Congrats Abhinav

Thank you very much Abhinav for making the country proud. Winning India's first individual Gold in the olympics is an honour every athlete would have craved, but you beat them to it. Your personal coach from Germany and a private shooting range would have no doubt made it simpler. No doubting your skill though or your ability to cope with pressure. It just makes me sad that most of our other athletes train under apalling conditions and simply lack the funds to garner more medals.

I hope you do the right thing by investing all the money, which the various state governments have announced for you, in building a world class sports facility in the country. You don't need the money. Make yourself the cornerstone for India's future olympic successes. Its the perfect time. I hope one day will arrive when we will not have to blink our eyes with surprise when it is announced that India has won a medal in the olympics. I hope I live to see that day........

P.S. :I wonder if I can win a gold for India too. The spirit of the games demands that any athlete who is good enough, can participate. (Unless he or she is charged with doping, like Monica Devi.)

Inflation :-( or :-) ???

I read a piece on inflation today in the Times of India by Anand Soondas. He says India need not be worried about a 12% inflation rate where countries like Zimbabwe have had to issue a $100bn note which just about buys 2 loaves of bread. (Incidentally the Zimbabwean government has decided to convert the 100bn into a 10$ note). He goes on to give examples of hyperinflation faced my many countries, especially after World Wars, like the Weimar Republic, Yugoslavia and Hungary (where the government had to issue a 100 quintillion note, because prices were doubling every 15 hours).

He also raises a very interesting point when he says inflation can actually be good in some ways. he contends that because of inflation, people are less likely to celebrate. So the amount of noise at parties and indeed the number of parties decreases which leads to lesser noise pollution!!! He also talks about his neighbour who had 5 cars but had reduced them to 3 with only 1 for his 3 children because of increasing petrol prices. This, he says, has reduced pollution in his area.

While he could have been jesting, it is interesting to observe that this is indeed the case. But in a country where people are dying in the hundreds everyday, I doubt if the so called positive effects are even cared about. While I am against pollution, I would rather breathe in sulphur on a full stomach than sit in virginal air eating nothing.

Now if we could only find a way to limit inflation to idiots who waste fuel and electricity........

Won a Quiz!!!

I went to the Bombay Quiz Club's open quiz on sunday, just to get an idea about the kind of questions asked in good quizzes. I reached the place in Santacruz well in time and one of the founders of the club took my name and used a randomization software to asign me a team.

There is a league system in place and there are 6 seeded players. 1 of them was Sumanth who was in my team. 8 teams were formed with people coming late geting added to teams at random. There were 5 people in my team including myself, Sumanth, Dhananjay and 2 other guys whose names I didn't catch. There were 49 questions with each correct answer getting 2 points and with infinite rebounds.

When I stepped into the room, I thought I would just be sitting there with my moth open and watch some awesome quizzers at work. But to my surprise, I actually knew some of the answers which others didn't. I was also able to work out some of the answers and was an asset to my team rather than a liability. At the end of the quiz we had the most points and I won my very first Quiz at BQC!!!

The quizzers there are way ahead of me butI guess with experience I will improve. I hope to make this a regular practice and will see if this win was just a fluke or whether I really know something.

Saving Power

I have been hearing for a long time that a black webpage consumes lesser power than a white one and so I have finally decided to change my blog template. Won't make a huge difference but every small step helps I believe and I ask everyone who reads this blog to consider doing the same. (Yes Sagaro I mean you. You get a lot of hits so help set an example.)



In order to save themselves from a huge electricity bill , my society has come up with a scheme which seems very effective and simple but I believe is an utter failure. According to the latest notice, to save power the society will switch off one lift in each wing between 2 pm and 5 pm and between 10 pm to 6 am everyday. Each wing has two lifts and this sounds like a really effective scheme to save the moolah. It also gives people an opportunity to brag at work about their earnest eforts to save the earth from global warming.



Utter crap. Just how many people would use the lift during the non- peak hours? We would anyway require only 1 lift at those times. What I would like to see is only one lift operational during peak hours. I believe that people would be so irritated at losing valuable time waiting for the lift to come to their floor that they would prefer using the stairs and this would mean lesser usage of the lift. But people won't like this would they. Most of them are only too happy to pretend to care as the current eviro-friendly atmosphere demands being eco friendly. But I wonder how many would care to take the stairs down when they leave for work. Bloody hypocrites.

And we keep running

After months of dithering I finally re re restart running. Its an amazing thing running. Its called a democratic sport. Have feet, will run. A slow jog, an energetic trot or a full sprint, it doesn't matter and neither do the reasons.

There came a time a few years ago when I got it into my head that I needed to get fit. I started swimming, I played various sports, I started going to the gym, I started yoga and I started running. I still play the occasional sport but slowly gave up the rest. I grew bored with the routine. But something, and I don't know what, brings me back to running. Whenever I sense a thickening of the waist, whenever I feel the need to be left alone, whenever I feel the need to think, I feel like running.

In most cultures, running is primarily viewed as a way to attain that perfect shape. Lardballs feeding at burger joints and a million other insufferable places view it as a great way to become a "stud". And why not? But to many other people running is more than that. Its about spirituality. Its about feeling one with nature, feeling one with the wind, the grass (ok maybe concrete), the earth and with oneself.

So I put on my shoes, do a few stretches and set out. I pick a destination which I can cover in 15 minutes or so. And I am off. The first few minutes feel great. The weather is perfect, cloudy with no rain. I reflect on various aspects of my life and people around me. My thoughts go to an advertisement featuring Thierry Henry in which he is running alone, just like I am and it feels cool. Just for the first few minutes.

Then the pain starts. It begins just below my ribcage and spreads to my calves and heels. I huff and puff like the steam engine to Matheran struggling up the slope. I check my watch and see that not even 9 minutes have elapsed. Its the inertia of the previous sedentary months I suppose. A voice keeps telling me "Dude 9 minutes are enough for the first day. Just stop. Tomorrow you can do more." But I refuse to listen. The destination is only 6 minutes away. All thoughts vanish from my head and only the white line, which would mean I have arrived, fills my eyes.

I labour on gamely despite 75 kilos of Rohit dragging me back. 12 minutes. So very close and I put on an extra burst of pace hoping it will help me forget the pain. The adrenaline surges as I stagger on. I know I can do it........... 14 minutes.......... I see the line. I have timed this run to perfection. As the seconds count down and the line approaches ever so close, I feel a sense of relief.

As I cross the line and slow down to a walk to prevent my muscles from seizing, my breathing begins to slow. The pain lessens. But my heart soars high. Higher than the clouds that obscure the sun. It is a feeling like no other. The sweet smell of success is intoxicating and makes me forget everything else. As I walk back, the sky darkens and it begins to drizzle. Rain falls on the thirsty earth triggering that sweet smell and drenching everything.

I walk home through the downpour a proud man.