Revenge Ink

I'm proud and happy to announce that my uncle and aunt have gone guerilla. No, not with AK-47s and rocket launchers, but with their very own publishing house, Revenge Ink.

Not only that, they've also written a book each! The one by my uncle, Gopal Mukherjee, is called The Armageddon Mandala and the book written by my aunt, Amita Mukherjee, is called The Ugly Duckling.

They've overcome tremendous odds to achieve what they have and I'd say, in many ways, the very publishing of the book is a great achievement by itself. Rebels and iconoclasts, they've put their necks on the line to do what they believed in and for that, I respect them immensely.

I spent the weekend in Pune after their booklaunch at Crossword, Mumbai and we chatted into the wee hours of the morning talking about life, authenticity and how important it is to pursue your beliefs. Some of the best conversation I've had in a while.

One point that we discussed was the invulnerability of people who choose to live their dreams despite the odds. They become invulnerable not because they are immune to failure (or success), but because they come to accept their vulnerability and embrace it rather than fear it. It's an interesting thought. One that I've mulled over for a while and it was amazing to hear someone else express their belief in it.

Anyway, do pick up their books at a Crossword near you. They're funny, witty, insightful and the language is zany! :)

P.S. Revenge Ink also has a writing competition going for budding authors. So if you've got stuff you'd like to have published, drop by the Revenge Ink Competition Page.

Running #5

Today's Stats:
Distance: 10 km
Time: 55 min 35 secs

Did an indoor run on the gym treadmill. Ran at an easy clip, relaxed right through, controlled and didn't push myself after the long weekend shenanigans :)

Additions to the list

I've updated the list of blogs I visit often. The new additions are:

1. Inkscrawl
2. The City Life... and travels beyond
3. Simply Complicated

The Cost of Freedom

• A displaced and exiled Government.
• Punishment and death by a ruthless oppressor resulting the death of an estimated death of 1.2 million people. That's a conservative estimate.
• Foreigners being transported into their homeland by the oppressor to disperse the population. Today, for every native, there are three foreigners in their own land.
• A spiritual leader of the country who cannot go home to where he belongs.

How long will the people of Tibet suffer illegal Chinese occupation? Sometimes, things in life make you wonder where justice is hiding.

Obese? Your employer suffers

If you're in Japan, that is. Employees have to go through compulsory 'flab-checks'. Overweight people get a fitness and diet plan. Excessively obese people have to go to the doctor.

All this to cut down soaring medical costs.

No I didn't make this up!

Meditation Works. So Says (Neuro)Science.

Apparently, we now have scientific evidence that meditation is good for us. While I don't meditate myself, some of the things in the article I read really struck me.

It said that we indulge in 'too much frantic doing' and 'not enough being'. I completely agree. Most times when I've felt stressed are when I've focused too much on getting someplace (physically or otherwise) where I'm not. When I've been obssessed about getting to the destination rather than just enjoying the journey.

In fact, that is one of my many life philosophies now. The journey has become the destination.

Running #4

Today's Stats:
Distance: 8 km
Time: 44 min 4 sec

Considering I almost didn't go, I guess it's a decent time.

It was one of those mornings when you wake up say to yourself, "I don't think I'm up to it, today." I wasn't. But I had one of those life-changing dumps. And I came out of the toilet a new man. I felt light as a feather :) There was no way I could not go.

So I got out there and huffed and puffed my lungs out. I think the heat and humidity are taking about 20 seconds off my times for the 8 km runs. Don't know for sure though. Will track the trends over the next two or three weeks.

Juno

One of the... I'm looking for the word... rraawwllrrraall... I can't find a word for it... nicest(?) movies I've seen in a while.

I loved the dialogue, the Americanisms (Leah: It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch? Juno MacGuff: No, this is not a food baby all right? I've taken like three pregnancy tests, and I'm forshizz up the spout.), the humour, the emotion and the treatment of the subject of teen pregnancy.

Juno is way cute. Bleeker is well, Bleeker. You have to see him to believe it. In Juno's words, he's the cheese in her macaroni! :)

Her relationship with her father and step-mom is weirdly beautiful. One of my favourite scenes is when Juno asks her dad if two people in love can really stay together.

For the record, I believe they can. :) Do watch!

P.S. Orange Tic Tacs rule! :)

Running #3

Today was time for an interval run. What's an interval run? Alternate between walking and relatively high-speed running.

Today's pattern:
3 mins of walking @ 5 km/h followed by a 1 km run @ 13.5 km/h (X 5 times)

This run is a killer! By the time you've reached the end of the 4th 1 km interval, your body wants to stop.

