Book Love - 2013

Continuing with the tradition of chronicling my reading journey on this blog (2011, 2012) here's my list of books I read/fell in love with this year. As a occupational hazard, I cannot really shy away from jotting down some reading statistics and analysis here.

I read 21 books this year. (goodreads list here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4760161?shelf=what-i-read-in-2013) much much much less than the previous years. But this year I also had to indulge my time in many exhaustive and time consuming, dedication testing activities. So I was not able to accommodate as much reading as I would have liked. Many books which I wanted to read were just pushed away because of their size and sometimes lack of attention. Anywho, I am happy I read some gems this year which just made up for the lack of volume.

My top picks being:
1. Contact by Carl Sagan - Science fiction woven with the vagaries of being a human. This book presents most bold ideas of world peace, progress in such a humble and visionary manner that one cannot help but love it. FANGIRL forever. Oh! Carl Sagan you make my heart giddy with your vision and ideas.

2. Mother of 1084 by Mahasweta Devi. - A truly multifaceted story in just 130 pages! Only a gifted artist can tell a tale with such courage and honesty and silently make you think about the hypocrisy of our society and the prevailing double standards, intermixing the political and the apolitical in a fine manner.

3. Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri - With this I have read the entire repertoire of JL. I loved it because the story sucked me in, made me care about the characters, even irritated me at times because no one seemed to find any solace despite the subtle drama unfolding in their lives.

4. Atonement by Ian McEwan - What a book! what a book! I was torn apart by the love story. I was also humbled by its humanness.

5. Born to run by Christopher McDougall - I ran a half marathon this year. And I got inspired by this book A LOT. That is a testimonial itself.

6. Kingkiller Chronicle (1 and 2) by Patrick Rothfuss - I was bored by the book in the beginning but the world of alars and magic charmed me like any fantasy fiction can! Kvothe I await your adventures in the final installment of the saga.

7. The last mughal by William Dalrymple - If one likes to read history I highly recommend Will Dalrymple to you because, he weaves stories out of simple incidences and takes you to a Delhi that was and probably still is. Fell in love with Delhi post this read.

As every year, I have grand plans for 2014 too! The idea is always to read a little bit of every genre.
Recommendations and suggestions and your favorite reads are welcome!

happy reading!

Malvani love

The moment our tavera (a chevrolet multi purpose vehicle) reached the homestay in Malvan at 3 am, all of us knew this was going to be a special road trip. A, R and I had gone crazy planning a road trip over the past 2 months. Sometimes the distance was the problem, sometimes the mode of transport, sometimes the location itself or sometimes non availability of tickets. When we finally did decide to do a roadtrip to Konkan (Malvan, Sindhudurg to be specific) we thought only 3 of us would make it boring. We asked a lot of people to join and finally with T and P joining the party it became an exclusive 'girls trip'. So cliches apart the journey from Pune to Malvan was a first time adventure for most of us. No one including the driver had any clue about the route from Kolhapur onward. So GPS tracking and consulting locals/acquaintances from kolhapur later we decided to take the Karul ghaat which goes via Gagan Bawda as that route had sufficient night traffic. In the middle of the ghaat the driver also told us to keep our windows closed, as there might be some robbery scene. Well as if not knowing the route well and traveling in the middle of the night was not adventure enough! A super weird wrong turn later, where a tourist bus also followed us, we got a call from our homestay owner (at 2 in the night) asking about our whereabouts. By this time all of us were wide awake hoping to make it to a bed in an hour. Another hour long drive later we arrived at Malvan, where our driver (Sarfaraz bhaiyya) confessed that we had driven him crazy with the GPS and our navigation skills etc etc.  

the aflatoon and pretty amazing Sarfaraz bhaiyya!

