The Spirited Run

What or whose thoughts   prompted me to write this blog – My Dad!!

26^th January, every year, in our housing complex is celebrated as the Annual Sports Day which injects the spirit of competitiveness amongst the members (all age groups) of all the 5 towers. Every tower needs to nominate their teams for various sports – marathon, running race for couples, tri-cycle race for kids, badminton, table tennis, chess, basketball and the grand finale was always the Tug-of-War.

The best sportsman, sportswoman of the society is then declared based on the number of medals won individually or as a member of a team.

Marathon for Senior citizens – This is an event that is not about the participants being in the best of physical shape but its all about their spirit and positive attitude.

My Dad has always been a very talented and keen sportsman in his younger days showing his proficiency in various disciplines (Basketball, Volleyball, Javelin, Football and Ball badminton) and representing his college at District and State levels.

Every year, he would witness the society’s sports day and always showed extra attention towards the Senior Citizens marathon but he never participated. It was because of our apprehensions (why at this age we thought, he is 71 years old) that he let go of these opportunities to participate. This year, I strongly felt, that he should participate and asked for his and our mother’s opinion .My Dad was all ready for it and my mom ,though apprehensive ,stood by my Dad’s decision.

The Training that we didn’t notice – My dad trained for this event without our knowledge. He would quietly slip out in the mornings wearing his whites and start jogging. We were always of the opinion that participation was the main objective and not winning but he would not agree. Once a sportsman, always a sportsman!!

Our counseling sessions - As the D-day neared, our counseling to Dad would keep increasing – “Dad – Don’t run, only walk”; my mom would say ”please take care of the dividers otherwise you may slip”, my wife would say “please don’t exert yourself, you can win even if you walk”, my sister from Hyderabad gives her phone counsel – “Dad, don’t over do it, just take it cool, all the best”

D-Day - Minus two hours from the mission time – My Dad has a light breakfast and starts to prepare mentally for the race. He disappears (of course, we didn’t know) for a light jog to warm himself up.

The moment finally came for which we all were eagerly waiting for. We gave our “Best of Lucks” to my Dad and other senior citizen participants. He was all focused at the START line. The mission was to run 200 metres around our society perimeter and cross the line first to be declared the winner.

At the signal going green, he started his run and timed the acceleration to perfection and won the race convincingly.

The final moments of the race was captured on my camera but what was captured in my heart was a feeling of exhilaration and a sense of relief. Relief because deep down in my heart, I didn’t want to see my Dad come second to anyone and he didn’t!!The Gold medal was hanging around his neck.

We felt great that the spirit of “Anything can be achieved” was the winner that day.

Cooking – Men better than Women?

Being a man, I am venturing into this topic knowing fully well that it is fraught with danger. I need to face two strong women back home – my mother and my wife. They will not be amused at all to read this article where I declare – Men win this contest hands down!!

I dare to say - Women's cooking is often average because it is largely performed as a matter of daily routine. For the traditional housewife(we can forget about the working woman with a few exceptions maybe), cooking is not a hobby, but simply another item in the bucket list of household chores that needs to be ticked off with efficiency and speed. I am not blaming them for this as the workload of taking care of children, giving cleaning instructions to the house-maid, taking care of the husband’s inefficiencies(there are many) in keeping his wardrobe neat and clean takes its toll on them.

Men cook better as mentioned in the points below and tilt the balance in their favor -

1)      Men cook without thinking frugally – they don’t plan for tomorrow –whether the vegetables will be sufficient for the whole week,who cares!

2)      Men don’t think healthy - My father ( he is an unbelievable cook – my brother-in-law can vouch for that) uses a good amount of oil(was it clarified butter?) for “tadka” and invariably the daal or the aloo fry tastes like heaven!!Women think of the nutrients that go into the food they cook and that’s where they meet their waterloo!!

3)      Men experiment – they are not afraid to use an extra dash of lime, extra sprinkling of turmeric, red chillies to get that vibrancy in the dish, mix and match various spices, vegetables to get that new recipe and a brilliant taste.Women are more wary to experiment as they have to face the nasty male criticism so it does well for them to stick to the more routine recipes.

