My first film festival! MAMI 2016

A twitter handle I follow was discussing privilege today, a concept I spend a lot of time thinking about. So its apt to write about a film festival from a point of view of privilege. Its a privilege, that I live in a world where films are accessible to enthusiasts and I got to attend one such festival in Mumbai recently.

An admirer of the core team of Mumbai International Film Festival, I always wanted to attend it. I casually asked KT if she would like to attend it and just like that we booked our passes almost a month ago. The schedule got out more than 2 weeks before the festival. With pen, paper and google maps in front of us, we started chalking out a plan to maximize watching movies and minimize travel time. The good part was the festival movies were being screened at 5-6 theaters (most of them PVRs). Since we were interested only in movies and not other stuff like sessions, interviews, panel discussions etc, it made planning easier. We had short listed 7-8 movies before the schedule came out, that we wanted to watch, so we kept on revolving around those choices. Unfortunately some of our short listed movies were not at the locations we wanted or were not being screened till day 4. (I was going to attend it only for 3 days, because work and the fact that I live in Pune and cannot ditch office for so many days! :-( ) Still, we managed to chalk out a pretty good plan for the 3 days. Every day the online pre-bookings would open at 8 am for the next day so that you could pre register for a film and get a guaranteed seat. On day 0 and day 1 there were some glitches with Bookmyshow, but we nevertheless managed to get tickets for all the movies we wanted to watch. Walk-ins were also allowed based on availability, if you showed up directly at the theater.
Without going into much background I'll dive straight into what we watched and my views on what I felt of the movie.

Death in the Gunj
Trivia (you can skip) - It was the opening film of the festival. The screening was at Regal, Colaba. Its a mecca for old cinephiles cos of its charm and 'town feels'. The show was to start at 7 pm. We reached well in advance to collect our MAMI pass/id, but decided to grab a bite at a cafe nearby. The rules were simple - if you had pre-registered, you were supposed to report 15 mins in advance and stand in queue. By the time we got back from the cafe, the queue had circled to the back of the theater. So, many people had pre-registered! We got in line only to find out that the show was not going to start before 7.30 pm. Being the opening film, the entire crew was going to show up so there was going to be red carpet entry. We patiently waited and after all security checks got inside Regal by 8 pm. Its the most well behaved and polite crowd I had seen in a long time. No raised voices, angry rants, only patient waiting till we were showed inside. The cast and crew arrived by 8.30 and a brief thank you and introductions from Konkona Sen Sharma (the director) the show finally began! I was sitting in the theater with the entire cast and crew of the movie for a movie screening, a first for me! It felt kind of unreal. Another thing I observed was no one bothered anyone from the cast and crew before or after the show. The festival crowd is my idea of random people I want to watch movies with on a regular basis (as weird as it sounds).
My views on the film - It's a good debut movie. It's clean, belongs in good hands and has a heart, most times in right place. But the writing to me felt under developed. I could not feel anything for any characters. Few characters were straight uni-dimensional. The casting, acting, background score, relationship between tani and shutu worked really well for me! Sadly nothing remained with me once the movie was over. I guess that's what I was hoping for. But its worth a watch.

Neruda
Trivia (you can skip) - We watched it on day 2 at Regal. It was a 3.15 pm show, where we reached once again before time. This time there was a very short queue so we got great seats at the balcony. Regal's seating capacity is 1100+ and they also had seats reserved for Regal royalty, the press and gold members. Despite that we got good seats. Win! 
Pro tip - no need to pre-book tickets for a show at Regal.
The show started at sharp 3.15 pm. I know it sounds sacrilegious, but I dozed off for a minute during the movie, because of the accumulated tiredness from the night before (had reached home at 2 am after watching Gunj).
My views on the movie -  Neruda is a story about an imbecilic policeman in search of Neruda who is on the run and in hiding. It is a must watch. Its surrealistic storytelling works because of the flawless editing. At some point you are not sure if you are a character in a book or real. At least I felt so. There is a particularly stunning scene where a performer talks about his meeting with the famed Neruda. If it does not move you let me know. And if you dig Spanish language and the accent like I do, you'll enjoy it even more. A lot of people I follow on twitter are saying that this movie may win an Academy award or two. Reason enough ?

Lo and Behold - Reveries of a connected world
Trivia (you can skip) - It was scheduled on day 2 at PVR ECX at 8.30 pm. After a change of local trains from Regal, and ricksaw ride later we were at the Citi mall. We decided to grab a quick dinner at the food court at the adjacent Infinity mall (the PVR at infinity was also another screening location btw). We got back to ECX by 8.15 and were met by a long queue outside the auditorium. KT decided to go and ask at the entrance what this queue was about and the volunteer told us that it was for walk-ins and the pre-registered folks were already inside! We tried to explain her that we did not realize there were 2 lines so would she let us go. But she stood by the rule and asked us to get back in the walk in line. I am always impressed when people follow rules to make things fair for everyone. Fortunately we got in and found really good seats (again!). Our neighbor was also chatty and we exchanged quite a trivia and reccos before the movie began.
My views on the movie - It was a documentary by Wener Herzog. And it worked for me. Aside from the fact that I work in software technology, as an active user of the internet, I often wonder about what this all means. It explores all aspects of the web, reminiscing how it came into being, where its going, whether we got it right, what the future will be like, will it work on Mars etc etc. Herzog's voice is so haunting that it made some of the topics it focused on quite think-time worthy.

Elle
Trivia (you can skip) - It was our first movie for day 3, scheduled at 10 am at PVR ECX. We made it to ECX by 9.45 am only to find long security check queue at the entrance. We heaved a sigh of relief, as they let us use our pre-booking privilege despite the walk-in line. Also, ran into Varun Grover at the security check. Fangirl win! The movie started at sharp 10 am.
My views on the movie - Without going into any details, its a movie about rape. Elle was twisted and brilliant. It took down all my standard notions around the topic and trashed them. The script, director and the protagonist just refused to treat 'Michele/Elle' as the victim. Also, Isabelle Huppert deserves many a nominations and subsequently awards for her matter of fact yet bold portrayal of Michele. They have created a character which cannot be deconstructed without giving oneself a headache. Great writing, great direction. I just cannot stop thinking about the movie.

