Hang In There

 If i had to choose a war-cry for the current times, i don’t think there could be a better one than 

“Hang In There”.

There have been countless times when i have said/recieved this to/from folks in the last 12-15 months. I'll take you through 2 recent runs of mine , that just nailed the concept and the need to stick to it.

Run #1

It was March , Himachal and I were dragging ourselves out of the bone chilling winters. Winters had taken a toll on my running and the weekly mileage for last 3 months was down from 50-60kms/ week to 20-30kms/week. 

Pre hibernation i was easily doing a half marathon(21 kms) in ~1:55 hrs , 

so for this Post hibernation run, i gave myself extra 4-5 mins and thought of doing the 21kms in 1:59:59 hrs, popularly called a “sub-2-half”. 

For a 1:59:59 half marathon, I had to keep an avg pace of 5:41 mins/km. I started off well and I was feeling good about the rhythm. I decided not to check my speed after every km but to do it at the 10th km. At 10th km, I gave a quick glance and found my avg pace  @ 5:43/km already. 

This was a bummer. As the second half is usually slower than the first half for me, there was no way this run was going to be a sub-2 half. I don’t know what happened in those 15-20 seconds, I lost all interest in completing the run and stopped right THERE and THEN. 

At this moment I was 10km away from house and 11kms short of my target.

I took lift from a biker and got back home. The usual post run high was missing.

Run #2

2 Weeks later, I again attempted the “sub-2-half” but with a slight tweak to my mental model. 

“I am going to HANG-IN-THERE for 1hr 59 mins 59 secs”. 

I started off with a similar rhythm as I did the other day. At 10th km, I was clocking an avg of 5:40/km, which was just slightly better than the last time but still a sub-2-half looked improbable today as well.  Staying true to the commitment, I kept going.

I’ll skip the details of what happened between 10th and 21st km but I almost did stick out the complete1hr 59mins 59 secs. 

If you are thinking, I got some second wind and completed the 21kms in sub-2 hours, that never happened, infact i didn't even complete the full distance.

I clocked an avg of 5:52/km instead of the targeted 5:41/km.

What fascinated me a great deal about this run was that I ended up with a distance of 20.43 kms in my target time, which was JUST ~700mtrs short of my original target. 

I was amazed to see how a small tweak to my mental model left me with astoundignly different result/emotions in similar situation.

I don’t know what your race is , I don't know how much time you have given yourself to achieve that. Whatever you do, don’t quit if the initial milestones don’t look promising, 

Please please please “HANG IN THERE” for the whole duration. 

Trust me the finish line looks way more achievable from 700mtrs then it does from 11 kms. :)

 

Forecasts coming True

When i was around 10-12 years old...i was asked to get Toothpaste from a nearby shop.
I was given a Rs 100 note and the toothpaste cost was Rs 20 (approx).

The shopkeeper asked me to give change..
I refused to have any....
He asked to buy something else .
I told him to give 5 toothpastes.

My mother saw the 5 toothpaste tubes and asked me to justify the stupidity.
I told her the change thing...but she didn't buy the argument.
Argument that followed was...that this is something which will get consumed.
If we have spent something extra this month....we would be saving it in the coming months.

This argument was sound enough but this called for my father to arbitrate.
I repeated the argument...

Papa also took mother's side.
His reason was...that you cannot disturb the budget of the house.
We have a set budget for the house...you can not skew your spending in just one department.

I got irritated with this.
In a fit of rebellion...i left the place murmuring something.

Papa caught me from the ear and asked to repeat whatever i was murmuring.
Out came the murmur ...clearer this time....
"Jab main bada ho jaunga..itni income hogi ki budgeting ki jarurat hi nahi hogi."

and this was followed with a challenge from Papa.

"Koi na beta...bade ho jao ....phir puchungaa.  
Jab khud karna padega na...tab samajh aaega."

After i started my job..
I tried to keep up to the challenge...
I would never keep any record of  what was spent where.
This was more out of stubbornness than me getting some value from it.

If Steve Jobs' hadn't intervened ..i would have gone on with the splurge
Yup it was an article on Apple which told about Apple's budget for the financial year.
The budget was really disciplined and focused.

 It took me by surprise that a company worth 500 billion was so financially prudent. 

...and hence after 15 years....Vashistg finally accepted that 5 tubes of Toothpaste could indeed throw a budget off.

Budgeting has nothing to do with what you are earning...you need to plan whatever you have.

So this was the day when papa's forecast #1 came true.


 Forecast #2 : Next Post.
Please share if any such forecasts are coming true for you as well. :)

Plan A

Last weekend i was at Solan.
There is this small ground behind my house where we used to spend most of our evenings.

Standing on my terrace i was reliving a few memories of my childhood in that very ground.
Suddenly i see a father son duo come in the ground with a small bicycle.


The son was obviously excited for the new cycle
 but at the same time he was terrified at the chances of him getting injured in the process of learning.




Father starts the tutorial ...
"See son...these are the breaks..you press these if you want to stop....this is the paddle...this is the bell ..in case some body comes and you want him out of your way...thats the handle...this is like the steering of our car."

The father asks him to sit on the saddle and start paddling while he was holding on to the seat with one hand.

Son very reluctantly sat on the saddle ...insisting his father to keep holding the cycle in case he falls.

Next instruction was to look ahead on the road and start paddling.
Child tries to do as directed...
but he continuously looked back to check if his dad  was still holding the cycle or not.

I was watching both of them with a great sense of Deja Vu.
All this had happened with me...and with almost each one of us while we were trying to learn cycling.

So the training continued...after half an hour or so...the child hadn't progressed much.
He was merely able to sit on the seat and fall in the next 5-7 second to one side or the other.

Father who was a patient tutor in the beginning was now getting irritated.

"BETA .....I  am holding the cycle...you are not going to fall...why can't you just paddle ahead ?"
With this assurance the child started again but things were stuck as they were an hour ago,

I could see a deadlock in the process.
Plan A was to teach Cycling to the kid...
Plan B was to teach Cycling to the kid injury free....

All those who know cycling ...
will know that they learn't cycling when someone made them sit on the cycle and just pushed them in the ground without any security.