That's how it was today. The body desperately wanted to stop, but fortunately, the mind was willing. I pushed really hard on that last interval and it was well worth the effort.

I don't know what it is but always finishing the run that I set out to achieve has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life. It sounds like overkill. But if you've done a bit of running, you might understand how I feel.

The belief, confidence and high that you get when you always, always run the distance you decided to run is amazing. Until now, I've never had an unplanned stop while running. Sometimes, I think it's because I'm really stubborn that I never give up. Maybe stubborness' flip side is tenacity.

Running #2

Yesterday's Stats:
Distance: 8 km
Time: 45 min 19 sec

Amongst the worst runs I've had in a while. Extremely tiring, very hot weather and wayyyy too humid. It was like an oven out there and no breeze either. Just happy to have finished it.

Around the Corner

One of the most beautiful things about life, as I've only recently begun to appreciate, is that you never know what's around the corner. How often do we plan things, have to-do lists, have goals and objectives, call it what you will, and then suddenly something happens that just turns life on its head. Sometimes, it's a bad thing. Sometimes, it's a good thing. And then sometimes, it's just a thing, not good or bad. But it changes your life in some way. In a way you didn't expect.

That's what amazes me everytime. I used to be one of those planning types. Organised. I used to have goals, have a picture of myself five years down the road and all the usual success literatury things that we read in books. And then one of those unexpected events happened that would change the way I saw life.

I'm still sort of organised. But I have no goals. Nowhere where I want to be apart from where I am right now. I believe that there's an intelligence that is far greater than me that knows where I need to be. It's not that I've stopped taking responsibility for my actions but just that experiences in life make me believe that often, I don't know what is best for me.

You do what you believe you need to do, do it to the best of your ability and then let destiny take care of itself. Every moment, my belief is 'I am where I want to be.' It's a thought that has given me tremendous peace and strength. Whether it's a spending a late Friday evening at work or having a blast with my friends at my school re-union, that is where I was supposed to be. Despite my not wanting or wanting to be there at that instant.

That's why every day feels like an adventure. It's a real bummer at times. But then at others, it's like a fairy tale unfolding itself before my eyes. With me as a character.

I love not knowing what life has in store for me. Whether I will live to see tomorrow or not, I will enjoy the journey while it lasts.

Bear the tough experiences, ride the highs, learn from mistakes and be grateful for everything.

I have learnt to give up control of my life, but not the responsibility.

A Mind Reader?

Arrested for thought crimes. Other people knowing about your dreams. Bush's cronies in Homeland Security know how you feel about your annoying neighbour.

Just maybe. If the wrong people get their hands on this!

A device that can read minds apparently. Sort of cool. And sort of scary even.

Running #1

From now on, in addition to other random posts, I'm going to try and document my timings on morning runs so I can track my progress. (Assuming I make any progress)

Today's Stats:
Distance: 10 km
Time: 54 min 1 sec

Deat at a Funeral

Definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever watched, if not THE funniest.

British humour, idyllic English countryside setting, and brilliant characters. A recipe for a stomach-clenching laugh-a-thon.

As the title suggests, it's about a funeral, last rites, and a lot of wrongs!

I'm not going to spoil your fun by telling you the story. I love the movie too much to do that. Admittedly, it is disgusting at times. But funny disgusting. So if you fancy sarcastic humour, a bit of slapstick and some wit, this is a movie you cannot miss.

It left me doubled-over innumerable times during the movie with a stomach-ache that I thought would eventually kill me. My friends and I made the most noise in the theatre and later, we concluded it was a movie made for our insane humour.

Characters to watch out for: Uncle Alfie, Martha's boyfriend, the guy who's coming to the funeral to hit on Martha, the midget

P.S. If you do watch it, let me know if you liked it and what you thought of the movie.

Friday Evening

It's been a strange day.

I left home late because I got home late from work last night. Traffic was a bitch. Work, today, was annoying because, like yesterday, I had to wait for 4 hours for other people to finish their work before I could go on with mine. Traffic was a bigger bitch on the way home because the wimpy Chief Minister of Maharashtra's (equivalent to the Governor of a state in the US) son decided to get married. Then I stayed home instead of going out with my friends which I usually do. Now I'm writing this post at 11.16 p.m.

But I'm still feeling good.

How weird is that! I've been good this week somehow. Feeling less rushed. More in control.

