Getting to Run...

Even as awareness and complexity seem to be increasing around running, it still remains a natural activity which we learnt while as a kid! Running to catch a bus, Playing police and the thief, Running behind a ball…the list seems to be endless! Fast forward 20 or 30 years, and apart from the physicality of the subject due to the advancement of age, the topic seems more complex than what it seemed years ago. While barefoot running was a norm, today it has become a science where people are initiated into. While drinking water and having salt was constantly advised by teachers and parents, today there is a definitive guide to it! Even something as mundane and basic as eating food which has nice nutrition along with carbohydrates like Rice and Dal is now reduced to ratios! The effect of this has been in many cases to build an aura around running, to newcomers. In this quick blog, which incidentally I am writing after almost a year, I wanted to address some of the new comers who want to run.

First and foremost Running has not changed in essence. You still need to put your legs and lungs to good use. Mostly it will lead to the sensation of panting for anyone who starts doing this after a long break! This remains the fundamental aspect of running and as most of us have found out, this is a moment of realisation about our current state of fitness. In my case, around 3 years back, I had difficulty completing 3 km without stopping. As with anything which has not been put to use, the body too recovers smartly and after a few months, one will realise that it is not too difficult after all.

For me the biggest factor, is the likeability of running as a form of exercise or activity. Many of us including myself found it quite boring to run. Some of us out grew that phase and started enjoying it while others still find it difficult. Many a time that leads to quitting the activity itself. Along with likeability, when you add discipline, you have the framework of a runner with a long term potential! As in studies or art, practice matters, and matters more than anything else. Everything else including type of shoes, the nutrition mix and the like can wait!

When you have evolved into being a regular runner, is the time when one should address the peripherals which has unfortunately become the core of today’s running craze. Till that time if you can walk try to jog, if you can jog try to RUN!

(This certainly does not underplay the importance of peripheral activities or subjects around running, but is an attempt to let new runners know its simplicity. Over a period it is interesting and essential to learn newer things which makes one a better runner.)

Arrival @ 3.34 hours

It has been some time since I have been so excited about a sporting achievement. The last time perhaps was during the cricketing days in Mumbai when I used to open for Lupin around 8 years back. Not that my effort at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2014 (SCMM 14), was great in absolute terms, but from my own personal perspective it gave me a high and a sense of satisfaction. Given the fact that running has come to occupy a significant part of my life now, people do ask me why I do not write more often on that. The simple answer to that is - I find the excitement getting lost when I try to convert the activity into print. (or was it a giveaway on my linguistic skills) Another feature I find interesting is the journey behind the run rather than the run itself.  Hence this second write up on running too, revolves around the preparations.

My first marathon was the SCMM 2013 which I finished in 4.02 hours. It was a sweet experience having come close to breaking the sub four barrier in the very first attempt. However looking back it also gave rise to a lot of misplaced confidence in me and to an extent underestimated the requirements for running a successful marathon. While feeling good about what I have done, I genuinely believed that sub 4 is for my taking, the next time around. I decided on a broad plan as follows. The next full marathon I would target would be the Hyderabad marathon in August’13 where I would comfortably break into the sub 4 group, and then in SCMM ’14, I would set myself a more challenging target. On paper it seemed quite an achievable plan and well phased out. A year is a good time isn’t it? I did not back this with any specific training plan since I felt that improvements will happen over a period of time. The results on the ground too were indicative of my improvements. For example I improved my TCS 10K time in May’13 to 47 minutes from 59 minutes in the previous year. In the Half Marathons as well, I was clocking in the range of 1.45 ~ 1.50 hours from the 2 hours average of the previous year. So I was pretty happy with the way my running was shaping up.

With the improvements I had been making at certain informal events and impressions got from fellow runners it was obvious that the Hyderabad Marathon will be an easy nut to crack despite the tough terrain in the form of flyovers. I had done as much, if not more preparation than I had done for the Mumbai event before and thought I was mentally stronger knowing what to expect in the last 10 kilometer where things had gone horribly wrong. 4.09 hours was not the time I was hoping for, and it was easily a run to forget. Few things which struck me were as follows – a. Marathon is not an extrapolation of the 10Ks and HMs you do. In other words it is akin to somebody being rated as a fantastic test player on the basis of his T 20 skills.  b. Training is not simply running a few miles, but it is also about the methodology. There needs to be a pattern to your training to reap the rewards with stress on endurance and speed. From a non-believer in training programs, I decided to follow one for the next event c. Training goes beyond mere running and includes increasing your strength, lung power and getting the right nutrition. Without proper training, one has no influence over how the body behaves post the 32^nd kilometer. With this humbling experience I had to go back to the drawing board.

