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?

School Admissions...

On Saturday, we went to the Indira National School to get my elder daughter, Sharanya enrolled in the 1^st standard. Pavithra and my dad came along with me. I could not miss the faint memories (a few passed on to me), some 33 years back when my father took me for an interview at the Loyola School, Trivandrum in a Vijay scooter.  The taste of “narenga vellam” round the corner in Sreekariyam was to stay with me for the next 14 years. The admissions were for LKG and the day was about, how a dream of my parents got fulfilled by the very act of my getting admission in the school.

For the last couple of years, in Mumbai and now in Pune, we have been going through the motion of putting our daughter at school. However one significant thing I have noticed is that given a certain level of education being offered at shortlisted schools, convenience and style of education over rides everything else. This may be something specific to me, but I believe there would be more who would vouch for the same. No longer is the burning ambition of a parent to send their kid, for a 40 minute drive to the school which is seemingly the best and has all the relevant history associated with it. I am not for a minute saying that admissions are easily available, but so was the case 33 years ago when my parents wanted me to be enrolled in the “best” school available at Trivandrum.

What could be the reasons for this change in desire of parents? I believe that each group of people (meaning a family) goes through a generational change wherein their needs and desires undergo transitions. For example, for my father coming from a family of nine siblings, working in a prestigious government organization was a considerable leap in faith. This was especially satisfying after having struggled all the way to educate himself despite considerable lack of resources in the family. And for him, getting his sons educated and doing well in life was a burning desire. So much so that many a time, all that mattered was to give first priority to the education of his children keeping everything else in abeyance. Hence in a way we grew up oblivious to the factors which made him think in a particular way.

Today, having seen more of the world, the opportunities which have increased multifold, we are much more confident of what our kids can do. If not science, there is always an arts which can make your kid successful. Hence probably the imperative of enrolling your children in the best school in town does not exist. In the last 10 years, there are more schools around (thanks to commercialization too!) which means that going to a nearby school and having a decent education is very much possible. Finally there is a view which has been with me for some years now; Life is in fact a journey which is not in the least influenced by the rank you got in first standard. Nor is it about the first job you got. I have come across people who have been considered mediocre and their tryst with a perceptibly superior performance happened say in their 40s. If one were to consider life as a journey and success measurable over a period of time, say 50 years, then your child’s admission for the 1^st standard probably fades into triviality…though some may not agree!

The weight of a comparison...

In India it will take 50 years...In India, the politicians will never allow it to happen...In India, nobody has traffic sense...Compared to US, in India...Compared to China, in India...I sometimes shudder to think, why India is one of the most closely scrutinised objects amongst the non resident Indians. We teach our children not to get into the comparison game, because each one is endowed with unique traits and characteristics. As humans, while we sometimes start to compare, we tend to conclude looking at our positives and give ourselves the benefit of doubt. Yet, when it comes to India, we are "critically" critical.

I noticed this while living in China as a non resident Indian. Add to this is the fact that India and China are supposedly fighting a race to gain supremacy in all spheres. But I believe this is not to do with China alone. Looking at some of the comments on sites like facebook, and discussions amongst people who live outside India across the world, it looks to me that a significant part of the conversation is around what is lacking in India. Or atleast that is what gets expressed and probably the goodness is never talked about. Or is it a way of laughing at ourselves? I do not think so, seeing the passion with which conversations are debated against the inadequecies of India. Solutions are freely shared in the form of transferring the good practices of say US or China to India. Simple!

I do not for a minute think that these people are not patriotic. It is probably a mindset which starts developing when one sees India from a outside in view. A case of "one size fits all" syndrome. This is quite a prejudiced way of looking at a heterogenous and growing country like India. Similar to the way we evaluate our children and ourselves, we need to accept the fact that India is in the midst of transformation and all the chaos may not be bad. This does not approve of the India as it exists. Of course we need to develop faster, making it more prosperous. We do want India to evolve into a nation where poverty does not exist, no child is illiterate and people do not die due to lack of healthcare. However achieving this will be a process and will not happen overnight. We need to realise that we have chosen to follow a democracy where each section's voice needs to be heard. The unfortunate part of the situation is that most of people are contend to giving views and solutions without really attempting to make a difference. While a revolution is not practical for most of the population, small efforts could possibly add up to the bigger picture of change.

However the current state means that we will continue to develop but there will be no quick fixes. We need to allow for the diversity in opinion which many a time will create hurdles in the path of development. One of the other oft repeated views from people I meet, is to follow a system like China where decisions are taken and implemented by a group of people. And this they say is the only way to govern a nation of 1 billion people. Without getting into the pros and cons of a communist (read dictatorship) form of government, I feel this is an easy statement to make because, firstly we have not lived under a dictatorship, secondly we discount the China of pre-1978 which was poorer than India and thirdly in hindsight the experiment in China has been successful. It need not be a remedy for India. Dr Manmohan Singh had this to say in his interview with Fareed Zakaria on his show "Fareed Zakaria GPS" telecast on November 22, 2009 prior to his visit to Washington - "...they are struck by the energy with which the Chinese are both building infrastructure, the ease with which you can set up businesses. And they wish that they could see a similar process in India. Well, I have no hesitation in saying that I think development in India cannot be a carbon copy of what happens in China. And the Chinese system is very different. We are a functioning democracy. And even if you want to acquire land, I think you run into serious problems, and there's for -- of operating a democracy. And democracy is slow-moving." This statement from a person whom people across the spectrum respect and admire, hits the issue at its roots. On the other hand, it will be unfair to compare US or Europe to India. While India will continue to progress, it will not be a painless progress.

