Number 5784

That was my marathon day running number. The run was great and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Needless to say I was pooped after it. And hurting.

21 kms. 2 hours and 2 seconds. Next year will be a sub-2 hour run for sure.

Some of the sights and sounds as I ran (some in my head):

• The loud Punjabi bhangra at Fountain
• Thousands of feet pounding the streets of Mumbai at 6.45 on a Sunday morning
• The Navy brass band at Marine Drive
• Fellow runners from the gym cheering each other on as we crossed each other
• Watching in awe as the Kenyans whooshed by at nearly 17 km/h at Haji Ali
• Struggling on the uphill on the way back at Peddar Road
• Looking out for the water counters on the way
• Turning the corner at Babulnath on the way back knowing I was on the home stretch
• The thought of slowing down near Chowpatty with 4 kms to go.
• Can't slow down now
• Running on empty as I see the finish line in the distance
• An eternity passes until, at last, I am back where I began

Happy Birthday Papa

My old man would've turned 60 on Jan 18, 2008. Funny thing is, a few of his friends still called in to wish us, they spoke with my mother, laughed, cried and reminisced about the times they spent with him.

Not a day goes by when I don't think about him, when I don't feel his happy, gentle spirit by my side. I am blessed to have had a father like him. Thank you, Papa. I hope you're happy wherever you are.

Marathoning

It's that time of the year again. It's marathon time. A time I always look forward to. I haven't been to any other marathon but the Mumbai Marathon is special for me. The spirit that you see, the camaraderie, the charity that is done through it and the overall feel-good factor is huge.

It's amazing to see thousands of people coming out on Sunday morning to support a variety of causes and not-for-profits, to see groups of people running on the streets on Sundays in the lead up to the marathon, to come across random folks on the road who'll give you the thumbs-up when you go past.

How do you capture moments like that? It's one of those moments you live your life for.

Mumbai Marathon, here I come.

French Royalty in India?

The heir apparent to the now defunct French throne supposedly lives in Bhopal, India. How random is that?!?!

Click here to read the story.

Taare Zameen Par - My Take

One of the nicest Hindi movies I've watched in a while.

While the movie's message is really nice, its significance in our society, conservative as we are, is even more so. If you're not a doctor, engineer or an MBA in India, you're pretty much nothing.

We're a society that craves pigeon-holing people in order to simplify our world-view and create a hierarchy where there is none. The "smartest" people do engineering and medicine. The left-overs do an MBA to catch up with them. Of course, if you're an engineer and an MBA, you've got the sun shining out of your ass. Never mind that you have no idea how to treat other people with respect or that you have no skills apart from being this bad-ass number cruncher.

The point of the movie is this, each one has something special that he or she brings into the world. Yes, some of these may not be encashable gifts, but they are gifts nonetheless. No one should make you feel any the less.

I remember going through school as an average student and we were always made to feel like that. Average. Everything I was came summarized in this little piece of paper we got twice or thrice a year with a bunch of numbers on them. They called them report cards. Looking back, if I had a choice, I'd use them as ass-wipes.

What I'm getting at is that people are always trying to compartmentalise us right through life. It starts when you step into school and never stops after that. You fail a Math test in fifth grade and suddenly you're labeled "dull". No one cares that you may have problems at home, or that you may have a problem with numbers but are great at singing. Nope. You're dull. And you live with that tag, thinking you're just average unless you look around and ask questions. Not just of society, but of your own false self-image that you've created as a result of other people's opinions.

For me, the movie is a reminder to not judge people merely on achievement. People are far too complex to be able to slot them in little silos. The if-s/he-can-do-this-then-s/he-can-do-that argument doesn't work in life. Some of the most beautiful people I've met haven't achieved much. For me though, it's enough that they're beautiful people. No award or degree would make them any more or less special.

Life isn't simple. But that doesn't make it less beautiful.

Been a while...

Yeah, it's been a while since I've come by here. I've just been sucked into work stuff and by the time I come back, I'm too knackered to post anything on to the blog.

Anywho, my only new year resolution is to give me some more personal time. And that includes posting more regularly.

I can't believe we're in 2008 already. It feels like 2007 just whizzed by. All in all a good year, but a good year to come to an end as well :) It was a strange year though. It started off wonderfully and suddenly everything fell apart early into the year. The engagement break-up took a lot out of me and I've learnt to be a little wiser before getting into arranged setups. Ignorance is not always bliss. Since then, it's been a process of rebuilding, rethinking and starting from scratch in many ways.

Going back to my old job has been good. I've really enjoyed my time at work. I must confess I complain sometimes, but all in all, I'm happy with work. I think the best part about the office is that I've been fortunate to meet wonderful people at work. Folks I can hang out with outside of office and yet not talk about work.

Apart from work, I think I've been getting trashed too often so I'm going to take it easy on the drinking this year. I drink only on weekends, but the number of times I've woken up the next morning not remembering stuff that happened the previous night has been more frequent than I would've liked.

Strangely, I've also been feeling much fitter than I did in 2006. The new gym has been excellent. Good trainers, a professional setup and I look forward to going there every morning.

On the dating front, nothing to write home about. I did meet interesting people in 2007, one of them was really nice, but it didn't work out. I'm not complaining. You can't fuck with destiny.

In short, life has been good to me in 2007. I've had some super moments and some nasty lows. But that's how it rolls I guess. I've got everything I could've wanted... a loving family, great friends and a lot of other stuff. Thank you, 2007. And welcome to you, 2008.

Hope you have a great year ahead! :)