There were 2 things which needed to be done – One choose a training program and two choose a goal. Coming to the latter part first, I decided against going for just a sub 4 hour performance. With the broad idea of running only 1 or 2 marathons in a year, it did not make sense in going for incremental improvements.  I decided to make it count and mentally decided to go for a 3.45 hour target. It was a bit risky, having failed twice but I thought it was better to fail rather than pass on the borderline.  Regarding the program, I liked the concept of ‘Run Less Run Faster” right from the time I started running. I was never a fan of running long miles. In that sense the program, offered by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr and Ray Moss through a book of the same name appealed to me.  It was something like studying specific topics rather than devouring the entire book and scoring well in an exam. For people who think they too have found the magic pill, hold on; as I found out when I started doing the program! The 16 week program has 3 days of running with 2 days of cross training. They also encourage a couple of days of specific strength training exercises. The 3 days of running is of 3 different types – intervals, tempo and the long distance. Further the intensities of these runs are such that there are no, so called “junk” miles registered. If you thought it was just the 3 days of intense workouts through running, it was not so. The cross training was not designed to provide easy days but to make sure that the cardio intensity remains though different muscles are worked upon. In essence all the 5 days provided enough to work on. (Disclaimer – I did not faithfully follow the program though, skipping some of the cross training targets as well as days)

Even though I wanted to do a strong marathon, the program had a methodology to identify your target time. I had to run a fast 5 K before the start of the 16 week program to ascertain my fitness. I ran the 5 K in 22 mins. (Actually in 21.50, but relaxed it a little bit so that the targets are easier!) Based on this, my paces for the 3 days of running were designed week after week. For example, if I had to run a 21 K on a specific weekend, I had a time goal specified. So it was not merely running the miles but ensuring that it is done of a certain quality. Further there were 5 runs of 32 kms during the training, something which I had never done before. Based on the 22 mins timing, the program extrapolated my target time to be 3 hours 34 mins for the full marathon. OMG! Isn’t that a bit far stretched? Knocking almost 28 minutes of my previous best? While I trained according to the given timing (i.e. for a 3.34 finish), I decided to make 3.40 hours as my new goal. Publicly I threw this figure around and confided in only 3-4 people about the real target time!

In the 16 week run up to the D-day I felt pretty good except for 3 things worth a mention. One, my shift from Pune to Bangalore in November, the second, a few ankle injuries and the third, my Garmin forerunner 305 going dead. The move to Bangalore would be considered normal except for the fact that I was prone to asthma, which typically starts off within a few hours of landing in Bangalore. The cold and the pollution were additional hurdles for any asthma patient. The initial days were tough and I had to use the inhaler a few times. Going out for a run at 6 in the morning was clearly not enticing in such circumstances but it had to be done. Luckily I seemed to adapt very well and within a month or so, I had no specific breathing issues. The yoga and the overall fitness levels which were much better seem to have helped. In December, I had the chance to run in Trivandrum a few times, which was a perfect place to get acclimatized to the Mumbai weather. On the Garmin front, feeling odd without one, I instantly purchased a 310XT through one of my friends coming back from the US.

Finally it was January 19^th, and it was perfect race day weather. (At least that is how I felt in hindsight:-)) While I crossed the finish line, the Garmin showed 3.34 and I knew I had nailed it! (75^th in overall positions) In fact I had knocked off almost half an hour from my previous best. The difference between the 2013 and 2014 efforts was evident from the pictures near the finish from both the events!

SCMM'13 - hoping the torture would finish:-)

SCMM'14 - Going Strong

For those interested on how the splits looked like, please check out -  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/433491213

While the run fades into personal history, I look back, with humble appreciation for my wife and kids who had to bear with my hitting the bed early, the morning running schedules apart from some of the habits only a runner can understand:-).  In those last kilometers I could constantly hear them speaking and encouraging me to a strong finish!

Who am I to talk?

“If you are not an idealist by the time you are twenty you have no heart, but if you are still an idealist by the time you are thirty, you don't have a head” Randolph Bourne.