So does that mean one needs to accept the status quo and be part of the frequently said phrase..."We are like this only"? Perhaps yes, but without the cynicsm. An understanding of the current reality of India, be proud of the achievements until now and the difficult path into the future. This is not a reasoning for the state of things, but a reality check wherein more efforts need to be put to perform in the model of governance we have chosen. While we need to benchmark ourselves against the best, not having a carbon copy should not be deemed as failure.

Till then, I have to agree with what the noted historian and scholar Ramachandra Guha said "It is only the non resident Indians who want India to be a super power"..."not the residents themselves..." Such is the weight of a comparison!

THE GOD

The world was truly blessed with what they saw yesterday. Around 40 years of ODIs and 2500 plus matches...Alas we had the first man on planet earth reaching the almost inaccessible milestone of 200 runs in One day cricket!

On my visit to Australia in 2003, a taxi driver chirply remarked, in India you have four gods - Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma...and I waited for what the fourth will be...Tendulkar! I could not have agreed with him more. I would have mentioned this to people many times. One of the reasons why India is united is because of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. His innings yesterday effectively ended the debate of whether Ricky Ponting is better than him. 47 test centuries, 46 ODI centuries, and over 20 years of International cricket. Amazing...

Honestly in the last few years, while I knew Sachin will go on to score many more runs and centuries, I never imagined him being the guy to get to the 200 barrier. But god lives by his rules! Yesterday's innings was a master piece that by the time he reached 180 or so, it looked like that the entire universe is conspiring to help him get to the figure. The world talks about Roger Federer being the perfect role model and champion. If there is one person who probably is on the same pedestal if not higher is Sachin. And remember Sachin is more closely scrutinised and followed than Roger ever was or will be.

The first time I heard about Tendulkar was when I was in the 5th or 6th standard. He was touted as the prodigy from Shivaji Park. Since then he has given to the masses much more than what movies or any other form of entertainment would have. Such is his class..."Poetry in motion"

We would probably see another few years of his amazing drives and cuts, before he hangs up his boots. How cricket will be, when he leaves the scene is something nobody would want to think of. I found this in one of the blogs today - "Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting, they will go unnoticed, because even the Lord is watching!" prempanicker.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/the-unseen-stats-behind-sachins-record/

There have been many good players who have played this game. Some have been called "Greats" and some "legends". But for me Sachin Tendulkar is "THE GOD" himself.

Selamat Datang

"Selamat Datang" means "Welcome" in Malay. Indeed it was a welcome break and a trip to a beautiful country during the Chinese New year holidays last week. This was my first trip to Malaysia. Since the time I moved to Shanghai, I have used the Malaysian airlines umpteen times. So much so that I have stayed as a gold card member of the frequent flyer program of the airline called "Enrich" for the last two years or so. This meant transiting many a time through the airport at Kuala Lumpur. The closest I came to stepping foot in Malaysia, was when during one of my trips back to Shanghai, the flight from Mumbai got delayed. The connecting flight had already left and we went through emigration to be put up at the Pan Pacific which is a hotel attached to the KL airport. It was a short 10 hour stay, limited to the hotel room.

Malaysia too is a multi ethnic and multi religious country. Essentially a Muslim country, there are 3 distinct races. Malays who kind of rule the country constitute 54% of the population while Chinese are around 25% and Indians are approximately 8%. Then there are a few other races as well. The Chinese are predominantly well off and are into business while the Indian community was traditionally the labour class which came from Tamil Nadu. While "One Malaysia" is a cause political leaders want the nation to aspire for, I did get a feeling that there is some way to go. For one, being a Muslim country, when approximately 30% of the population is not, means that these communities are naturally excluded while trying to be inclusive! (hopefully readers will not view me as anti-Islamic. I believe that a theocratic state of any religion, drives exclusivism)

We took the China Eastern from Shanghai and travelled through the night to arrive at KL and further on to Langkawi by flight at around 11 am the following day. Amazingly refreshing, Langkawi consists of 99 islands. We stayed at the Rebak Island Resort which is a Taj Property on a private island. While I would recommend this to any one who may want to visit the place, it is a little on the expensive side. In fact during the Chinese new year holidays, most of the flights and locations in this part of the world becomes dearer. The Chinese are in fact travelling a lot more these days, and it points out to the prosperity they have achieved in the last 10 years or so. At the resort itself there were people from all the geographies. We did notice a few Indians at our resort. The only difference being that they all looked to be the honeymoon couples, with dreams of having an equally exciting life in the future! (sarcasm not intended) With Sharanya and Pavithra around it was an enjoyable stay at Langkawi. One of the new things we did, was Parasailing. Its quite a treat being alone in the sky with the sea beneath, as long as you think and feel that you are going to be safely back on land!

After a couple of days, we headed straight to Kuala Lumpur. We were quite impressed by the roads and cleanliness around. I have gone to over 20 countries including some in Africa and would rate roads in India as amongst the worst. The Petronas twin towers provided a very imposing view and I believe it was the tallest building in the world till 2004. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is quite close to the towers. The area itself has many shopping centers and multiple hotels including the Mariott, Ascott and Renaissance. The next day we visited the Batu caves, which is around 13 kilometers from the downtown. It houses arguably the tallest Murugan statue in the world. Housed atop 272 steps is the Sri Subramania Swamy temple. The area looked a like a mini Chennai with distinct Tamil experiences. After a quick visit, we headed to a shop at the base which sold Tamil DVDs. Buying new Tamil and Malayalam movie DVDs has become one of the most important tasks since we moved to Shanghai.

