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!