Life As I Know It

What Does A Monument Stand For?

2011-12-29T19:23:00.002+05:30

Earlier this month, my friends had stayed over at our place in Delhi. Over the weekend, we went out for a bit of sight seeing and one of the places we visited was India Gate. It was very crowded and noisy but the monument itself was very impressive. We walked around it, took pictures and read the inscriptions - the usual touristy things. From there, we went on to have lunch and visit other places. All in all, a fun day!

I have been passing by India Gate for almost a year and a half now as it falls on the way to work. There is a traffic signal bang opposite it and after a couple of days after our visit there, I had to stop for the signal. I turned to look at India Gate and I started remembering our little trip, the jokes we cracked and the awesome lunch that followed it. A few days back, while having a late lunch with a friend at a restaurant overlooking the Hauz Khas tank, I described to him the history of the place. Basically, a few snippets that I remembered from the heritage walk my parents and I had participated in (October).

That is when it struck me - while Hauz Khaz was built as a Royal Tank by the Khilji dynasty and the India Gate stands as a war memorial; for me, these monuments are symbolic beyond their history. They also signify the great times that I was lucky to share with people who are important to me.

I must confess that I then went into a bit of an overdrive in trying to recollect other places that would qualify as a ‘monument’, to the extent that I labeled the country of Sri Lanka as a monument to one of the most romantic getaways that my wife and I have had (she would say we haven't had too many). That one week of superb hotels, peaceful beaches, lovely meals will always stand out for me. The list is long - Mysore place with my in-laws, places in Calcutta with all relatives before the wedding - I can go on and on.

I wonder if the Kings of yore realised that when they built these superb structures, somebody somewhere in the future will be thanking them, while carving their own personal moments around them. Until the next ‘monument’ trip then....

The Dear Departed Flatness

2011-09-14T23:40:00.002+05:30

For those of you who have it enjoy it while it lasts. For the rest - of us - we know it ain't coming back. No sirree, its tossed its head, kicked up its heels and run away into the sunset. I am talking about the body part called the stomach aka the abs aka the six pack area....

I was luckier than my peers because I have always been thin and that stood me in good stead for a longer period. Just to clarify when I mean thin, I don't mean in a lanky, long distance runner with sinewy muscles way. So it was in the last two years that my paunch (shudder shudder) started growing. At first I ignored it and why not? I was going regularly to the gym, I was never a big eater and ..... well I was dead sure that was enough. Even in the gym, I would rarely do abs because I was busy sculpting the rest of my body.

Then I moved to Delhi and my regularity to the gym instead became an erratic schedule. What my namesake St Matthew said - 'Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak' totally applied to me. Well, the partial truth is that my old gym sucked big time but let bygones be bygones....

Unlike King Henry, I couldn't just say 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest... errr... paunch?' but two events strengthened my resolve to rid me . One (minor) was that my gym membership expired and I had the opportunity to join a much better gym with less testosterone laden Punjabis, which was also walking distance from my house. The other (MAJOR) was that my wife started grabbing my paunch and calling it by all kinds of names. ENOUGH my body screamed. I strode out to hit the gym (in March)...... but the rest is not history my friends. If I may, I would like to compare this story to the movie 300 - Unlike the soldiers there my stomach still remains rotund and that is the similarity with the movie, an unhappy ending. Wait, is there a possibility of a sequel? Over the last week, my wife has grudgingly admitted that the lovable / evil paunch (depends on which way you look at it) has gone down. Watch this space for more.... and if you are a true fan, write to me for contributions to my gym fund.

The Park Outside Our Apartment

2011-07-31T22:16:00.070+05:30

If you are familiar with colonies in New Delhi, you would know that they all have parks within them. Usually more than one - our colony has, I think, four of them. I am familiar with only one of them (not the one featured here) and that too only how they look at night because I did quite a few rounds of the colony while training for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. I would come back from work, change and head out. I could not use the park opposite my place (the one featured here :) as the lights were off. It was only last weekend that I stepped into it because I wanted to figure out our Nikon DSLR 5000. The photos in the link are a mix of pics taken last weekend and again today and my first attempt at a photo blog.

https://picasaweb.google.com/pravinmathew123/Park?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-cvoPjnIOzqgE#

Where You Are When It Rains

2011-07-15T22:19:00.000+05:30

It does matter you know. The rain feels good or bad depending on where you are. Have a look at the normal associations people have with rains. Probably the only good association that comes to mind is the smell of the wet earth. Other than that, its probably traffic jams, screwed up schedules, sitting in your hotel room waiting for the rain to ease up so you can continue your holiday. Ever been in a Bombay local train during or after a shower? Trust me, its one memory you don't want.

I love being at home when the rains come in, especially if it is a weekend. To laze around in bed or in the balcony with a cup of coffee in hand and a book to read - divine! Only need a hound curled up at ones feet to complete the picture. It feels very cozy and nice. An additional benefit is I can avoid going out to do the chores by making like Milli Vanilli - Blame it on the rain. Even if we have to go out for dinner or a movie, it feels good to drive through the rain (provided it is a short distance). Get into the theatre, eat some popcorn and when you are out the rain probably has stopped and the streets are nice and empty.

When I'm in office, it feels just the opposite. Especially if there are a couple of meetings to be done. Just the thought of driving through traffic, find a parking spot, walking through the rain (because an umbrella is never handy when you need it) and then sitting in an office when your clothes are wet and the ac is blowing - brrr, sends a chill down my spine.

One of the terrible-est experiences I had was being stuck in the massive rain that took place in July 2005 in Bombay. I had to walk from Borivali to Vile Parle, a distance of about 25 kms. I took me about 7 hours to complete that journey. Luckily, one of my colleagues who stayed close to my place was with me and we managed to brave the rains together. Man, it was a mess. At certain points, the water on the road was flowing so strongly that we nearly got swept off our feet. People were stranded everywhere, be it pregnant women or children staring out of school buses. We finally made it to my colleagues home late at night, to find that there was no power and there wasn't even enough water to drink, let alone shower. The power came on the day after that and finally the wine shops opened :) After a long shower and a couple of beers, we headed out for a movie and some hot food. Talk about coming back to life.

In different places, the rains come in different forms. Many times, Bombay showers come out of nowhere, soak you completely and just before you head into shelter they stop. In Kerala, the rain keeps 'crying' non-stop. Never more or less in consistency, it keeps pouring consistently till you get sick of it. In Delhi, its like a threat. The skies remain dark and the humidity reaches an all time high but no sir, no relief from the sky. I think Chennai showers are still more 'normal' than the others but the massive puddles on the roads remain long after, even when the sun has been blazing. Its just where you are when it rains baby and how you feel....

I had the privilege of doing my graduation in a college with a huge lush campus of 365 acres, covered with a zillion trees. When it rained, we used to head for 'campus walks' sometimes. It is a completely different feeling, getting totally soaked, walking through slush among trees that keep dripping down with water. Once we were lucky to see a monitor lizard which was caught in a drain. We left a tree limb for it to climb out and safely moved away. I recently tried to re-capture the feeling when I was headed back from the gym. I had already called ahead to tell my wife to put the geyser on so that I could dive into the shower after my long walk of 200 meters. It was barely drizzling and I took my cap off after 50 meters because I just could not feel the rain. Maybe I didn't get wet enough. Maybe I was too jaded to get that 'close to nature' feeling, especially with all trappings of a crowded colony. I just wasn't satisfied but man after I took a shower and sat down to read with a cup of coffee and a book -, it did feel DIVINE!