The inital momentum of the push would carry the rider some distance ...
Then comes the moment when he realises that there is no one holding him.

Rider panics...starts paddling like crazy....in a moment of adrenaline rush he falls.
When he falls he realizes the fall was not that bad...plus he knows that he rode the bike all by himself...who cares if it was just for a few seconds.

Rider gets up again...dusts himself off...and asks that someone to give that initially dreaded PUSH once more.

This is the formula that gets people going.

Whereas more the father tries to comfort his child of not falling ..
more the child gets worried about the security his dad has assured
and lesser are the chances of him focusing on the Road.

After some 2 hours of trying..assuring and falling.
The duo went home...child was a bit demotivated...father a bit frustrated.

I also came back wishing the child gets that much dreaded PUSH really soon.

Because if he doesn't ...
He would always keep worrying about stabilizing the PLAN B. 
and the PLAN A shall always remain un-executed.

Olympics for me.

I am back from the Olympics and i am really happy to share the  medal that i won in London.
The competition was tough and so was i.
You have to be real tough at that level.

After winning the medal i was showered with a lot of money, jobs, endorsements.
Getting these accolades definitely feels good.

At this moment all this looks so nice...you also might be thinking that how lucky this guy is...
He just has to play..and he is getting paid for it...and that too in crores.

Yeah i got a few crores...but if i take you a few years back...you would definitely not want to be me.

I was a pretty decent runner in my school days.
Running made me feel free...it gave me hope.
We had a group of  4 friends.
All four of us ran really well.

"Studies/academics according to me was as if somebody is telling me about  how the world was like?
and Running was like going out and figuring it out for myself".

It was all fun and all of us thought of our team as a world beating team.
then came the standard 10.

I was asked to choose between running and studies.
Infact all four of us were asked to make a choice.
Infact...none of us was given a choice...we were asked to stop running and choose studies.

The most crucial 2 years of our life had started...and my parents couldn't see me spoiling those precious two years..just running.

Being a runner for almost 5-6 years i had developed an iron will to achieve my dreams.
The way i ran out those distances...the same way i decided to stick to my dream and keep running.

I asked my running team..to accompany me.

None of them agreed....

One of them had been cajoled by his parents to join Non Medical and prepare for IIT.
Another had decided to prepare for IIMs and be a manager..
Third had joined the Arts as his father was an IAS and Arts was how you got into IAS.

I was shattered as all of them would have made great runners.
I asked them if they are really excited by whatever they were trying to achieve.

I couldn't see the twinkle in their eye...
The spark ..the childish excitement was missing....
they were more excited by the prospect of
being an engineer..or a manager ..or an administrator
than...
they were by engineering something...managing something...or administrating something.

I knew something was wrong...but i knew i had to run.
So I Ran.

I ran from my home.

I was not at all sure of how far i would get in this mad pursuit of mine...
but that was what i had learnt from running in all these years.

You concentrate on the next step..and than the next..and just keep going...
that's how you cover miles and miles of road beneath you.

So this was how i started.

The road ahead was tough..
It was tough keeping your focus on something that had no definiteness to it.
It got tough when my friends started getting hefty job offers.
It got tougher when they started asking me how long would i keep running.
They would occasionally call me up and tell me about how some random guy who got a 1.25 Cr. package in some college.
They also wanted to do it....but they didn't want to enquire about the things that 1.2 cr guy did to achieve that package...neither were they interested in what his job expectations were for that 1.2 Cr.
The only thing that fascinated them was 1.2Cr.

Running was all i could do...and that was all that came naturally to me.
these news kept flowing in but...
It got brutal when my girlfriend gave up on me.
She told me that she was not sure of my future and believed that i couldn't keep her happy.
She got married to an IAS officer.

After this i was shattered and what followed was a plateau.
I call it a plateau because my coach used to call it a plateau.
Plateau is a place where you see no improvements in your efforts...
there is no motivation to keep going...and you have no option apart from keeping going.

but according to my Coach ..Ultimate Athlete loves the Plateau

You get up in the morning ...run hard...exercise harder...diet properly...sleep well.
Repeat.(I can't emphasize repeat enough.)

What follows the plateau is ...for you to see.
If you endure through the plateau..

You do get the rewards..
You do win the medals...

and once you have won those medals...the nation obsessed with numbers,gold and ranks comes to shower praise on you.

I am sure my friends have absolutely no clue about the 25 mtr rapid fire pistol event...nor do they know about the repechage wrestling round...they know nothing about second wind.

The only thing they care about is 6 medals.
Best indian performance ever in olympics.
 
I am happy for the rewards but more than that i am happy for the decisions i took in the last 6 years.
My friends also consider me an a successful man today as i have been awarded 2 crore by the delhi govt.
I just hope they don't change there aim to be an athlete now...

As i am enjoying the welcome i have received ..there is one award  that irks me most.
I was made an IAS officer by the sports minister of india.

I became a sportsperson because i wanted to be a sportsperson.
IAS is as hallowed a profession as it gets in India...
but i want you to celebrate me as an Athlete....

By making me an IAS you are glorifying an already glorified profession.

I don't want parents asking there children to join sports as a means/a shortcut to be an IAS.
I want parents to ask there children to join sports to be a great Sportsperson .

That is one award that i won't be accepting.

Apart from that i am proud of myself...my effort
My fellow medal winners effort...my olympic team's effort
I am proud of our hockey team who made it to the 12 competing nations in the olympics.
I just hope our football team takes inspiration from our hockey team and reaches the olympics next time.

I just wish the football team's trials give hope to a lot of people who haven't formed a team yet.

and when you have tried ...you would empathize
with the pain/ecstacy of
not getting a medal/winning that medal..
of not making /making it to the Olympics.

Nouns and The Verbs

Run is something i do for myself..Runner is something that i am for you.

On days when i am both...
the Run and the Runner ..i am happy
as i ran and got acknowledged as well.
 
On days when i just run and no one calls me the runner
I am OK.
as i ran without any external acknowledgement.

On days when i don't run and still someone calls me a runner.
I feel like telling them that you dont call me a runner on days i don't run.
Or i am not a runner whenever i am not running.

......but then i let the praise come my way...and don't tell anyone about me not being a runner that day.