The salesman
Trivia (you can skip) - My last movie of the festival. It was a 5.15 pm show at Regal. After Elle, we grabbed a lazy lunch at a thali place and kept on discussing the movie. Why did she do this, why did he do this, what was that, what was this, so on and on. We reached Colaba well in advance so did some roadside shopping to take our minds off Elle. Again grabbed some great balcony seats at Regal.
My views on the movie - It's classic Asghar Farhadi. Finding conflict in urban lives and stretching regular people to their limits. Arthur Miller's 'death of a salesman' is the central theme of the movie. The lead pair of the movie play the salesman and his wife in the movie. How a change of house, brings about a drastic shift in their relationship, is what the movie focuses on. There are moments of great tension and empathy and you just want to make everything work for everyone. This is a movie of how than what. I also felt the movie really was about an old man (who is a salesman in the film). Another great watch from the master.

I also wanted to watch certain women, endless poetry, after the storm, my life as zucchini and red turtle at the festival. (this list is making me exceptionally sad btw) But could not because regular work life calling me and I needed to return to Pune. May be next year I'll plan a pilgrimage to Mumbai for the 7 days of the festival. Until next year then ?

Pahadi (himachal) Safarnama (Diaries)

I am not a traveler. I mean I travel in a literal sense a lot i.e. going from one place to other. But I am not much into elaborate vacation planning. I like exploring new places only on the condition that the place is there in front of me to be explored. I'll not move mountains to just be someplace and experience living there. It has taken me quite a while to accept this about myself. I am much into imagining and time traveling through the books I read. 
Having said that, I do have a select list of places I would like to visit, because my favorite books and movies happened there or referenced them. (Kashmir was one such place!)

Most of my close friends are avid travel enthusiasts. They love doing all this planning, data gathering, logistics mapping exercise. And it works for a travel sloth like me :)

So when Paglet shared her India visit plans sometime in December, I was relieved because I knew she and her (travel crazy) husband would plan everything. And we would just have to show up. She planned a 3-5 days trip to Himachal Pradesh in the 2nd week of March and I was in! For logistics reason, I and a friend traveled to Jammu. From Jammu we booked a 13 seater mini bus for the road trip to Kasol Valley in Himachal Pradesh. 9 of us boarded the bus and we started the journey from Jammu. It was a slightly rainy day contrary to our expectations so we decided to keep it slow and have fun along the way.

Our first stop was for breakfast after entering Punjab before Pathankot. We were in the land of aaloo paratha and rajma chawal. So without even bothering about what time of the day it was (it was around 10.30 am), we ordered aloo paratha, rajma chawal, paneer paratha and chai (tea). I had the special neembu kehwa chai. Needless to say everything was yummilicious and fresh. It was a roadside dhaba so I can't recall the name, exact location to be able to recommend it to you. I believe all the dhabas on that route must serve the same tasty food!

Further journey till Palampur was uneventful. We tried playing a very silly but most fun game called ping pong. It didn't take off among some players. So we switched to playing Dumb Charades. Of course my team trumped the other team. Then we took a stop just outside Mandi, at hotel Ranjeet. We were starving and ordered all kinds of food there. From chinese to roti sabji to tea, coffee and varied starters. The staff there served us the most awesome road food I have ever had in a surprisingly short time. Within an hour we were back on the road, our stomachs full and our faces happy. Highly recommended place!
(Complete address- Ranjeet dining star restaurant, Joginder Nagar, Mandi).

Post Palampur, the hills were on our vista. We were longing to be among them. Once we entered Mandi, the first road block happened. Someone had parked their broken vehicle in the middle of the road, driving entire traffic to a standstill. Typical small town experience of no one being in a hurry happened. We with our city life conditioning, immediately got out and started trying to clear the deadlock. After 30 minutes halt, we were back on our way. We were moving even slowly now because of the hilly winding roads and sporadic rains. We took a tea break around 7 PM just outside Kasol to relieve ourselves and freshen up. Because we arrived in Kasol after sunset, the hike to the village where we were supposed to stay for the next 2 days did not happen.

We stayed at a local hotel in Kasol where the staff was nice enough to take dinner order from us at 9 PM. We were famished and ate like there was no tomorrow. We played cards and after some fun and frolic, we fell asleep one by one. I was probably the first one to doze off as usual.

Since we had arrived in Kasol after sunset, I had no idea what lay outside. So I was pleasantly surprised and squealed with delight when I woke up to this view outside my room. ->

beautiful Kasol!

We got ready by 10 am (cos of the super long journey the day before) and by the time decided to trek to the village, it had started raining. Starving (I think there is something in the mountain air, it makes your metabolic rate zoom), we had a very sumptuous breakfast of omlettes, tea, egg-paratha, bread toast, scrambled eggs etc. After having fed ourselves we finally headed out, rain or no rain. Thankfully it had stopped raining but it had become chillier. So mandatory winter shopping break happened. Slowly we made it out of Kasol by crossing a precariously placed bridge over the Parvati river. (I dont have a picture of it).
The Parvati river became our companion as we hiked to Chalal. It was a 40-45 min hike made surreal by river on one side and the mountains on the other. Escapist thoughts of disowning all our city ties to dwell in the woods came to all of us, turn by turn. 

When we reached our cottage in Chalal, there was no electricity in the village. Us city dwellers, eager to charge our smart phones and share the beauty on social media, had no option but to let it be. After settling down for a while and exploring the nearby areas, we started scouting for lunch locations. A village of 30-50 houses offers very few options. The kind people at Cafe Freedom offered to prepare fresh lunch for us (it was 3.30 PM). Only in really small towns/villages can one find such hospitality! We ordered loads of food and topped it off with tea, maggi, sandwiches while waiting for real meal to be ready. We got back to our cottage happy and fulfilled and only after sunset. Then we cozied up in a room, singing songs, making up songs, sharing warmth in the cold! One of the rooms also had a wood chimney so some of us got busy to fire it up to try to make the room even warmer. I called it a night early cos of all the airport lag and chill in the air.