With Sharanya not too well during our KL stay, our movement was to an extent restricted. However on the final day we decided to take the "hoponhopff bus" which runs around KL and is valid for 24 hours. The price of a ticket is 38 Ringitt. While we used it only for around 4 hours, it gave us a quick snap shot into KL. We got a glimpse of Little China, Little India and the Merdeka square which is a symbol of Malaysian Independence. Our flight back was at 3.30 am which meant that we had to spend close to 7 hours at the KL airport. We had quite a few dosas in our trip including twice at the KL airport. The dinner that day on our travel back consisted of ghee dosas! Pavithra had a wholesome South Indian lunch when we visited the temple.

Malaysia is an amazing place to visit and I believe they put in a lot of efforts to make it a tourism friendly nation. "Truly Asia".

I think India has a phenomenal potential for tourism but we still need to get the small things right for it to blossom. Arrival into say 3 Asian cities (Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur) and taking a taxi out, and comparing it to the experience in say Mumbai will be a simple case to compare.

ps - view some of the tour photos at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome

The Game of Badminton...

In the last week, we had the Shanghai Indian Association badminton tournament.  While me and Pavithra lost in the mixed doubles finals, my run also ended in the semi finals in men's doubles and in the quarters in singles. But thats not the real point I am trying to convey. This game is pretty universal, seemingly easy and fun for people to participate. Unlike say tennis, this requires lesser infrastructure and even novices can aspire to hit the bird with the charm of a champion.

However what I have noticed over the years is that probably more than many of the games, this game is highly tactical. After a certain level when you have mastered to hit the shuttle well, if you need to move into the next level, its imperative that you learn the tricks of the trade. Every form of this game, has to be played with different strategies. While fitness is a must, more important is how one utilises the area of the court and make the opponent play into your game. This also explains the fact that, over a period of time, I have seen some 50 plus year olds, playing amazing badminton. Literally eating novices like me for breakfast.

Last 2 years has been good living in our housing complex in Shanghai, with a game of badminton every weekend with many of the Indian families joining in. In the future, I would love to get some coaching and play with some of the better players, so that I have the required skill sets to play this game when I hit 50! (and win too!)

Aamchi Mumbai...

Discussion on who Mumbai belongs to, is one of the hottest topics in Indian media today. Political parties have taken respective positions and are quite keen to prove that their position is the right one. All this for "the people" who they claim to represent.

I would not like to go into the correctness of various arguments. Nor will I seek to support a particular view point. For me, this is a very simple topic and the less we make it complicated the better it is. On August 15, 1947 when India won Independence and on January 26, 1950 when India became a Republic, we also decided that India is "one" country. While there may be geographical divisions for operational reasons, we are one and in that sense we sink and swim together. I am as proud of Mumbai as I am of Thiruvananthapuram, where I come from, as I am of Delhi which is "our" Capital.

If we were to think in this manner, the issue of Mumbai is a non-issue. Having said that there are regional issues of development and progress, which needs to be tackled in a more objective manner. What happened to dream of making Mumbai another Shanghai?

Personally for me, Thiruvananthapuram is a remarkable example of what India ought to be. I have grown up seeing my father work in the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, where people from different parts of India used to live a dream together. And after 25 odd years, many of them have still preferred to live on there, not because of the wealth they have created there (which is anyway not much) , but for the love of the place. And this is not possible if we did not believe in the concept of India.

I love Mumbai for all the simple things in life. And I hope I never run into someone, who will question me for loving Mumbai just because I was not born there or speak a different language. It will indeed be a sad argument to get into with a fellow Indian!

Into February...

Its already Feb and as always time seems to fly quickly. In a few months we would be heading back to India for good. Mumbai, it will be...

The Chinese new year is 2 weeks away. Its the biggest festival in China where everyone heads home. Given the population of China, and the fact that most of the people work away from home, its probably the only time in the year when most people re-join with their families. Meet their near and dear ones...This will be my third new year in China - the year of the Tiger.

Looking back, the China experience has been one of the most awesome experiences I could have had in life. A country which gives you a feel of this massive juggernaut rolling with things changing and happening everywhere. In many ways this is similar to India but in many more ways so different.

The CNY holidays would be in Malaysia for us. Looking forward to seeing the country a little bit.

It was a match which no Arsenal fan would have wanted to see. 2 goals down in the first half. I am not too big a fan of Arsenal, but quite like the way they have shaped up with young players who have come up the rank and a few others who are not really super stars. (unlike a team like Chelsea or Man U). But yesterday, it was Man U which demonstrated once again that the EPL title race was between them and Chelsea. Arsenal can be happy where they are!

truly amazing...

Being in China for the last 3 years, meant no access to blog sites including live journal. I had almost given up and hoped to resume blogging on LJ once I get out of China!

It was an accidental act of keying in the LJ website today and it logged me on. This is truly amazing. A feeling of freedom.

It has been a Super Sunday...Leander and Cara winning the Australian open mixed doubles, Roger "fedex"ing past Andy and the match later tonight between Arsenal and Man U. While I wished Andy would win, I almost knew it would be Roger's day today. This man has taken tennis to heights no one could ever imagine of. World sport is truly blessed to have people like Sachin, Roger, Messi et al (would include Tiger as well for the golfer he is) who give the spectators entertainment and joy day after day.

