The Bucket List

On the very lazy last Saturday, I settled down to watch a movie that my room-mate had shared. The Bucket List. Yes, I had not seen it until then. Some stupid inhibition that I have against my ability to understand American. Anyways, finally saw the movie and was totally blown and floored by it. I of course had seen the hindi movie Dasvidaniyan earlier which is inspired by the former. But, after watching the original, not even close I’d opine.

The obvious question that propped up in my mind was, “whether or not I should have a bucket list of my own?”

Asked this to some friends and a lot of them did say that they had a bucket list, were working towards fulfilling the items on it and some fortunate ones had also managed to strike out a few entries! :o)

“x number of things to do before I die” Somehow the association of the list with death is something that has always made me uncomfortable. I find something very negative about that phrase, that idea.

Is it not a belief and a very healthy one that we spend way too much time expecting the big joys and in the process neglect the small joys that are way too frequent and way too many than that one big moment or may be two for the fortunate…

Driving fast on the Nuberg Ring or the Autobahns can be a drive of a lifetime. But, sadly that’ll happen only once.

But the joy my car gives me when the turbo kicks in at 2500 rpm five to six times every day can be as enormous if you allow it to be. Is it not more stimulating to make most of this and if you do so, you have so many moments in your ruddy day that take your breath away? A perspective that makes sense…?

I by no means advocate that the big “once in a lifetime” joys have no place. They do and are very significant. But it’s these small joys which often go unnoticed that have an enormous potential to put a smile on your face and make everyday special.

There are a few...

Had a lovely ride to work today!

Was at a signal...way behind the first car to move out. The signal turned green and all the vehicles started moving ahead slowly. Behind me was a self driven Toyota...and the driver driving it was the first one I have ever come across who did not honk when the light changed to green!

When the light turned red again, I went back a few paces and thanked him.

Well after this there were the usual bus and cab drivers who came by and honked, but this guy had made my day!

How I wish there were more like him on Indian roads...

Eden Legend

England wicketkeeper Bruce French looks on as David Gower leaps to avoid a cut from India's Mohammad Azharuddin, England v India, third day, third Test, Edgbaston, 1986

I saw the start of the day 3 of the second test match between India and SA from the Eden Gardens on TV. Indian pair walked out to the middle. VVS Laxman and night watchman Amit Mishra.

I could not help but notice the swagger about the Very Very Special Laxman. He walked out probably believing that nothing can go wrong. You could see it in his body language. And when you believe that nothing can go wrong, nothing does.

Seeing images of Laxman bat today took me back a few years in the history of Indian cricket. To another great batsman who had a splendid record all over the world and more so at the venue. Mohammed Azharuddin. Every time he played at the venue he got runs. Lots of them! His dream run at the Eden Gardens began very early in his career when he scored a ton while playing there as part of an under-19 team.

I have always been a fan of the great wristy marvel. Sad that we seldom get to see compilations of Azhar’s great innings on any of the sports channels. There is of course a reason for the same. All the cricketers tainted with the dark max fixing scams are seldom mentioned. Their work seldom celebrated. The mention of their glory is forbidden.

Yes, what he did was shameful. Yes, he deserved every bit of the punishment for the offence. But, should that belittle his many splendid achievements? Should we not recall his mammoth contributions to the sport? His talent?
That 63 ball test century which was the fastest for some time. That clinical perfection with which he tore the spinners apart. Those magnificent flicks of the pads. More than 6000 Test runs. 22 Test hundreds. Over 9000 ODI runs. He was the most capped one day cricketer in the world before Sanath Jayasuria came by. The backward point/gully position that he had made his own. He still holds to record of the highest catches in ODIs and is in the top 5 in the list for Test matches. Should all this be forgotten?

I do not know about you but I have not forgotten this great Indian batsman. I still remember watching him live at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. I was lucky to see his trademark flick. The ball raced to the fences before the sound of the bat hitting the ball reached you. It reached the fence before you could complete the sentence, "What-A-Shot!"

I believe this is how I will continue to remember him for the rest of my life.

What a player!

Azhars profile on cricinfo.com

From Auro to STRIDES

Today as I sent out good luck text messages to my fellow runners who were on their way to Pondi, I felt quite sad about not running the Auroville Marathon myself.

I have always believed the decision of pulling out was driven by good sense. May be that is what it was but then when the race day dawns, you always wish you were out there running by yourself as against cheering the runners from the side lines. Sigh

Having said that, this is the time to focus on my training which appears to be progressing quite presentably other than the fact that I need to spend more hours per week at the gym.

Looking forward to the next weekend where I am participating in STRIDES OF HOPE. STRIDES OF HOPE is Santhosh Padmanabhan's mammoth 48 hour run in Bangalore. The event is aimed at bringing about awareness about the work of the ASHA FOUNDATION which Santhosh actively supports and a need for a healthy lifestyle and running as a sport to improve fitness of the country.

This event will be supported by large number of Ultra Marathoners mainly from Bangalore's running community who will run with Santhosh through the 48 hours.

Good luck to all associated with STRIDES OF HOPE!

Check out the details about the event and be there to cheer all the runners. Come run along.

Mile sur : A fresh composition

It was only today that I got a chance to view the new MILE SUR MERA TUMHARA on Zoom TV. Until today all I had heard about it was that it was nowhere near the previous version going by the loud and clear opinions on all the social networking forums.

To be honest, when I saw glimpses of the video earlier, I also began to think like the others and criticize it until I actually sat down and dispassionately viewed a screening once again myself.

Yes, you guessed it right. I did like the new version!

Before you close your browser let me explain why.