Again, the next morning this is the view I woke up to. There was fresh snow atop the distant hill in this picture. I could spend hours sitting in a chair spellbound by the mountains with a glass of warm black tea in my hand. I had my bit of being vain, as my phone showed some network connectivity.

cottage with the view

After rounds of black ginger tea served at our cottage to us early risers, we decided to head out for breakfast. It felt like an expedition, as on the chilly day, even the villagers had decided to take it slowly. Home after home we inquired who would serve us omelettes, bread, aloo parathas and tea. Ema, singlehandedly accepted to serve the gang of 9 (us). The expedition had filled us with cold and we immediately huddled under the thick blankets Ema provided us. Once the warmth was back the chit chat and banter returned. Suddenly overcome by guilt to not even have asked Ema whether she needed help, a friend and I got out of the cozy room and went into her kitchen. She graciously accepted the help and we started serving everyone. I cannot put into words the feeling of eating a very modest breakfast but still feeling overcome by gratitude and satisfaction. Ema's mother, a sprightly 58 year old, who hardly looked and felt her age, sat amused watching us devour the food.
 
We did not do much during the day later and headed back to Kasol by afternoon. From there we went to Manikaran. Spent some time at the hot water springs and headed for Bhuntar. I and a friend were to catch bus for Delhi from here. I personally was very bummed to be leaving that place. On the other hand I was also proud of myself, because I had not accessed office email even once during these 3 days. The temptation was there, but nature saved me.

Though we did not do a lot of touristy things during this trip, I was glad that I got to meet some friends and do a road trip through parts of Himachal Pradesh. With the logistics and unexpected weather changes all went well. Now bitten by the HP warmth, I wish to visit it often and for longer duration.

SCMM 2016 - Full Marathon

My foolhardiness knows no bounds. Its always been like this. In school, I used to take up extra work, assignments because I loved studying. I would solve all types of extra problem books, study materials because I loved the challenge. As a runner, after having run 4 half marathons, I knew the drill of training and preparing. I also understood goal setting much better. Never been a believer of speed running or wanting to be one, becoming faster was not my goal. Here I agreed completely with my coaches at Running Potential, when they said, 'Let the speed come to you.' Around June, when SCMM registration discussions were in the air, I started toying with the idea of running a full marathon. A part of me was bored with the same structure of a HM training and wanted to run longer distances. I should also make it clear here that I had no bucket list goals such as, 'I wanted to run a full marathon before this and this age'. So, when the registration finally opened, I did it! When I told my coach at RP, the only reaction he gave me was 'Now on you have to treat every half marathon you run as a long run. There will be no races.' 
(Delhi was to be my race, how it went which you must know. So with these facts established my training started.)

My weekly volume gradually increased to 40-50 km. Initially it was too much to keep up with. The work travels added to the stress. Around August-Sept I got into a good rhythm and finally got accustomed to the schedule. By this time my overall running form had improved to a point, where I could do split after split at a given pace (in the 6.30 - 6.50 mins/km range). I also learned the art of running at slower paces with same effort and cadence. And for this I highly recommend training with experienced coaches. My 'gurujis' are the best thing that has happened to my running. It has taken me 3 years to inculcate and realize most of the advice and words of wisdom they have had for me. I am far from a great student when it comes to running. But I shall get there eventually. *touches wood and all sorts of objects nearby*

Post the ADHM performance, I was really doubtful about my chances of faring well at SCMM in January. My last long run was in last week of December. Like every foolish optimist I told myself, if that run went well, you are going to SCMM. Fortunately or unfortunately the run went well. I ran 42 km on a weekend (14/28 - split between Saturday and Sunday). I recovered in a day as well. And the stage was set. I was going to run the full marathon! I then did my hotel reservations, started spending time studying the race route, coming up with strategies, and focusing on the last phase of pre-race nutrition.
The nutrition strategy shared by running potential helped here as well!

I was a bag full of nerves by the time the race week started. On the weekend of the race I reached the bib collection expo with my brother (he was going to run the half) collected the bib, headed for lunch and then reached my hotel.  Of course there were surprises in store. Oyorooms, from where I had booked the hotel, had relocated me to a different, farther hotel, without even asking/confirming. I was furious at them. So I left the hotel deciding to stay with my brother instead. I let this episode go without giving it much energy. On the way to Dadar, where I was going to stay, I reminded myself to buy bananas for race day. I forgot, and then in the entire nearby area we did not get bananas. I wanted to let this go but was not able to. 'A lot of things can go wrong on your race day', I had read somewhere. For me it had started a day before. Who would have thunk ? After a light meal of idli sambhar, I called it a day and went to sleep at 9 PM with all race day prep completed. 

D-day started with a phone call from a slightly tipsy friend in a different timezone who told me to 'do anything but dont stop'. I wanted to be at the start point as fast as I could, so I said yes to whatever she told me. I got ready with a light meal of 4 marie biscuits, 3 almonds and water. I tucked in the 6 gel packs, made sure my phone was fully charged and gave the pacing plan provided by RP a last glance in the car. I have no idea where I got down from the car, but the start point was almost a kilometer away from there. So I walked to Azad Maidan blindly following other runners. Visited the loo 20 minutes before the race as usual and lined up in the assembly area.

The mood at the Full Marathon starting point was somber. I guess every runner was in a zone and trying to conserve energy and not indulge. I loved the calm. The race started at exact 5.40 am. There was rush at the start but as advised in my pacing plan I stuck to the right side of the road and trudged on at a slow speed. I think I started in the 7-8 mins/km zone. I maintained the innermost line at the two U-turns and picked speed once I hit Marine Drive. Mumbai temperature and air felt really pleasant to be running by the sea. I started drinking water around 2-3 km. And started eating the gel pack at 30 mins, only to gulp one bite of the gel every 15 mins. I also picked up enerzal as and when they were offered. Upto 15 km I was going at a steady rhythm with split after split of 6 mins 42-46 sec. After 10 km, I also started spotting the half marathoners running from the other direction and hence decided to stay on the right side of the road to cheer for known faces (get some energy more like). We hit the majestic Worli Sea link at 14-15 km and my brain could not register the gradual uphill. I tried to soak in the breeze, washed my face at the water station and continued running. I completed 21.1 km in 2hrs 24 mins (1 min less than my pacing plan). I was told to run the first half conservatively and I was happy that I had not gone overboard. I started re-assessing my goals and decided to stick behind an energetic and talkative 5 hour bus pacer. 
Lesson 1 learnt - While running a distance of 42.195 km you need all sorts of positive energy.  Get it from wherever possible. 
I took ice from a station near 23-24 km and rubbed it on my neck, splashed some water on my head and face and kept running with the group. Around 26 km the elite runners pack passed us. Oh what a sight for sore legs that was! Pumped we all continued with good spirit. I walked a few paces around 29 km, as I needed to tear a gel and eat it. The bus went slightly ahead of me here. I walked few more paces with a fellow runner who looked tired and needed motivation, gave him a gel pack and started running again. By this time, the sun was up, but thankfully it was not that hot. I could still see the bus and keeping the goal of catching it, I kept running. It was 32km, and I still had not caught up with them. So frustrated with myself I took a walking break. My brain was not working a lot. I spotted the RP group cheering for me on the left side and deriving some energy out of them, I started running again. I ran well upto the 34 km marker and then started walking on the pedder road climb. I did try running here, but there was not much convincing my brain and I let it go. My brain had completely tossed away the pacing plan, and it was now convincing me to give up. The urge to give up became stronger around 38 km marker. 
Lesson 2 learnt - 'The mind is an excellent servant but a terrible master' Always always always remember this.

