The drudgeries of life
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Of lazy weekends
If I had thought that the weekend was not off to a lazy start for once, the remainder of the four rather relaxed days put all my earlier doubts to rest!
Nothing like relaxing under the warm sun like the good old days on the lawns in the nearby botanical garden, catching up with some reading, indulging in some photography, walking around a bit (not to mention, doing some tight-rope walking too in the name of adventure sports!), attending a friend's marriage (sighs! One more eligible bachelor bites the dust! :p), sleeping like logs, devouring some yummy delicacies (be it at The Spice Village, Paradise, Cream Stone, or Punjabi Rasoi, you name it and we were there!), watching an awesome Australian Open Men's Singles Final (a tad bit disappointed that Rafa lost by a whisker :( ), and last but not the least, but surely at the last moment, trying to make the most of the mega sale that ended tonight! How's that for action?!
Oh well! It did start off with a bang early on Thursday in beautiful Gandipet! The run up, literally, to the Auroville Full Marathon sure seems to be on track with a sub-hour 10 kms run at the wonderfully organized Hyderabad Runners Club Run 2012... need to stick it out on the 42 kms long forest trail for over 5 hours at least when I revisit beautiful Pondicherry err Puducherry next month! Mind over body, as always it's going to be...
In other news, I'm not down with the writers' block... just don't feel like writing much with so much to do. Plus my loved ones seem to be doing a wonderful job in the penning down department. Keep up the flow of beautiful words and fantastic posts, D, M, S and A :)
Hence, that's it for now!
An eventful and busy week is about to begin!
Till next time, ciao...
Saturday, December 03, 2011
No comebacks
You know that feeling when you're traveling at full speed on a straight empty road, crossing familiar landmarks, and after a while you suddenly realize you've covered a stretch of the street without even realizing when that had happened? It's not that you had fallen asleep in between, but you hardly took in any element of the surroundings that passed by despite being wide awake and having navigated the twists, turns et al (albeit subconsciously). Yet you've covered the distance safely and are still going strong.
Life is somewhat like that - it happens when you're busy enjoying it, being lost in moments and hardly keeping track of time.
Once you realize that you've covered a stretch of the road without actually any casualty occurring, you don't dwell on the what-ifs for long. Maybe if you remembered that the street was fraught with danger in the form of potholes and speed breakers, you'd look back for a moment and wonder how exactly you managed to navigate to safety without being in your right senses then. But then you'd probably dismiss the inquisition immediately without much fuss. What matters now is that you're safe. A pat on the back for the wonderful maneuvering of the vehicle too...
Akin to when people close to you help you in tiding over crises in life, keep you distracted, shower you with joy and happiness, and before you know it, voila! You're the same person in a whole new beautiful world, devoid of darkness, sadness and negativity, devoid of lies, sham and all that had clouded life a while back. In retrospect, you can't believe you came this far unscathed, but then you believe. Life leaves you with no other option but to be grateful and to pat yourself on the back for pulling yourself up, even if with others' help, and to trudge on.
I love running in marathons. I run long distances whenever I get the chance. In addition to being one of the best forms of catharsis, running is also a wonderful way of coming to terms with living life.
Firstly, marathons are not meant to be won - they're supposed to be finished. Just like life is meant to be lived, not to be outrun.
Blimey, living life to the fullest, each and every moment, and finishing each marathon run give a high like no other!
Secondly, you run a marathon for yourself - you've got no hidden agendas, you don't intend to impress anyone with your feat - the only thing on your mind is seeing yourself cross the finish line and feeling like a person who has been reborn, cleansed of all the maladies of the previous life.
Similarly, you need to cherish life for what it is to you - don't run after success like a mad dog runs after vehicles (even if the former catches up with the latter, it still continues to chase other vehicles... it's a never-ending story), live for yourself, live with others and not for others (at least not until you segregate the uncut diamonds from the stones, the latter being the ones you'd bend this rule for :) ) - life has ample highs to give away to all who care to welcome it with open arms!
Also, when progressing towards the finish line in a marathon, what occupies your field of vision is not the finish line but the surroundings, the beautiful landscapes that you keep crossing every once in a while.
Life these days has become too fast for our own good. We miss to observe so much while running the relentless rat race that has taken over our lives. Whilst it's practically unfeasible to put an end to the rat race or to exit it prematurely, we can surely slow down our pace and live life in parallel. Like a wise chap has said, "Even if you win the rat race, you'll still be a rat." So why not try to win something else instead of the race, life's treasures and irreplaceable moments for instance.
Those, and lots of subtle comparisons.
Maybe all of this sounds impractical, too ideal, philosophical even. But jump into your shoes and start running. You'll get the drift, literally and figuratively speaking.
Anyway, that's all for this edition.
The year 2011 was a breeze. Exactly one year ago, I couldn't wait for it to start and put an end to dreaded 2010. Today, less than 30 days before it bids farewell, I don't want the year to end at all...
Oh well! End it will, though I hope and pray the magic and happiness that got injected into life in 2011 continues for years to come.