4)      Men don’t see food as part of their survival rituals – it is their love for the food unlike women who eat food as part of their daily “fuel” that keeps them alive.This relationshiop of men with food makes their cooking more interesting and brings that extra X factor to the taste buds.How many times the newly married women have been counselled by wiser and older women - the way to a man's heart is through his mouth!!

My own experiments with cooking (Gandhiji inspired me here) –As a bachelor, when I began my corporate career in Mumbai, I had two options in front of me – endure the hotel food that was hitting hard on my digestive system or do my own thing. If the valiant Bheema could cook(in the exile of Pandavas – Bheema was a palace cook),so could I, was my firm belief.

Although I was a stranger to the kitchen, I soon found that preparing exciting dishes was neither particularly time-consuming nor difficult, and within a few months, my abilities easily surpassed my own stringent tests and expectations. Sindhi kadi, sambhar(it still is patented in the way I prepare),eggplant  curry,mixed vegetables curry and other curries were dished out in my kitchen and my friends were not missing their homes anymore…

If any more proof were needed, then I'd suggest you consider just how many female chefs have their shows on Indian TV(apart from one Tarla Dalal). If you can name three, then I'll cook you dinner. You lucky girls!!!

DOWN MEMORY LANE – MY SCHOOL

School days are those which one cannot forget during their life time. I would like to share my experience about my school with you all. It still brings me fond memories of the past when I pass through the school I studied. This has prompted me to pen down my memories, which I can cherish with my family and friends anytime. Gone are the days, which I will not get back, but memories will remain forever.

Alma Matar - B.E.G (Bombay Engineering Group)Central School, Kirkee,Pune -  Our father got transferred to Pune from Chandrapur when Iwas ten .For every young child,a new school, a new city is always a big mental stress.The dilemma of finding new friends, the lurking fear of the new teachers, leaving the comfort of the old friends,teachers and the school in general builds up the pressure in a child to such an extent that he hates this forced change.I was no different.My sister, two years older to me, was more aware of the situation than I was.

My first day at B.E.G – The first look at the school premises was intimidating. It had a huge playground surrounded by army barracks that made up for our classrooms.The school was in the midst of army cantonment and it gave me a feeling of being in the Army .The atmosphere was so different in my previous school which was cosy,not very big and didn’t have any army soldiers as our neighbours.

I was assigned section B of Standard 6.There were three sections – A,B and C. Our class teacher,Ms.Alwani(also our Science teacher) introduced me to the class.The class strength was about 40 students, pre-dominantly of army background.

My first day was quite memorable for me. I was appointed the class monitor that day. The monitor was given a badge that identified his status. Ms.Alwani asked a question on Photosynthesis. I had already learnt about this in my previous school and I managed to rattle off the answer without much ado. Impressed with that and disappointed with the behavior of the then monitor -  Prasun Das(came late to the class, we were soon to become thick pals),I was given this unexpected status. I was delighted and my self- esteem rose to Himalayan heights. That evening, I displayed the Class monitor badge to sister and our parents. They were swelling with pride on this small step towards leadership!!

Morning walk - I still remember those days when I and my sister along with our other school friends – Meena,Mahesh,Renil and Myathrei  used to walk a kilometer and half from our house to catch a bus(Bus No-125) that took us to our school and vice versa. I still remember the fascination for trailer buses that were prevalent those days.

It used to be a long , happy and fun filled walk( but never a tiring one)through the sugarcane fields of the Agricultural College which gave us the touch and feel of rural atmosphere.  There was always this ritual of stopping under a huge banyan tree and taking a small break.This was an enjoyable experience as we used to play, pull each others legs(Renil was our common target) and rejuvenate our souls.


Daily Ritual – Our school uniform for boys was –a crisp white shirt with navy blue half trousers( till class seventh and full trousers from eight class onwards )along with black leather shoes.For girls –all remained same except the skirt ofcourse!!