As days pass...fascination may build up with the run
or it might get built up with people calling me a runner.

Fascination with being a "Runner" is a fascination with the Noun.
Fascination with "Running" is a fascination with the Verb.
Fascination with the Verb almost always ensures a fascinating Noun.

Vice Versa may not be true.

PS: CTRL A Ctrl C Ctrl V this blog into a text editor and replace Run with any verb that you can relate with.

Despicable Me

So finally Delhi gets the first showers...and yes...they were one heck of a shower.
I left at 6:20 from office to pick Shagun...

The weather was just awesome...
with winds blowing...rain pouring...
and radio stations playing the best of monsoon Bollywood numbers.

"Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si" was the song and along with it was me karoaking.
I called up Shagun to be ready for a nice monsoon evening drive.

This was where the niceness of the first showers ended.
I got stuck on a crossroad...for the next 35 mins we didn't budge an inch.

The engine was switched off...
Radio was still playing ..

"Bheege bhaage" songs had started irritating me...
I just glanced out of the window and saw one beautiful girl in the car next to me.
Immediately i started tapping on the car steering and acted as if  i was enjoying  the "Bheege Bhaage" song like anything.

With a side glance..i just confirmed if the pretension was noticed or not.
This act of pretension was cut short by a call from Shagun....

After giving here the traffic updates ...the morality and the irritation with the jam were successfully restored.

I picked her up at 7:10 and the jam just got worse.
Both of us were sitting in the car when i saw a girl  pointing at our car.
It was the same girl that i was checking out a few moments ago.

I felt as if she was going to complain to Shagun about me. :|
but no...she was pointing at our tyre...."Aapka tyre punctured hai."

I was not feeling any wobbling in the car...so i thought i can drag it to the nearest puncture shop.
After 5 mins another guy on the scooter pointed out the puncture.

It was then that i pulled the car aside and checked the condition of the tyre.
It was raining ....tyre was almost flat...and i had no experience in changing a flat tyre.

First i thought of calling my friends in gurgaon who could bring a mechaninc along with or who themselves could do the mechanics needed to replace a flat tyre.

But...i didn't call anyone...the learner in me asked to atleast give a try.
I opened up the diggy...got the tool kit and the jack out.

There was a pictorial manual on the jack...that told where to place and how to operate.
Shagun got out of the car.. and i was sitting and fiddling with the jack and the pictorial manual.

After 10 min or so...i was where i was..10 mins back.
The car didn't jack up...but the jack did surely sink in the muddy road below.

Suddenely a skoda octavia pulls over just in front of our car and a Haryanwi jatt offers help to Shagun.

With all the crime stories that you hear about Delhi.
and with all the tv serials (crime patrol,CID) ...i was not at all impressed with Shagun asking for help from a stranger.

The rain,the thundering clouds,the physique of the man.......
Everything was so very perfect for a "Crime Patrol" kind of a situation.

I was reluctant in taking his help...but he insisted on helping us.
He asked me to fit the jack and he would replace the tyre.

He could see the inexperience in my approach and asked me to get a side and did the jacking up himself.

Then he asked me to open the nuts of the punctured tyre...which was again taken over by him as i was taking just too much of time.

Shagun kept smiling at my inefficiency..hurting my male ego even more.
The man asks me to get the Stepney.

After failing in all the tasks assigned to me earlier..i so wanted to do this right in the fastest possible time.

This one i knew...I immediately opened the diggy...flipped the tyre out...closed the diggy ...and i was back with the tyre within no time.

Another glance at Shagun to register the fact that i ain't a complete loser.

Within 10-12 minutes the guy was done fixing the tyre...
I shook hands with him ...thanking him for his gesture...(Although reluctantly)

"Bhartiya hi bharatiya ke kaam aata hai"
Were his last words and then he left asking me to jack it down myself.

I was cursing him..for not completing the job.
When he did 99% of the job and he knew that i was not comfortable with the jack..how could he leave me with the jack....Jackass.


At around 8:30 we restarted with our journey.
Shagun immediately started with her mocking..."Kya yaar ..kuch bhi nahi ho raha tha aapse. Wo kitna fata fat kar raha tha."

I started getting angry at her as how could she ask for help from a complete stranger and that too in Gurgaon.I would have taken time but would have done it.

"It wasn't a big deal"...was what i was trying to make her understand.

I even told her that he only stopped because he saw a girl standing in trouble...he wouldn't have stopped if it was only me.


Shagun kept laughing at my childish trials...and after some time i also acknowledged the guy's brilliance and his gesture.

Rain went on... Radio came back again....
Kishore Da with "Rim Jhim Gire sawan...Sulag sulag jaye re mann" gets both of us humming again.

Finally at 10:05pm we complete a distance of 33 kms in almost 4 hours.
 

Why do people run marathons ?

On 29th September, Shimla is going to host a marathon. I am pretty excited about it and this excitement is easily seen in my disucssions with my friends.

In one of these discussions my friend asks me a few questions.

"Mujhe to samjh ni aata marathon bhagte kyun hai?
Na to wo koi race hai...sala teen ghante tak bhaagte raho.
Aisi race ka kya fayda jisme pukka harna hi hai.
Jeetenge to wo Kenya wale hi."

I couldn't answer him than but let me try and answer him now....

From the time i have got hold of my senses and till date i can see  a ridiculous obsession with being the "Best".
So lets start in the chronological order...

• Mother to Kid :"Mera bacha... jaldi jaldi finish karo...first aana hai...(She wants the kid to eat fast.)
• Father to son : "Is baar agar top kiya to cycle milegi."
• Any Parent trying to motivate his kid : "Beta Gaurav se seekho kuch...har baar top karta hai." 
• A Child trying to justify his low scores : "Papa mere 32/50 marks hain...par Gaurav ke bhi 39 hi hain. Is baar strict thi marking bahut"

As you can see from the above examples...the obsession is with being the "Best".
However in order to be the Best you have to find someone who will be second best to you.

So if you want to be the best student in the class you have to find out the present best student in the class.

This approach produces a false impression of having achieved everything that there was to achieve.
Going for the best is a limiting approach as you become contended once you are No 1.