Because the journey had become so tiring and exhausting we immediately boarded the big dorm rooms we had booked. Some lizard and giant spider spotting later sleep was a matter of seconds. 
The day 1 plan was to get done with Scuba diving near Sindhudurg fort in the first half of the day. We left home as early as 9 am and headed to the bay where boats to Sindhudurg could be boarded. Along with 2 more families we hopped onto a boat with scuba instructors and crew. Turn by turn we all took to the 30-40 feet water with our instructors and had an amazing time being an explorer of the sea.

P with her share of sea life

Personally I was a bit scared as I started off, but the feeling of being inside water suited me well and then there was no turning back. It was a great beginner experience for a cost of 1500 Rs. per head. We also got under water videos of each of us for some extra cost which made the memory lasting.

We then headed to Sindhudurg fort which still stands majestic and strong despite the years. Its one of the few water fortresses that Shivaji Maharaj constructed and added to his arsenal. The vistas of the Arabian sea from the fort walls are quite something. I was taken by the scenery around.

the ageless fortress of Sindhudurg

surmai fry. yumness!

We then headed to have our first lunch in Malvan at a local joint 'only fish' recommended by our homestay owner. A lot of waiting later ( its a small place, so make sure to give your orders an hour before you are
hungry) our delish food arrived. Malvani cuisine is a treat for the stomach. My personal choice was the fresh sea food served with typical malvani curries and solkadi rich in coconut milk. 

Some rest later we moved to Tarkarli beach which is 7 km from Malvan to watch sunset and relax which we had forgotten was on the agenda. So much constant activity later just sitting on the beach was a respite. It was one of the cleanest konkan beaches I have visited. The tarkarli beach also houses resorts along the shoreline. Its a perfectly peaceful getaway from the routine lives of us city dwellers.

sometimes beauty is captured by staring into thin air

With lots of ifs and buts later, Sarfaraz bhaiyya got ready to take us to Goa on day 2. The distance from Malvan to Goa is hardly 40-50 km. We took the 'Sagari Mahamarg' SH4 via Vengurla. Its a very rustic and scenic drive where in the direction sense of the locals every road goes 'straight' despite the turns and twists. Quite interesting and profound I believe. 

essentially straight roads

We spent some time at the surprisingly less crowded Harmal beach, near Arambol in Goa. We then headed to Baga beach for an afternoon of lazying around and lounging in the sun. Electric cats at Baga (other branch is in Calangute) is the best and highly recommended place for food. It was my second time with them and I totally endorse their food. Even Baga beach was not that crowded which made moving around easy and hassle free. We returned to Malvan in the evening to wrap things up.

some sun and some shisha

On day 3 we went to Devbagh which is 12 km from Malvan. It has the sangam (confluence) of Karli river and Arabian sea. The entire area is surrounded by peaceful and serene natural beauty. The touristy things to do here consist of dolphin spotting, seagull island, tsunami island (for watersports and parasailing), sangam point. We sailed onto a boat which took us deep in the sea to experience all these beauties. When the motor had stopped and we were just sailing in sea water was the most amazing moment of the trip for me. It had captured the essence of all the movement in life. The fleeting peace that I experienced in that moment would stay with me for a long time.

Surreal beauty

My half marathon training with Running Potential

Training is a very important aspect of any half/full marathon aspirant or participant. 

When I registered for the Pune half marathon, I knew I had to train hard given I was an amateur runner. To top that its 21.1 km I was thinking of running, my longest ever. If one has to finish a book before a deadline, one doesn't start writing a day before. It takes work. I think as great writers write everyday, even great runners run (must be?) every day or train on a regular basis.

I was pretty ignorant of running techniques, training, how much to run, how long to run, whether to monitor my heart rate or my pace, etc etc. I had jumped in thinking google, fellow runners would help me find a way. On one of my Sunday runs I met Anand (we work at the same place) from running potential who is an accomplished runner himself. We talked about my 'running' plans and he suggested I attend a talk he was going to give about 'Physiology of running'. I was welcome for any insights and went in to attend, a bit hesitant. It was a super informative and illuminating talk which focused on the science behind running and its aspects. 