For the last month or so, the idea of corruption and my own position on it, has been playing on in my mind. I have to admit that the quote above reflects to a great extent where I am today as I have three more years to hit forty. I grew up as an idealist, and a very hardcore one at that. The values I imbibed while at school and home were nothing short of being so. Smiles and happiness used to glow on me, while I read lessons related to Mahatma Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda or Martin Luther King. Another lesson I remember was that of Raja Harishchandra which left an indelible mark on me. In all those formative years, growing up in the era of Ramayana and Mahabharata on TV, it was always about either right or wrong. I do not remember of a time when my teachers or parents, taught me about shades of grey. The discussion never ended with – “It depends”!

I wept inconsolably when I was not selected for the under-12 state zonal cricket team, saying things were not fair. I would have walked a distance of around 4 kilometers weeping. The exams one faced at school was all about meritocracy. There was a genuine admiration for friends who stood first or did well, and that respect stays even till today. I wish to believe that during graduation and post graduation this attitude to fairness remained unchanged. There were a few incidents during that phase which reflected this trait. However going into details of that may not serve any purpose here.

But while my own thoughts remained unchanged during that phase (1993 – 2002), I was being exposed to a world which was clearly not a reflection of the text books. My journeys from Trivandrum to Delhi in train spread over 3 days, and the interactions seen with the Train Ticket Examiners (TTEs) were a case in point. I remember having returned from a cinema house in RK Puram, New Delhi, since I was not prepared to buy the ticket in “black”. On another occasion I had a strong discussion with my ethics teacher to re-emphasize my point that “the end does not justify the means and the means is equally important.” There was pride and conviction in what I used to think and how I used to behave.

I entered corporate life in 2002 and in a way also encountered the bigger world beyond the term exams and classes. I believe India also underwent a rapid change. Access to capital improved and many more people got exposed to the changes happening globally. One could not even cling on to the communist ideology since it had long collapsed in Russia and East Europe! I believe living in a different world, made me make some adjustments. However it was never a conscious attempt to remodel oneself. It was more a case of flowing with the environment around you, and making things happen. When I look back, it seems to have slowly developed into the “end justifying the means” attitude. We are all working for the greater good of humanity, and in that process one needs to make a few adjustments, may be give into worldly temptations, and turn a blind eye to certain things.  Perfectly fine since we all know we have the good and only the good in mind! (may be for “ourselves” more and for others a little less) And probably the issue seems to be that everyone thinks the same way and there seems to be no absolute good or bad!

So as things churned through the last 10 years, I realize that I have a mind which is different from what it used to be years back. I suddenly realize that there is a problem when I want to tell or teach my kids, the difference between good and bad. (Without using the word “it depends” of course) I realize that I would like to get things done in a faster way rather than necessarily the righteous way. So when I see the world around me, with the things happening with spot fixing, corruption scandals etc, I do want to react, but I suddenly feel that I do not have the conviction or power in my voice to react as I used to have years back. Over a period of time, I feel I have become confused as to what is right and what is wrong in the context of the nation and the world as it is today!

But YES, I want to go back to as close as to when I was an Idealist, but I know it is going to be far tougher than what many of us think! But I believe I need to start somewhere! And that is where the dilemma begins.

Role Models – My Seniors and Peers…

Since I did not have an elder brother or sister, the role models when I grew up were mostly my seniors and peers. I am talking of a time when there was one TV in a colony and that too courtesy, the Asiad of 1982 when “Appu” reigned supreme. And hence, there was very little exposure to role models beyond the immediate milieu in the form of superstars like we have today.

While studying at my school I used to scamper on to the ground after having a 5 minute lunch, not to miss seeing my seniors play cricket with a make shift bat and a tree as the wicket. Once I had just come back from a visit to my native place, and argued with my parents to ensure that I was on time to go to school just at the nick of lunch time. This was to see my heroes play football in a crowded field! Incidentally I was hit on my right arm by a hard hit swirling football that day, and had to live with a dislocated wrist for the next one month!

While growing up I even started running with a forward angled shoulder just because the senior who was the best in running did that. Then there were the famous dialogues of Dr Faustus. This oft repeated declamation was another attraction to me, and I have practiced this in front of a mirror and closed doors, as I had seen my senior deliver the performance and the audience hearing with rapt attention. I tried doing the same speech in a later competition, thinking I had perfected my senior’s skills but realized the perils of aspirations without adequate competencies.

My peers were another big source of inspiration for me. I remember having changed my handwriting while at school at least twice trying to copy the style of two of my classmates, which I liked. At times, even for dressing etiquettes, there were influences of my peers and seniors. I have at times used the old sling bag, the kolhapuri chappals and the Carona canvas shoe in a certain way, wanting to copy people I saw near me.