Our day started with the shoe polish(I learnt the trick of sprinkling a few drops of water on the shoes to get that extra shine), ironing of our clothes(burnt a few shirts and trousers to get that extra crispness), rushing with our breakfast(my Mom was always on time, we were the guilty ones) and taking that long trudge to the bus stop. Winter mornings used to be the most troublesome days for us as the biting cold would keep us longer and warmer in our beds and then the mad rush to the school to avoid getting delayed for the morning assembly was a sight to behold.

Our morning school assembly was conducted by Mulay sir.We were in complete awe of him, he was a strict disciplinarian and would not tolerate any mischief or nonsense from the students.We used to do our daily prayers,take the oath and sing the national anthem.There was also a daily quiz question in the assembly that was very exciting.The student who had the correct answer would be appreciated by the school with a resounding applause.This built in me the urge of seeking answers for all the General Knowldege questions by reading various books and newspapers.My fellow student and friend Saju Joseph usually had all the answers and became popular with this talent of his.

Embarrassing day -  It was a rule in the school to nominate two students daily to clean their class room and they were excused from the daily assembly routine.This was the favourite with the male students as they found this useful to play classroom cricket or table tennis on the class platform with the school bags becoming the make-shift net.

Prasun, my partner in crime on many such occasions, and myself decided to do the duty of cleaning or rather playing.The assembly routine had started and we could hear the prayers and the quiz round.We were happily playing our game of table tennis when we suddenly saw Mulay sir’s burning red eyes watching us in horror.We froze with fear and I was so taken aback with this highly unexpected turn of events that I dreaded the outcome. We were escorted out of the classroom and made to stand with the other unfortunate students who were caught in similar acts of treason!!

The school assembly got dispersed and we were made to stand in one line and asked to squat and catch our ears – MURGA style.My sister saw this horrific sight and then I thought it was all over for me.I later pleaded to her not to share this “popular” news with our father as this would not be exactly music to his ears.I shoud mention that I still owe it to her for displaying such loyalty towards her younger brother.

That instance brought an end to my budding table tennis talent, alas!!!

My Friends – Prasun,Mukesh,Parmesh,Saju,Kamal,Sandeep,Rajesh,Pravin and Kanwaljeet were the friends with whom I spent most of my time with.We played all kinds of sport – Cricket,Football,Hockey,Running. My set of friends are unique in a way that they are my first friend’s circle with whom I shared all my thoughts and learnt a lot about life.

 Ours was a co-ed school and we had some of the pretty girls in our class which would have been a source of great joy for any other group of boys but us.We were mortally scared to even talk to them let alone make friendship. It was a competition between the boys and girls on who would top the class. Usually,the girls would top the scroll of honour.I was always an above average student(am I being modest??) who would feel bad with the girl topping the charts.

I am still in touch with most of the school friends and I feel I am lucky and blessed about this

My teachers - Last but not the least, I can’t sign off without the mention of good and efficient teachers present in the school. I am fortunate enough to get good teachers through out my school career who are very much responsible for who I am at present. They not only imparted good education but also shaped me as a good human being. All the teachers were very helpful to me in all ways and did not hesitate to correct me if I erred.Mrs.Alwani along with Mrs.Chari and Mrs.Dave were the teachers who impacted my personality in a positive manner.I am sure this is a mere coincidence that all were ladiesJ

Parting Wish - How I wish I had defied the laws created by the Almighty and not grown out of my innocence, my childhood, my School days!!!

Character

I always wondered what makes one person to behave in one way and another person to act/react in another way when they are put in the same situation.

Does it have to do with the person’s values, his upbringing or his experiences that lead him to act in one way or the other?

I now have a view that a person’s character has a lot to do with his behavior or actions in various situations.

What is Character?

Character, according to me, is the basic foundation of values, beliefs that a person builds over a period of time.

People often use the term “Character” in their reference to people they know.

Take an example – Mohit has a STRONG character – what does this mean? Strong –does this mean the physical appearance of Mohit? Does this mean that this person is dominant over others?

