming with one of the coolies that the train I was there for is delayed by a good 50 minutes, I decided to buy the platform ticket. But I just could not find the ticket window that sells the platform ticket. As I was running to the other end of the foyer, I saw a bright red machine. I stopped with the relaxed manner that can posess only a person whose sense of haste has just been snatched by a railway coolie.

This machine was such a delight. An automatic platform ticket vending machine. No cash and no credit cards required for Airtel and Relaince customers. For the first time in the last two years, I felt good for being an airtel customer. [Would have written peans about the sad signal quality of airtel in Koramangala if this were a different post]


Simply:

- Send an SMS with text 'pftkt' to a 5-digit number
- Get a code in an SMS from the service provider
- Key the code in the machine and the machine prints out the ticket for you

It was just magical!

The Blasts

Nine explosions in a matter of 15 minutes! One casualty and about a dozen injured. Pathetic is the word. While there is this rude realization that the neighbourhood is not safe, I feel pity for the perpetuaters of this dastardly act. This one feels like an act of haste. Almost as if it has been executed against a almost forgotten deadline.

I do not understand the idea of conducting blasts in the middle of the immigrant country. People from other parts of the country will continue to migrate to Bangalore or any other equivalent city as long as they offer good career opportunities. What objective do they achieve? No bold statement made/ no mass panic. There was a lost of few hrs of productivity at offices but nothing close to what the city saw after rajkumar's death. I really hope this is not some amateur group trying to find it way into 'main-stream' terrorism.

Anyway, I hope that we will spring back in the morning and turn into the ever hungry weekend-consumer of material good and services. A quick recoil to the state of normalcy!

About a Muslim & An Indian And the transformation of an academician

Brilliant Speech by Omar Abdullah supporting the Confidence motion. A speech that lasted hardly 5 minutes but conveyed a lot.

Also, check out the speech of Manmohan Singh. The video will be devoid of audio because our elected representatives did not bother themselves with the task of hearing him out. As a result, the speech was drowned in the boo-ing and demands for his resignation. But this speech is a must read. He takes on Advani, Karat and gang with great finesse. And nothing, absolutely nothing can take away the sharpness (and at times, acerbic) of the speech that ended with the following:

The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities. As it is said in our sacred texts, we are responsible for our actions and we must act without coveting the rewards of such action. Whatever I have done in this high office I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart. I have no other claims to make.

Do lookup some of the links on speeches of LK Advani and Pranab Mukherji. Very interesting reads indeed. Advani was all over the place. Though some will claim that he spoke of everything that mattered, I would like to say that his line of thought was unable to find enough buyers. Pranab Mukherji was brilliant. Especially in the way he took on all the allegations head-on and managed to avoid the rhetoric.

When?

When will the tides in the ocean stop...
And, When will I go for that dip!

Zander On Classical Music

Engaging talk by Benajmin Zander about Western classical music. I like the way he talks. Connects to his audience. Wish someone would do this for Indian Classical Music as well.

The Hampi Heritage Half Marathon

Hampi happened. Like most good things in life, this was also unplanned. Had got this mail from Shantanu saying Sabine is organizing this ‘Heritage’ Half marathon in Hampi long time back. I was excited about it. But these days, my enthusiasm about a lot of things is like the proverbial ‘baasi kadhi main ubal’ (boiling over of a stale curry). So as a hard-working employee of the firm, I dutifully archived the mail in a folder called ‘Life etc.’

So, on a particularly hectic afternoon when I had successfully achieved transitions through multiple meetings, I had this enlightenment. I had to go to Hampi. I have wanted to go to the place for a long long time. The history enthusiast in me took over and I called Shantanu to confirm ‘participation’ in the Hampi run. Guess, there are a lot of fence sitters and before I could say anything, we had 5 of us (Nitin, Saurabh, Saumya) running off to Hampi for the weekend.

Nice drive. Nice bunch people to travel with/ run with. Essentially what you'd ask for on such a trip!

From a heritage perspective, Hampi is unbelievable. The golden period of Hampi was from 1610-1635AD, during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya. The widest road of those times, the Hampi bazaar is wider than the widest of the Bangalore roads. Just imagine the peak hour activity in that market!

The city was abandoned after 1665AD when the Vijaya Nagar empire lost to the combined might of the Bahamani Sultanate (Bidar, Golconda, Ahmednagar, Gulburga, Bijapur). The inhabitants fled and the city lay in ruins. Over the years, the sands of time have claimed the city and the larger part is claimed to be still under the ground. But whatever is above the ground (or recently excavated) is breathtaking as well. The ruins next to Kishkindha which are not a part of the usual tourist circuit are as beautiful as they come. I think you can spend a lazy week in Hampi exploring the ruins and just ambling around the place. Of course, all this is good only if you have a little liking for history.