I immediately signed up for training with running potential as mentioned in the super long post I wrote earlier.

my training log for HM with reds and greens all over it :)

My training started in last week of September and my half marathon was scheduled for first week of december, an exact 2 month period. I had a 10 k run coming up in first week of october. So the first 2 weeks were about getting me to run that 10k without breaking myself. But I fell ill, missed out on the event and an entire week of training. So post that it was 'start from scratch'. Because I was an amateur runner, my training became about getting across mental blocks of long distances, and running for duration rather than distance. According to the training plan I was supposed to run 4/5 days a week and maintain a log (essential for any aspiring long distance runner) and update it in a shared google doc.

Also I was to increase my mileage gradually . So I started out with 23km per week and ramped up to 35 km per week. My runs were broken into easy runs of 3-5 km on weekdays (I had to go to work as well!) and longer i.e. 8-10 km runs on weekends. The longest distance I ran before the half marathon was 12km. So you can see the training never made me stretch myself beyond my physical fitness so that my body would break. It first of all aimed at getting me to a fitter level. It also concentrated on simulating the conditions of a longer run for my body to be able to learn and adapt. Within 3 weeks I could see that my aerobic system i.e my lungs and breathing had become much better. I had always run out of breath during runs, which used to compel me to take walking breaks to get my breath in control. Due to this short + long distance combination of running this behavior got better and now I felt like taking a walking break after 10 km on really good run days. The 2 month long training progressed and hit its peak 2 weeks before the half marathon. By that time I was half over my dread of longer distances and half tired of following the training routine. But it reduced in volume over the last 2 weeks before HM where I took it really easy and ran only 3/4 times a day.
It was like preparing for a huge exam (I know its nerdy and hence cannot think of a better analogy) without caring for the results. Of course, I cared as I wanted to finish and had set myself these 3 goals before the training started:

1. to finish the half marathon without killing myself
2. to get a decent timing (below 3 hours)
3. to be able to go to office the next day*

I achieved all the 3 with this awesome training program by running potential which was designed for me and was very personal and took into consideration my abilities, limitations and running background. And that too at a very nominal cost!

You can get all these benefits of running and realize your running potential just by following their facebook feed or twitter handle or even sign up for a training. You need not be a local.
running potential fb page: https://www.facebook.com/MyRunningPotential?fref=ts
twitter handle: https://twitter.com/RunPotential

*In case you are wondering I was mobile and active post run. But once I hit the bed I did sleep for more than 12 hours at a stretch. I went to work the next day with a few sore muscles. And my half marathon official timing was 2.36 (2 hours 36 minutes 03 seconds).

P.S. this is based entirely on my training experience. I am not getting paid for my endorsements :)

thoughts of a first time half marathoner

Yes. I joined the bandwagon, I ran a half marathon when I am just reaching thirties. I also must be one of those n people who are penning down things that flashed through their mind as they drudged kilometer after kilometer.

So to set the records straight, I have wanted to take up one sport and follow it continuously, passionately (at least with interest) and get rid of negativity in life and around it (at least shift my focus away from it) and hence in the pursuit become a better person. Cliched as it may sound this motivation has payed off well. The past year has been about running, training, developing endurance and fitness. I am still an amateur and may remain one but I am enjoying the feeling of well being that comes along with any rewarding physical activity. 

It all started earlier this year when a friend asked me to join her for a Sunday run. We did badly, ran walked, but we stuck to the plan of meeting up every Sunday for a run and breakfast afterwards. The breakfast bit is most important as that remained our motivation for initial 3-4 months. We would barely finish the 5k and then eat. A routine I started enjoying immensely. I also joined the gym in the wake of getting other body parts to become stronger. Some wrong running on treadmill and an injury later, my tryst with the gym ended. I have never been a gym person, so I was glad to put all this behind me. A good 2 month break later I was back to running. By this time I had made lot of acquaintances who ran on Sundays at the place I went running to. Questions started popping. They would see me do a good 5k and would ask why not run more ? Of course, I would reply running was not my thing. I do it cos its fun and the breakfast courses taste delicious afterwards. All in good jest. Deep down I was shit scared of doing longer distances, of pushing myself. What if I got injured, what if I could not do it, what if I failed.