The Best Syndrome was so much hardwired into my systems that i could not enjoy the brilliance of any performer individually.

If Sachin scores a 100 hundreds it was difficult to enjoy Sachin's artistry in isolation.
I'll be satisified only if someone says he is the best and he is better than Lara or Sir Bradman.
 
Approaching "Best" is limiting...."Better" has no limits.
Trying to Achieve "Best" is daunting and intimidating to start with any effort....Better is doable.
"Best" approach tries to impress..."Better" Approach enjoys .

So how do you get this Hardwired "best" approach out of your systems?

Simple...run a marathon. :)

Before i ran a marathon ...I was asked to run races whose end point was visible.(100 mtrs,200mtrs,doing homework,coming first in class.)

So when the end point is visible it becomes hard to enjoy the process.
Or i should say when the end point is visible..i don't feel the need to enjoy the process.

As the destination is visible,i can afford to reach the destination with/without enjoying the race.

All my focus is on the competitors...if someone goes ahead i'll put in a better effort...once i am ahead.... i'll try to maintain the lead and once i am sure of winning i'll relax and not put in my best effort.

I may win with a time that was worse than my best performance till now...and still feel happy about being the best athlete.


With marathon this is different...

As the distance is huge...my small small bursts of brilliance won't do.
As the distance is a monster..i won't even be able to complete it... if i have not practiced for it.

...that's when i have to enjoy each and every step..i just can't afford to be focused on the destination...destination is way way far ahead and getting obsessed with destination makes the situation worse.

I have no choice but to enjoy the journey.

Completing the marathon becomes a challange for 99% of the participants.
You feel those legs aching...breath going haywire...lips drying...heart pounding...but you have to go on as your sole motive is to complete the race.

and that's when you are fighting/challenging yourself.

Once you complete the race you have no clue who won the race..who lost the race...you feel like a champion as you have outlasted yourself.

You start appreciating the people who completed it faster than you...you start respecting people who completed it slower than you.

.....and that's when the "Best" syndrome is knocked out of your systems.

....and once the "Best" syndrome is knocked out of your system.
You'll see magic happening. :)

PS: If you also feel bugged with the "BEST" Virus. Please run a marathon.

Symptoms Of Best Virus:
1) Craving for "Best Employee Awards".
2) Feeling like a King if you are enjoying the highest CTC amongst your batch mates.
3) You are 80kgs at a height of 5' 7'' but feel happy as you are the fittest in a team where average weight is 120 kgs.

 :)

Choices

If someone was to plot a graph showing the relation between the Activity on your Facebook wall and the events in your life.

I am sure to find some seriously abnormal peaks on my Birthday ... Diwali  also brings a lot of activity along with it and so does a New Year.
(This graph would be similar for SMSs recieved on my cell)

Recently me and my wife celebrated one such event of our lives...and that was our first wedding anniversary.
and as expected my facebook wall starting brimming with wishes .

but there was something unusal about these wishes....they were lesser in comparison to the other events of my life.

No matter how less they were.....I was really really feeling happy for each and every wish i recieved. ...i wanted these wishes to continue.

Not that i don't feel happy when someone wishes me on my b'day or on a diwali or on independence day.
but this was comparitively more deeper...more profound..... more heartfelt.

I could make out this difference and immediately my mind went into analysis mode.
Alrite what was different with my wedding anniversary and the other events of my life.

One thing that was strikingly different for me ...was that my wedding anniversary was a outcome of my efforts.

It was my choice...the day existed because of my efforts and that was what made it more special to me.

It is not true for my bday...may be my parents would feel that happiness but not me.
I think i try to feel happy on my bday as i am supposed to feel happy on my b'day.

Same goes for Diwali....may be God Rama would be happy for all his efforts...but the wishes that i receive on Diwali are i think...more of a expected societal norm rather than a heartfelt wish.

For me Diwali is more of a metaphor and less of  it's historical meaning...and that metaphor holds true through out the year....through every moment and not just one day of the year.

So what's the point i am getting to.

I think the satisfaction that comes after you have made a choice is huge in comparison to something that you have not chosen.

My choices define me..they are a few things that i stood for someday.

Ok let me just summarize a few things that i have chosen and a few that i haven't.

Chosen Few

1. My Life partner.
2. My hobbies.
3. Respecting/Disrespecting Ideas.

Not chosen

1.   My B'day
2.   My name
3.   My gender
4.   My Family
5.   My caste
6.   My country
7.   My language
8.   Respecting Elders/Gods/Country/Religion.
9.   My religion
10.   My festivals
11.   My Places of worship.
12.   The Gods i worship.
13.   The Way i am treated after my death

hmmm.... the items in the  "not chosen " list are way too much than in the chosen list.
but the intensity or the attachment that we are supposed to show towards the items in the second list is huge in comparison to the first list.

Going against anything in the second list is nothing short of blasphemy
and
going in favour of any thing in the first list is more than blasphemy.

This is really confusing ....my personality is a function of very few choices and a lot of non choices.
but  it was my choice that made me happy.

My choices say a lot more about me than do the other non chosen attributes.

So i think ...the focus from here on has to be on the behavior that comes from my choices and not on the behavior that is expected out of me because of the second list.

Running Within

Have you been thinking of running for sometime but are not able to enjoy it.

Following may be the reasons :-
1)Too tiring and too much of an hassle early morning.
2)Too boring..while running you suddenly feel like ..."why the hell i am doing it."
3)Can't see the results. Chances are you might have started for losing that extra fat on your waist.
It's been a week but the flab just doesn't seem to budge.

If you want to start/restart running ...i'll give a you a few tips that might help you...enjoying the run.

Here we go...

1)I started running around a year back...and my iPod was my best friend.It used to help me run long distances as i used to be so engrossed in the music that long distances just didn't occur to me. I see a lot of people doing that. However if you want to really feel the joy of running just throw away your iPods...earphones. Just run.

Music actually distracts you from the activity you are doing.
While you are running, just run. nothing else.

When the music is not there...you'll hear you heartbeat...you'll hear the breath...you'll fell the pain in the calfs. You'll hear your body. That's when you'll come to know how your body reacts at a particular distance.  

So TIP 1 : While you are running. Just run. 