 To me, it means that the person’s actions are unquestionable even when he is put in the toughest of the situations. His values are unshakable, he doesn’t flinch when presented with a tough choice, he would not make a wrong choice as an option just because it is easy or no one is over his shoulder watching him!!

How many times  have we encountered situations where a vegetable vendor, an autorickshaw /taxi driver has given back more than the required cash ? What did we do?

Did we return the money saying that this is extra money or did we quietly slide the cash into our pockets and purses thinking that the vendor/taxi driver was anyway charging more than required and he deserved to lose this money. Now, what does this qualify us as?

We build our own character based on our actions, our values and our beliefs.

Character building can be best taught by our own conscience as this is the only judge which is a witness to all our actions – Good or bad.

Now,the most difficult part is to CHOOSE and CHOOSE the RIGHT approach

Choose to follow our values.

Choose to tread on a difficult path

Choose to learn

Choose to say NO

Choose your friends

It is very important to make a CHOICE.

Take an analogy.

For a question “Have you lied in your CV” that has been asked by an interviewer, we have a choice to to say– YES, NO or MAYBE – but I don’t remember  or choose to remain silent.

When do we choose to say YES, NO, MAYBE or SILENT is based on the interviewee’s character of facing that situation.

Now, can we improve our Character?

I can cite the example of Benjamin Franklin, who devised for himself a plan for building his character. He identified thirteen character qualities that he felt needed to be better developed in his own life and devised a method of focusing his attention on each of those qualities for one week at a time. Thus, during a year’s time Mr. Franklin would go through his entire list four times.You can read his autobiography to get better insights.

What do we learn from the actions of Benjamin Franklin? That we need to FOCUS on each of our character qualities and how it has impacted us or people around us in a positive or a negative manner.

The final analysis
We can recognize the vital importance of character to the success of our lives, our jobs, the organizations to which we belong, and to our country and world, and we can seek to influence the part of the world that we touch to become involved in developing better character. Many resources are available to us. If we CHOOSE to use them, we can make a difference to our own lives, in our families,in our neighbourhood,in our country and ultimately, in our world.

Kolad Re-loaded

The long awaited family picnic with friends finally happened this year on the fifth day of the second month
5 families - Sudesh+Arundhati+Varun,Amar+Runnu+Ashray,Neeraj+Neeru+Anushka+Ayush,Sugandha+Neil and ofcourse me+Sridevi) totalling 14 enthusiastic family members - left with only one common thought in our minds - Have Fun with Family..
We left from Navi Mumbai at around 3pm towards our destination - Kolad, a tiny village in the Mahad region,at a distance of about 105kms from Nerul.The total distance was covered in 3hours.

One incident during the drive had us worried - We came across a railway crossing which was closed as a train was supposed to pass by.Sudesh,ever a photo enthusiast didn't want to miss the opportunity of catching a fast train zipping by us.He was positioned very close to the tracks wanting to take the picture.The train hurtled towards us and as it passed us,there was this stone as big as a cricket ball that flew off the tracks and hit Sudesh on his thigh...Lucky escape!!!We all heaved a big sigh of relief and learnt our lesson too..

Reached our destination - Empower camp at Kolad at 6.30pm -

a small detail on why we chose Kolad 

Kolad has a rugged topography and Rocky Mountains. The trekking trails in Kolad offer fair challenge to amateur trekkers like us .Kolad offers tranquility apart from excellent adventurous activities that enable one self to replenish one’s body and soul.
The greatest attraction of this charming village is the ‘Kundalika River’, a free spirited river that flows all through the year thanks to the water released from the nearby dams(forgot the names of the dams,getting older)

Once settled in our new place,we were welcomed with snacks and tea by the Empower staff.

The night was still young and then we planned an impromptu night trek.The stars were shining brightly ,could clearly see the constellation and the half-crescent moon.Neeraj's cry of "Jaagte Raho" stills echoes in my ears..

We took some of the most brilliant photographs in the night.We had to watch our step in our trek as the whole track was laden with cow dung and strangely it smelled of Bishop's weed(Ajwain).Some of us were wondering if the cows had eaten the weeds!!