Digital Cameras = Instant Gratification

2011-07-07T23:22:00.002+05:30

Gratification - the state of being gratified; great satisfaction

Gratify - to give pleasure to (a person or persons) by satisfying desires or humoring inclinations or feelings

I read an article that said that the sales of DSLR cameras has jumped to 80000 units last year from 40000 the year before. This year it is expected to touch 200000 units. Initially I wasn't very happy that my wife had contributed to the 80000 mark because it meant an outlay of Rs 33000 (she argues that I have no right to be unhappy because I never contributed).

I love the camera though. I got up on a rainy morning, took a cup of coffee and sat in the balcony. I turned my head and suddenly saw raindrops just about to drip off our 'X'mas tree plant'.

I jumped out of the chair, got out our Nikon and clicked off about ten snaps from various angles. I also took a couple of more snaps from our balcony as the whole scene looked so nice and green.

You ever used a DSLR? Its got a really nice heft to it. It doesn't feel flimsy like a digicam. It feels like a real camera. Lots of dials and symbols on it and if you are feeling lost, just pull up the menu. Well I haven't gone beyond the auto function - what they call point and shoot :) The pictures come out real good. Click click click and if you don't like what you got click click click again.

At that time, Dad was an amateur photographer. He still has two beautifully leather encased cameras, one a Japanese Ricoh and the other a Russian Kiev (I think). I called him today cause I wanted some details about the cameras and he started to wax lyrical. He told me the difference between the two of them, that one was an SLR and the other was a Range Finder. One of them had a 'leaf shutter', the other (I was lost by then) was to be used carefully because when the flash function was used, there was a danger of too much light leaking in because the shutter speed was to be reduced from 1/1000 to 1/30 ........ I begged forgiveness and cut the call because my reduced attention span was not capable of taking all this in.

Unlike us, my Dad had to buy the Ricoh second hand. He had to be pretty careful while clicking the snap because he couldn't just hook the camera to the laptop to see the result. Also, the moment he tried to capture wasn't waiting around for a laptop to boot up. He had to pay the photo shop the development charges and then wait for a couple of days to see the results of his 'click click click'. The funniest was when he took the initial snaps with the Russian camera only to realise that he could only correct himself through trial and error - cause all the instructions were in Russian.

I can rationalise this when I think that technology has progressed since then to make things better and more convenient so I shouldn't be a sap who moans that things were better in the old days. Also our generation is placed better financially with a hell of a lot more 'purchasing power'. Dad left me with an apt anecdote which I will leave with you as well. He was taking photography classes and he went to show his teacher a snap of a group of children. The teacher said "If you were closer to the children, it would have turned out to be a much better photo". Dad got angry and replied "Do you really think that the children would be waiting around for me to take their picture?" The teacher answered (Zen-like) "That is why there are only a few great photographers in the world". I hope I have made my point.......

Of College Interests And Careers

2011-06-25T22:42:00.000+05:30

Nothing new to say here. In fact, there must be a gazillion English movies around this theme. Hero / Heroine was really good at something in college. Life forced them to move on to something staid, normal and uninteresting. The event that forced the move was something spectacular or tragic or tragically spectacular. After 5, 10, 20 years another event forces them to look back, reconsider and then pursue their interest. Happy Ending and the credits roll.

This fact of life really struck me last night when I was over at a friends place for dinner. In college, he had started something with a group of friends. The venture had a decent run and had garnered good publicity. The friends could not continue with it and moved on to other things. My friend went on to do his MBA. Recently, he had quit his job of 7 years and joined another company in the same space as his earlier venture.

So yesterday he took out some old newspaper clippings where his venture was featured (like in the movies, his mom had compiled it :). Lots of stories came pouring out - some told with pride, some a little ruefully but nevertheless I could see the enthusiasm with which the friends had pursued it and the challenges they must have faced as young trailblazers. The good thing was that he had kept in touch with how that particular industry was progressing and now he was in a place where he could do more work with experience and maturity.

Briefly, I reflected on the stuff that had interested me (other than the lovely lasses :). Well, I was a member of the 'Western Dance' team and had represented college. About 8 months back, I had joined dance classes. It did feel great to shake a leg and I was on a high after each class. The whole teaching format sucked though and the instructors were really young. After four classes, we went for a holiday and I came back with a badly injured big toe. Using this as an excuse, I never went back. I also liked playing sports, was a decent enough Table Tennis player. I still try to be physically active and drag my a** to the gym thrice a week. I read books then also and continue to read actively. I am a member of a library here and trust me, no work of fiction in the murder / action thriller genre escapes me.

What I want to say here is that unlike the movies, the majority of us didn't have an event that pushed us out of our interests. We followed the mainstream, got an education, joined work where we got a break or where our parents wanted to see us. What I want is for you to take that pause and reflect on what interested you earlier. It need not be something that will take you down a new career path but could at least rekindle a passion that keeps you occupied in the otherwise free time after which you moan that you didn't do anything satisfying at all. Or maybe you would end up doing something that becomes a theme for a movie and then you will say on Oprah that - 'Y'know I read a blog that inspired me to start this thing off.....'. You'll never know till you don't tread that path.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart - Buddha

Sadi Gali - Tanu Weds Manu

2011-06-25T21:20:00.000+05:30

Sevilla At Claridges

2011-06-19T21:52:00.000+05:30

We had gone over to Sevilla at Claridges for dinner with friends, Claridges Hotel is very conveniently located at the posh Aurangzeb Road, especially convenient if you are working at CP. It doesn't look very big from the outside.

As per the description on the hotels website - Named after Seville, the artistic and cultural capital of southern Spain, and inspired by the blue seas, azure skies and lucid landscape of the Mediterranean, Sevilla offers a dining experience that delights the senses. Sevilla's picturesque indoor-outdoor ambience, with the indoor and outdoor areas merging to provide a free flowing, casual dining experience has a style of its own, reflecting the enchanting Spanish Riviera.

The restaurant is set outside the hotel, towards the back and you have to walk around the main building to get there. The ambiance is superb and it hits you just after you walk in and start making sense of the arrangement. Most of the tables are set outdoors, with tent like tops and curtains on the side (always reminds of stories of Arabian camps :) There are two enclosures, which are air-conditioned and we had booked one of these. Since it had rained in the noon, it was very pleasant outside and we actually asked for another table but they didn't have a free one. At one point, we took our drinks and sat outside for a brief while. It was then that I realised that there were such tall trees planted all across and around that it no longer felt we were in the heart of Delhi. The other thing I realised was that the tables were set fairly apart, quite private. Almost forgot, there was a duet going on - man and lady, sang some of the old numbers, really good.

The food is supposed to European / Mediterranean. The wine selection seemed to be extensive. I didn't like the food too much especially the starters. The main course was decent and we enjoyed the dessert especially the mango sunny side up. Of course the waiter kept recommending the specialities which none of us ordered so maybe you can try them - paella, wood fired pizza and the house special sangrias. I would love to go over in the winter after an early dinner, catch a couple of drinks. Hope the singers will still be there....

Check out the pics at The Sevilla, Claridges

Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin - Dare I Call It A Bollywood Classic?

2011-06-11T20:32:00.000+05:30

Last evening (Friday), I finished work at around 9.30 pm, took a shower, poured myself a drink and switched on the TV to unwind a bit. I prefer watching English movies and was hoping there would be a good action movie, recent release but the channels were predictably boring and were showing the same movies for the 10th to 100th time. While surfing channels, I realised that Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (henceforth referred to as DHKMN) was just starting off (the opening credits were rolling). I decided to stick with it, thinking that I have always missed the beginning and I could at least watch the comedy part.