On the verge of tears, there was now a raging battle inside me. A part of my brain was telling my body to stop and sit down in shade. A part of it wanted to cry and bawl like a child and ask someone to pick me up and take me to finish line. A part of me was trying against these 2 beasts to keep moving. A part reminded me what the friend had told me earlier in the day. I then implemented this weird strategy, of running 60 paces and walking 60 paces. At times running 200 paces and walking 120 paces. Yes I was counting in my head. I was rid of all the positive energy inside me. When the final left turn arrived, a lady cheered me saying, 'you are almost there' and I snarkily replied 'Lets hope so'. Sorry well meaning lady. If you read this please know that it was not the real me.
Lesson 3 learnt - When anyone says they beat the odds to achieve something, remember the odds are always the voices in your head. You just need one tiny voice of courage and follow it.

I started hating every marker placed after 1000 meters. Still controlling tears, I started properly running without any mind-games around 300 meters from finish line and completed the race. If you see my finish video there is no gladness or hurrah on my face or in my body language. I could not believe 42 km was such a long distance. I wanted to complain to someone 'do you know what just happened? This distance was never ending' I felt completely exposed and vulnerable during these last 4 kms. I met P near the recovery tents, where she was patiently waiting for me for 2 hours! Seeing her familiar face brought back those tears I was hard fighting to keep hidden.
Everyone had been congratulating and messaging on facebook after she put up a picture, but it took me a lot of time to wrap my head around the torture my own brain made me go through.

Now after almost a day post the race, while typing this, I realize how fortunate I was to not get injured while running. Or not bonk. I have only my coaches at running potential to thank for this fantastic achievement. Of course my legs are sore and I am feeling tired. But I am ok with that feeling. btw those asking (and not asking openly and wondering) I completed the race in 5 hours 13 minutes and 11 seconds. 

I do not know what my next race will be or plan is. But I had decided to take a break from running races for some time and I intend to do so.

Delhi Half Marathon

I signed up for the Airtel Delhi half marathon 2 months ago (popularly known as #ADHM in running circles). I had been to Delhi earlier once and had liked the capital a lot! The race route went from Nehru Stadium, to Lodi Gardens to Rajpath (India Gate) to Parliament to Jantar Mantar and looped back to Nehru Stadium. So all the more reason for me to be able to run there and enjoy the royalty and history of Delhi.

In the running circles, the Delhi route is known as a flat route and hence best to get a personal best timing. Of course my wishful brain had already broken all personal records in its head and achieved running glory. Before you read further into this long post, let me shatter your dreams and make it clear nothing like this happened. In fact this was one of my worst post race experiences ever in terms of exhaustion and soreness. The saving grace was how valiantly I ran the first 18 km, without taking a break. And what happened after that as an anticlimax to an otherwise heroic story, if I may say so myself.

I reached Delhi well before the race ie early Friday morning. I spent the day with my childhood friend and her husband exploring Connaught place, Agrasen ki Baoli, Janpath, etc etc. Let me make it clear we did not walk much. Both of us (I and the friend) were going to run the half marathon and very well understood the implications of too much strain on the legs just 2 days before a race. We used the Metro extensively. Even sat on the floor for lack of space which was very Mumbai like of us according to Upasna :) We ended Friday with a light dinner and Mockingjay Part 2. The Katniss Everdeen within us had very much awakened and we felt ready for the battle.

On Saturday we collected our race kits and bibs. My only gripe was the collection point was far off from where I was staying ie Gurgaon. Because we wanted to conserve energy and time we did this trip by Uber and ended up spending a fortune of 1500 Rs. But nothing is greater than resting your legs and body before race day. We ended Saturday at 9 PM.

I woke up on race day at 4 AM without any alarm. Got ready with a light breakfast of banana, 2 parle G biscuits and some black tea and a glass of water. Reached the race holding area at 6.30 am i.e. 40 minutes before the race start. Of course had to take a loo break. Kudos to the organizers to have plenty of portable toilets at the venue (and also along the route). I did not have to wait in lines for a long time and go through anxiety of never reaching the start point in time.

The race started at sharp 7.10 AM. I and my friend were in holding area C, so it took us 2-3 minutes to reach timing mats on start point. I had already started my running app, as I did not want to miss starting it later. I started running only after the start point making way through the crowd of runners. I started steadily and slowly in the 7-7.20 mins/km pace zone. After 1 km point I settled in the 6.20-6.30 mins/km pace zone. Time for some back story here.

I had returned to India after a work trip a week before the race. As soon as I reached home, I caught a terrible cold. I let it run its course because I wanted my lungs to be freer of cough and related ailments on race day. I was also jetlagged and my sleep cycle was totally ruined. Because of all this drama I had missed one of my slightly longer weekly run. I had run only once in the week before the race. And before that due to travel etc I had missed 2 of my long runs.
So when I started #ADHM my mind and body knew that finishing the race strong would be a task in itself, given the hassle my body had gone through. But once I started running in the capital, in the morning smog and haze, my body settled in a rhythm and ran consistently. Around 6 km mark when India gate came into sight I could feel slight excitement. It was a very surreal moment for me to be running near India gate and on Rajpath. That added to my consistency and I continued running at the steady pace. At the 8km mark, I could see faster runners going back to the stadium (it was their 13km mark) and I felt immense joy that only 13 more km were remaining in my race. The half way point was near Jantar Mantar and once I looped around it, I promised my body that it will get a gel pack and some almonds once it reaches 15 km. At around 14km, I ate an almond and continued running without a break. My brain was functioning very well, as in it was not tired and asking my body to give up and start walking. My lungs were 'running' better than ever despite the cold/cough. So when the 16km mark came my brain told my body, one more kilometer and you will get half an energy gel! My body obliged. Somewhere during the 18th kilometer I tried to tear the gel pack while running. I could not, so I walked a few paces to concentrate on the tearing. To my shock the moment I paused to walk, I realized my legs had gone numb. My toes had that tingling sensation you get when blood flow has stopped to some part of your body. My immediate thought was I was going to faint in the middle of the road. I did not. So I continued walking for few meters and concentrated on eating the gel. I ate half the gel and started running again. My mind had of course started playing games. It was telling me to walk more. After 18km I started walking again. I felt I would walk to the finish line.