Election Time - India

It is once again time for one of our favourite past times - Elections. I am sometimes amazed by the ability of the election commission to run an election of this magnitude successfully across India. Every time, we are around the elections, we see new "non-political" faces and the debate begins whether it is time for common educated Indians to join the political fray.
There is a discussion running around in our e-groups, which debates the candidature of Shashi Tharoor from Trivandrum. (well, my home town) Being an highly opinionated group of individuals, we seem to have pros and cons for all kinds of situations. The fact that Mr Tharoor is part of the Congress too, makes him a non-neutral candidate to a large extent. While I am in no way a great supporter of the Congress brand of politics (or for that matter the general brand of politics), I was thinking about the basic objectives we want to accomplish through elections. And came to the following conclusion -
1. Have a good and stable governance which can take India ahead
2. Have good candidates elected to the parliament.
The point some times is that in a parliamentary form of democracy, good candidates need not give a good and stable governance. The parties in most cases have the bigger say. Having said that, it is still important to keep both the objectives in mind while voting. Which gains more prominence, is something for the voter to decide. Go Vote!

Introduction

I used to run a personal blog on livejournal.com.(http://www.livejournal.com/users/veira) However China seems to prevent me from accessing the site any more. Whatever the actual reasons behind the non-accessibility were, I decided to start a new blog - The Multi Billion World. This essentially touches base with China and India, with the former being a great insight for me personally in the last 2 years.

In the last week, China has asked for the dollar to be replaced by another global currency standard. (imagine doing business transactions globally in RMB!) Many Indians too carry the dream of being able to pay in INR when they vacation in say Gold Coast or the Mediterranean, in the future! Whatever the future holds, 2009 will be a land mark year in terms of global power shift. Welcome to the Multi Billion World.

Sharanya

It has been more than a year since I posted my last journal. The need for discipline in such things along with motivation is very much relevant!The biggest event in the meantime has been the birth of Sharanya on September 8, 2006. She is 7 months now and is very much the center of life for Pavithra and me. The way Pavithra has handled the run up to the birth and the last six months has been wonderful. Sharanya keeps her mom on the toes for the entire 24 hours and I am simply amazed by the way Pavithra is able to keep up with the daughter's energy!

I also completed 6 years in Mumbai in March and have developed an affinity for this amazing place. The problems do remain but the energy in this place is wonderful. In the last one year, I have been able to travel quite a bit to places like Japan, China, Belgium and Italy along with other places which I have already gone to. They want Mumbai to be transformed into Shanghai. Having visited Shanghai, it looks difficult to me in the next 4-5 year time frame. Meanwhile I have hope since we are in the process of re-locating to Shanghai in May! I seem to follow the adage " If you can't beat them, join them!"

China is interesting and we look forward to the experiences there...

vacation in Kerala

I am just back after a week's vacation in hometown, Trivandrum. I got to see the first underbridge (or whatever one calls it) of the place. The city has indeed grown since the last time I saw in August 2004. More cars, more smallish "malls" and more traffic. It was in a way a family reunion with me and Pavithra coming from Mumbai and Rajan joining from Kozhikode.

We did the usual routine of things. A trip to Shangumugam and Kovalam included. We also played the mandatory 25 ball matches on the terrace of our house. I managed to team up with Anand and avoided defeat against Rajan.We may have watched around 4-5 Malayalam and Tamil movies on the CD at home. A couple of them were those of Mohanlal and Sreenivasan from the 90s:-) "Rajamanickam" is the current rage in Kerala. Mammooty displays his prowess of speaking with a trivandrum accent and enthralls the gallery in every scene...It seemed like he has started where Rajnikanth left in Tamil movies. Nevertheless Mammooty once again shows why he should rank amongst the top actors of the country.

Pavithra wanted to have a look at the "real" back waters of Kerala. My argument that Veli is one of them went unheeded since it has become so commercialised that it has lost its naturality. We decided to go towards Varkala and found this place called Kaapil. It reflects the beauty of Kerala in no uncertain terms. You have options in boating. Moreover it looked like very few people tend to go there. But I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to spend an evening away from the maddening crowd in the company of back waters and the sea.

On route to Mumbai we went to Kozhikode. Apart from catching a "budget" airline to Mumbai another reason was to see the IIM (K) campus where Rajan studies. My parents and Anand joined in till Kozhikode. Calicut is a sentimental favourite with me for other reasons as well. I had my first under 13 state cricket camp there in 1988 and also took 6 wickets in an innings against Andhra in 1991 during my under 16 stint.

Before I end, here is another recommendation. Air India express flies into Kochi and Kozhikode from Mumbai and currently it costs as less as Rs 2000 for a one way trip. Not many people know this and I chanced upon this after exhausting other costly options. The cabin stewards and the crowd may be on the duller side but all that is forgiven when your next credit card bill comes!

ps - Loyolites should have a look at this blog: http://jiby216.blogspot.com/2005/05/oh-for-team-worth-cheering-for.html

After a long break...

The last journal I penned was in June 2005. Seems like a long time ago. Sometime back one of my friends had told me that blogging is a good for your friends to know what you have been doing. This is of course a positive in today's fast paced life setting.

Yesterday I was on a one day business trip to Chennai. A place I normally do not frequent. However this trip turned out to be a good one. On my way back, relaxing in the business lounge I could get to see some of the public figures around. The Srilankan team was there apart from Ravi Shastri, I S Bindra and Anupam Kher. The Lankans were going to Bangalore to play a practice match before their test tour of India starts. I would have got to see the Indian team as well, with some initiative from my side.(by waiting at the check in area rather than sitting in the luxury of the lounge) Meanwhile, I was quite content with the signatures of Sangakaara and Mahela along with the opportunity to see some stars like Muralitharan, Attapattu, Vaas and the coach Moody.

At home front Pavithra has joined back to work with Cap Gemini. She seems to be enjoying work which augurs well for the both of us.I visited Spain during the first week of November in connection with a pharmaceutical fair. The other positive from the trip was the opportunity to have a look at the Bernabeu which is the home ground of Real Madrid.Close encounters of the soccer kind!

travelling

I am posting this from Basel in Switzerland. We have been on a trip from the 10th of this month, starting from the US before coming down here. We head back to India, the next weekend. This has been a very hectic business trip moving from one place to another every other day.