2)Another thing that we are obsessed with is distances and timings. You'll find a lot of updates on my facebook wall also. This is a destination focused approach...and running is 99.999% about the process than about the destination. And as usual destination focused approach always overpowers the joy of process.

Instead of measuring the kilometers may be count the breaths you took.
This has two benefits..first you become a part of the process and second you are in the very moment of that breath.

So TIP 2 : A good runner enjoys each and every step of the run.

3) Another thing to note while running is that it's not just the legs that you need for good running.
A good runner..engages his whole body while running.

He uses the legs to push himself forward.
Torso has to be stable ..so it's like legs are moving and they are attached to a super stable torso.
Arms go back and forth ...bent at 90 degrees..perfectly in sync with the opposite leg.
Head is held stable with your vision fixated at a distance.

Don't look to the ground while running...look ahead.
To maintain a good rhythm...breath is a very good tool.
Breathe in the 2-2 pattern..for the two steps...inhale...for the next two exhale.

At last,use your mind to keep all of these in sync and functional.
so it's like a physical meditation kind of exercise.

TIP 3 : A good runner runs with his body..not just his legs.

SO 3 tips to start with.
I'll keep adding ...as i find new ones.

The more i run the more i feel myself  drawn to it.
It's not at all a physical activity alone...If you keep doing it for some time.

You'll find it engaging you scientifically,physically,psychologically and at a higher level even spiritually as well.

If someone feels like running anyday..do message me your number on FB.
A pep talk is always ready to get you started.

Or may be call me at 9958896184..i usually hit the road at 5:30 in the morning.

Happy Running :)

Pre Paid Taxi

Last four days were as eventful as they can get.
Covered a distance of around 2200 kms  attended the marriage of two of my best friends.

As it is common with any kind of journey..it always leaves you with memories.
This one was no exception...

We landed at Jammu airport at 9:40 on the morning.
After collecting our baggage we were waiting for our friends ,who were about to reach in the next plane...

In this process...we took some 10-15 minutes...and by then a pretty long Queue came up at the Pre Paid Taxi counter.

I was standing behind some 10-15 guys in the queue.
For some reason  the queue wasn't moving for some time....

It might be because of a confused tourist who doesn't know as to where he should take a taxi.
or it might be because of the guy at the Taxi counter does not have the change to payback to the guy.

Whatever it was ...after 2-3 minutes i checked my positon in the queue.
I was still the last....

This made me feel a bit uneasy...

Why was i still the last man...i glanced at Shagun and the two friends.
I feared they might even ask...why are you still in the last position in the queue.

After 3-4 minutes a group came and enhanced the queue a bit more.
Now as i was not the last person in the queue...i felt relieved.

I couldn't believe the way i was reacting...
The people who were after me in the queue had no impact on my reaching the Taxi counter...

but..
Somehow their absence made me insecure...
and their presence made me feel better.

While in the queue...i could make up my mood swings and tried to analyse the mood swings.

This might sound a trivial occurence...
but after a bit of analysis...i found my behavior shocking.

If the people in front or the people behind in queue could decide my happiness/sadness.
It could well be happening in the day to day events as well.

The people were in front because they did something different which got them in front.
The people behind did not do something that i did and that got me ahead of them.

but whatever it was...my TAXI-BOARDING-TIME remained a absolute function of my actions...and not anybody else's.

So when ...TAXI-BOARDING is the motive...and TAXI-BOARDING-TIME is an absolute function of my position in the queue.

Why was my happiness RELATIVE to my Position in the Queue??

Moroneity

Have you ever been in a situation where you did something so embarrassing that you felt like disapperaing from the scene.

I mean just after committing the act you realize that you have committed a blunder. 

I  was the protagonist in three such acts-of-blunder....

Alright... the first act was performed at the IGI Airport.

Me and my wife were about to leave for Thailand just after our marriage.

Nervous...i was..as this was my first international trip .

Same was for my wife...she was looking up to me for taking her safely to Thailand.

I couldn't have afforded to not look in control of things.

I was repeatedly getting confused with the placement of the 

passport, tickets, hotel vouchers, foreign sims, foreign currency etc etc.

I got into the check in line...the girl was checking in the baggages.

I was looking at the travellers ahead of me to somewhat learn the check in process...i didn't want to look out of clue when my turn came.

After learning from a few travellers ahead of me..it was my turn.

The girl at the counter gave a very sweet smile and extended her hand for the passports.

I saw the extended hand and shook it  gleefully . :|

She was proffessional enough to not look perturbed...and very calmly asked me for the passports.

...her smile made pretty good mockery of me.

I tried maintaining my poise...and gave a very nervous smile to Shagun as if i was still in control.

She made a  puzzled inquiring gesture towards me...asserting i was not at all in control.

I so wished i could have vanished from the scene. :)

Second story....is of this saturday.

We were enjoying the delicious paranthas made by our Maid.

The door bell rings. 

I get up to check who was there.

The door bell rings again.

I open the door to see a lady in her late 20s with a small child.

She is scolding her boy "Beta dusron ke ghar me do baar bell nahi bajate".

This is the conversation that took place between me and the lady

Lady Smiles and says "Hi"

I Smile and say "Hello"

Lady Smiles again and says "Sunita"

I smile even wider and say "Gaurav"

Lady doesn't smile this time and says "No...i mean is Sunita there?"

I blush....as i was introducing myself to someone who was only interested in our Maid Sunita.

In all that embarrasment i facilitate the meeting of Sunita and the lady.

To complete this blog i was looking for a third story for some days.

I remembered one today...and this one is back from my childhood.

Our dada ji used to live with us...

Every night my mother used to give me a glass of milk which i had to go and deliver to dada ji.

Dada ji was living in a separate flat so it took a minute or so...from my place to Dada Ji's place.

After ringing the bell Dada ji used to take 30-40 secs to open the door.

That particular day...i got a whim .

I am standing outside the door...with the glass of milk in my hand.

I ring the bell.

Suddenely i say to myself 

"If i am not able to take 10 sips of milk before Dada ji opens the door...i will score less than 85%  in my 10th boards."

So the whim had set in...and the 40 seconds had started.

I had to take a sip almost every 3 secs.

I had kept 4-5 seconds to regain my composure.