Seven!

And then a miracle man came by my side. He told me only 2 kms were remaining and I could do it. In a marathon event, you meet many such people who say words like 'come on' and move on. But he persisted. He did not let me walk. And so reluctantly I started running. I regained my initial pace despite my body screaming to let it go. I was literally chanting 'push, come one, push' to myself. Howmuchever weird it may sound. I crossed the finish line running and on a stronger note. Post run I sat down at the first spot I found empty on a staircase and ate the remaining gel and water. I was staring at the passersby like a zombie, trying to make sense of the trauma I made my body go through. And of course trying to find out my angel in disguise who made me not give up, whom I could never find again.

My lesson learnt is, however regular I am in training, I need to focus on what I eat specially when I travel. And since travel takes a toll on routine and general health, I need to plan better. Or may be I need to stop travelling and focus only on running :P

I am glad though I did this race. It was one of the better organized races I have been to. This was my seventh half marathon and it will always remain special for me!

Kashmir

Travelling to Kashmir has been one of my childhood dreams. It came true in an unexpected fashion last week.
After the quite epic and never ending #anshitanukulkishaadi in Jammu, we headed to Kashmir. The wedding and kashmir culture merits a super long post of its own. And I think the beauty of kashmir and its description is best left for personal experience. So I'll write about touristy stuff and general do's, dont's, scams to be avoided and things to be covered. This is going to be a long list.

1. Always check weather before entering the valley. We were well equipped with winter jackets, caps, gloves, boots, pairs of socks to tackle the untimely and delayed snowfall. 

2. If possible stay in Srinagar and travel to and forth. Gulmarg is an hour's drive away and Pahalgam is 2-2.5 hours drive away. Sonmarg is 3 hours away. So one day trips are possible to all major touristy spots. Of course, if the weather permits and you want to do elaborate hikes at pahalgam and enjoy skiing at gulmarg then makes more sense to stay overnight.

driving around dal

3. If staying in Srinagar, try to stay around the scenic drive around Dal lake. We set camp 5 minutes drive away from Dal. So everyday when we headed out, we would get to witness life around Dal. Also gives you a chance to take a good run, if you are a runner i.e.

4. I found food particularly cheap in Srinagar. Krishna dhaba offers good vegetarian options. Ahdoo's and Mughal Darbar are must try for non vegetarians. And please don't eat chicken in Kashmir. Mutton is the real deal!
Food is comparatively expensive at gulmarg, where the altitude and tourist destination tag, justify the rip off. For eg. a plate of maggi costs 70 rs at gulmarg.

maggi and chai!

5. At gulmarg, you get winter jackets and snow boots on rent. Its a good idea to take these if you plan to play in the snow. This way your winter clothes remain dry and safe. Rental price is 250-300 Rs. per person depending on how much you can bargain. Buy the extra pair of snow proof hand gloves if you are not carrying them. These will come in handy at other destinations as well. Don't buy sunglasses, carry your own.

6. Once at Gulmarg base, you may have to travel by a different vehicle, owing to snow covered roads and safety issues. We took a sumo for 1500 Rs. for to and fro ride and the vehicle stayed at the base of phase 1 for the entire day.

7. We found the sledge rides at the base of phase 1 to be a scam. We took 2 sledges and later figured out that the distance to the gondola station could have been walked easily. Unless you have senior citizens with you, I suggest NO-NO to sledges. If at all you take one, then bargain as if your life depends on it.

8. Same applies for a tourist guide. Don't take one if possible. And if at all you take one, bargain! 

9. If you are not taking a tourist guide then buy your own gondola tickets to phase 1. These cost 600 Rs. per person. If there is heavy snow around, then a visit to only Phase 1 is worth the money. If you are into advanced skiing then makes sense to visit Phase 2 as well (ticket is additional 800 Rs.). We visited only Phase 1 and were quite happy. 

10. If you are walking your way around Gulmarg, then don't miss the walk through the golf course.

the romantic in me could not get enough of all this!

11. Route to Pahalgam merges and separates to the route to Jammu from Srinagar. So make sure your driver has fair ideas of security checks. 

12. Eat at roadside dhabas on the way to Pahalgam. Once you have crossed Anantnag, things get super exciting in the form of a scenic drive. So having a meal by the road side with the lidder river flowing alongside makes for quite an adventure. 

13. Make sure you have checked which points are open and which are closed before heading to Pahalgam. Saves disappointment once there. Also if you are staying at Pahalgam, don't miss the hike to Tuliyan lake. We did not do it because of bad weather, but its supposed to be extremely amazing.

14. In Pahalgam as well, do not spend on guide. Do spend on winter boots if its snowing. We spent 30 Rs. per person.

15. You have to leave your vehicle at Pahalgam taxi stand to reach any point around. You can take ponies to Aru valley from there or another car to Betaab valley. The prices are standard according to taxi stand union. So no bargaining here for taxis. There are few temples on the way which are worth a visit, owing to Pahalgam being one of the start points of Amarnath Yatra.

16. In Srinagar there are 8-10 major attractions. If you can, then miss one of the gardens and include coffee drinking experience atop a hillside cafe instead. I know cliched but worth the time!

17. Keep aside 4-5 hours in Srinagar for shopping at Lal Chowk. Paper mache, wood carvings to stoals and shawls, one cannot say no to anything!

18. The Srinagar airport has a lot of security checks, so leave for the airport 3 hours in advance. Usually there's a jam outside the airport, so would save you a lot of anxiety. Also, post all security checks one has to identify baggage personally. Don't forget to do this!