A close friend who lives in the US and had registered for her first half marathon, started sharing her training stories. Partly inspired by her and partly to test myself, I too enrolled in a training program (a dedicated post about that later). I started beating my own distances without pushing myself too far or stretching my endurance. I started clocking distances as long as 8km without breaks. The fear of the big 21.1 was still hovering over me, but at least I had developed stamina to imagine myself doing it. I ran a 10km in 70 minutes 2 weeks before the marathon day. And then just started gathering my will power and concentrating my energies for the half marathon. I had never felt so focused and nervous after the 12th standard board exams I gave.

These were the thoughts streaming through my mind as the race progressed.

• at 7.22 am in my watch: race start time was 7.20 am, they have not started the race yet. I have to pee.
• 7.25 am: the race has started. nice and steady. wow a boy with polio running with his father. wow. I have to pee.
• 8 am: how much have I run so far. is it 5km yet (I run with a pace of 7-7.5 km). Whee so many runners together. how exciting for the cops to manage traffic for us.
• 8.15 am: hi-5ved few onlooker kids. They are cheering for us. Yayyy.
• 8.20 am: Why cant I see any water station. I need water. I am walking now in hope of seeing a water station. Uncle stops by asks me to push it and tells me there is a water station along the corner.
• 8.35 am: all tricks. no water station yet. I am still pushing it. A nice fellow offers me his energy drink. Remind myself - you cant drink all that. Give it back after a sip. Curse myself for throwing off that water bottle in the bin.
• 8.45 am: water station. Yay. But they dont have bottles only disposable glasses. Its going to be ok.
• 9 am: spotted an aunty carrying water on her bike for runners. thank god for good people.
• 9.15 am: I am entering area of the city where I live, come on give them a run for their claps, run dont stop is what I am telling myself. I stop at a water booth, pick a small bottle, splash some on my face to get rid of the sweat and start running. People are cheering us by our names (bibs had our names printed). For the first time in life I am not conscious of strangers screaming my name.
• 9.20 am: I am in part of the route where it starts elevating gradually. Strategy change, I am walking fast now. 500 meters of this slope done. Running again. This has given me enough strength to run 1.5 km without break. 
• 9.30 am: only 4km remaining. I am in the busiest part of the city. All the traffic has been stopped and people are cheering like crazy now.
• 9.45 am: 2 km remaining. I see the 19km sign board. My feet have started to give up. Its like I have stones tied around my ankles. I cannot run anymore. I am walking. An uncle comes along and asks me to join him, to run together. I tell him I cannot feel my legs. He says dont worry about it.
• 9.55 am: I am 500 meters from finish point. Gathering whatever will power is left inside me, I make a run for it. See bunch of my coaches along, they cheer and tell me you are done, carry on.
• 9.57 am: meet a runner friend/photographer at the 50 meters from finish line mark. I am grinning as he clicks snaps. I am done and dusted in the next 2 minutes. As I hit the lawn to cool down and relax, I notice someone took away my water bottle. I am not angry or frustrated with those people. I am happy, enjoying the moment, not caring about anything. (no thought of 'I have to pee' after 5 minutes into the run, if you observed)

Because of running I have met the most amazing and inspiring people over the last few months from all age groups. I have made some really good 'runner' friends and gurus, with whom I can discuss any silly running insight. 
I am sure I have conquered the fear of running longer distances. Of course the big 42 still looms in the distance. May be in 3-4 years I will conquer that too. In a way I was looking forward for these 2.5 months to get over, because I was bored of living the routine life, eating the same proteins, sleeping early etc etc. But as the half marathon day approached, I had new questions about what now ? what next ? 