So there i was sipping away like crazy and hoping to make the 10 sips before he opens the door.

In all this frenzy i couldn't see that he was peeping through the curtain.

I mean he saw all my 10 sips.

After  i had secured my 85% target and had regained my compsure....he opens the door.

I offer him the milk...but he refuses.

He gives me a look that was full of pity...

Dada ji with a consoling touch on my shoulder "Pee le poota tu hi". 

(Please Son...you only have it.)

:D

siR Ji

i ThiNk iT was 2008..Pragati MaiDan....Delhi Book faiR.
i Had  recently developed  a penchance for readiNg books.
i Was not iNto some partiCular genre but yes biOgraphies used to fasciNate me.

iT was on a random stroll iN the book stalls when i Saw a book tiTled...iCon.
i Knew a biT about iPod and iPhone...iCon seemed as catchy as iT's other iSiBliNgs.

i Bought the book and that was how i Met STEVE JOBS for the fiRst tiMe.
i Read each and every book publiShed on Steve Jobs after that.
The love affaiR kept blossomiNg.

ThiS blog iS not what i Read about Steve Jobs...as that would be liKe  "StatiNg the already known" .
ThiS blog iS about why i Felt shattered when Steve Jobs left us on 5th October?

These are the three maiN reasons for me feeliNg that way

1)He made me look Smarter.
ReadiNg about Jobs always gave me storiEs. StoriEs that made me feel liKe a STAR whenever i Narrated them to my friEnds. i Felt smarter just because of knowiNg those storiEs. i Loved to see the awestruck people who were amazed by the unusual ness of these storiEs.

People feel great/cool/proud when they have a huge fan base....but wiTh Steve Jobs iT was kiNd of reverse.
People felt great/cool/proud just because they were a fan of Steve Jobs.
On hiS death...everyone wanted to prove that he iS the biggest fan of Steve...and so did i.
SiR Ji ....i Was and i Am your biGgest fan.

2)He made me do weiRd thiNgs.
iN hiS Stanford speech he asked all of us to follow our hearts.
He made me do thiNgs which often had no ratiOnale...but i Did iT because SiR Ji Had assured me that the dots do connect.

He made me do a extensiVe cycle trek of 60 kms iN the hiLls ... just two days before my marriAge.
He made me go iN search of a musiC shop at 10 iN the niGht just because i Felt i Needed to play that song on HarmoniCa.
He made me bunk my offiCe for 10 days...and go on a busiNess meet iN Mumbai Spending some 30k just to meet Narayan Murthy.

3)He asked me SeriOus QuestiOns.
WiTh hiS sudden death...i Was shattered.
i Was scared...i Was scared as he was one person who proviDed hope. He gave order to my chaotiC thoughts. He asked all of us one very seriOus questiOn

‎"iF today were the last day of my liFe, would i Want to do what i Am about to do today?"


May be i Am too weak to answer thiS questiOn.
May be i Am too weak to even face thiS questiOn.


but whatever iT iS....Answer to the above questiOn iS very clear to me.

i Do whatever i Want to do...whenever i Can afford to do.
He diD whatever he wanted to do...whenever he wanted to do...and wherever he wanted to do.

Death ...the occurrence of the event iS totally random.

He went at 56 ...i Can go at 26, 36 or may be 86.
i'M not sure...when i Leave...but whenever i Do...

i Don't thiNk i Can afford to leave this questiOn answered wiTh a majoriTy of "No".

_______________________________________________________________________

Cheers to a man...who made i  so powerful.
iT's i  that he asks me to beliEve iN.

Cheers to a man ...who liVed.

Kunjum Cafe

There is this cafe in South Delhi ...Kunjum Cafe.

There are quite a few selling points of this CAFE...

To name a few..

1)There is no time limit on how long you sit in the cafe.

2)There is free WIFI in the cafe.

3)Music is really good but if you like to hear something of your choice...just plug in your iPod in the Dock.

4)The person who owns it is a ENGINEER turned MBA Turned JOURNALIST Turned TRAVELLER

5)You can go through a really well compiled collection of Travel books....actually the place is designed 

for strangers to meet and make travel plans.

Apart from these there is one thing that left me puzzled .

THESE GUYS DON'T CHARGE YOU ANYTHING....YOU PAY WHAT YOU LIKE.

I was really puzzled at the business model of this guy...you can have unlimited coffee/tea/cookies and he won't charge you a thing.

But still i tried to see through the psychology he must be working on.

When you are asked to pay whatever you feel like...

you will try to be reasonable enough...and pay atleast equal to what you would have paid at a decent cafe like that...

...as the things are free you won't order but you'll request.

After you have sat for some 1 hour or so...and have had 3 cups of pretty decent coffee...i got up to make the payment.

I went to the guy who served us...i think i was being reasonable enough and i gave him Rs 200.

He refused to take the money and directed me towards a box...in which i had to push the money in.

It was kind of Daan Patra we have in temples.

Anonymity involved in the payment process ....refuted my psychology rationale behind his business model.

A place worth a visit... :)

Security

A friend of mine...the most brilliant Programmer that i have met/seen/worked with. 

He is just absolutely in love with this coding thing.

He feels disheartened when he sees a data structure being used that you shouldn't have used.

He feels ecstatic when he sees some well designed and well thought out classes .

Algorithms will be studied for the sake of algorithms not for any company.

Design patterns will be studied not because someone told him that they would be asked in a particular company...

but for the simple reason of keeping his code beautiful.

The Child like enthusiasm that he shows for good,challenging...beautiful code is contagious.

He is so sure ,so sound in his knowledge that you can sense the security.

Whenever he is around...you feel like asking for his opinion ...because you know he'll definitely make it better.

Recently he has joined a company in which he was the 5th employee.

He is getting a salary that people get at 2.5 times his experience.

Company might be insecure in comparison to the settled ones..but he just saw a exciting work opportunity.

He knows the company can close any day...he can be fired any day...but he knows his skill better. 

Your skill security covers up for the probable job insecurity....

I have known this person for some time now...and i want to keep knowing him for as long as i can .

As he is the one who helped me understand...

"There are two kind of job seekers  -   secure ones and the insecure ones.