Right now, I'm in this happy haze. Grateful for having a decent job (that still pisses me off every now and then). Having such wonderful people at work to hang out with. I really mean that. I don't have to pretend to be this corporate wanker. Instead, I can just be the wanker that I am. No politicking, no games.

Grateful for having these crazy friends outside work who I would trust my life with.

Grateful for all the special people who have been part of my life and gone on. Every one of them has touched my life in ways they will never know.

Grateful to my mother for being who she is. Tough, yet gentle.

And finally, grateful to that unknown force that keeps this crazy world going. Thank you.

I couldn't ask for anything more.

Wow

I just heard a couple of songs by Amy Winehouse (fine, I'm a late bloomer) and her music is awesome! Love is a Losing Game, Rehab and Tears Dry on Their Own are some of the songs I've listened to and they're so easy on the ears!

Soulful, mellow, soothing.

Some of the words that come to mind when I listen to her music. Great to unwind!

Questions

As a person who asks many questions, not necessarily to others, I've found that there's a whole bunch of categories as far as questions go. Here's my little classification:

1. I'd-rather-nots: Questions that you ask but don't really want an answer to.
Banal: You're looking at yourself in the mirror preening away when you realise you've put on a few kilos you could've done without. So you suck your tummy in and ask, "Have I put on weight?" *Sound of the wrong answer buzzer* I'd rather not know.
Not-so-banal: You've screwed up at home with your sibling/parent/spouse and you go, "What did I do?" *Sound of the wrong answer buzzer* You DON'T want to go down that road!

2. Answerables: These questions can be of four types, a) easy to answer and pleasant, b) easy to answer and unpleasant, c) not easy to answer and pleasant OR, d) the worst one of them all, not easy to answer AND unpleasant a.k.a. the double whammy.
Banal: So where are we going to dinner? Type a or c OR depending on who you're with, a type b!
Not-so-banal: Does s/he like me? I'd rate this as type c and a potentially type d question.

3. Unanswerables: I find these questions the most intriguing. They're the kind of questions that creep up on you when you're staring into nothingness at the airport terminal or sitting by the ocean watching the waves crash onto the rocks. Most often, there are no answers. There are no banal examples in my opinion so we'll do the examples a bit differently here.
Relatively less not-so-banal: You've just graduated from college with a degree in Philosophy. What do I do with my life now? How do I plan to spend the rest of my life constructively... or not? Making ends meet kind of stuff.
Relatively more not-so-banal: Is this how it was meant to be?

I don't know what it is about the unanswerables that catches my fancy. Maybe I'm not constructively occupied enough. I don't know. They can be real monsters. Consume you. Drive you to every nook and cranny of your little mind. They make you scan your experiences, scan others' experiences, observe yourself, observe others. Maybe more. But the answers just aren't there.

I find that most of life's BIG questions have no real concrete answers. What is the purpose of life? Is there a purpose? What is its meaning? Or why should there be any meaning to it? Why can't I go through life like a journey? Possibly a journey to nowhere in particular? Why should I be judged on what I have achieved? Why can't I go through life enjoying what I have instead of always looking for what I don't have?

There are no easy answers to these. I don't mean answers like "You're real purpose is to find your true Self." or "You must have a goal to give your life meaning." Things like that just don't cut ice with me anymore. Can you define this true Self? And what happens once I realise my goal? Does my life have no meaning beyond that? Or do I have to go looking for meaning at 54 once I have realised my goal? Give me a break.

You know what the fun part about the unanswerables is though? It's that every now and then life will give you these little glimpses of what you think is the answer until you meet another experience that smashes your conclusion until you reach a point where you say to yourself, "Alright, I may not find the answers, but I can keep seeking."

What do you think?
P.S. If you have categories to add, please do! :)

Inevitable

in·ev·i·ta·ble [in-ev-i-tuh-buhl]
–adjective
1.
unable to be avoided, evaded, or escaped; certain; necessary: an inevitable conclusion.
2.
sure to occur, happen, or come; unalterable: The inevitable end of human life is death.
–noun
3. that which is unavoidable.

Yeah, for some inexplicable reason, that word is just stuck in my head!

Needless to say, the consequences are inevitable. ;)

Gifting Dilemma

My mum's birthday is in another couple of days and I have no idea what to get her.

She's one of those people who don't want anything in particular which makes it EXTRA hard to figure out a gift. She's not into flowers. No perfumes. None of the usual women gifts! Sorry to stereotype!! :) But you know what I mean.

I'll take her out to dinner for sure. She loves Thai food so atleast that makes things easier.

Now to buy a gift.

Running out of idea's... and time!!!

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