I think this trend of imitation based on your seniors and peers, stopped sometime in college, and when external mass media started to have a more deepening influence in my life. This could also be attributable to the lesser age gaps between batches at college and the fact that we had also grownup into adults by then with numerous inhibitions. But to think and recognize that our seniors and peers have been indelible influences when we grew up is remarkable. And like me, there would be numerous others who would have been influenced as well. To think that I myself would have been a role model to many (in whatever way), imparts a greater significance of the roles all of us play while growing up.  It will be interesting to talk to my daughter and find out whether the same streams of thought flow in her mind as well or does the current generation only look at global role models and heroes.

Re-discovering Running...

After running my first Marathon at Mumbai on January 20, 2013 in 4 hours 2 minutes, I had an obvious topic for the blog. Write about the Marathon itself and how I measured up to the challenge. However what interested me more was not that run itself, but the process leading up to that. In the midst of unheralded excitement, many forget the hard work, the motivations and friends who were instrumental in this journey. This article is a snapshot of what transpired in the last one year!

While I have not taken permission from my friends to use their names, I am sure they would not mind the references here. The story probably starts in November 2011. During a visit to London, I was having dinner at Canary Wharf with some of my friends – Vinod, Akhilesh, his wife Meenakshi and my brother Rajan. Amongst many other things, we also chatted about one of our friends, Sreeram, who could not join the dinner.  The discussion veered towards his running, and his passion for mountain climbing etc. He would have done numerous Marathons in the last 7-8 years and was obviously somebody I was proud of mentioning to people when the topic of marathons used to arise! During that discussion, Meenakshi too mentioned of how she was coaxed into doing the Amsterdam marathon, and she ended up doing it successfully in 5 odd hours. This was not akin to any Eureka moment, but I think it set a few cells in my brain thinking about running. The obvious inference was that, there were mortals like me, capable of successfully doing this.

A few thoughts which came to me after that were the following – My own antecedents in athletics while at school and college, were not something to be forgotten about and the fact that I had continued to be in touch with sports in various forms could help in this initiative. The other important thing was having tangible goals in hobbies or activities you pursue. Going to the gym or playing badminton or casual swimming (all of which I had done in the recent few years) resulted in nothing tangible in terms of results apart from the fact that all of it keeps one fit. I was more in interested in something, where there was a finite sense of achievement, which say running a 10 K had. Many would disagree with this approach, but this is a personal view which influences me in many things. Anyways the result was that I decided to try running as an activity, even though I was never a fan and found this to be really monotonous. (in other words a big bore)

So one of the first things, I did was to share this whole concept with my wife Pavithra. I guess at that point in time, she felt it was probably one of my new addictions which I would give a pass after some time. She readily agreed when I said that I wanted to buy a new running shoe. We went to the Adidas showroom and bought a shoe which cost around Rs 5000. It is another story that a discount sale started 3 weeks later where the same shoe was sold at Rs 3000 or so! In December, I also found out the existence of a running group in Pune called Pune Running through facebook and happily enrolled for a 10 K event around the end of that month. With very limited practice, laziness in getting up for a training run and inhibitions of running on road, I could do the 10 K in a time of 1 hour 3 minutes by end of December’11.

From January’12 I started running with the Pune Running group every Sunday at the Pune University. One of the first things I realized was that running was not a simple activity contrary to my initial impressions. There was diversity in people and thoughts, diversity in opinions and views, and diversity in gadgets and shoes! A few of the things I quickly saw around and invested in before I started running 10 K confidently were the following – A Garmin forerunner 305 (~GBP 135), a few dry-fit shorts and tees. For the un-initiated a Garmin forerunner is a watch with a patented technology which locks onto satellites and gives you data like distance, speed, calories and elevation! After your run, you load this data on to your lap top and analyze your runs! (LOL!!!)  The dri-fit material is nothing but polyster fabric, which supposedly dries faster and keeps your body dry through the tremendous challenges you encounter while running. Wasn’t this the same material which we instinctively disliked while growing up!  The Garmin which I bought had Pavithra’s attention aroused about my new hobby. Why on earth would one need such an expensive watch for running was her question. The line of argument continues to, whether the Africans and the other elite runners had Garmins to achieve their incredible feats. It is usually wiser not to argue in such situations and I persisted with that tactical line.