These are the *only* tips I have from my experience. The culture and people of Kashmir are warm and hospitable. Learn a word or two of Kashmiri from them :) Ending this post with the surreal shot of Betaab Valley, Pahalgam.

'In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.' - Albert Camus

shifting wifting haaye rabba

• You start packing your stuff. You stumble across stuff you never knew existed. You label boxes. Make a note to use things which you still dont want to throw away. You throw away some stuff willingly. With some stuff you are just reluctant to let go. For eg. the beautiful glass bottles you collected to plant trees in. But never did anything with them for the past gazillion years, because well you never thought you would leave the house. 

       I am sure everyone goes through this cycle.

• You start loading your stuff in the movers' truck. And the helper guy says 'Madam kitna samaan hai' (Madam, how much stuff you have!) and you lose it. I mean you spend an entire day packing those boxes neatly, by compartmentalizing and arranging stuff and labeling the boxes. So instead of rewarding your OCD with a compliment, the guy tells you that you have too much stuff! You start plotting revenge on the helper guy.

• You get the house you are moving into cleaned well before the actual move. That exercise gives you a brief lesson in how the new house is different from the place you have got used to calling your home for the past n years. That I think is the perk of living in rented houses. Each house offers something different and annoying. Which then becomes a matter of getting used to.

• Everything has now been shifted to the new place. You are now in that terrifying zone when you have to unpack just enough stuff so that its sufficient to get you by for the shifting night/day and enough so that if you want to arrange stuff, getting that out will not hurt the larger scheme of things like the final arrangement of unpacked stuff. 

• You take one last shower in the old house post all the shifting drama and hassles. The accumulated dust* in your lungs and on your body/clothes doesn't want to let go. If you have allergies like I do, every sneeze takes you closer to that dreaded cold where your nose becomes waterworks incorporated. You realize while taking shower that you are going to miss this home. This washroom. The tiles. The arrangement of soap cases. The tiny cohabitants like the spiders** in the remote nook of the wall, where its impossible to get a mop given your height constraints. (which is why you never really bothered to move the spider family out). You cry a little. Because water washes away water.

• You want to keep going to the house so a part of your packing OCD struck brain subconsciously lets you not pack everything in one go. You keep some trinkets. Important enough to not letting go. But just enough for another round the next day. You clean it for the next tenants. You want them to treat it the way you did.  The house is now empty during your next visit. You soak it in. That's the emptiness inside your mind. You let it go.

• You still cannot sleep in the new house in spite of the same bed, mattress, bed sheets, pillows, lights, books. The mind still longs for comfort zone. You know its going to take some getting used to.

Do you also go through all this and more while packing and moving ?
* Dust is an integral part of your life if you live in India.
** so are spiders inside your home!

SCMM 2015

These are some really long notes about SCMM and running.

Sometimes I think in my perfect world I would never register for races. Nor would I travel to different places just to be able to run in an organized fashion. Its not my perfect world, and hence for above reasons I take decisions from time to time to register for racing events and train for them with experts. 

Before every outstation event I go through this :
i. make travel plans a month/15 days in advance
ii.  plan my clothes (its a big part of how you fare at any run!) well in advance. Shop if required and practice in them.
iii. Excitement starts building up in the race week.
iv. The Friday before the race is full of travel anxiety.No productive work gets done. I still go to office (Must thank my stars that no one bothers me with important work on such fridays!)
v. Dream about things that may go wrong. For eg. What if I do not reach the venue on time and they disqualify me. Such positive thinking makes me full of nerves. I am *this* short of outbirsts.
vi. Travel. Travel. Travel.
vii. Meet friends to keep mind off d-day. If possible shop, eat out.
viii. Try to get minimum 6 hours of sleep. Though my brain clock wakes me up at ungodly hours like 2.30 am, 3.30 am and then finally 4.30 am.

Till now (this was my 4th half marathon), I have not missed out on showing up at any event. Things haven't gone as worse as I play the what-if scenarios in my head. But all this has somewhere made me a better human being. 
I look at the positives. I make plan A-G to be executed during any run. My failover scenarios are ready. And I feel as if I am raring to go. Exactly 2 years ago when I started running, I would not have been able to say a single word about all this, of course for lack of experience. These stretch-your-limits experiences have taught me to be prepared and not prepared for elements of life. I am also not sure if I am conveying any meaning out of the words I just typed. 

Anywho, the point is this is my way of tackling pointlessness which loves making its presence felt in my head from time to time. After every race pointlessness takes a backseat and I gain one point. You see the point I am making ?

So if you are a runner in India then SCMM marks the official end of running season here. Its one of the oldest, well organized and prestigious events here! 
I signed up for SCMM to nicely seal off my training plan for the year and later to serve as a marker to analyze running performance over the year. I had a good amount of rest in the race week, showed up well before flag off at start point, clicked selfies with friends, ate almonds, calmed my nerves by remembering favorite bollywood songs. Somewhere I was not feeling that strong, but I had following goals laid out :
A. Target the 2.15 hour bus, wherever the pacers were. Run my own race as all the 5 pacers of the 2.15 bus had weird pacing strategies. If I finished 9.5 km in one hour then I would be able to finish in 2.15 hours by staying strong in the last segment i.e. post 18km.
B. Do a personal best.
C. Run my own race. Did I say this already ?

I started really slow as planned, gained pace over the majestic worli sea link, got steady with every passing kilometer. Surprisingly, I did not have to take a single walking break till 17th km, even for drinking water. Even during the infamous steep Pedder Road incline. *humble brag* I could not run a single kilometer without walking breaks 2 years ago and in my last half marathon I took 10 seconds walking breaks just to gulp water. A huge shoutout to RP and their training!

I was taking 2-3 sips of water every 5-7 minutes to compensate for the humidity in Mumbai. My body showed first sign of weakness in the form of salt loss at 16 km with cramps in lower left abdomen. I immediately switched to sipping enerzal from a nearby aid station. They went away fairly quickly. The next event happened post 17km. Lower right abdomen started cramping. This time I walked for 10 seconds, sipped good amount of enerzal and water. Willed it to go away. Bugger did not. It kept on making its presence felt even if my body took a slight bend or tried to do something different to steer my brain away from the pain. I let the body take over the brain which was in such a good controlling position till now. In a way I knew my race was over specially goal A. I walked a bit more. Let time slip by. Post the 18th km marker, I decided I would walk every 20 seconds. But. But. But. The mumbai crowd and excellent support system in the form of bands playing live music, dance troupes, motivational songs, showed up. Damn! How could I even imagine to walk when so many unknown faces were cheering all of us weirdos for no particular reason to keep going. So I kept going. At a slow and steady pace. The pain went away. I crossed the finish line with a timing of 2:21:25. And fainted. This is what real electrolyte loss feels like, I told myself. I steadied and made way to the amazing and special recovery area for women athletes (if I may call myself so without any pretense). 