After the first 5 minutes or so, the song Galyan Sankali Sonyachi started and I started humming along as the thought passed through my mind that 'Thank God, Hindi movies seem to be less prone to breaking into songs these days'. Then Aamir Khan enters the scene, does a comedy sequence where he argues with the bus conductor, Pooja Bhatt takes his seat and the movies takes off....

My memory of the movies of that period is the endlessly crass stuff that used to be overbearing on any one angle - action meant extreme violence and rape scenes, family dramas killed it with complications and comedy was just too stretched out. The reason why I would like to call DHKMN a classic is that it has all the elements that make it a good Bollywood picture

- Great chemistry between Aamir and Pooja Bhatt (she looks very brash and cute despite the horrible hairstyle)
- Super soundtrack composed by Nadeem Shravan - dil hai ke manta nahin, adain bhi hai, sapnon ke saudagar, dil tujhpe aagaya. I must confess that towards the end I got a little tired of them bursting into song once too many times but the songs made up. Click on this link for the soundtrack

- Good comedy by all the characters. Personally I am very happy that Anupam Kher was fairly restrained in terms of length of his scenes
- The storyline is not very different and quite predictable but at least it is fairly fast paced and does not prolong any scene

I'm kinda thinking of stuff to add here but nothing is coming to my mind so thats it folks. Don't break a sweat but watch it again if you get a chance. Cheers.

For the DVD, click on Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin

In The Still Of The Night - Boyz II Men

2011-06-04T22:18:00.000+05:30

Mamagoto - Khan Market South Delhi

2011-06-04T13:16:00.000+05:30

When Indrani told me that lets go to Mamagoto in Khan Market, I was not sure what the name of the place was. I was thinking in my mind - is it like Mama Grotto? Anyway we had just finished casing GK-I and didn't find anything interesting. So we decided we will head out to Khan Market and check out the joints there.

It was the beginning of the month and I had gotten off work early. Suddenly, Indrani suggested that we head out for dinner and I was like - Perfect. Got home, took a shower, intercepted her downstairs only so we didn't waste much time :) Anyway we reached Mamagoto at around 9ish. They have proudly displayed a board of Times Food Guide outside which was quite comforting. We walked up to the first floor and found the place decent. A bit of a haphazard arrangement but you cant get better in South Delhi. Attentive waiters, decent ambiance, I began to get comfortable.

Anyways, I ordered a pint of Fosters and Indrani ordered a mint based refreshment. As starters we ordered some corn fritters. It was very good and served with some yummy red chilli sauce. At this point in time, I was bit worried that they may serve the food really fast but they were very very decently timed. So in the main course, I ordered Sticky rice with Teriyaki sauce, served with lamb and Indrani ordered stir fried vegetables. I really enjoyed the food and would encourage y'all to head there for a quite dinner. The whole thing - two pints of beer, one refresher, starter and two main courses cost us Rs 1700. Pretttty decent I think.

By the way, Mamagoto means "to play with food" in Japanese. Nice name. No wild parties though where you can throw stuff at each other ;) Heard their cocktails are good and I really liked the food so go, PLAY.

Meditation And I

2011-05-28T23:26:00.001+05:30

Meditation

1. the act of meditating.

2. continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation.

Meditate

1. to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2. to engage in transcendental meditation, devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

At the outset, I must say that i am one of the least qualified people to give gyaan on meditation. I am a very infrequent practitioner, with no formal training whatsoever (as you can see above, any state of inebriation doe not qualify :). Nonetheless, I am fascinated by it and believe a lot of good can be done to oneself if you make it a part of your routine.

My exposure to meditation has been as much as any other Indian kid, either on TV or coming across Yoga classes. Add to that a healthy interest in kung fu movies - yes lots of exposure. I am sure all of you can conjure up images of Bruce Lee, Van Damne, Chow Yun-fat. The first time I did any in depth reading of mediation was when I was reading up on Zen Buddhism. I cant find the article now but that was the only reading that I have ever done on meditation techniques. I think it had the basics pretty much pat and I shall try and reproduce them

- Sit on a mat (not too cushioned). It should be placed close to a wall

- Sit in a cross-legged position, with your right leg over the left leg. Keep your back straight and face and shoulders aligned

- Close your eyes, not fully but barely opened

- Breathe in and out deeply

- In order to empty your mind of thought, start by counting your breath

- After you master the art of the emptying your mind, give up on the counting up part and only focus on breathing in and out

- After you master this also, just focus on emptying your mind of thought

The Zen Masters also had certain riddles or parables called koans, which they used to tell their disciples and asked them to meditate on. This was to help them on their path to Enlightenment. Here is a list that I, as your master, want to pass on http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html. Do I hear you questioning me? Then here is a dialogue from The Karate Kid to help you along. Me - Miyagi, you - Daniel, capish?

Miyagi: First, wash all car. Then wax. Wax on...

Daniel: Hey, why do I have to...?

Miyagi: Ah ah! Remember deal! No questions!

Daniel: Yeah, but...

Miyagi: Hai!

[makes circular gestures with each hand]

Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.

[walks away, still making circular motions with hands]

Miyagi: Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

On a serious note, I have started meditation again. Work has been really hectic and more than often, I was coming home late, having dinner and crashing out without much time for unwinding. When my sleep would break in the morning, I would start thinking about work and the tasks I have to complete which was at best a little unnerving. I started meditating before sleeping. At first, I couldn't even reach a count of 65 but I have now slowly 200. I couple it with the Lords Prayer in between and after that get into bed. I am out like a light and thankfully, get up peacefully in the morning. I forgot to mention one more technique - whenever a thought comes to you, recognise it and say goodbye to it. If it persists, then ask it to park itself next to you for a while (hope I got that right, Lisa). I hope I am able to continue this and discover something better, maybe enlighten myself. Till then All Izz Well.

Our Trip To Kaziranga - April 2011

2011-05-26T22:35:00.000+05:30

It was Bihu time and once again, we were off to Assam to celebrate the harvest festival. One of my wife's brothers was also coming down so it was a good opportunity for the family to be together. Last Bihu, we had made a small trip to Nameri which went off really well. So this time we decided to Kaziranga, home of the unique one horned rhino. From my past experience of talking to people about Assam was that they would start asking - Where else did you go? I have been to Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tawang blah blah blah so it is better to make a trip of your own to counter this :)

My father-in-law got the news that part of the road to Kaziranga (from Guwahati) was not in good shape, so he wisely booked an Innova to ferry us. Later, I realised that having a driver along kinda kills the mood as you are always a little conscious of an outside presence and therefore a little restrained. Anyway, no complaints against Ramesh - he was punctual, drove fairly well, no smart aleck stuff at all. The only problem was that his CD player was not working and he actually had a cassette player with tapes from the late 80s.

With good intentions we planned to leave before 10.00 am but managed to leave only by 3.30 pm. We decided to go by the State Highway for part of the way before joining the National Highway to avoid traffic. The road was smooth and the route was quite picturesque. Unlike Kerala highways where there is so much traffic and you can easily get stuck behind a lumbering truck, we didn't face that problem here. Just after joining the highway, we stopped at Hotel Aakriti in Jagiroad and had a cup of tea and shingaras (samosas). Really yummy, do stop here if you get a chance. It was slow going on the National Highway as most of it was in stages of completion and then it also started raining. For a brief while, we were stuck in a jam and I was like - we are going to reach only after midnight. It cleared quickly though and we made it to the hotel by 9.30 pm.