So the usual word of caution: Hampi has not night life whatsoever!

Recommended eating joint: Mango Tree (Good food with excellent lazing around possibilities)

Sunday morning, we had the first ever Hampi Heritage half marathon. It was absolutely glorious. Big thanks to Sam, Sabine and family for the organization. The run was through the ruin country. We started off just before 6 and kept exploring the town till long.

I am not going to put the timings here because nary an average man/woman would have walked slower than us. But blame it on Hampi, we were captivated!

Reservations: Part III

In the past I have written about reservation twice (I and II) and if you have been a regular reader here, you know that I have a pro-reservation stance at an ideological level. Though I do not agree with the way our governments have gone about implementing it.

So even for a person who thinks that reservation is good as an idea but the present form of implementation leaves a lot to be desired, HRD ministry’s directive to extend reservation to faculty positions in IITs leave me livid and angry.

I am bewildered at this step for which I am unable to see any bonafide intent. I think this systematic destruction of the brand that goes by the IIT name started when they started opening IITs all over. I think the HRD ministry needs to understand that mere buildings and lab equipments do not make an institute of excellence. Even if we were to believe that students at that state are pliable and can be moulded (which I personally believe to be true, the experience is capable of changing people in multiple ways), we need people who would be able to do the mouldling.

And this is where I have a problem with this directive. I think the end-product from IITs (atleast on the technical side) is a function of the faculty imparting the education. Student interests, career directions, research options and academic rigour are function of the faculty that the students interact with.

I do not have a problem with people of any caste, color, creed, nationality holding faculty positions in these institutes of excellence as long as they are appointed on the basis of their academic and research capabilities. Granting 49.5% (which is enormous) of the faculty positions to a certain section of the society on the basis of their birth is the discrimination of the worst order.

This order attacks the essence of the IIT brand – ‘Excellence.’ I think the output from the process is a function of the input and what the process does to the input. I know ‘input’ at these educational institutions is a function of merit and the stated social objectives of the political set-up. However, screwing up the process will ruin the years of good work that faculty, students and researchers have put in.

I think it is time that the HRD ministry should realize that they are facilitators and enablers at best. The ministry exists not for making political statements but for actual Human Resource Development. How I wish that Arjun Singh and his set of cronies start looking at the broken schooling system and start some work to fix it! If… If wishes were horses.

I want to ride my bicycle

दोस्तों, खरीद ली हैं हमने एक साइकिल। एकदम मस्त है और चलने मैं दमदार - पूरे २१ गियर हैं! और दाम भी कम - फिर कोई वो क्यूँ ले, ये न ले (वो से मतलब महेंगी वाली firefox/ trek)

इस साईकिल का नाम है - हीरो ओक्टैन (देखें फोटो)

No, this is not a reaction to the increase in fuel prices. But, just for the record, Mr. Chidambaram and Mr. Deora, it hurts!

This bike is supposed to complement the running. Had a recurring knee injury in the left leg due to my over-pronation and this bike is supposed to help me strengthen my knee and cross-train a little. Did some 25Km on it this weekend (along with a half marathon). Was good fun, coming back was little painful.

Have not taken this to office yet। Am too scared to cycle in Bangalore rush hour traffic. Someday!


Related Blog-post: Biking and etc

Big Brother is Watching

Remember Orwell's 1984?

I felt something like it is happening in most modern socities. I always knew that our online lives are monitored by security agencies. I guess the IBs and RAWs are running scripts on the net to find out what we read, what we write and what we do on the net. I think expecting privacy in an online world is akin to wishing for the moon expecially in terror ridden society of ours.

But when things like this happen, you wonder if you freedom to express yourself is under threat.

Here the issue is two-fold:

1. Error in the data being given by a mobile operator
2. Undue (?) use of force by Maharashtra Police

The first issue is an easy one. Given the terror backdrop that our law enforcement set-up works in, it is natural for them to ask the service provider to provide inputs that they consider critical to their function. However, the callousness with which the Mobile Service Provider (MSP) handled this particular request is incredible. They need to understand the repercussions of any error they make here. In this case, Lakshman Kailash spent 43 days in the Yerwada jail at Pune for no fault of his.

The MSP has spent a considerable amount of PR money to keep this matter under wraps. I hope the courts award a judgment in the favor of Lakshman Kailash directing the MSP to compensate him. And I hope the compensation is large enough to ensure that the MSPs exercise utmost care in providing such information.