#scmm2015 memories

SCMM is a really well organized event. Water and aid stations are plenty and well placed. If you have studied your race route well, you would find water/aid stations exactly where you were supposed to find them. In addition locals setup stalls to help poor, thirsty and hungry runners. 
But this year's race felt too crowded for my taste. There was not a stretch where you could have the patch of a street to yourself. That's my only grouch. I can imagine how tough it can be to organize an event on such a massive scale so my only plea to the organizers is to cut down on entries. Pretty please!

So what am I up to now ?
I am still recovering from the race. I have showed up at work. I have achieved my personal best timing. And I have learnt to run my own race and enjoy what I can by planning what I can plan for during a run. I am also grateful to the support my friends and family give and sometimes plan their life around my running schedule. I am now going through marathon events in India this year and listing down interesting ones. I'll plan a part of my year around them. Because as I mentioned at the beginning, in my perfect world I would never register for or run races.

there is a wedding at home!

We are beginning to get on each others' nerves. Polite discussions are now annoyed arguments. The Nagpur winter is colder and chilly. There are people sneezing all over at my place. And sometimes the warmth only seems to come from a cup of tea.

There is a wedding at home.

We are in a plush mall buying shoes. In the same hour we are in the middle of a bustling market, asking and bargaining for matching bangles. There is a polite shouting match going on inside the car between brother and me, about shopping tasks on our list. I am an efficiency maniac. He likes to take it 'chill'. We pass bhavnagari. We unanimously decide to stop to buy some kachoris and samosas for evening snacks.

There is a wedding at home. We are functional in our dysfunctional ways. 

Satara hill marathon 2014

I can see this blog is slowly becoming a place to document running events. But as long as I keep on writing here, no one's loss right ?

The Satara Hill Marathon is an elite ultra marathon event in Maharashtra, which only in its 3rd year has already become famous for some superlative arrangements for runners and gorgeous and tough route. I ran the 10 k race there yesterday and immediately made a plan to run the half marathon next year.

I and P reached Satara, (1.5 hours drive, 2 hours by bus and 3 hours by train, away from Pune) a day before, collected* our stuff (kit consisting of bib, running tee, route map and other goodies)  from the expo and set about exploring Satara. 
* Great story about the managing team here: They sent a wrong text message regarding the bib number and race category to a bunch of participants. I was one of them. My immediate thought was to get this resolved at the expo itself. To my surprise, I received an email the next day, where they admitted their mistake and gave instructions about what should be done by these participants. I think this was a pretty good corrective measure in what could have been a management disaster, where I could picture participants arguing and fighting with the marathon staff.

Satara has a distinct small town feel to it. There is not much to do in the city itself, except some amazing foodie treats. But around the city are some great escapades like, Sajjangad, thoseghar falls, kass valley (smaller version of valley of flowers) which are 30-40 minutes drive away from the city. So if you are the adventurous kind and would not mind exploring these instead of resting it off, these are a must visit. Of course, we did not do any of this as we were quite anxious about the run the next day.

We hit the sack early and got up at 4.30 am on race day. Owing to the fact that our hotel had some cleanliness and water issues. Runner tip: If possible get an idea about where you will be staying in advance to avoid such issues.

We reached the start point when the half marathon was about to start. After cheering the amazing elite and non elite runners for the half marathon and some warm up, we queued up for the 10k race. The 10 k race, starts in the city, takes one to the sahyadri ghaats upto 5km and then one returns to the start point having gained an elevation of 2034 ft. 
I clicked this picture during one of the water breaks -> 

<3

Needless to say I had not run on a route which is outside the city limits and is surrounded by luscious green hills. I was mesmerized by the views on my way upto the 5k mark. The return was even more beautiful with view of Satara city covered by fog and mist in the early morning hours and the sun penetrating the cover. I did not click any pictures on the way down from the ghaats as I was busy capturing the beauty for my own sake. I will go back to these images in my head over and over, is the only thing I can say right now.

The live traditional dhol-tutari played by local troupes welcomed the runners back in the arena on completion. That along with some astounding ground support all along the route made this one of the most well managed events I have attended since I started running.

I wish to come back over and over again to this wonderful city and these amazing people, just to run with nature and take it all in. If you are a runner anywhere and reading this, then I also urge you to visit the Satar Hill Marathon. You will not be disappointed!

Conflicting worlds

Prachi and Pooja are from middle class families. Well educated families. Pooja's father did not want a daughter hence her mother took a stand and raised her by herself. Prachi, daughter of a principled man with anger issues, thinks its her father's right to physically punish her for the sole reason that he let her live as she is a product brought into this world by her parents.
Pooja is a beauty contest winner. Prachi is part of a hindutva movement, where they teach girls how to defend oneself and take up weapons.
Both are in their 20s. Both want their life to be meaningful, both want to do something.

There is huge irony here. Their worlds are paradoxes. These are the subjects of the brilliant and thought provoking documentary by Nisha Pahuja, 'The world before her', which explores what it means to be a 21st century Indian woman.

Some of the things that these girls said have left me dumbfounded and searching for answers. I try to see myself in these women. I am there, when a girl says she wants to make something out of this life. I am in the dreams, hopes, fears and passions of these girls. These are rational girls who know what they are choosing.
We are similar yet so different. So many belief systems, so many ideologies. The dichotomy in our existence and how it converges and yet gives life an altogether different meaning, is what's troubling me the most. 
For the outside world, Prachi will remain a could be fanatic in a movement branded as extremist, Pooja another superficial, pretty face making use of her beauty. But in the 21st century do these perceptions matter ? Or is it more about individuality ? 

In a deeply patriarchal society like India, where girls have opened up to education, avenues of income to become financially independent, how necessary is it to uphold our ancient roots? Some very valid and profound questions surface out of this conflict. And that is the reason I highly recommend you to watch this remarkable documentary.