I think I have the answers now and a tentative strategy even if no sure way to implement it. 

~ A girl who became a runner and started a small change in her life.

At home...

With the everlasting struggle to call physical spaces home, I realized how at ease I feel at home (my parents's logically) when the first thing I do upon reaching is re-arrange the showcase in living room, alter the layout of sofa cushions, ask random questions about stuff in kitchen, magnets on the refrigerator door, shoot my disappointment over the state of the bookshelf. Of course baba (dad) is generally excited to have us vacationing and aai is generally elated (and amused) how I start claiming my rights (smug opinions) about stuff :D (there is a joy in this I tell you!)

So adding to the list of 'things' that make something 'home-like'. The ability to ask questions, random questions, stupid questions, nonsense questions, tough questions, will-make-you-think-real-hard questions.

May be home is where you unlearn knowledge and be just plain curious. Sometimes despite of being territorial and sentimental.

travel musings

* From happy, reflective cab drivers from Afghanistan/Kenya/Punjab to majnoo (reckless and fearless), flirt drivers in Mumbai, travel feels incomplete without their personal stories.

* Feels like home when you return back to a rain-less day when you can get most of your laundry sorted out and taken care of. Yes, after reaching home really early, I spent an hour emptying my bags and taking care of various batches of laundry to be done. You can see I cannot wait to get into routine all over again!

* Incheon airport, Seoul has the most interesting cultural center. During my layovers there, I have made a greeting card and a hanji crafted paper doll. Have also bought the best ever fridge magnets. I vote for such centers at our airports as well!

* Sometimes you have to travel over 13000 kilometers to experience kindness. I family of 4 were holding each others hands and standing in the waters at one of the south lake tahoe beaches. Initially I thought it was all about family love and bonding. Only to realize later that the mother was suffering from some kind of motor disease and everyone was physically supporting her to soak in the sun and the water. I was moved by the scene.

* Over the past 6 months, I had lost interest in cooking. But some culinary experiments during the past one month and I am motivated to cook and try new dishes in my kitchen. Sometimes its good to wait for motivation is what I have realized. Because in the past 2-3 months I had literally forced myself to cook on occasions and things had not turned out that well.

* After finishing reading born to run last month, I am inspired to become a vegetarian. The book does not advocate it. Some stories in it are so amazing though that I felt like following a healthy green diet. Of course seafood keeps appearing in my life, and looks like this decision is going to be a tough one!

Atlanta diary

'When was the last time you did something new' - someone posted this on my facebook timeline.
Got me thinking. I traveled to Atlanta for the first time last week. While the weekdays got utilized in work meetings, sessions I did not really head out. Office to hotel, hotel to office. Except on thursday when I really really craved for rice and searched for a thai place nearby but settled for a chinese one instead and got my tummy full of greasy fried rice!

So come weekend colleagues here told me about a lot of fun things I could do over the weekend. Except few of them which I was interested in involved really long commutes and were not recommended to be done using public transport. Then I decided I would do something I have never done. I made a list of touristy places people told me about. Chalked out a plan to cover as many as possible. And guess what Atlanta's geography helped!

I made sure I knew my addresses, hence a day before started googling for routes and saved them all. Having a phone with maps on helped. Left house at 11 and got a very kind cab driver who was nice enough to give me his inputs as well. So this is how my day with grand plans unfolded.

Reached Georgia Aquarium by 11.30. 15 minutes in queue and got a admission ticket for 1 PM. had more than an hour to spare so walked across to the Centennial Olympic Park. It was built during the 1996 olympics and has engraved bricks having names of people who donated money to build it. Sat around a bit but it started to drizzle so walked across the street and paid a visit to the CNN world headquarters. They had a 50 minute tour which I could not take, so I roamed around, visited a few other places and hit the merchandise shop. Was super happy to get powerpuff girls magnets and an umbrella. As luck would have it heavy rains had started outside so made it just in time without getting drenched to the aquarium. 

fish!