The second issue is the most concerning one. Having lived in Mumbai for 4 years, I know that the Shivsena/ MNS/ BJP/ Congress set-up simply loves Shivaji. He is a deity of sorts. However, they just cannot go after anyone who has something derogatory to say about Shivaji. This is a free country and people are entitled to have their views. Putting someone behind bars for more than fourty days for writing something about a maratha warlord is something I find hard to digest. People write so many derogatory things about Mahatma Gandhi but I doubt any of them is subjected to this treatment. Why?

The answer is simple: Vote-bank politics! Shivaji seems to be the top draw in marathi political scenario. The Shivaji mania is so visible in whatever Marathi Polticos do. However, the entire idea of Bangalore police co-operating with the Maharashtra police to catch the 'criminal' who wrote something 'abominable' about Shivaji seems laughable to me. Today it is Shivaji, tomorrow it might be Bal thakrey (Incidentally it did cause a furor of sorts sometime back) and who knows it might be considered bad to bad-mouth Arun Gawli and Chotta Rajan in times to come.

We are a democracy and we have the right to hold our opinions and convictions. They might not be what the establishment would have us believe. But it’s ok! As long as our expression is peaceful in nature.

But even as I write this, I have this lurking fear that my blog might be put on some kind of watch-list and tomorrow they might be knocking at my door to take me to a trip to Yerwada, Pune. So friends, Banloreans and Countrymen (and countrywomen as well), keep your eyes and ears open, I might need your help!

Search Words

While I was away, this web-page had a continuous flow of traffic all the time. Initially, the increasing count on gostats made me think that I have a group of regular readers and I was really smug about it for a while. But as most of you might know or intuitively understand that such a constant stream of visitors is difficult to maintain if no updates are being made to the web-site. Unless the traffic is driven by a search engine.

And hence I started on this analysis of the visits in 2008, trying to figure out the drivers of this traffic. Search words/ Specific pages. Yes, I do such things inspite of the much avowed work-eating-any-free-time-that-I-have syndrome. As for the results, they were very interesting to say the least.

Some blogs were more popular than the others. And the posts that I like the most were hardly there. May be people do not want to hear what I'd really like to tell them.

Anyway, here goes the juice of my analysis.

Hate Hindu(s): This one was the most popular by far. Did not realize that so many people hate hindus. And this site was getting so much traffic because of this. I believe I need to put another post clarifying my position on these matters.

Cure for Drowsiness: It was a distant Second but very strong at being second. Guess a lot of people struggle with post lunch drowsiness.

Aaj Tak/ Surendra Pratap Singh/ Khabrein: SP did leave a strong impact on a certain generation. But what are they looking for?

Anupam Biswas: That fictitious guy from IITB figures in a lot of search results. Just reveals the power of chain mails.

Airtel Desh ki awaaz: I do not know why this is here. Do not remember writing about this ever. Guess it might be because I have ‘awaaz’ in the the name of the blog.

Mrig Trishna Meaning: I like this post. And like the word even more.

Pancham Songs (Various Songs at Various frequencies): This is because of the two listings of my favorite Pancham Da’s songs. But is totally unexpected because they should be totally buried in the thousands of results thrown by Google.

And all this got me interested in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I think any organization that wants to be successful should get some understanding on SEO. Have enclosed a link on SEO. If you are as uninitiated as I was on this subject, this would be helpful.

Of runners

Lately a lot of my conversations with a set of people I know have been centered around running. Cannot help it at all. And if you are a runner, you will understand.

Got this link a few days back from a runner friend. This was a Adidas campaign some time back. All of these are so true. Most of the runners would have done some of these at some point in time.

http://www.chayden.net/Runs/Adidas/index.htm

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Back on popular demand

Actually far from it. Yes there were those handful visitors who missed me. But the traffic to this web page did not die down in the last 5-6 months. Sounds unbelievable in a way. This period of no blogging started with pre-occupation with other stuff, then manifested itself into inertia and then the need to write just disappeared.

Anyway, this post started with a visit to Chadha's blog. Read what his profile said and I felt like writing again. Chadha, I do not know if that was for me but it has certainly helped me get back to blogging. Your profile did remind me of those IIT days and the email signature that I used to have at that time.

Meanwhile, people tell me that blogging is passe and there is something new called twitter that is gaining favour with the net. I have realized that the pace at which net is changing is much faster than the rate at which I adapt these days. Finally, after half of the world had gotten a facebook ID, I got one as well. I remained an island for a while and then people started adding me. But the level of involvement till now is much lower than the initial days of Orkut.

Speaking of Orkut, I finally deleted my orkut ID. I think it was taking a lot of my time. Though I would miss the good birthday calendar that it had become.

Rest later!