IORA was the hotel we stayed in (booked by one of our relatives) and rightly, it has been rated No 1 by Trip Advisor. However, it is a proper proper hotel and so if you are looking for something more rustic or jungle-ey types, please do your research. You could try Bonhabi - couple of my friends stayed there and they recommend it. Anyway, IORA has very comfortable rooms and a nice bathroom. We freshened up and headed to the dining room. Just outside the dining room, they had put up a big screen and were showing the IPL matches. We went in and ordered some Chinese food (pretty good) while my wife ordered Continental (very good). We finally crashed out at 12.00 am, dreading the fact that we had to get up early for the safari.

Some information on Kaziranga (courtesy Wikipedia) - Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. The park hosts two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses. Kaziranga boasts the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer. Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, crisscrossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and the park includes numerous small bodies of water.

There are two types of safaris - Elephant Safari which lasts about 45 minutes, costs Rs 350 per head and the advantage is that you can get really close to the Rhinos. The other is the Jeep Safari that lasts about 2 hours, stays on the beaten path but covers more area. Ideally, you can do one in the evening and the other in the morning. Anyway, we reached the reserve at 5.45 am and climbed on to a horu (small) elephant as there were only four of us. The entry to the reserve is quite pretty, with a bridge over a river. Almost immediately, we spotted two rhinos and headed over to that side. Quite a sight. They look short but very heavy and imposing. Coloured like white cement, their skin looks very very tough. The horn is not very scary but I sure as hell don't want to be in front of it, ever. We saw a couple more, clustered in small groups. There was a mother-child duo, very cute to see the little one follow his mother. We got quite close too, about four feet before they moved off.

We saw some bison bathing in the water and some wild boar feeding. Both were too far away to make an impression. We then came back through a slightly different route, a heavily wooded area. As safaris go, it was very average, too crowded and there was not a chance of seeing anything interesting. The rhinos were worth it though but I will never repeat it. We decided not to take the jeep safari as we were a little tired and didn't want to spend two hours, well knowing that we had a long journey back home. We headed back to the hotel and ate some breakfast, buffet style. Being Bihu, they had served the traditional food as well as the normal fare. Decent spread, decent taste. We then stretched our legs around the resort. It is well maintained and at the back overlooks a tea garden. They also rent bikes to go around. We checked out and then stopped at a restaurant in town - Hotel Aashiana for lunch - rice, dal, chicken curry and some yummy fish fry. They also served their own brand of mineral water so we had a good laugh joshing that they must be filling the bottle from a tap at the back. We came back the way we went and again stopped at Hotel Aakriti but this time the samosas were not so good. All in all, a decent getaway but a little rushed. I would like to go again, spend two nights in a resort with cottages and go for safaris which are highly recommended. Maybe a little driving around with a working CD player. Next time, next time....

Some pics of the reserve and the hotel - https://picasaweb.google.com/pravinmathew123/Kaziranga#

Kaziranga, the rhino land

Rajinikanth - I Like

2010-12-19T01:24:00.000+05:30

Rajinikanth (Tamil: born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad on December 12, 1949) is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in Apoorva Raagangal (1975), a Tamil film directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor. It was K. Balachander who re-christened him as Rajinikanth after a character in his play Major Chandrakanth. He then worked in Tamil cinema often portraying antagonistic characters and gradually rose to acting in lead roles. Other than acting, Rajinikanth also worked as a producer, screenwriter, and playback singer. Apart from his film career, he is also a philanthropist, spiritualist and serves as an influence in the politics of Tamil Nadu.

(Source - Wikipedia)

Hmmm, I have been sitting for 10 minutes trying to figure out what to write about Rajini. He means a lot of things - he has always been there, right from school days when I was in Chennai. I think at that time I was not too impressed by him (I hope he doesn't read this :-) It wasn't like I was going to give up playing with the other kids to watch a re-run of Billa or some other 3-hr movie where one hour was spent on fighting, forty five minutes on weeping, shouting and other emotions, thirty minutes on songs and some story interspersed in the meantime.

Unlike my friends from Tamilnadu, I think I missed the good phase of Rajini movies because I left Chennai in 1989 and all the major hit movies and some of the greatest dialogues came after this time.

1991 Thalapathi; 1992 Annamalai; 1993 Yejaman; 1995 Badsha; 1995 Muthu; 1997 Arunachalam; 1999 Padayappa

I went back to Chennai in 1995 for college but never got into a Rajini craze. I think it was only after starting work and having real access to cable TV that I managed to see some Rajini movies. I found them quite entertaining. I realised that his movies are quite entertaining (the ones I mentioned above). The storyline is strong and keeps moving. It does get a bit monotonous because it is usually e centered on Rajini overcoming evil and great hardship. The theme is rags to riches or sometimes riches to rags to riches. The comedy is quite good and Rajini does have a great sense of timing. Of course, his dialogue delivery is superb. I am guessing the reason they are called punch dialogues is usually cause they invigorate the watchers interest. The songs are catchy and the cinematography / editing etc seem to be really slick.

I have seen two videos of Rajini on YouTube, which were taken during the launch of Endhiran. I would like to think that the first one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rP18sTg-Ds&feature=related shows the kind of person he is and what he continues to be. The second one, no doubt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USopIY5IK84&feature=related shows him to be a crowd pleaser, masterful with his timing and totally at ease with what he is.

Conclusion - catch a few of the movies I have mentioned. I don't know if you can get it but I would recommend watching it in Tamil, subtitled in the language of your preference. Only then will you get the PUNCH, the thrill, the satisfaction of watching a Rajini movie. Leaving you with a few famous dialogues of his to get you going

Baasha - What I say once, consider it said hundred times...

Arunachalam - God proposes...Arunachalam disposes...

Muthu - When I will make an entrance, where and how.. nobody will now. But when I do make one, it will be at the right time.

Baba - An explosion is caused only when a bomb is thrown. "Baba" just has to say something to cause an explosion.

Shivaji - Pigs come in a group, Lion walks by himself

I Hope I Grow Into Growing Older

2010-12-10T23:58:00.000+05:30

It took so long

To realize

And I can still hear

Her last goodbyes

Now all my days

Are filled with tears

Wish I could go back

And change these years

I'm going through changes

by Black Sabbath - 'Changes'

I have become kinda addicted to action movies. Earlier, I could watch any kind of movie - action, old westerns, romantic comedies etc etc. I asked myself - why the change in preference? The only answer I came up with was that I was growing older and action movies made feel - you know - kick ass. The adrenaline, the recklessness, the ability to move your body the way you would at a superb physical condition (I like the combination of those words).

I do feel that I'm at a pretty good phase though. Well paying job (can afford Scotch), two cars, rented apartment at a nice location in Delhi, platinum card which if lost could cause a serious hole, the best family and the best wife in the world, wonderful dependable friends... If you read my last post, you would know that I ran a half marathon in 2 hrs:4 mins and that my friend is a pretty good timing. Even then, there is a nagging fear in my mind. Most of the time it comes up when I see my parents. Its not easy to see that there is not a single black hair left, a little loss of memory, a little less sure of themselves. It does happen so very often that I call them up and ask where they have been and they would be going or coming from a funeral. I know, very morbid.

At one time, I asked myself - what is the mark I have left on this earth? A billion people in India, six billion i the world, living RIGHT NOW. Forget about the ones who died. Whom do I remember - Adam, Eve, the rest of the biblical characters, the Good Lord, Napoleon, the Indian Freedom fighters, Adolf Hitler, Muhammed Ali, Mariah Carey? Whose gonna remember me? So I toyed with the idea of doing 'charity'. Step out, use my weekends, help the underprivileged. I am ashamed to say I didn't do a thing. In fact, my wife's cousin asked me to organise funds for charity as a part of my run and I didn't raise a paisa. I was busy at work and barely had the time to train but the fact is I completely forgot about it.