I have to admit that this was my first ever visit to a full fledged aquarium. The Georgia Aquarium did not fail to fascinate me. They had an ocean voyager, a tunnel like passage in the middle of the exhibit which was so awesome. Surrounded by whale sharks and gigantic manta rays it felt surreal to be walking that tunnel. They also had beautiful coral exhibits where I found Nemo and Gill  -> 
Guess what also found some sea dragons.

After this I visited the world of coca cola, museum, just because it was adjacent to it. And I wanted to check off everything on my touristy agenda. Visiting such a place is the ultimate dose of pop culture. I am neither a soda fan nor a coke fan. But what the heck. When in rome and la la la. Most fun thing here were the people. There were nice exhibits and videos embodying the coca cola company's values of spreading happiness. They have a vault where they claimed the secret coca cola formula is kept. One of the exhibits takes you to the vault which is of course all secured and out of reach. The only dampener here was the long wait in queues.

After this I headed out to watch a movie in an IMAX theater. Another thing I had never done in life before. So I geeked out on Pacific Rim at the IMAX which is an awesome escape fantasy movie involving giant robots and what not. The 'holy shit' moments in the movie totally made it worth the money and time. Also I did not get bored even one bit. Only recommended if you like the action genre. Then I shopped a bit at my favorite H&M at the Atlantic City Shopping Center and headed back home.

Whatta day! Packed with touristy activities. Although I am not a big fan of such back to back activities I followed the norm and explored a new city using wikipedia and local recommendations. Also given the fact I was pretty much on my own this method proved hassle free.

So what was the new thing that you did for the first time lately ?

Believing in the younger generation

I got a very kind and talkative Afghani uncle for my cab ride to the airport yesterday.
Because he had lived in Delhi for an year and had visited Goa, Kashmir, Taj Mahal, he had a lot of travel tales to tell. I told him Afghanistan seems like a very beautiful country based on the few books that I have read. He then confessed about having not visited his country for the past 30 years and talks moved to the inevitable wars/unrest plaguing that region since the Russian invasion (when he had to leave Afghanistan leaving his school and father's business and a lot of extended family behind). He talked about not being able to travel to Peshavar (earlier a part of Afghanistan) without an ID and the pain it caused him. He told me how lucky I was to be able to live where I was born and still be able to travel. According to him that is the best of both worlds, because I confessed I somehow am a 'get-homesick-pretty-fast' kind of person.

He said even though he missed not getting to raise his kids in Afghanistan, he is happy that their upbringing has been so peaceful. He said he feels happy when he listens them talk about all things fun and not war or unrest. Of course we agreed a large share of that goes to the surroundings they were brought up in. He said he believes in the younger generation and the internet to be able to achieve what most political moves cannot. i.e. a culture of peace and belonging.

The thought itself is so heartening.
Sometimes its so wonderful to be able to listen to sensible and wise people.

Working from home

A scam.

I ate 7 times today.

Scavanged the refrigerator for all left overs and finished them or disposed them neatly.

Small talked with house maid. 

Drank 4 cups of tea. A liter of orange juice.

I also sneaked in an episode of 'the newsroom' during the day.

I viber-ed with friends.

I cursed the slow internet speed. Imaginary throwing bricks at laptop also happened.

I ended up working till 10.30 PM. a 12 hour day.

Working from home - a real scam, when I am involved.

snippets

he said : 'you know you could return that old phone of yours and buy a new one in exchange. You could save some money as well!'

she replied (instantaneously) : 'Can people in life be replaced this way ?' 

A pause. she added 'I think, no'.

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She stood a few meters away from me. She looked at me curiously. Almost on the verge of staring.

I continued on my way home. I crossed her.

The cat then turned and walked away from the juncture. Almost 10 paces and never looked back.