What really touched me was the fact that many of my friends touch based with me while in the US. The nobles’ junta called up through Sreekumar and Sony. I was surprised to get a call from Sony having lost touch with him around 1993! Sree was in his usual self. There were a few others who mailed me during this time.Reni and Aswati came to meet me at my hotel (Hilton, Newark). They formed a lovely couple. The Friday at Newark turned out to be another truly memorable one. Sriram my mechanical engineering classmate came along and took me to the Times Square area. Some impressive hoardings made good photo opportunity! CETians (College of Engineering, Trivandrum) are many in the US, since doing an MS has always been a well established path to get ahead in one's career. We met up with Sangeeth (Tele '96 batch) and Abu (our batch). Apart from that it was a good occasion to remember the good old CET times.

I could not talk to Mrinal, though he had left a voice message from me. He is currently studying law in Boston. I know him from an assignment he was on for Lupin while we were doing an agreement with another company. He used to work for DSK legal then.

Anil and his wife were with me on Saturday. His brother too came along. They live in Philadelphia. We went to an area called Edison. This is known for its "desi"ness and we ate Indian Chinese food at Ming. The idea was to go to New York and see a couple of places. However the snarling traffic did not leave many options open. It took a while before we could enter into New York. I had to be at the JFK airport by around 7.30 pm. We drove through the Wall street and got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty from Battery park. We took the Westminister bridge route to get on to the expressway into the JFK side.

By around 7 pm we reached the airport and I said good bye to Anil and his family. At some level I also thought about my friends who have shifted the US and who may eventually make it their home.

Pavithra is at Bangalore and it has been nice to catch up with her on the yahoo once in a while.

Finally we win...

On April 23, 2005 we played the season ending game at the MIG Club at Bandra. The final was the culmination of the E-Merck cup which is played amongst the pharmaceutical companies in Mumbai. Zandu had beaten us 3 times in the last two years. Two times in the last year's tournament and once in this year's as well. They had won the trophy for 5 years in a row. A difficult side to beat...

Winning the toss, Zandu chose to bat on an overcast morning. They finished the innings at 239 in 45 overs. We beat them in 38 overs losing just 3 wickets. Yours truly scored 65 runs opening the innings. I also won the "Man of the Match" award for the performance. A first for me since the time I started playing cricket!

Pavithra saw me play and I guess it settled those doubts on her mind about my competency to play cricket:-)

Aside - This is the same ground where "God" (Sachin Tendulkar) plays his cricket...

in Singapore

My last visit here was also my first outside India. It was purely co-incidental that I had to step out into Singapore due to the Qantas flight getting delayed.

But this time around I am here on a business trip. I have found that the place is not as mechanical as it seemed like on my first visit 3 years back. Tamil is one of the official languages. The Indian population is quite big here. There is a place called Little India which would have compared well against any of the places you will find in Chennai.

Malaysia is next door. With the Singapore currency far too strong against the Malaysian Ringitt, you will find many Malaysians working in Singapore on a daily basis. The restaurant in my hotel had one Velu (of Tamil origin) who travels daily from Malaysia to work there. The nearest Malay place could be reached within 30 minutes!

I did the "Night Safari" which is touted as the world's first night safari. I would rate it as an "OK" experience.

Sanjay called me up from KL. He is moving to India for good by the end of the month.I look forward to being with my wife later in the day:-)

Another year passes...

I have not been regular at the site. I would not attribute it to the lack of time, but to a definite lack of enthusiasm. Married life has been good and Pavithra has found a job quite close to home. Whether it means, she can spend more time at office or more time at home needs to be seen:-)Work has again "plateaud" and will need some fresh initiatives for sustenance!
Rajan has come and my folks are expected later this week. So x'mas and new year will be with them. This year's cricket season hasn't picked up. There are matches coming up but the team has not got on to the ground for sometime now.
We have registered for the Mumbai Marathon "Dream Run" and that should be something to look forward to.

Long Time...

It has been a long time since I blogged. May be the interest waned down after the first few months of active blogging. Having said that, the last few months have been exciting.

I am getting married on the 22nd of August at Bangalore. I consider myself extremely lucky to have got Pavithra. I believe marriage is an important aspect of your life and the run up to it is a journey in itself.

Professionally I have climbed a level higher and I presume the pharmaceutical sector still provides a lot of challenges to me. Godrej Colony , Vikhroli is my new abode and is a very pleasant place to stay at. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an affordable place at a very serene place. Infact it is a luxury in Mumbai, if you are not one of those elitists who could afford a place at Marine Drive or Worli Sea Face!

Today another edition of the Olympic Games opens. The biggest sporting exragavanza in the world is worth the wait. And as always I long for the day when an Indian comes back with a gold!

Sachin aaila re...

The match at the Wankhade on the 20th was worth remembering. That Zandu showed us every nook and corner of the ground in their score of 340 odd in 45 overs is another matter. We closed the game at 240 in 45 overs. A tough task but not an impossible one. We gave away too many runs in the first session, through bad fielding. Opening the innings I hit a 32 before getting run out. Chandan, the centurion of the league games proved his immense talent through another well crafted 71. My word of appreciation for the Lupinytts who spent the day with us at the Wankhade.

Just a day before, I compered the annual day function of Lupin. It was a good learning experience. There were words of appreciation for whatever little I did on that day. A nice feeling.