Coming back to the topic - I wish I could freeze frame life right now but I like the way each day unfold into the next (unless I haven't slept enough). Something new comes up else my routine keeps me going. Some of it is good like our new Nikon SLR camera. Some of it makes me feel older - like the dance class we joined where 90% of the batch consisted of 12+ students. I mean, what do you relate to? Its all good mate especially when you use a few few angles to beat the young uns :) So hit the gym, listen to some hip-hop, shake a leg, have a drink, make the ones you love feel special - that's my formulae. Whats yours?

Random

2010-12-03T23:32:00.000+05:30

Random - without definite aim, purpose, method, or adherence to a prior arrangement; in a haphazard way

Lots of random thoughts come to us - some make us smile, lots makes us think, few make us laugh - if we are lucky and one or two make us despondent. Its all good, mate. That makes me think of two things - one is hows it going?? We start off with - its all good but.... the second is Australian = Mate = Fosters (Australian for beer).

Australia makes me think of the movie with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Good movie, quite entertaining, Hugh Jackman is quite inspiring - makes me want to hit the gym everytime, Nicole Kidman makes me wonder if Katie Holmes was a better choice, Tom Cruise shoulda won the Oscar for A Few Good Men or Jerry Maguire, Renee Zellweiger looks really hot in Jerry Maguire but old these days........

Random - difficult to deal with, but nice to flow with. If you are in the mood. Random drive by shooting - touch wood, no one I know had to deal with it. Random kindness by a stranger - nothing comes to my mind. Rude behaviour - not very random but still disconcerting when you come across it especially when you are driving.

My sister had a toe fracture and has her toe in a cast. First one in the family. Every time I go for a medical check and I keep No, No to questions like "Did you have a fracture?", "Did you have jaundice, typhoid etc?", it feels good. Luckily, no one asks if I had IBS :)

Conclusion - that's what y'all are looking for. Well, you don't feel random, you been lucky. So go ahead, enjoy. If it doesn't last, the good times will come again.

Like the Japanese say - I Like

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM)

2010-11-06T10:27:00.002+05:30

I don't know what is wrong with my health. I fell ill in May, then June, then August and again over the last weekend. I don't know whether it is the stress at work but I can definitely blame my absence from blogging on that. Otherwise, my food habits have improved and I go to the gym quite regularly especially after the weather cooled down in Delhi. Of course, regular can be defined in many ways. As one of my learned friends said - "Yeah, I go to the gym regularly, I go once a week." Well, I used to go three to four times a week. Ever since I started training for the ADHM, it has reduced because I run on the road.

When I say road, I means the roads of the colony I stay in. I have been running at night because I have completely lost the ability to get up early in the morning on a consistent basis. The few days that I tried to get up early, I ended up psyching myself so much the night before that I couldn't sleep before 01.00 am. Till date, my wife pulls my leg for 'Project Sunrise' - a theory of mine that I shall now expound for y'all out there. Before the age of electricity (and other modern forms of lighting such as gas lighting), people had to get up at sunrise and go to sleep / rest after sunset. From the time of the early hunter-gatherers to the last century (this date has been arrived at only because it goes with the flow, no bloody research whatsoever), the human race didn't have a choice. You couldn't read up late, you couldn't party, you had to sleep as soon as the big light in the sky went out. So the longer we stay up, we are going against all those centuries of conditioning. I told my wife - I am gonna get up at the crack of dawn, get ready, hit the gym and do all sorts of things before the rest of the world rouses itself. I even went to the extent of checking the time of sunrise in the newspaper and setting the alarm for the afore mentioned crack of dawn. Well, all it achieved was one more arrow in her quiver.

Running at night has been very pleasant. If you are familiar with Delhi you will know that every colony has parks, big and small. Well, there is one right outside home but it is shut at night. The walls are not high but the lighting is very poor so I start with the one behind my house. I orbit around this one a couple of times and then head out on the roads of the colony. I can easily do a ten minute run to the other end of the colony and back. The weather is fine, obviously there is no traffic and the stray dogs are too lazy after extenuating themselves the whole day. The few people on the road stare at me curiously. I always feel like stopping and explaining - "Its not that I cant afford a gym. I am a member of one of the popular ones close by. Its just that I am training for the ADHM. Have you registered? No! You bloody wuss." But you know what - after about five minutes, I start feeling the physical strain and automatically slow into a rhythm that I can carry on with for the rest of the run. Then, I forget all about work and my mind wanders all over the place. When the run is over, its like coming out of a pleasant daze. I normally finish at the park, cool down with a few stretches and then head back, take a hot shower, some nice food in front of the TV and crash. Waah waah, kya baat hai. I cant say that all the tension is busted but yeah its pushed way back.

So far, I have not given any useful information about the Airtel Half Marathon. I confess - I don't know much about it. I know its on Nov 21st. The registration closes on 10th Nov. The days have been quite sunny and the forecast is pretty much the same for that date. If there is some breeze, it will be fine otherwise the latter part of the run could be sunny. So if this post appealed to you, log on to the website http://adhm.procamrunning.in/ and register NOW. Go for the Great Delhi Run at least. It will be like you are part of a carnival and I promise you will have fun. If nothing else, it gives you an excuse to tank up on beer cause you will definitely need the liquid nourishment. Hoping to see you there, cheers and all the best.

FIFA World Cup 2010 - Schedule In Indian Timings

2010-06-12T16:05:00.000+05:30

If you want the schedule of the matches being played at World Cup, you just need to go on to the site and find it. But obvious, you may say. Now, I will never confess to being technically challenged. Why - the discerning reader may ask? Because I am not, Yo! What I did was I logged on to Google, typed in the keywords and I couldn't find it. I then decided to go on to the FIFA Official Site and there it was, neatly mapped out. There is also a neat little link that converts the timings to your zone. Ah, the things technology can do for you. If you are really keen, there is also a pdf document which you can download. It is in South African timings so just add another 3 and 1/2 hours to get our timing.

I missed the opening ceremony, Shakira and the first match between SA and Mexico. I was at the gym, then headed home, took a shower, had dinner and was contemplating watching the inside of my eyelids when I thought of checking the action on ESPN. Hmmm, France Vs Uruguay at 11.50 pm. I continued to surf channels and was still awake when the match started. Suddenly, I could feel some of the old excitement coming back. I hardly knew any of the French players - Anelka and Ribery sounded vaguely familiar but I wouldn't be able to swear in court. The Uruguayan players drew zip, zilch, nada. Where was Thiery Henry!!! Anyway, the match started and I was glued to the action. I think by match standards it was okay. Unlike cricket though, the action was constant and fast paced.

Well, half time came up to find both sides goalless. I decided to call up Appa (Dad) and relive the old days when all of us used to sit up late to watch the World Cup. I first went and made a cup of coffee which was what we would normally do at half time (then it was tea actually). As expected, he was awake and watching the match. We went on to judge how France seemed to be a physically fitter and stronger team while Uruguay seemed to be facing co-ordination issues. This triggered Appa off. He stated his opinion that unlike the old days when there was so much more play making and flamboyance, nowadays the plays were much more organised and staid. According to him, England and Brazil always were clean teams with less fouls but Germany, Italy and even Argentina were pretty rough and ready kinds. He reminisced that Maradona was so good, despite being short and stocky, he could move so fast and it seemed like the ball was glued to his feet. Now all this would have been pretty interesting except that this is the same raag he gives every World Cup. I started cribbing that he was boring me and that I shouldn't have called only. He chided me saying that it was not his fault if I remembered everything. On this happy note, we decided to end the call while predicting that the second half would continue to be similar to the first.