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'there is a sincerity in your self deprecation. A hilarious sincerity.' 

'Isn't that what makes me human ?'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'What made you pick 'The Last Mughal' to read ?'

'You know I was supposed to travel to Dilli this month. I though it would be a good idea to read about a place while actually visiting that place.'

'So did you go to Dilli?'

'Oh no. But I did time travel.'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'When will everything heal ?'

'Don't ask the question, live it.'

happy boxes

My work addled weekend found this -> http://www.purisubzi.in/post/50163457409/happybox

I stopped working after that. I started thinking about happy boxes.

An image came to my mind. Grandfather (nanaji/aajoba) giving me a book and an afternoon spent reading that or numerous other comic books/sherlock holmes books in his backyard. 

image courtesy - Pascal Campion

There is magic in going back to spaces you most loved during growing up. There is magic in re creating these all over again while growing up. Isn't that why one grows up ?

As the post linked above, I also have a physical box (a metal one in my case) and it stores all the trinkets of stuff too precious to be given away to forgetting. Do you have happy boxes ? What do you keep in them ?

to run or not

I feel weirdly good today about writing this post. I started running in January this year. Treadmill and on road. After my first 5k (run + walk) in a rush of excitement I jotted down the feeling of achievement. By the end of the day when initial joy was taken over by exhaustion and other bodily tiredness, I told myself let's do a few more runs and then write it down. Then one day while running on the treadmill I did something terribly wrong, while trying to change my running technique and hurt an ankle ligament. In the world of pain killers and ankle support I missed out on 3 weeks of running. The effective advice from the doctor being wait till the swelling and pain goes away and then start rebuilding. (also the very well known and effective R.I.C.E. rest, ice, compress, elevate mantra).

Post that I immediately stopped running on the treadmill and stuck to cycling in the gym and running outside. After 3 months, today I ran my first 5k with a 50 meters walking break, to regulate my breathing.
And I told myself stop being hard on yourself and celebrate a bit. Hence the blog post.

I get a mentor, a teacher next week and things will change for the better from next week onward. Before that I am just going to relax a bit and share what all I have learnt about running. I still do not have any philosophical take on it, because most of my time while running is spent on focusing on the next 100 meters or terrain and how I am not going to max myself out. This is what my first 3 months have been about.

* Running in group helps a lot better than running alone. I joined** a group which meets every sunday (weekdays also but I am not yet motivated to get out often on weekdays). Its interesting to know better runners and learn from them.
* I have learnt that I walk/run in a slightly wrong manner (took me 28 years) which causes me the recurring ligament strain. I am consciously working on improving my techniques.
* Exercise after running is much better than before. I know you need a bit of warm up. But my experience tells me that a few stretches are enough to get you going.
* I experimented with listening to songs while running. It has the benefit of letting you focus on the song that's being played rather than how tired your body and mind feels, but when out in the open I prefer not listening to songs.
* I strongly believe that your body develops its own technique while running and hence I prefer sticking to the one I have developed. There are only improvements in the pain areas which I think I need to work on for now.
* Shoes matter. A lot. I am still in search of an affordable great pair. (the internet opens you up to so many articles/blogs/communities that its tough to choose!)
* Being used to yoga has helped me a lot in regulating my breathing during runs. Of course the common advise is breath through your mouth a bit so that lungs are not unnecessarily pressured. Bottomline yoga helps!

I was talking to a friend today who also runs and he told me how much he loves the sore pain afterwards.
I am not kidding but the peaceful sleep at the end of a good run day is the best thing I have worked on to get for myself, in a long time. And that makes me want to run more!

** A friend asked me for company and that's how I ended up showing up regularly. Can never be thankful enough for this!

Home

I remember talking about home. During 2008-2010 I remember looking at the Chicago Sun times building and thinking I can never be far away from it. That was a weird phase of my life. Where unlearning and learning constantly somehow became a norm.