Wankhade

Will it be or will it not be? We have qualified for the finals of the E Merck Cup and the final is slated to be held on 20th March. The finals is not as much of an attraction as much as the venue in itself . There is a very high probability of it being played in the hallowed turf of Wankhade. To smell the grass of one of the most revered test venues in the country will be an honour. One last time and I can once again think of hanging up my boots:-)

Rajan has got interview calls from IIM K & L.It is definitely a positive sign considering his prolonged efforts.Just today I learnt that a person I knew at DRL is no more. He must have been in his late 30s.Life is just a reveller in many ways...And man continues to plan things out...

Anand's 10 std exams are on...10th was considered to be the first of the most important exams in one's life.Academically ofcourse:-) Btw one of the things I learnt recently was that generation has a 23 year life span. Until I come across another verified number, this will be my take too!

The UEFA return leg is this week. Should be interesting.

Back in India

The last two countries I covered during the African trip were Tanzania and South Africa.I was unlucky to miss out on seeing Mount Kilimanjaro on the way to Dares, since there were far too many clouds. Dares is a decent place and seems to have many casinos.Or was it the only place I went! These places are ideal opportunities to meet up with expats from different countries.Btw many of these people are under the impression that in India, from the time one is born each one knows who they are going to marry. In other words the families set it up when one is young! I found it hilarious...

Johannesburg is supposed to be the most dangerous city in the world. Two things were very noticeable, the absence of public transport and presence of very few people walking on the streets. In any case, Joburg is a dangerous city and I would advise anyone travelling not to take too many liberties. Port Elizabeth is a coastal town in the south of the country. It is pretty small and more friendlier when compared to Joburg.That was the same day SA had lost to Nepal in a under 19 cricket match at the WC. I took the opportunity to pull the leg of some fellow travellers who were the coaches of a school team travelling with me!Hansie is still revered...something which touched me as well!

On Friday, I went to the Sun city and the Pilanesburg reserve. The same place where Ash or Sush were crowned something. I dont know which one!Anyways it was a good experince.A learning on the day was the concept of still water and sparkling water when you refer to mineral water.My tour party was truly global with people from the US, Latin and far east.

Tomorrow is Pfizer up against us...Another big day...

Its Adis...

12th Feb was an interesting day. I started off from Kampala in the morning and came into Nairobi for lunch and some business.By evening I was off to Addis for dinner. Later I realised the significance of the day in having covered three different countries on the same day.

Adis is the best I have seen so far. There is a lot of Middle east and Biblical influence.The country is rich in heritage, though I havent had the opportunity to do any sight seeing. The city is comparatively safe and one could walk around even at 10 pm in most parts of the city. Ethiopia is supposed to have amongst the most beautiful women in this part of the world. And sure it is...On Friday night I went to an ethnic Ethiopian restaurant, a little bit away from the city. It was the most amazing dinner I have had in months. The traditional dance and music coupled with beautiful people around, made it a nice occasion. On the food side, they served me with something very similar to the Indian Dosa.

Yesterday Tunisia beat Morocco 2-1 in the African nations cup. The absence of any sub-saharan country in the finals made the event a little less emotional for the people here.I am off to Dar-es and South Africa next week...Hope to have another interesting week ahead.

From Nairobi

I am lucky that I got into the Kenyan Airways flight from Mumbai on 8th early morning...I would have to say Air India should be a favourite airline when compared to the KQ! And when I arrived at Nairobi, I got to hear that my luggage is still stuck up at Mumbai...Well it didnt really put me down since I had expected the worst! I finally got my baggage on Monday morning.The KQ staff at Nairobi have certainly good customer relationship sense. I have been told not to venture into the streets here after 7 pm...You are supposedly either mugged or shot dead if you dont part with your money...Not a bad deal considering stake - YOUR LIFE...Well in the night yesterday, I was wondering what to do at my hotel when I hit off at a Mallu Engineer...And it goes without saying what two Mallus do when they meet:-) (Yeah I think I am beginning to feel more like a Tam as days go by!)

telecommunication...

Its the end of another week...Have not been keeping well but I think I should be alright in a day or two. I have overcome the guilt of losing my mobile over the last weekend. I own a nokia 6610 now:-)

Meanwhile in the last 10-12 days I have been amused by a few phone calls that I have got from my friends. Reni from the US, Vinay from the SCG on the eve of the India - Aus match and just yesterday Randeep from Stuttgart! More amusing since they were surprises...Imagine Vinay calling me up in the morning to let me know that he was at the SCG...so that I could watch him on TV! And Randeep called me as a reaction to a mail I had written on the NOBLES! In any case it is always nice to get a call from your friends in these days of "emails".

Tomorrow is another big match day...We are playing Wockhardt.

Various...

Last weekend was at Hyderabad. As the city, where I started my corporate life, it is special. Naina & the Chandy family seem to be doing great. The very best to them. I went to two restaurants which could mean the same if one were to look up the Thesaurus - Utsav and Mela. The former, courtesy my former DRL mates and the latter courtesy the CET group. It was good to see Rajmohan and his wife too. I think Manoj would have liked my coming to Hyd, since he got an opportunity to see a little bit more of the city:-)

There were two hoardings which caught my eye. The first one was a seductive Katrina Kaif hoarding with the punch line, "Dare to be alive". As if KK herself was not disturbing!The second hoarding was of a mineral water promotion with the punch line "DRINK and DRIVE". Although there were a few more sentences, it was not visible! I feel that there needs to be a certain amount of discipline for hoardings too. Though I do accept that a majority of the people would not have looked at these hoardings if not for the shock value, it is certainly a disturbing trend. However I give a lot of credit to the creative guys for such creations!