Because she wants to be a part of the world before her, shape it and make it. 

Unlearning

With growing old sometimes comes the feeling that you understand life in much better sense. Of course if you are a person who likes to have filters in place and constantly seeks clarity. You are thankful for a lot of things that have happened and helped you grow. And at times you are just forgetful enough to forget how it is to be a teenager. 

Specially a teenager surrounded by constant competition, expectations and general 'dont have a clue about future or life but parents and friends are into this, so I am also into this' thought process. Recently a 17yo nephew was visiting us for some exam preparation classes which the city I live in is believed to have some of the best. Initially I was totally peeved by his sharp and critical demeanor. That initial phase lasted the 3 weeks he stayed with us. Yes, sometimes I am an excruciatingly slow adopter. Almost everyday we got into some kind of argument (behes in his sweet MP hindi) about a physics problem (sometimes random life funda) and my lack of remembering anything except for the concepts. I who's raised by teachers who believed in the power of clear concepts was somewhere happy believing it was a good sign that I did not remember the actual formulae but knew my stuff. I was proud even. But this did not impress the kid. He kept on questioning my entire life and so called engineering education. I was more annoyed and more intrigued. Intrigued cos how was all the grown up stuff I mentioned at the beginning not helping me see that this is what it feels to be a teenager. Over the 3 weeks, eventually he stopped asking me much physics questions and we spent time discussing how life in US is where he aspires to go for studies. 

I began to realize though, there is so much I need to unlearn to be able to continue to learn. Whichever species evolves, evolves because it is able to unlearn. Shed old knowledge and constantly gain new. I am seriously questioning people who say knowledge is power and stuff like that. I wonder if they are talking about knowledge acquired through unlearning.

Kerala K(ch)ronicle

We had Malyalam speaking neighbors for the longest period. Brother and I practically grew up with V and V, eating generous amount of dosa and coconut chutney. V and V would always go on summer vacations to their ancestral गांव (village) in Kerala. It was always a mystery for us owing to our poor pronunciations. I have grown up thinking about their गांव and what it must be like.

Recently a Keralite friend invited us to his wedding in his ancestral village. The idea of visiting Kerala suddenly got all these childhood memories to the fore. The grown up in me wanted to see what it must feel like. One of my most fun friends (who used to blog here: http://adducelebrity.blogspot.in/) and his wife also joined in and made the planning phase extremely smooth.

How to plan a trip with addu and his wife: book the to and from tickets. Leave the rest of the planning for runtime execution.

We reached Cochin (Kochi/ernakulam) airport in the afternoon and immediately started scouting for our options to travel to Alleppey (allepuzha). 
Tip 1: Reaching Alleppey from Cochin is easiest from the airport as there are KSRTC shuttles to Vytilla from where Alleppey buses are frequent.

image courtesy: google

We took this special ride to Alleppey from Cochin airport though ->
Before that we also ate amazing butter dosas at the airport hotel at Cochin airport. The south Indian food lover in me was in paradise.

After a 2 hour road journey to Alleppey on the last seats of our heavenly ride and drenched in sweat, we just wanted to reach our homestay. 
Tip 2: Wear and carry lots of cotton clothes else the humidity will make sure you have multiple baths in a day.

The great auto experience started in Alleppey when the autowala charged us 30 rupees for a distance worth 30 rupees, without meter! If you have lived in Maharashtra long enough you know what I mean. Our homestay was a cozy little home converted in a homestay and hotel. (tripadvisor link here: http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g608471-d1015993-r193761496-Snehadhara_Homestay-Alappuzha_Kerala.html)

Salim uncle and Mini aunty (the owners) took really good care of us, so it never felt like this was our first trip to Kerala/Alleppey. Mini aunty even churned out delish lemon rice at last minute notice for our dinner. They guided us about local sightseeing and also helped us book a shikara boat for the backwaters tour next day.

happiness is homemade food in distant land!

Touring the backwaters can be done in 2 ways: the popular houseboat where you book it for an entire day i.e. 11 am to 5 pm. Or shikara which will take you along the same route on a per hour charge basis for 4 hours.
Since we were constrained by time we took the second option and hopped into our boats at 10 am the next day. This was after a homemade wholesome breakfast of dosa-chutney-sambaar, filter coffee and juice.

Our tour started from the canals of Allepuzha and extended to nearby villages in a 24 km radius. We also stopped for a traditional kaari fish keralaite lunch at a village. The adventure of this village life connected only by these water bodies and boats for transport thrilled me. I started plotting a fun life around these villages when it suddenly dawned on me, how easier it is to be a tourist and imagine all exotic things about village life and forget the mundane. I don't really like this 'lets stay grounded to reality' side of mine.
Nonetheless the backwaters provided some spectacular glimpses of nature which need to be experienced first hand. 

beautiful kerala backwaters!

After this fulfilling day we left for Calicut/Kzhikode. The train network throughout Kerala is pretty good and ends up being the best option for internal travel. A 6 hour train journey later we were in Kozhikode where the autowalas were so honest that we did not spend an extra dime than what the distance demanded. I felt like I was in rikshaw heaven.

Calicut/Kozhikode is famous for its handloom shops, so some saree shopping for the mother happened. There are lots of temples in Calicut but our temple run ended after visiting the thali temple as my friends 'the couple' were denied access because they were wearing jeans and not mundu (for guys)/ traditional clothes. 

Tip 3: Wear Indian ethnic wear while visiting temples.

We also visited the 80 years old Paragon hotel in Calicut for lunch where the non veg food is a must try! 

The 40 year old Kumari banana chips shop is also a must visit for buying the much loved south indian snack.

We left Calicut the next day to reach the ancestral village of our friend. A hectic bus ride from Calicut to Vadakara later we finally arrived here ->

nostalgic much?

As the wedding was next day we eventually hit the sack, despite the never ending gossip/catching up. Keralaite weddings are a low key affair with minimal fuss. The baraat (wedding procession) left the guy's town and arrived the girl's, and the wedding was over in 2 hours. Yes 2 hours! Including all the rituals and food.

After bidding our farewells we hit Kannur station for our return journey the same day.

Without any micro planning or preplanning even, this trip turned out to be fun and an adventure.

I only hope Kerala remains as grounded and beautiful as it appeared. The simplicity* and the honest demeanor of Kerala will remain with me is what I would like to believe.

* I know the every family has one person in foreign land angle