A Helping Hand
Saturday, May 28, 2005
India Miscellany
Conversing with V. is always refreshing, motivating and educating, to say the least. He was here last week, and we spent a long time talking about a whole gamut of things sitting in one of our favourite haunts in Bangalore - the coffee board of the India Institute of Science (IISc); from Computer Science research in India, Asha projects (we spent a few hours at Shristi too), to discussions on some of the latest books on socio-economics of India. Not to mention plans of future marathons, 100-mile races in the Amazon and Sikkim, trekking in the Himalayas one of these upcoming summers and whatnot...
I also ended up buying a couple of interesting books at the IISc book stall - C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Amartya Sen & Jean Dreze's India Development and Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality.
CK Prahalad's book (he doesnt need an introduction as the Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan Business School, and has been named about the top ten management thinkers of the world in every major survey for over a decade) is about empowering the Bottom of the Pyramid, the 4 billion people of the world who live on less than $2 a day. These people are the world's most exciting, fastest growing new market. Collectively, he says, the world's billions of people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. How do we serve them and help them escape poverty? Prahalad shows this is being done - profitably. Through several case studies implemented in countries like Guatemala, Brazil, India, etc. how poverty could be eradicated through profits, by involving these people in whatever form of production/markets they are suited for.
Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze's book also seem very fascinating on the socio-economics of India. I am yet to read it of course (too many books piled on my desk as must-reads). Roger Penrose's new book is for the serious reader, taking one through the nuances of the essential fields of mathematics and physics for an audience interesting in understanding the guts of the latest areas of physics like string theory, twistors, quantum physics, etc. I intend to spend a few months on it sometime soon hopefully.
I finally got around to completing Mark Tully's India in Slow Motion; well, almost. I have a couple of chapters left. It is a nice account of some of Tully's travels in India trying to understand some of the key problems India is facing. There is a first-hand account of the Babri Masjid when Tully was on site. Next is his conversation with Mathew Samuel, the reporter who caught Jaya Jaitely on tape accepting bribe in the Tehelka scam. Most saddening to me were the stories from the villages - about how farmers in most places have such a tough time growing crops, with growing debts, cases of suicides in villages, insentivity of the government towards subsidies for agriculture, mismanagement, corruption and bereaucracy at all levels. One sad fact was that due to lack of proper storage for grains produced, most of them go wasted, in fact over a third! This when the same could be used to feeding millions others who are forced to go hungry...There was a truly amazing story about this IIT Chennai graduate who decided to give up the fancy jobs of our world, bought a piece of land of a few acres in a place in North Karnataka, started farming, became one with the farmers so that he could understand their problems more, and was now trying his best helping them out and himself. Truly amazing.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Am on top of the world
Yeah, I guess I am feeling quite exhilarated. Never thought I would finish the half marathon today, mostly because I hadnt trained enough - I started training seriously 3 weeks ago and my longest run was just under 5 miles. I had been hoping to do 10km and call it quits....but never underestimate the power of the mind, enthusiasm of a large crowd trudging towards a common cause and the energy provided by a satchet of GU and bottles of water :-). Before I go into the details, my official time was 02:50:55 for the 21km stretch, getting that to just over 8mins per km. I did the first 10km at about 7.5 mins per km, the latter half slowed me down, quite expectedly. First of all, thanks to all your wishes, friends! I have not injured myself, and except for some cramps and tightness, I am fine:-)
We began bang at 6:30 (the full marathoners started at 6AM). Oh yes, before that I had to get up at 4AM to pick up my friend V coming into Bangalore from Austin. Crazy that he is, he was quite enthusiastic about running as soon as he landed. He has already run 4 or 5 marathons now, and this time he was content with giving me company as much as I could run. We got to the stadium around 5:30, warmed & stretched a bit, and started at 6:30 sharp. The route took us through some of the greenest parts of Bangalore; and thank God for small mercies, it was kind of cloudy till 7:45 AM or so, so the first few kms were just awesome. There is a certain quality of beauty in such situations that can only be experienced, and i certainly cannot come up with the right words to describe the way it feels when you settle into your own pace, run along looking at greenery early in the morning and just feel nice about the world...
My only long run was a 7.5 km run I had done last weekend, so as expected, I took a small break at the 5 km pitstop, got some water, stretched a bit and got moving again. The route had taken us through Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, Raj Bhavan Road, Race Course Road, Windsor Manor Bridge and the Mekhri Circle flyover was just looming ahead. The course certainly offerered variety, small and nice gradients to some gradual ups and downs.
However short they are, conversations during running stick in your mind. V. was telling me about this 72-year old guy he met in the Royal Victoria marathon - he apparently started running when he was 50, and in 22 years, he had done 229 marathons...what would you say about that! And this 70-year old lady who finished & said - "Once in a while you have to challenge your mind & body and push them to the limits". And about the 92-year old Fauji Singh, who ran his first marathon when he was 89....he doesnt have a soul in this world whom he can call his family...and he is now the new poster boy for Adidas with Beckham and Laila Ali. And oh yes, this man with an artifical leg who also finished....