The second half was better than the first. Many more yellow cards, one red card which France really tried to capitalise on and the arrival of Thiery Henry. Alas, it turned out to be a goalless draw. I hope the matches today and tomorrow turn out to be better. I need to stock up on some essential supplies - beer and chips :)I'm only worried about sleeping late on weekdays cause the matches end at 2:00 am. I guess this is why they call it the World Cup fever.

The Heat Is Hot - In Delhi

2010-06-06T19:25:00.001+05:30

Sorry, that was a bad play on the lyrics of the song by Glenn Fray - The Heat Is On. Just the right words for the climate in Delhi though. Whew! Chennai seems cooler man. Really. It can’t be nostalgia for sure that is making me remember it that way. During my last stint in Chennai, my landlord had installed an a/c unit in the bedroom and I used to make a beeline for it as soon as I stepped in. I was a bachelor then so I could lounge around in bed and only get out to surf the net or cook some food. I didn’t have anyone telling me to do this or get that. Disclaimer - I am a better man now ;)

After experiencing the heat of Delhi, I have learnt a few things. The thing that wears you down is that the heat never lets up. Just like the winters where it remains cold for days on end, the heat too gets to you after a point of time. Get into your car in the morning and the first rivulets of sweat start trickling down. If you happen to leave your lunch box in it, you definitely don't need to heat it. During the day, it becomes very difficult to step in and out of office. The air you breathe is so hot that you feel like choking. When you reach home sweet home, you can’t walk barefoot as the floor is nicely heated up. There is heat oozing from the sofa, the mattress and the cupboards. Feel like washing you face? Don’t open the tap lest you get scalded (we normally fill buckets so the water is relatively cooler). The other thing is that along with the hot wind comes a lot of dust. The maid normally dusts the house twice a week but recently that doesn’t seem to be enough. There is always a layer of dust by the time you return home.

People also tend to fall ill a lot. Cold and fever are common, so are bouts of vomiting and stomach upsets. I was out in the sun for two hours and had to rush to the nearest loo. In the short time my parents were over, my Mom had a bout of vomiting. Both of us recovered in a short span but it was yuck very unpleasant. We actually had to cut their trip short (why we called them over at this time in the first place is another story ;) The other day one of our fears came true when the landlady handed over the electricity bill. Whoa, the figures Rs 3840 leapt out of the bill and did a merry jig in front of my eyes. Till then, I had never seen a bill of more than three figures. Appetite is another thing that goes for a toss. Here I speak for myself as the average Delhiite does seem to have a very healthy appetite and come to think of it, they seem to be carrying along just fine.

The last few days have been a bit cooler though. The Met department had got it right that the monsoon is coming and there have been a few brief showers. The rains in Delhi always leave me a bit disappointed. In Kerala and to a somewhat lesser extent in Bangalore, it rains for extended periods. Chennai and Mumbai have shorter, slightly furious bursts that leave you drenched before you can find shelter. In Delhi however, there is a lot of hoo-hah before it rains. I have faced it many times while walking from one office to another. The wind springs up and blows like crazy. It makes little twisters and dust devils and you have to cover your face. Then the smell of rain hits you and you feel like a few drops of rain have fallen. You put your hand out expectantly and look up into the sky for deliverance but nothing comes. You wait for another ten minutes and still nothing. Damn, you turn around and head back in. After an hour, you head out to your car and lo, the few drops of rain that fell in the time you were inside have become crusty with all the dust that was blowing around. Good luck driving home mate. There has also been a time or two when I heard thunder and stepped into the balcony but phooey nothing to show. It was only last night that there was a brief but solid spell that even left the road wet . Of course today is much cooler thanks to this. A few spells like this should see us through June. July is when the rain is supposed to really kick in - lets see to what extent. Then the good weather till Oct and then the cold......

Drawing inspiration from Bing Crosbys song - Let It Snow, I can also look positively at the summer and point out a few good things

- A cold beer tastes even better than before

- Clothes dry in a jiffy

- You have an excuse for everything

- ''Go buy groceries. No Darling its so hot"

- "Why didn't you do this? Sorry Boss, its so hot"

- Shorts and skirts, spaghetti tops are in fashion. Like one of my friends said - Boy it must be getting really hot. The dresses are getting smaller every day.

- A cold beer tastes even better than before (did I say that before?)

See, there is a silver lining to everything. So go ahead, get a tan, get a beer, get a hat but try and ‘chill out’.

Jayanta Hazarika - I Like

2010-05-30T21:50:00.001+05:30

In one of my earlier posts, I had blogged about our trip to Nameri. As I had mentioned there, it was a five hour drive. To kill time, my father in law (Deuta) had taken a fine collection of CDs including the likes of Dire Straits which we could play (yeah, he is a cool guy). You know, it feels really good to start a journey listening to Mark Knofler play that sexy lead.

One of the things that came out of the drive was my exposure to the Assamese music legend, Jayanta Hazrika. I had never heard of him although everyone has heard of his elder brother, Bhupen Hazarika. I'm sure you are humming the song Dil Hoom Hoom Kare right now! Aah, as soon as the CD started playing, Ma piped up from the backseat and started signing away. A subtle change came over Deutas face also and he started tapping his fingers to the tune while smiling slightly. I smiled politely and took my eyes off the road to quickly scan the CD cover. My heart sank when I saw that there were over 15 songs but what to do!

As the first song was getting over, I realised that he had a very soothing voice and the songs reminded of old Hindi songs, maybe of the SD Burman / Salil Chowdhury varieties. I was actually expecting his voice to be something like Bhupendas voice - deep and rough. Anyway, I settled back to listen to the rest of the songs. After about 8 or 9 songs, suddenly there was this cheerful song which came up - Rambha Menoka Kimba Juthika. It was really catchy and had a nice beat to it. Anyway, I was concentrating on the road and trying to avoid abuses from the women in the backseat.

On our way back, I actually asked Deuta to play the CD again. It was better than before!! I enjoyed a lot more songs than before. It was totally within the settings - a trip into the countryside, Bihu festival, the long road undulating before us and this melodious collection playing. Anyway, the trip got over and we came back to Delhi. Within a day or two, I started scouring the net for the Rambha song but to my chagrin, it was nowhere. I went on to YouTube and tried listening to a few others but in my impatience I couldn't find any that I liked. After two three days, I finally calmed down and started listening to other songs. I then stumbled upon a user called Bohagboliya who had a nice collection of 12 songs uploaded. It is in karaoke style with excellent fonts and cool graphics.

Anyways, the point of all this is that good music leads to more good music and Jayanta Hazarikas songs continue to give me pleasure. I still wish I could get my hands on that song but in the meantime y'all sample these songs and let me know if you too felt the magic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK3sMwVy89M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw3rFNaYRro

Do You Have To Be A Narcissist To Be A Gymmer

2010-05-17T22:38:00.002+05:30

nar·cis·sism - inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity

Of course, the word gymmer doesn't exist. I am just using it here loosely as a person who goes to the gym regularly. Since I have been going to the gym for what, close to 5 years I realise that my theory has been developing subconsciously all this time. I remember when I started going to the gym. I was in Bombay at that time and I really missed playing some kind of sport. Talwalkars was quite close-by and I decided to join and go regularly. It was not too big but the way they had arranged the layout and the huge mirrors that they had put up made me feel good. As usual, people were milling around in front of the mirror making grotesque faces while pumping iron or hitching up their clothes to study their arms, stomachs and other body parts. I quietly sniggered to myself and thought to myself "I would be different. No ogling myself in the mirrors, I would quietly work-out and leave asap." I remained my modest self for sometime because my routine became quite erratic after I moved to Chennai.