Ajay Kuduva seems to be still around. He scored a 34 in the Deodhar trophy yesterday. Though not in touch with him, it will be nice to bump into him sometime. The tri-series in Australia is shaping up pretty well.

The Republic day is around the corner...

A Big Victory

In the first game of the E-Merck cup we romped home to an easy victory over the hosts. In fact the batsmen literally batted them out of the game. Chasing 305 in 45 overs, E-Merck collapsed to 206 all out. Yours truly scored a patient 34 in around 27 overs, opening the batting. One can imagine the fireworks on display at the other end, with me having a test match kind of day in there. I think there were some close calls on the lbw front, which I need to work on if I need to survive the 20s and 30s the next time around. The target will be of course a 60 plus!

In an interview sometime back Justin Langer had this to say on what he thinks about Steve Waugh's leadership..."I would run into a wall, if he were to command me so" So much was the respect that Steve commanded within his team and country. In a sense my generation literally grew up with him. Not many know the fact that he was one of the pioneers of the "slow ball" which he used to great effect in the Reliance World Cup of 1987.Fortunately for me, I got a chance to see him live at the MCG last year when he was batting for NSW against Victoria. Memories of a life time...

I met up with Ashwein from IIFT on Friday at the Irish Cafe.

Meanwhile Sankar Raman, my engineering mate stayed for a day at our home.With Nitin Jain putting in an appearance some days back, it has been some good CET bonding in the first month of 2004.

India Shining...is the latest phrase to catch on, in most of the articles found these days...Btw this ad is made by Grey. And a Loyolite happens to be the creative director there, Prathap Sudan of the 1977 batch.

New Year's Eve

I finally managed to spend my new year's eve out of home. A significant feature considering my track record in the previous years. Myself and Anish hit off on a pub at around 7.30 pm. The basic assumption was that it will be next to impossible to gain a place on such an occasion as it nears 12 and also the necessity of the fairer sex to act as a passport for entry. (my apologies to the women folk for any feeling of hurt whatsover)We felt very good to see that we were the first people in. The pride of having planned out things well was evident. At 10, it was still us with a few others. Both our assumptions were turning out to be false. The idea of disappointment may have had more to do with the second assumption turning false and this leading to the fact that the crowd would be less interesting than usual:-)

Anyway by around 10.30 we were out of Eighties and into Club 9 which was where we saw the year pass into 2004.

Another learning a few days back was that it is essential to get an yellow fever certificate to apply for an African Visa. And one of the two places, the vaccination is done is at Seaman's medical organisation at Ballard Estate. The fee is Rs 150. The surroundings are nowhere near to being called a clinic, but I suppose that is the way the programs of the WHO are run! So dont take much notice, since this is the way , millions of people have got it done and you are no exception. The reward is that of getting a certificate duly stamped and signed...You are ready for getting the visa!

I think I will devote my next blog to Steve da who retired today.

Happy Weekend...

The match on Saturday was good primarily because of victory to the Lupin team. We made 103 runs in 15 overs. Yours truly had a score of 17, opening the batting. Though I should have stuck around to get near the 50s, it was a confidence building innings. Our opponents scored 91 in the stipulated 15 overs. The one big difference between when I used to play for DRL two years back and now is that there is hardly any pressure on me to perform. Another plus from the match has been the higher cohesiveness in the team. I have always believed that a team game is a reality check on the individual. In fact sports is the true test of character! This victory will augur well, as we near the E-Merck cup in January.

It was my first visit to Navy Nagar and the Navy Club. I did not imagine, there could be a vast stretches of land in South Mumbai, which will include amongst other things, a golf course. Courtesy an acquaintance and an accommodating host, dinner happened there on Saturday. Well, for people who wish to go there, here are some tips. The dinner including the “bar”red part closes by 10.30 pm. So make sure you go well before the time. And never take a chance on your attire. My advice is that one should keep it simple. Leather shoes and shirt nicely tucked in! Preferably take your own vehicle, especially if your engagement goes on into the night. It is a long way to go if one has to walk down to take a cab. Key take aways – A wonderful place, good company and some insurance fundas:-)

Sanjay went back to KL yesterday. Its around 3 months to his wedding.

The soccer score yesterday night was 5-3 to us. Winning does really help!

Work

This is a lean period. With majority of the customers falling in the western world, there is hardly any work these days. This trend is expected to continue in the next week too, with new year coming up.

Having said that I also come to one of my genuine findings from the corporate world. That I started reading a Dilbert book yesterday is purely coincidental. If I were to put work in perpective, it will go like this. Please forgive my use of the ever-excessively used 80:20 principle. Here it goes. 80% of the work is done in 20% of the time. And rest of the work doesnt count for much in any case! Also, I might add that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. In other words, there is not enough work for most of the people. This might not be music to the self-styled workaholics but I stand by what I say. Organisations run inspite of such inefficiencies, and come up with results to cheer!

This is not to say that one must not work hard. But in fact the idea is to move beyond your work and understand that, you have enough time for other activities.

Sanjay is down here to meet his fiance.I am meeting him after a gap of 2 years.The midnight mass on x'mas day seemed to go on and on...People who were present would know better!

Tomorrow is another match day. I havent hit runs for a while. And defeat as usual will hurt. Sometimes, I feel that games are to be played for the fun of it. However it is easier said than done.

Defeat is indeed a spoiler...

The wall...

16th December will always be a day to remember. A historic test win against the Aussies in Australia does not happen every other day!

Well, I just sat on till the match ended before I went to the office...It has been some time since I bunked going to school, college or office for the sake of a cricket match. Though I have done it for the World Cup football or the Olympics, cricket had taken a back seat since long.