WE came back completely rejuvenated forgetting the tiring road journey we had.Then,it was entertainment session at the Campfire area.The night was getting colder and the Empower staff lit the campfire and arranged the chairs around it.The 14 members made themselves comfortable around it.The men were busy at the bar section ,the ladies and kids along with the lone ranger(yours truly- a tee-totaler) were happy having fruit juices and snacking on some of the best "Alu tikkas" we ever had.Chicken Tangdi was delicious - that was the feedback from the non-veggies...

We then started our Dumb Charades - Men vs Ladies- this broke the ice (whatever was left).Men won hands down and Ladies graciously acknowledged the result(I know the ladies wont agree but still risking to write it)

We had a Housie game,the maximum rewards were garnered by the Nigam family closley followed by Pendyala family.


It was dinner time!!!

Had our fill and then said our "Good Nights" at around midnight.

Our heavenly abode was a tent(cloth) that was fastened from the four corners.It had a toilet which was not sound-proof..I was worried about the morning chores as these made the maximum sound..Big source of embarrassment.I was worried,told my good night to my wife and the other couple - Sudesh and Arundhati with their son- Varun.All of them were warmly tucked in their blankets.
My last thoughts before sleep engulfed me - Want to get up early in the morning to clear up my body

The next morning - 5am- 6/2/2011

Woke up to my wife's nudgings..She was already awake and itching to get ready for the morning trek...

Got the right of first use to the toilet - thanks to Arundhati!!

Got ready and then had our morning tea with biscuits.All the kids+ladies and men were ready to rock in the morning trek..

Trekking - Took our trekking gears which had water+ biscuits loaded in it.
We had guides with us who were quite impatient in getting done with this morning activity.

We were split into two groups - that was not planned -my wife was in the first group - I was worried that she might need help from me while climbing the steep hill,found out to my pleasant surprise - she could do the ascent without my support - learnt that she was strong to fend for herself.

In our descent,we had to be very watchful as there were tiny pebbles that were not allowing for firm grip and all the 14 members along with the guide had one fall each.This was experience gained the hard way.

In our trek,there were many photo-ops that our photography enthusiasts - Amar and Sudesh didnt miss.I am learning the tricks of the trade too..so there were some photos which I took and am proud of too...

The most vibrant memeber of our team was Master Neil,he had boundless energy and was the live wire who made the whole trek a fun thing!!!

We reached back our camp two hours later and were famished,we had a hearty breakfast and then had a game of cricket.I bowled some deadly deliveries in the Malinga sling style...

Cricket - Varun,Ashray,Ayush and Neil were the other cricket team members who had their share of glory with the bat and ball.Sudesh was unleashing his offspinners on us and we had a tough time negotiating the turn.

Shooting - We then went to the shooting range where every one was given three pellets for shooting the target.Ashray won this hands down with all the three hitting the bulls eye.

Rafting - This was the most interesting part that I wanted to experience.
The group was split into two teams.The teams were given the task of building the raft using the bamboos and inflated tubes.We made the makeshift rafts.We were now ready with our oars and the strategy was to do the rowing in synchro.

We had to go to the other side of  Kundalika river,collect the flag from the banks and come back to the start point.

Our team comprised of  - Varun,Anushka,Neeru,Sridevi,Amar(our captain) along with me

We were slow off the blocks and then gained momentum thanks to our team's strong rowing(nobody can dispute that) .The other team had a member who was rowing in the opposite direction that decreased their speed,who else it was Neeraj!!!!

We swam in Kundalika river which was such a tranquiliser to the soul.
We then had our lunch that was arranged at the river banks itself.

Finally, we moved back to our camp.We washed and changed to fresh clothes.We took some pics to take back as part of our memories..

at 6pm, we finally began our journey back home...

The two days were spent in nature with family and friends..came back stronger,made new friends,learnt of some new aspects of family and friends and life in general.

Looking forward to the next opportunity to unwind!!!

Krish