There are two kind of jobs              -   secure ones and the insecure ones.

Match almost always is diagonal."  

Happy

A lot of rickshaw pullers and daily wage workers leave their villages and come to Delhi in search of work. This is probably a story about one of them. 

For most of them,the family is in the village and they are alone in Delhi.....working for a living. 

They do go to their village at times...and at time it is their families who come to Delhi. 

Just like each one of us... 

whenever they are visiting the villages they do take some gifts along.

and just like each one of us... 

whenever their families visit them... 

they do take them out to show the city they have been living in. 

Sometimes i see them on a metro station... 

The head of the family(father) takes a lot of pride in introducing the family to the DELHI METRO. 

He buys them a token each and then surprises them by telling them that this is the Ticket. 

Each one of them is amused as to what kind of ticket is that. 

A small demo follows. 

Touch the token on the gate..the gate flap opens...enter and that's it. 

Kids are usually excited to try this...ladies a bit apprehensive. 

So the elder son gets to go in first. Father prompts him at every step...and in three easy steps he is in. 

Now it's the mother and the infant in her arms.. 

There are a lot of things to be handled...the saree..the ghunghat..the toddler and the token ofcourse. 

She takes some time...as she seems to be short of confidence. 

She might do something wrong. 

The son asks her to come fast as it is too easy...what is it that she doesn't understand?

Father asks him to be quiet and assures his wife to do the three steps..prompting begins again. 

Touch the token on the gate..the gate flap opens...enter and that's it.

She does it this time.

Crossing the gate is followed with a giggle from the lady ,the son and the father ...Toddler is amused too. 

All of them seem Happy. 

Now the father asks them to queue up as everybody does so in Metro. 

He takes a lot of pride in telling them that no body huddles up like they did in the village bus. 

It's so very organized over here. 

The father keeps waiting for the metro as he wants to impress his family even more with this state of the art piece of transport. 

The moment it is visible on the station he looks on to his son and wife as to check if they  are amused enough or not. 

He's happy to see the big wide eyes. 

If they hadn't been amused enough..he had his believe-it-or-not-facts ready about the delhi metro. 

The metro is as usual crowded ...the people are pushing ...fuming...angry at god knows what... 

Amongst all this crowd ...the family gets in ...

The father holding the son tight...the mother holding the infant...and the eye contact holding them both. 

In all this chaos..they are listening to the announcement...they are even more bemused by the fact that the guy making the announcements repeats about the door-opening announcement every 1 minute. 

 At every station the family glanced at the father as he might signal to get off. 

Finally They get off at Huda City center. 

The boy kept telling his father about how a guy was almost stuck in the closing doors at one of the stations... The father dismisses it all very nonchalantly as this happens everyday... 

he even scares him by telling him about an ACCIDENT in which a girl lost both her legs under the metro.

The mother asks them to slow down as the infant was troubling her and she was not able to keep up with them. 

They wait for her and from IFFCO chowk they take a Auto... 

The father had planned to show them the Airplanes take off. 

He had kept it a surprise...no one knew after the Metro what would it be. 

They were already awestruck after the Metro thing...he knew the airplane take off would just blow them away. 

There is this road which is parallel to IGI Airport's runway and many a times i have seen people standing and watching the planes take off...the observing distance is less than 50 mtrs. 

The family reaches there and the father announces the surprise. 

The sons excitement holds no bound as this may be the biggest and the most exciting story he was taking back to his village. 

A plane taking off and that too at walkabale distance. 

The wife was happy as well.... 

The husband......Proud. 

After some moments of wait A huge Kingfisher A380 started moving back.... 

The kid starts jumping...the toddler has his eyes wide open 

The father puts his arm on his wife's shoulder.. 

The family totally engaged in the forward backward maneuvers of the plane....

Infact there are around 100 more groups like these..all standing in a queue.. 

In next two minutes...plane is right in front of them. 

Father takes the boy in his arms...points towards the rising plane. 

Mother does the same with the infant. 

so do the other groups... 

They whistle...They clap... 

Someone feels proud to have shown this to his family... 

Some feel proud to be wife to a person who everyday sees this... 

While the plane is taking off there might be a similar family inside the plane that is going through the same emotions......may be they are excited for their first flight. 

Or May be they are amused at the people who are shouting ..clapping and pointing towards them while they take off. 

Whatever it is ..both sides of the plane had a proud father...a excited mother..an extremely happy child. 

Everyone looked so same ... Happy for a reason ...that was completely their own.

RUN Forrest RUN

I have been running /cycling for some time now...somedays i go for short short trips...sometimes i opt for monster trips...A 120 km CYCLING requires as much physical and mental endurance as is required for a 12 km RUN.

The longer trips are done more for the mental toughness than for the physical aspect of it.
I have seen a particular pattern in these longer rides....
The ride can be broken into three phases

Phase1: Destination-too-far phase
This is the phase when you have just started and you are really excited about the new journey.
Excitement very often results in a burst of energy (too much action) and that may lead to a rise in fatigue level and possibly a premature burnout and that may end your journey much before the anticipated timeline.

You have to get into a nice consistent rhythm to be in the race for a longer run.
In this phase Focusing on the journey and not on the destination helps you stay for a longer period.

Phase 3 :Destination-too-close phase
I came to phase three before going to phase two...just for the striking similarity in the destruction capability of this phase with phase 1.

This is the phase when the destination is visible and you are exhausted to the core.
Your fatigued mind asks you to quit as you are almost there....
In this phase complacency and fatigue...can prove fatal for the entire journey.
You did all the hard work but gave it all away in the end.

If you want to complete the journey and pass this phase ..just remember....
There is a lot of difference in "You were almost there" and "You were there."

Now we come to phase 2.

Phase 2: No-idea-how-far-or-how-close phase
This is the phase when you have no clue how far have you come and absolutely no idea how far you still have to go.

This happens mostly when you are running on the roads you have never ran before...
as opposite to..
Running on a road that you are familiar with....the thrill and the unexpectedness would always be lesser.

So in this phase you have no clue how much more physical and mental toughness is required...
You are done with the initial excitement of the journey...
You don't see the destination either...the only option you have is to HANG IN there .