I would second any proposal to make the test named after Dravid. I feel his performance is commendable in more than many ways. The intensity he brought on to the effort, could serve as an example to people in various fields. Rahul has had to prove himself the tougher way. Century after Century gave him recognition as a good player, but the "Dravid" test has put him in the echelons of greatness.

Frankly, I never dreamt that India could pull off a win, down under. So I have had to eat my words. However, I am very happy doing so.

But has the Aussie juggernaut stopped? I have my doubts...

Corruption...

Satyendra Dubey has got the intellegentsia of the country to publicly unite against corruption. That it needed a gruesome murder of an IIT trained engineer to erouse the duty of every citizen, is a reflection of the society we live in. The news item which got initial coverage in the Sunday Indian Express is slowly developing into a nation wide movement. But it remains to be seen what eventually happens to the story. I feel each one of us contribute towards corruption in some way or the other. Unfortunately those small instances of bribing people to get things done, no longer fall under the new meaning of "corruption". The current society accepts it as a norm than an exception. I think this battle against corruption will never be won unless, each of us strive to make things better in our own small way.

Yesterday I learnt to do a conference with my mobile and effectively used it in linking up my room mates from IIFT, Panky and Akella. A small techology in a big world!

The espn-star black out still continues. But our cable operator has managed the signals somehow and that means, the Indian tour is not being missed. The way the Aussies are batting, I would imagine that it may be a good idea to have a wall put all around the boundary which ricochets the ball back to the bowler, everytime it is hit for a four. A small luxury considering that runs scored in a day is around 400.

Btw zee music is in:-) Anish say that it plays "our" music. ie hindi songs from the 90s, the time when we were in the late teens and early twenties.If any one still wants to hear Ashiqui, tune into the channel and the chances are that it will be on the screen.

Another funda, I learnt recently...ZEN as in Maruti Zen means zero engine noise!

A bad day at office...

It has been the worst Monday in many months. One of the business deals which I had been trying to break into for the past one and half years seems to be going the other way.I am just left wondering whether there are forces other than business efficiencies at play. May be not...But I need to get this, if not now, sometime later!

Yesterday's game was a 3-3 exciting draw.

A pleasant surprise...

Akhyl calls me up from London and asks for my shoe size...It was nice to get a pair of football boots along with the official English jersey. The boots have come approximately 10 years too late, since I dont play soccer on the play ground any longer.(or rather I play these days on the Mumbai roads) Nevertheless it was a nice gesture and now the ball is literally in my court on what I do with the brand new nike boots!

However I did use the jersey for my last Sunday nite's game. The game ended 6-5 with us winning the game through a golden goal. The game went on for around 2 hours and it was good to be sweating out really hard for the game.

Vishnu is getting posted in Cochin after spending a few years in the eastern part of the country. Hopefully the worms in the Cadburys would have been long gone by then! Vinay is back in Sydney and I think he will enjoy his current stint there. And more importantly make more money...

Who let the CAT out?

Scams seem to be the flavour of the season. Not even the student community has been spared with the leakage of the CAT papers. Having written the exam some years back, I can relate to the agony the students have been put to. Alas we will have to wait till the CBI enquiry is over and the guilty punished. The need of the hour is also to restore the credibility of public exams where the future of many are at stake.
I really hope the students can overcome this and give their best when the exams are rescheduled in February. Hope Rajan too comes out triumphant this time! He has in fact become a veteran at CAT, but I believe it is worth the wait.
It also did give some more news for the ever thirsty channels. It may not be a bad idea to have a channel exclusively for covering scams! I could not stop my sarcastic smile when I saw most of the students interviewed saying that they would have got into the IIMs this year, if not for the cancellation.Think everyone can afford to say that. The same old, "if not"...dialogue!God save me...
The Abhijit Kale incident too is turning out to be an opportunity to settle some old scores. I was amazed to see one of the familiar names join in, Vanka Pratap.I used to hear tales of him hitting the Kerala bowlers all over the Medical College area, while playing in the ground out there. I did know that politics was a major issue in Hyderabad cricket, right from the time I used to play at the junior level. Hence it is no surprise to see a lot of cats coming out.
And England won the rugby WC beating the Wallabies in one of the most exciting WC finals ever.I actually read it later. Couldn't see it because, our friends at incable are still continuing with the black out.
Tomorrow is another day...

Back to Nets!

For anyone staying in India, having a net session at Mumbai is something to look forward to. Having grown up to hearing (literally hearing on the radio!) Mumbaikers like Gavaskar and Vengsarkar dominate the sport in the 80s, Mumbai cricket is still a fascination to me. Last week, courtesy my office, I batted after almost 2 years in the nets. The nuances of the game was as exciting as it has always been.Obviously the fear factor has increased after the appointement with near death and a hairline fracture during my post graduation days at Delhi where I used to play cricket. The coming week will be even more exciting!

The Telgi scam has yet again brought the politician-policeman-scamster nexus to the forefront. Apparently enough money is never really enough. In a blossoming business scenario, many a time, a little corruption is always factored in. However the cause of concern and probably the biggest challenge is not to let this little corruption become a predominant evil.

The Indian cricket team to Australia has been announced. Though I havent followed Irfan Pathan enough, I think he has been given the India cap easily. Though the others in the side have been predictable faces, I really doubt whether the Indians have the fire to set the grounds alight in Down Under. However I hope to watch the Indian performance closely!Aussies are also on the brink of another Rugby WC title having beaten the Black Cats 22-10 in the semi-final yesterday. Its a pity that ESPN and Star Sports are off the air due to some issues between ESPN and Incablenet here in Mumbai.So what is unusual about it? And who cares about sports aficionodos like me!