I had transferred my membership to the Chennai Talwalkars and I didn't like the place. After this, I moved to Fitness One which was quite close to my place. Lots of space with plenty of cardio machines and a separate weights training area - Wow. Even then, it took me sometime to get into a routine and then I was transferred again. History repeated itself, I was not happy with FOne and I moved to Talwalkars. I was lucky to get a good trainer here and I started working out pretty regularly. It was at this time my behaviour started changing. I caught myself looking more frequently in the mirror and saying - "Hmmm, my biceps are looking nice" or "Hey I do look muscular in this T-shirt". The amazing thing was nobody else was saying anything about these changes (damn, I was not getting my moneys' worth). On the good side, people had stopped saying that I was too thin and once in a blue moon someone would say - Hey have you put on weight?

Then I started spending more time in front of the mirror at home. I won't get into the details but a lot of flexing and tough looks were happening. I would also catch my sister or parents when they were around and subject them to questions like is my body looking better or ask them to hit me on my chest or biceps!! Being the youngest does have some privileges :) Anyway coming to the main point of the story, I caught myself checking out said self in the mirror. I felt a bit guilty and saddened by the fact that I had become one of Them. Then I was like - Why not, you know. Things have definitely improved over the last couple of years. And then BAM I was like if things keep improving, would I spend more and more time in front of the mirror? I looked around and realised that the people who were spending more time in front of the mirror were people who were more fit/toned/bulked. Don't get me wrong, when you do any kind of exercise, you need to have a mirror to ensure that your posture and movements are correct. However there is a certain kind of look which you can only make out only if you are a regular. Enough said - there is nothing like a 'better' body. As long as you are feeling healthy and are comfortable, everything is fine. It definitely justifies staring in the mirror. Just remember what happened in the legend of Narcissus and don't turn into a flower.

My First Run In Delhi @ runningandliving.com

2010-05-15T14:08:00.004+05:30

After a 5 month hiatus, I finally went for a run in Delhi and it felt GOOD. Part of it was laziness but mostly it was because weekends have always been kinda busy with some domestic stuff happening.

I first heard of runningandliving.com when I went for the Bangalore Ultra Marathon. There was a paper insert with the stuff the organisers were handing out. Talk about timing - at work, talks were on about my move to Delhi. Within a few days of reaching here, very proactively I signed up as a member on their site and started getting updates on runs. In the initial days, most of the runs seemed to be in Noida and I was in the guest house at Westend. Since I didn't have my car yet and I didn't know the route (imagine trying to find Sector 61 early in the morning) and it was soooo cold, I had enough excuses to not go.

The run which was held on last Sunday - 9th May was at Gurgaon. As usual, there was a timely reminder sent out by Rahul Varghese who is the Chief Runner. He is an ex-MNC marketing head with 25 years of experience which he quit to explore his then new passion of running. As the days came closer, I started feeling nervous because a) I felt I haven't done enough training b) It had been a long time since my last run. On the eventful day, I got up at 4.30 am (blinking like an owl) and as usual took almost an hour getting ready. How I envy people who can get ready in a jiffy. I then drove like mad and reached the start point by 5.40 am which was the time most people also came in (the 10k run started at 6.00 am while the 5k was at 6.30 am). The start point was near Rose Park which is further down from Crowne Plaza Hotel, Gurgaon. The park has a huge parking lot and so have no worries of parking. After 5 minutes, Rahul came up carrying a small megaphone and took us through the run and the route. It was quite light hearted with him claiming credit for the good weather and comparing us to Olympic runners :) Post this, one of the sponsors - Elemention Gym had their trainers stationed who took us through a good warm up routine.

By this time around 40 runners had gathered and we started at sharp 6.00 am. The start point was the parking lot and the run was on the road. The distance one way was 2.5 kms and so we had to loop back and then do it all over again. Since it was so early in the morning, there was hardly any traffic. I had set my playlist to finish in exactly one hour because I wanted to better my previous time of 62 mins. I started off and the first two kms went off smoothly. Then I started to feel the strain. As usual, my upper back started to pain. Then my breath started getting ragged and I was like - "Did I get up at 4.30 am to do this? Why am I going through this hell?" After what seemed like ages, we finally came back to the starting point and I started getting my second wind. I checked the time and saw that 28 minutes had passed by. Simple math meant that I would finish the run in 56 minutes :) but I had to factor in that I was slowing down. I wanted to speed up a bit then but tried to keep a steady pace till I reached 7.5 kms. All the while, I was wondering how much of time was left. I took the turn without stopping to drink water as I was scared of breaking my rhythm. I started stepping up the pace by focusing on overtaking the person immediately in front of me. Not as easy as it sounds because that person was in front by virtue of running faster than me in the first place. Still, I gritted my teeth and pushed on. You are not going to believe the next part - first there was a foreigner whom I would overtake and then he would catch up again. This happened 3 or 4 times till I decided enough is enough and sprinted ahead to put a few extra metres between us.My next target was a bald specy guy and the fun started all over again. By this time, the last km came up and the strain really began telling. My lower back and my legs started protesting big time and I slowed down. Just as the end was in sight, a couple of things happened - the songs ran out and that meant the hour was up. Also the foreigner overtook me at this time along with two others. Oh crap!! I finally crested the finish line and hurriedly pulled out my iPod to check the time. Hurrah, I had completed it in 1:01 hrs - one minute better that my earlier time. This combined with the euphoric feeling of completing a run successfully gave me an instant high. Course that was in my mind, my legs were still looking for a place to rest my bum. I sat down and waited for the world to steady. People were milling around chatting about their run, comparing, laughing or just cooling down. The organisers started handing out some packets and I was hoping it was completion certificates (like a Red Indian collects scalps, I collect paraphernalia ;). Unfortunately, it was only information leaflets. I quietly got up, did a few stretches and left the area remembering why it was that I came to these runs - for the happy ending.

p.s - do check out the video. It is not in exact sequence but done quite well.

Mariah Carey - I Like

2010-05-08T14:16:00.003+05:30

Well, there it is - out in the open. No more Mr. Cool Guy who knows some s**t about rock or at worst hip hop. AT the risk of repeating myself, I do like Mariah Carey. Now when I say its for her voice / songs / talent, everyone is going to scoff.

Ok it is true that when the Honey video launched, my jaw dropped. The worst part was at that time, there was no Internet (I think). How to watch the video again? I had to wait for ages for it to come again on TV. Luckily now it is all over the internet. Even now, I have the song on my iPod and I can listen to it anytime.

Today, I wanted to listen to some slow songs and Mariah's song - My All suddenly struck me. Do check out the video. She must have been pretty young at this time and her acting skills are no good but what a voice. I then went on to listen to I Still Believe. Couple of things I heard about her are

- She was a waitress before she hit the big time

- She can do all the eight octaves / notes in one breath

- That means there are eight notes. I must try this once. Parental advisory will be required at this time.

Of late, she had released the album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. She has also been in the news for a) her marriage and b) talking about not losing weight so that she keeps her "natural curves". I always think that celebs must be having a very tough life. They have to posture in public, spend enormous amounts of money on designer clothes, work hard to avoid the press, face so much scrutiny. The pressure to just look beautiful and be squeaky clean must be killing.

So do what I do - respect them for their work. Go buy a CD of Mariah Carey's songs, pour a glass of wine and chill out. You'll have fun.