Somethings rightfully meet a premature end and are buried off in a jiffy, but some ageless things that end up in a coma, no thanks to a series of unfortunate events, can certainly be revived. All it takes is constant support and faith - this blog could never die, no matter how severe the coma it goes into. Thanks to D, M, S and A for helping me resuscitate it and to revive the eternal masquerade of emotions! Love you folks! :)
On an ending note, I could only quote the following lines by Pink Floyd: I knew the moment had arrived, for killing the past and coming back to life...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Final Verdict!
Better than expected, but a long way to go :)
21!!
There was a time when, during the DA-IICT days, a few of us would wake up at as early as 5 AM for running 10 or more rounds around the huge cricket field! This in addition to the late evening workout sessions at the gym.
The DA-IICT marathon was the first of my life... and though I ended up with the sixth rank, it was a miserable race.
Then came the Pune days... running was always on the agenda (and for me, it usually remained there only :p) courtesy Arjun boss!
And when we ran in the Pune Marathon, it was a chilled out affair with more masti than running... completing the run happened matter-of-factly.
Then came this year's Delhi Half Marathon... 21 kms on the 21st of November, 2010, anyone?
Just for the heck of it, three of us dudes signed up for the same, way back in September.
At this point of time, I'd like to mention that I have always prided myself on being a fitness freak, but never ever have I considered myself a runner... All I wanted to do was to test my crazy stamina.
Nonetheless we planned to run like crazy for 2 months, and be well prepared in time for the big day!
Then all hell broke loose. Screwed up life, long hours at work, loads of traveling, relentless sleepiness yada yada.
Voila! Come judgement day, I had managed only 2 practice runs (pathetic by any standards) despite some serious advice from my ex-boss (a pro-runner himself).
Now I really needed to stick to what he had said: "Focus on completing the race... not on completing in 3 hours!"
And seriously, the timing certificate was the last thing on my mind on the eve of the run... when, in our posh hotel room, the guys were joking about each of us lying spread-eagle fashion in the middle of the track, with each of our bibs containing the contact details of the other two unconscious guys, I seriously envisioned myself as da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, personified! :p
Come 21st November, and we were in high spirits!
Seeing the 30000 strong crowd all set for a loong run at 7 on this cold morning worked wonders for my confidence.
Not to mention the huge turnout of senior citizens and women! Respect!!
At 07:30:00, the gate opened. And the people poured out like water that has just been released from the dam gates!
The next 21 kms ensured the run of a lifetime!
Veterans running like fit youngsters, and egging us on (talk about budhaape me jawaani \m/); friendly strangers dotting the periphery of the entire 21 kms long race track, whose cheerful smiles and words of motivation felt like a shot in the arm; the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners who were on their way back crossing the 15 kms milestone after 40 minutes when we we reached the 5 kms mark (WOAH!); the way some participants cheered everyone else up (it's a marathon for gawd's sake, not a funeral procession, you guys... buck up!!); the beautiful stretch in the road between India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan (Raj Path, anyone); Khurana and I running at the constant pace of about 9.5 kmph for the initial14 kms; the final stretch; the setting in of fatigue; Lucozade zindabad; the loong kilometers; the glimpse of the digital clock; 02:15:45; the increased speed; 02:15:50; the longest yard; running with head and both hands (\m/ \m/) pointed upwards; 02:15:56; cameras going *click* *click* *click*; then it's over!
02:16:00
Later I was to discover that Khurana timed 02:11:00 and Anand, 02:42:00. Yep, we finished it in style!
Khurana and I fretted over not having any idea of the time earlier, else we'd have tried for under 2 hours. LoL
Anyway it was mindgame from the start. Running always is. You need to keep finding reasons for sticking to it, and for keeping yourself motivated.
Right now, I'm totally proud of this achievement, and can't help bragging about it... even the bosses back at office were awe-struck ("What you've achieved is one of the 10 things to do before dying", said PB sir :D )
It's another matter that once the marathon ended, the sudden lack of activity has caused both my feet to protest vehemently. So much so that any sort of movement seems to invite excruciating pain. Inertia of rest, ahoy! Ouchhh. Even 17 straight hours of sleep didn't help :(
In the meantime, the elite gang of treasure hunters of which I'm a part achieved greatness by bagging a top #10 spot in the baap of online t-hunts, Klueless 6! Way to go, fellas... you rock \m/
Palindrome number for the symmetry lover ;)
Jogging gear - Rs. 3900;
Month's supply of health(y) food and what not - Rs. 2800;
Finishing the Delhi Half Marathon in 2 hours & 16 minutes - Priceless! \m/
On an ending note:
Registration fee - Rs. 600;
Hotel bill - Rs. 6000; (divided 3 ways, of course :p)Jogging gear - Rs. 3900;
Month's supply of health(y) food and what not - Rs. 2800;
Finishing the Delhi Half Marathon in 2 hours & 16 minutes - Priceless! \m/
Back to the grind for now! Keep up the pace in life, folks :)
Labels: Achievement, Delhi, Finish, Friends, Happiness, Marathon, Running