While months passed, my discipline for training also increased. Throughout the last year, the normal time I would wake up was around 5.30 am and on Sundays it would be 5 am. To put the discipline in perspective, I don’t think I have missed out on the long run (for me a run of say 10-20 kms or more) on a Sunday except while I was travelling. With a keenness to show off to people around, I can recount of occasions when I did this at the Cubbon Park in Bangalore once, and another time at the Valentine’s park in London. On weekdays, much to the irritation of my family for making noises during early morning finding my running accessories, I religiously used to go for those lonely runs during the summer and the monsoon. Looking back I think the best part was running with the Pune running group and the people I got to know. Amongst so many of them, was Milind whose discipline rubbed off on me to a great extent and we did a few practice runs together. Right from seeing people who ran the absurd 80 plus kilometers at the Comrades, to listening to tales of people who cycled from one city to another, it all added up in the form of motivation to at least move beyond the 10 K mark.

Slowly I was growing in confidence, and started doing the half marathons. The first official half marathon was a 2.04 effort in August’12 at the flyover-ridden Hyderabad half marathon. Later I did the Pune half marathon in December’12 in 1 hours 50 minutes. I did two more things along with my running, which I thought could help me with the running performance. I went for a yoga course for a month in November which I believe helped me stretch quite a bit and also added flexibility to my body. Along with that since August’12, I also decided to increase my protein intake to strengthen my muscles. Being a vegetarian and also not a great lover of food, I needed to make a significant effort in that direction. This meant consuming a few egg whites daily and seeking the aid of whey proteins available in the market. During the course of training I also found out about 2 other aspects – One, the weight of the shoes matter, which in turn led me to searching shoes on the net and buying a lighter 198 gram Hyperspeed 5 from Asics. The second aspect was the use of energy gels. During one of my trips I came across the SIS Go Gel in a London store and later ordered more of the same through the internet. The gel gives your bursts of speed which helps you run better especially towards the last segment of your HM or FM.

Along the way I need to mention that my child hood friend Anand did some excellent analysis from my Garmin data, and gave me those critical inputs during the last few months to the run up of the Mumbai marathon. The fact that he had run a good sub 4 hour marathon some years back in the US was helpful in addition.  During the last one month, in a period called the “taper” the mind was more at work than the body negotiating the challenges of a 42 km run. The facebook had a big role to play in the run, since this gave the space to inform your friends, and in turn invited some likes and comments, which I used to construe as great motivational factors!

I realize that inspite of having written so much, there are a lot more details and specifics that a runner can write about. That is probably a topic for a more subject specific write up! (if I ever join that bandwagon) However in a nut shell, this is what I did in the last one year – Woke up quite early every other day, trained quite a bit, did a lot of running related internet searches, listened to a lot of gyan, spent a lot of money, and then successfully ran the MARATHON!

(One site lists the percentage of US population which has run a marathon as 0.5% and assuming it stays the same globally as well, I think it was indeed a good effortJ)

Desiboyz...

I have 2 brothers, which meant that I grew up in a male dominant (in terms of numbers) family, went to a boys school, studied Mechanical engineering and probably, the rest of the story was more or less predictable. I am sure many of us do have similar pathways in life. Looking back, at least in school I think it was always the “he” which was talked about, since that was the world we knew. This in hindsight led to many nice, funny instances which I could laugh at now.

If there was a guy who knew a girl, that would have been the end of it. He would be ragged till he actually starts believing that there was some cosmic connection between him and her. Tuitions with a mixed class were a welcome change to spending hours and years in an all boys set up. It was a good opportunity for the boys to impress them with their knowledge of calculus or literature or the carbon rings. Speaking about literature, it always made a difference to be a good speaker or have the correct accent! At Loyola, the annual basket ball tournament gave another occasion for the show off. There were a few schools which were regulars in the tournament. Unfortunately Holy Angels being a girl’s school never participated in the tournament. (we would wish to believe it was their loss!) Amongst the others, St Joseph’s and Christ Nagar did play well, but hardly had any value to many of us since they were boys’ schools as well. In those days there were a few schools were co-education was practiced and St Thomas was one of them. Apart from the fact that they had a very good team, the co-ed factor also made them pretty popular at Loyola. Not that we had a girls tournament, but it was probably the only chance of seeing some girls in our campus cheering for their team. Unfortunately unlike cricket, basketball is a game which gets over in forty minutes. (as a game I could never master nor play to any amount of proficiency, I always used to envy our team who were treated like stars in front of the home crowd)I remember in the 11^th or 12^th standard, since our team got into the St.Thomas trophy finals, we went along as cheer leaders for the team. One of those small thrills in life! Call it the NBA or the ‘crowd’ influence, I would think that many in our team would have tried to dunk the basketball, though it was physically impossible given the heights.