Our Visit To Nameri - Prashaanti Tourist Lodge

2010-05-01T23:04:00.002+05:30

The best time to go visiting any city is when one of their main festivals is on. I know, I know - air tickets will be more expensive, hotels costlier, more crowds jostling around but the city feels nice. There is an under-current of excitement as well as a festive mood in the air. People are out shopping, visiting relatives, dining and everyone seems to be enjoying the moment. Such was the case when my wife and I went to Guwahati for Bihu. Luckily, the weather was in favour too as it would rain briefly at night and that made the whole place cooler (way better than Delhi at least). It also made our drive to Nameri very pleasant as the countryside had enough greenery to please the eye. Having three women in the backseat giving helpful tips does need some distraction :)

The reason we chose Nameri as our holiday spot was the fact that our uncle Joy Mama had set up a resort under the Assam Tourism Directorate called Prashaanti Tourist Lodge. So off we went - my in-laws, wife, sis-in-law and I. Nameri is about 200 kms from Guwahati, towards Tezpur from where it is a further 40 kms. We went over the Saraighat bridge and took the NH 52 via the towns of Baihata Chariali, Mangaldai, Rowta and Orang. The roads till Rowta were pretty fine. After that, there are a whole slew of bridges which act as speed breakers as they start and end with a bump with lots of potholes in between. Apparently, the town of Orang is famous for its rasagollas but the shop we stopped at did not look hygienic and hence I avoided trying the delicacy. Before the town of Tezpur, we took a left and also better directions than I can give here as there are many twists and turns and lots of small towns through which the road lies. Once the turn-off is taken towards Tezpur, the road becomes quite narrow and there is construction work going on but it is still motorable.

Luckily for us, Joy Mama had also left from Guwahati the same morning and caught up with us. We were following him when he suddenly took a mud road into the bushes. Ah, it felt like we were almost there. Big trees on either side, clean air and blue mountains in the distance - I couldn't wait to get out and stretch my legs after the 5 plus hour journey. We had to drive in second gear as the road was muddy with rains and there were a quite a few pot-holes with water (it is be advisable to avoid smaller cars in the rainy season). We crossed the famous Nameri Eco Camp and reached the resort which we later learnt was just behind Eco Camp.

The resort is about 2 acres big. Right in the centre is the lobby cum dining room. It is a big thatched structure, open on all four sides. At the back is the kitchen and around are the six cottages separated by patches of lawn. On the outer periphery, Joy Mama has been doing some gardening and has successfully managed to grow different varieties of chillies, pumpkin, papaya, tomatoes and the likes. The rooms are clean and comfortable, with attached bathrooms. They are two bed affairs with the option of providing a third bed. The whole place is very quite and the view is quite nice, surrounded by greenery. The mountains of Arunachal Padesh are visible in a 180o arc, which my father-in-law and I kept looking at while lounging in the armchairs.

Now, Joy Mama is a fantastic cook and of course, we got special attention. We had some excellent dal, rice, fish fry and cabbage subzi for lunch and then retired for some rest. In the evening, we were having tea when we got a pleasant surprise that the local villagers were visiting the resorts and would be dancing the traditional Bihu dance. We laid out chairs near the front lawn in anticipation and sure enough, they landed up. There were about twenty of them in all, with youngsters around 10 years old going upto 25 years. They came in singing, accompanied by drums and cymbals. The girls were quite graceful and the guys were very enthusiastic. What I liked most about the whole show was that they never asked for money and when we insisted, they had a small ceremony where we had to place the money in a plate covered by a gamusa (ceremonial towel), lay the plate on the ground in front of them and kneel down. They sang out a blessing and only then accepted the money. Once they left, we sat around talking while Joy Mama was busy in the kitchen preparing our special request of smoked pork and chicken curry.

Before going to sleep, Joy Mama told us that the sunrise was quite spectacular as the whole place lights up but that meant meant getting up per 6.00 am. Whoa, I was on a holiday, how can one get up so early ;-) Anyway, we still got up at around 6.15. By then, the whole room was filled with sunlight. After a cup of tea, we went for a 1.5 km walk to see a tributary of the Bramhaputra. It was a pretty spot where the banks were filled with rounded pebbles and the water was cool to touch. Definitely not majestic (thanks to summer) but the current was fast flowing and seemed a bit risky to swim in. In any case, I did not carry a pair of shorts and cursed myself for the lack of fore-sight. We then headed and breakfasted on puris, aloo subzi, chilli subzi and omelette's. After a brief rest, we checked out and came back to Guwahati via the same route. On the way, we stopped at Hotel Shyamlee in Mangaldai for lunch. It was clean and the a/c was working. We had a nice veg thali with chicken curry and fish tenga.

As usual, the holiday seemed quite short and we wished we could have spent some more time there. Ideal for a long weekend or a stay of 4-5 days, this is the place to go to if you want to combine sight-seeing the North-East with good food and lounging around. Some of the things to do here would be

- Make this a base camp and then go on to visit nearby places like Bhalukpong, Bomdila, Dirrang, Chela Pass, Tawang etc.
- River rafting, jungle trekking, bird watching is also possible.
- - For the ladies, shopping is an option where you get to purchase mekkala chaddhar, shawls, blankets made by the viilagers.
- Nameri National Park is close by and could be a day trip.

Joy Mama can be contacted on joyda49@yahoo.in / 9613853943

Here is the photo link of a few pictures of the place. Happy holidaying!!

Short Stories Seem To Be Back

2010-04-14T11:27:00.011+05:30

I read somewhere that short stories are no longer a preferred medium of writing and that the whole culture of writing them is dying out. After that, I found it to be true as I could only find really old stuff like RK Narayan and Ruskin Bond on the shelves of my library. I am happy to announce that in the recent past, I have found two books (published recently) comprising short stories which were very enjoyable.

The first one was by John Grisham called Ford County. Now, I was a bit sceptical of picking this one up because the last few books by JG were quite sad. The thing with best-selling authors is that you just can't resist picking up the book as one tends to think "This one might be better than the last one and if it is not, how bad can it get"? Luckily, this one turned out to be one of the good ones. Ford County is a small town somewhere in the US and has a very small population. The stories revolve around people from here, who lead a slightly simpler life than the typical city folks. Simple and direct, in tune with the settings, they are quite fast paced and that keeps your interest. There are no elaborate plots and twists (unlike your typical Jeffrey Archer) and the stories take you to an uncomplicated end. Most of them have happy endings or not so sad endings and thats a plus.

The other one I read was by William Dalrymple called Nine Lives. This guy has all my respect. I am one of the last people who would read a travelogue or a quasi-history book but from the minute I come to know that WD has released a book, I just have to get it. His books remind me of P G Wodehouses creations cause you can read them effortlessly. As written by the author in the preface, Nine Lives captures stories that he encountered during his travels which he could not weave into a whole book. Even with all the modernisation around us, the people showcased in these stories are connected to the spirituality that existed in the old days. Be it an idol maker, a jailer or a so called mad woman, all of them lead simple lives which are dedicated to finding and serving God in any of his forms. Superb variety, lots of information neatly encapsulated and easy reading make this a pleasure. I also realised the amount of travel and research WD does and how much rich material he comes across and leaves out. Its not like he just does Delhi and the Mughals, he has travelled across the whole country - Kerala, Rajasthan, Bengal and Dharamshala. Although I feel envious, I don't think I would like to spend too much time with tantrics and sufi saints. Reading it from a safe distance is thrilling enough. I hope he comes out with some more of these stories soon.

p.s. - I'm now reading R K Narayans Gods, Demons and Others. For a crash course in Hindu mythology, this seems to cover all the important stories...