MILE SUR MERA TUMHARA was successful and popular not only because it was a great composition which it was but also because it brought icons of the country together on the same platform provoking the sentiment of integrity in a subtle manner. Icons form the film fraternity, sports, performing arts, creative artistes. You name it! The original version was shot over 20 years ago and hence had icons of the previous century all of whom are today legends and almost define the golden era of yesteryears.

The new version also attempts to achieve the same. The video begins with AR Rehman playing a tune on the finger board followed by Amitabh Bachan dressed in a tux. (Why a tux???) It showcases the first family of the hindi film fraternity, the singers that are making waves today viz: Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghosal, Shaan, the trio of Shankar Ehsaan and Loy. Musicians Amjad Ali Khan with his sons, Louis Banks with his son, Zakir Hussain, Taufik Querieshi and Trilok Gurtu. Performing artistes Shobhana, Shamik Davar, sports persons who have got India international glory viz: Vijendra Singh, Sushil Kumar, Bhaichung Bhutia, Abhinav Bindra, Saina Nehwal and Gopichand. Yes, would have loved to see Leander Paes with Mahesh Bhupati and the great four Indian Batmen of our times along with Anil Kumble in there as well. This one does not showcase Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Lata Mangeshkar as they are very very senior and no longer performing as they used to but does showcase Dr. Yesudas and Dr. L Subramaniam.

Most people I spoke to were irked by the presence of the bollywood film stars of today in the video. The previous one had stars as well. Amitabh Bachan was just a big star then, not a legend as he is today. The older video featured Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Tanuja amongst others as well. They were the stars of that decade. This one has Deepika, Priyanka and Ranbir. If the stars of this decade make people feel this way, it is mainly reflection on the fact that they are no longer role model material. Which is sad but true and has nothing to do with the composition and video.

We have a cliched tendency to compare a product of today with that of yesteryears. We compare Sachin with Sunny. We compare Sonu Nigam with Rafi. In my opinion, comparisons between icons of two different eras is quite simply stupid as they are a reflection of the times.

The tune is jazzy alright but is today's music not like that? If youth of today can not relate to this video, well then they are not altogether pleased with what their times have to offer.

It reflects that the era gone buy was really timeless.

This I truly believe is a very good composition.

New?

I bought this new pair of running shoes around December first week.

Prompted by a FB status message by a friend checked for myself and found that I have done 157.1 kms in them already in spite of the tapering, vacation and travelling.

They are not so new now after all...

Comeback ride

Through the last leg of my training for SCMM 2010, I have had to stay away form my bicycle as it would tend to work the ITB stiffer. Now that the big event is behind me, time to get back to some cycling me thinks :o)

Yesterday I made it point to give the much required attention to the bike. Cleaned the body, chain and transmission assembly and took it for a small 4km ride to the petrol pump to get the air pressure checked.

As I approached the bunk, I saw a long queue at the air pressure stall and so decided to leave the idea for another day.

A passer by noticing me slow down and looking keenly at the station asked sheepishly in Kanada, “petrol beka???”

That left me smiling all the way back to my house...

And the run...

Now...my marathon was fairly tragic. Went strong for the first 29-30kms and after that had a sudden drop in body condition over the next 4-5kms and had to pull out after 35kms. I have no injuries though apart from routine sore muscles after the workout. This is last that I am writing about 17th Jan 2010. It was a reflection on my training. Have to train better and a bit differently.

I have been doing a fair bit of thinking about the Sunday run before I close that chapter for good and move on.

From my limited exposure to the sport, I have arrived at the following:
Speed is important: It will really help to train for a 4 or 4:30 marathon. That ways you will be in a better physical state to tackle the demands of the last 10 kms.
By this I mean that one should be a regular 2 hr half marathoner so that the strategy of doing the first half in 2:15 – 2:30 (on conserving and running slower) and then going all out for the remaining becomes a viable option.
Now, my best half marathon time has been 2:25 and that too during a practice run recently.
I was after this goal some time back but ignored it in favour of building my distances for SCMM.

Need to hit the gym regularly: This has shown results during the last length of the training . Need to take this further.
After a couple of good night's rest, I am good and much better than yesterday. I am amazed at the recovery time. This I believe has a lot to do with the strengthening (?)

Need to attend the group runs like RFL: I, for many reasons run alone most of the time which is ok, but once or twice a month at least a group run can be a good reality check. If you do well there you know you are going ok or else you need to have a re-look at your training

Will return to training in a week. Have a marathon coming up on Feb 14th at Pondi. Not sure whether I will run. It all depends on the way my body recovers.

The tapering begins

Finally on 1^st January 2010, I did my longest run in the program. I did a 32kms @ 7:38. It was a huge burden on my mind which is now lifted. Like my physio friend tells me that its always a good feeling to know that you can now do a 30+ distance. Lets hope it works that way for me. I had also tried to run in the hot sun to get a taste of the conditions that will be prevalent at Mumbai during the SCMM.

After this run, the ITB was sore but the pain was considerably less and hence I could complete the distance. I believe this was mainly due to the support provided by the new set of tapes that I was wearing for this run. I am positively keeping them on for the main race as well. The muscles that were the most tired were the quadriceps and calves. Even the chin muscles were quite sore.

Through this run, I was able practice a bit of water and electral management. Lesson to be learnt was that I need to carry more than one packet of electral to survive throughout the distance. The positive sign was that throughout the four hours, there was no significant sign of cramping. Which was a big relief.

I followed it up with a strong 10k run yesterday, 3^rd January 2010 which most likely appears to be one of my last runs before I leave Bangalore for a vacation. I am growing increasingly happy with the recovery time that my legs are showing off late. Even after a draining run, I feel confident of another run in about 30 hours time. This ideally should come down to 24 I believe.

Anyways, this training and preparation is shaping up better than the last year. Visiting my physio tomorrow after which I will be more clear about the plan for the next two weeks.

Until then, keep training hard!