We were the first batch of the 11^th standard at school and one of the discussions centered on whether we will have co-education introduced in those classes or not. It probably was an informal talk, but is worth mentioning in the context. In any case Loyola decided to be a boy’s only school and we all thought that it was the only and right way. At college too (specific to Mechanical Engineering), the boys only attitude meant that very little interaction happened with the girls and it was the familiar “Indian crab” story whenever some guy tried to talk to a girl. Everyone joined in pulling his leg so much that, in most cases nobody dared to pass anything beyond a smile to the girl you know. Some did develop the escape velocity in spite of all the challenges and as they say, the rest was history.

However as we grew up, many went abroad and to other cities for higher studies. Interaction with the fairer sex became a normal thing, but I believe it would have taken some effort to shed the traits since childhood. But the boys tag still remained etched so much so that my wife still feels that I behave with a boyish mentality. And similarly one more thing has happened. As we all grew up, the same girls we knew at school or college, have in some way re-connected through social networking sites like the facebook. It is wonderful to see all of them come a long way, preparing the next generation to face the world. But I am sure they too would have their own impression of us “boys” if they were to rewind to some 15 -20 years back.

While I did mention about what my wife thinks about me, the other fact that I never would have imagined is that I am now a father of two very beautiful daughters. That makes it a three-some for life. Probably making up for those lost moments while growing up! However at least for them, with the changes which have happened, they would grow in a mixed environment rather than in an all boys or all girls set up avoiding the situations we were in. And I believe, they would develop as better human beings as well.

ps – Not for a moment repenting the fact that I studied in a predominantly boys environmentJ Cheers!

Being a champion of change – The fight on...

I came across this article at the First Post (http://www.firstpost.com/politics/mr-nilekani-can-you-now-feel-team-anna%e2%80%99s-frustration-151494.html?utm_source=MC_TOP_WIDGE) and my thoughts wandered through this specific issue as well as things we see in corporate life. The First Post article is written in the form of a letter to Nandan Nilekani and is against the background of the parliamentary committee rejecting the UID bill. If you have been following the Indian media in the recent past, there have been many news items which have been floating around saying how different interest groups and people inside the government like Chidambaram and other departments have been trying to find faults with the process of the Aadhar initiative. Come to think of it, here is a man who quit a charming corporate life to take on a job which has never been done before. He is supposed to have had the backing of some of the most powerful people including the PM and the Madam. Inspite of all this support and fanfare, this initiative seems to have got stuck in the age-old issue of bureaucracy and political connivances.  At the same time, as the First Post article points out, Nandan Nilekani was one of the most vocal proponents of this very government ridiculing Anna Hazare for the methodology followed in the fight against corruption. That indeed is a different matter and needs to be seen with respect to the job he is in.

As I see it, either in the example quoted above or in corporate decision making, there are many who come with positive energy wanting to make a change. Or go into areas where none has ventured before. Mostly these are people with a positive thought and with utmost integrity trying to make things work despite numerous failed examples. Let us call this person the “believer”. The typical way it works is as follows – The believer does all the ground work and puts together a proposal after immense efforts. This is presented amongst a group of stake holders, some directly responsible and others with no perceptible or non-perceptible interest in the initiative. Yet while the presentation goes on, it is the latter group which raises the doubts citing some third hand information. Finally it is decided that the believer needs to do some more detailing and then come back with a new proposal. This becomes a circular task and finally the believer gives up saying “Mera Baap ka kya jaata hai”. Has anyone gained? This could be very familiar in the corporate world as well when anyone tries to initiate new things. You can always count on the trusted few to come up with “meaningful” suggestions which in reality gives the believer umpteen opportunities to climb new peaks of difficulties. One of my previous bosses, used to tell me that we should still try to work towards the change even if it is going to be a long haul with many difficulties. What matters is “what is best for the company.”

Coming back to the Nandan story, given his Infosys experience, he will take it as a challenge and put in his best till there comes a time when he will just walk out! To conclude, I find this is a little sad, since in any situation it is the people or the company at large which misses out on the benefits of these initiatives and not to mention the services of the people behind it. But who cares?