Thank you Roger Ebert*. For someone who did not have the remotest clue how at home you made me feel. (Of course I know you did not go to the office much post 2006) Through your writing about movies and life. You were the epitome of connected living. In the city which let me in without any reservations, it was the greatest joy to know you were nearby. And it was never just about the movies.

*Ebert uncle as I and brother call him.

Contact

"

It's hard to imagine the golden record being made now. I wish Carl Sagan were here to say, 'You know what ? A thousand billion years is a really long time. Nobody can know what will happen ? Why not try ? Why not reach for something amazing ? There is no way to forestall what can't be fathomed, no way to guess what hurts we're trying to protect ourselves from. We have to know in order to love, we have to risk everything, we have to open ourselves up to contact - even with the possibility of disaster.'

"

-- Penny Lane 'The Voyagers'

Cannot believe it took me a gap of 14 years to read the book after having watched the movie. Amazed. Wonder. Isn't life exciting with a bit of serendipity though ?

Prison

On sunday talked to a runner-friend about prisons. Built around ourselves. Making us come back or stay put over and over again. Counter acting forces when life is about moving on, not steadiness. Motion.
Crossed a tweet on my timeline which said something similar. Prison. No escape. Pretense.

Why do we do that ? When I came back from the US one of the stories in my head went like this - oh all my family and loved ones are here. I was paving way for my own prison. Never said it out loud to anyone. The long winded story involving a card sounded better. Plus less pity* and more you asked for it looks.

I still think about it sometimes. My family and loved ones being here. The comfort. Then I see a prison. I tell myself build one with an exit door. Leave when you fancy, come when you crave. Be whimsy. A little more than selfish. Because living inside self constructed walls must feel terrible. Lying to oneself by choice must feel even more bad. My prison is my doing. So I must learn to break it down and escape. Take help may be ?

"We construct our own prisons and spend our lives pretending there's no escape"

Weekend in pictures! - II

Now that the ankle is fine I finally hit the road and ran a 5k loop, only to feel exhaustion and drugged slumber. Atonement the book (highly recommend) was completed with teary eyed thoughts about writing. Amorres perros (first in the bable triage) was seen and liked. Though the animal cruelty shown is disturbing. Dog lovers should avoid.
So here it is in pictures!!
* all images from google

Cliche (reliving)

Going back to past post after last night's prolonged discussion with friends. We were talking about kids and why one brings new people into the world. Completing the circle of life. We all agreed and thought that was a worthwhile thought.

"Living in a hostel for 4 years among girls from all across the state (country even, but I never ended up mixing with the girls from across India well until the final year. anywho) most of them from Marwari background, where they knew marriage was going to be a huge part of their life once they got out of the place. We spent huge amount of time discussing did we want careers. As in what would being an engineer mean, as we aged, etc etc. 

Not a lot of us wanted to save the world. Some wanted happy families, some money, some independence. I was under the influence of Rand then, humongously, and (as Upasna's growing up curve says) 'wanted to save the world with my objectivity'*. The fact is we all grew up. We remained idealists, wanted to stick to our perceptions of careers, life, and are still doing that, but (I think) we lived a cliche. And we are still trying to live one. Not caring if that's what our scoreboard is.

As you grow up, I think somewhere you lose clarity and objectivity. Of things around, of what you want. It happens with me a lot. Sometimes in succession, sometimes in cycles. Always inspiring (to myself) from where and how I arrive at the clarity. Eventually. But the fact remains it still feels like a cliche.

I know not all of us are supposed to break the barriers and change the world like Steve, DFW did. Nor are we all supposed to find meaning through our work/family/love. Sometimes it may come through most redundant (what we think) sources. But meaning does come. If you keep trying i.e. And I hope we live that one cliche. Of finding meaning.

* I still sometimes slip into that mode."

# 1

Build a (vintage) wooden book shelf.

Weekend in pictures!