Before I knew it, we saw the really fast half marathoners on their way back - the first few looked like they were Army guys, running against the clock. It was also nice to see local people standing on the pavements cheering & waving at us. On we went, and the Hebbal flyover loomed up around the 9km mark, with people encouraging us that the loop was just around the corner. It was quite a beautiful sight - running over one loop of the flyover that was overlooking the Hebbal Lake, still looking green and pristine in the soft (thank God!) morning sunlight. At the 10km mark, I knew I had to take a break, and i really wasnt sure how much more I could push myself...but the good thing was that I wasnt like dying or anything. Apart from some tightness in my thighs & ankles, I was doing pretty ok. So, we took a break, I took a GU (for those of those who dont know, Goo is this energy gel satchet; V. had just got me a bunch with him today), drank some water...and started stretching. I guess I was wrecking V.'s half marathon timing! so, I asked him to go ahead from now on...I had by now done 10 km in about an hr and 16 mins, just over 7.5mins per km. The next few kms were slow, I was making double sure I wasnt hurting myself in anyway by stretching my endurance. Guess I got past the 14km mark without too much trouble, and then the leg started hurting, and breathing was also showing signs of being anerobic. Another small break, some stretching, water and a GU stop got me going again.
After this, I am sure it was pure will power and the dream to finish that kept me going the next 6km or so. Other runners cheering me, and me reciprocating that with whoever was running alongside, I coincidentally bumped into a guy who recognized me from my Rutgers days! By the 18 km mark, I was having some bad cramps in my legs, so I stopped running & just walked as fast as I could for the next 2 kms, with frequent stretching. Soon the last 1 km loomed up and that just kicked in energy like no other energy gel!
It was an exhilarating feeling to run the last stretch, see the timing at the finish & flop down in the grass and just feel good...Although it was just a half marathon, I did stretch my endurance and mind to the limit. At so many points of the run, my body was just crying out loud to stop & quit...but the mind has this amazing quality to instead push and ask for more...Never felt this way before...
Any such mentally and physically exhausting races are, I think, a metaphor for life....they can be the most exalting, or heartbreaking and potentially tragic posing every conceivable element to the human: cold, heat, bruises, cramps, bad luck, unthinkable beauty, numbness to pain, and above all a great, deep self questioning. Isnt it the same with life - we're faced with so many different elements as well, ups and downs, fight with failure, just trying to stay upright and to have a little hope. There are no shortcuts, and I realised there was no point in how long long I took to finish...It didnt matter, the fact I finished, pushing myself over and beyond what I believed my capabilities were....that mattered the most...
I could not help, but go back and read this piece from Kristin Armstrong's account of her first marathon days before her divorce from Lance Armstrong..Here is the full article.
It's an odd thing, when your body says no and your mind and your spirit say yes. It's frightening and empowering and clarifying and beautiful all at once. It was the past year of my life, shortened into a span of 26.2 arduous miles. It was the culmination of experiences, the knowledge that my body can be pushed past its breaking point, just like my heart. In both instances, when you come to the end of yourself, God's grace is all that sustains. And it is enough.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Something Fresh
Well, it had been a long time overdue. The Bangalore International Marathon will be the first marathon to be held in the city. It is on 15th May, and is expected to draw quite a good crowd. It will be held in the center of the city, starting from Kanteerava Stadium, going through M.G. Road (which city in India does not have a road called that I wonder), around Ulsoor Lake, Cubbon Road, Vidhana Soudha, Cubbon Park, and back at Kanteerava. That is one lap of 10.5km, and there are 4 laps to complete the stipulated 42-something km.
I am planning to contribute my part to it too. I havent really trained, but I am hoping to do one of those laps. We did a 7km run yesterday along part of the course...it was great, and I hope I can continue to run after this marathon. A few friends have been getting together at Cubbon Park at around 6 AM in the mornings to run. Early mornings at the only time to get any good running done in the city, by 7:30 AM, traffic gets too much, and too irritating with all the honking...
Lot of activity at Marathon Meetup for those interested.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
India in Slow Motion
That is the name of the book I recently picked up. It is one of Mark Tully's highly rated books on India, the other one being No Full Stops in India. I just reading it a couple of days ago, it has been good going so far.
For those unfamiliar with the name, until a decade ago BBC World Service and its South Asia correspondent, Mark Tully were synonymous. Such was his credibility and aura that whenever a sensational news broke out people preferred to listen to the BBC than to All India Radio. He is now a journalist in New Delhi and works with his colleague and partner Gillian Wright. I have seen him often on NDTV too in the weekly program Foreign Correspondent. His knowledge of India is vast - ranging from Kashmir crisis to kebab joints in Lucknow and paan shops in Delhi. He also does a weekly programme on BBC Radio called Something Understood.
The book is more on bad governance that has put brakes on progress in India. The authors say the administrative system has not been properly reformed or finely tuned since the British left. It has been drifting along with no serious thought given to governance. And more often than not, it sadly seems like the government is the problem, not the solution.
More on the book as I make progress. I thought I will read quite a bit over the weekend, but it has been a very hectic one. I was at work on Saturday helping recruit/interview candidates. For most part of Sunday, there were regular power cuts, and Bangalore this week has been as hot as a frying pan. I was dead tired from some running practise I have been trying to get (yes, I plan to run the Bangalore Marathon next weekend, or to be more precise, as much as I can) so I was just lying down and playing dead in the hot afternoon and managed to get a series of cat naps. Thankfully electricity just seems to have been restored now (it is 9 PM Sun night), so hopefully we will be able to get some sleep at least.
Seriously, the common Indian man is a long suffering lot!
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