Hang in...and believe .
You seem lost...out of clue...aimless
but just understand that any moment you may see your destination.
Whenever you think of giving up..it is very much possible that the destination was just a few paces away.

After you have hung in long enough...you will suddenly start seeing the destination and that's when phase 3 comes into play.

Don't let the Phase 3 ruin all your effort.
Make sure you have crossed the line before you begin with the celebrations.

Keep the celebrations mild as this race was probably a Phase 1 to some longer race.

Keep Running. :)

N8 for Rs 2000

I was really excited for my first cycle trip to india gate.
We had to leave early morning so i made one last call to one my friends for the journey.

I - What all should i carry?
My friend - Just a water bottle wat else?

I was in a confused state as to if i should be carrying my phone or not.
Atlast i decided to carry my phone ,my camera and my wallet and put it all in a small backpack.

In the morning i started at 5:30 from noida and asked Gaurav to be ready by 6:00am.

I reached mayur vihar around 5:50 and called up Gaurav to the main road...he asked me to wait for 2 minutes.

I parked my cycle and as that part of delhi is on the greener side..i thought of taking a few clicks.
I was thinking about the clicks and the camera...two guys came on a scooter and stopped right in front of me.

One of them got off and shook hands with me.
Then he showed me a N8 and asked me if i wanted to buy it.

I refused and told them that i am not carrying any money and moreover i didn't want to buy that phone.
The guy on listening to my reply turned hostile and asked me to show him my mobile.

I reluctantly took it out...he grabbed it from me and started sitting back on scooter,
I tried to snatch it back...but in a very hostile haryanwi tone he asks me...

"Jaan se Pyaari koi cheej"
I thought for a while .

The guy driving driving the scooter also tried to scare me..
"Nikalooon kya??"

I was thinking whether to put up a fight or let go.
I was not sure if they had any weapon or not...but i didn't have the guts to confirm it.

I decided against the fight thing and agreed to their first question.
Jaan se pyari koi cheej nahi.

While leaving they gave me a black mobile pouch...
I was relieved somewhat as it was probably the second hand N8(or may be third hand)  they were trying to sell me earlier.

Once they left the scene i could also see my friend crossing the road and coming towards me.
I opened to see the black mobile pouch and check the condition of the N8.

The thieves were damn professional in their work..they not only gave you the theft shock.
They cared about the customer experience after the transaction also.

The black pouch didn't contain a N8.
It had a RIN Bar.(Rin ki tikki)
-------------------------------------------------------
I = Bivek Kaushal
My Friend = Gaurav Vashist

Just think what would you do in such a scenario?
and please share as this may be helpful to other people living in delhi.

Why do we do the things we do?

On our way back from office me and Ovais were discussing...

Why do we do the things we do?
Or For that matter....
Why does any one does what he does?

So the Initial answers were like for Survival..for food..for a better life etc etc.
Then we discussed a bit more deeply and came to the following result...

Each one of us enjoys being different.

Earlier people used to stay in villages and do farming..feed cattle..raise children.
Everyone did the same thing.
At that time if someone got a job in the city...he was considered kind of special.
Now the guy who got a job did something different from what his brothers were doing
and this way he got himself to be felt special.

Now this trend continued and almost all the families now had a child in the city doing a job.
This continued for few decades ...then a person got bored of that lifestyle also.

Everyone is in city doing the same damn coding job .So he decided to pack his bags and go back to the village.
Now this person did something different and was considered special by his brethren.
People staying in the cities...now felt like they should also lead a life style like that.

So in this discussion we found out that we always look to do something different and ....
more the uniqueness of that thing,
the more we enjoy doing it.

A person always looks to have some uniqueness about him...which sets him apart from the people
he knows or has some connection with them.

Now a person can look different with two different mindsets..

We'll take an example
A Person may leave his comfortable car and become a cyclist because of two reasons...
1)Reason one is there are a very few cyclists around and a lot of car owners...being a cyclist will set him apart.
2)Second reason is curiosity...he would want to challenge his comfort zone and see how his body reacts on a cycle?

In the first reason if all the people around him start riding a cycle the person may opt for a car.
Because the point is not enjoying the cycle..but the point is being different.

In the second reason the person won't give a thought to what the people in his closest promoxity are driving...
He'll ride a cyle just for the sake of riding it.

In both cases you look different....just that in one you are indifferent.

At this point of discussion i immediately started relating things with myself...and the people around me...
A few questions that came to my mind...

Would i keep on enjoying playing Flute if i don't put those videos on facebook?
The very fact that i put them on facebook is that i want people to notice that i am different and see how well i can play the Flute.

I want people to appreciate the videos..what if nobody likes them?  Will i stop playing ?...

Am i different out of curiosity or out of a need to look different.
If a lot of people learn flute...will i try and learn a new instrument?
 or...
Will i learn a new instrument when i feel that ...Flute is done now and what next?

I was confused and i am still confused as to why do i do the things that i do.

Infact why did i write this blog....

I wrote this blog out of curiosty and by the sheer enthusiasm and the excitement of the thought that came to my mind...
but the very point that i am going to share it on my blogspot right now ..and hoping for a few likes.....feeds my apetite .....

...as i think i have thought something different that people in my closest reference haven't thought of.

Living - By Default or by Design

Recently i read a small Article on Lance Armstrong(The cycling guru).
...Infact not just the cycling Guru but there is a lot more to learn from him.
He is a champion while on cycle and a bigger champion for the cancer fighting cause.

In this article he had mentioned the way he would want to die...
He Quoted

"When i am 100 years old.....
I want to come screaming down an Alpine descent on my bicycle at 75 miles per hour. 
I want to cross one last finish line as my wife and my ten children applaud, 
and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire."

This line struck somewhere...i read it again...and again and again.

Just think of it...a person is excited about his death...he is planning the way he is going to die.
I mean come on...there are days i am not even excited about the way i live..

I know Lance is a kind of person who doesn't take things as they come but the things come as he wants them to come.
That's how effective people live .....they don't live by default.....they live by design.

....but this was something different ...Lance not only lives by design...he wants to design the way he dies too.

Death will not happen to him...
he will die in a way that ensures he has lived till the very last moment.




Jai Guru Dev :)