Friday, September 29, 2006

Kaleideoscope

9:30am, Arrival lounge, Bangalore airport
I am told that I can't go all the way up to the baggage claim area. The security guy at the gate pays no heed to my request that 'my old parents will need help with the luggage' and 'that's the reason I got a ticket into the arrival lounge'. What's the point if all I can do with this ticket is stick my nose against the glass window and watch my parents struggle with the luggage at the conveyor?? Ah well, this is a country where all the rules are followed! I cursed the terrorists for all the terror they have managed to spread and just hoped that there will be someone near the belt to help my parents! Then I just went and stuck my nose at the glass window and felt good about being short...cause the glass was dirty everywhere above my nose with all and sundry sticking their noses! :)

On the other side of the 'laksman rekha' a girl stood and handed out plastic red roses and a Kemp fort coupon with a promise "get a free parker pen*" with some fine print at the end which was too fine for me to read from a 2 feet distance. She was neatly dressed and it looked like she drew her inspiration from some regional film actress. She did not have enough roses/coupons to give every person who walked out of the terminal. She had some random algorithm to gauge who deserved her 'smile, rose, coupon' package. Without even giving her the slightest hint, I played a mind-game with her. I would give myself a point every time I guessed the package recipient accurately! Initially I got a couple of wrong hits...but gradually I figured her thinking pattern and declared myself the winner!

A shabbily dressed guy (he came to receive someone in his night clothes!) went up to the security guy and posed a similar request to allow him to enter into the baggage claim area. When the security guy declined, this guy crossed the 'lakshman rekha' and stood just near the gate on the other side. He seemed to derive a lot of satisfaction in standing on the other side and it looked like someone else had just declared himself a winner! The security guy kept requesting him to move back...but this pajama clad guy (I could bet my life he hadn't come to pick someone he wanted to set an impression on) just pretended to be lost in thought and gazed into infinity.

All kinds of people walked out of the gate. There were those who still seemed to be thinking of the business deal they had struck and were mentally still in the board room. There were others who were first time fliers and just seemed mighty happy about the deal they got with the flight tickets! Then, there were travelers from abroad who were just trying to comprehend if this really was the airport at the Silicon valley of India. I took my nose off the window and sat down to observe the stream of people. I took my eyes off the gate and the stream when a little girl probably 6 years of age started running excitedly around the bunch of chairs chasing her cousin/brother/family friend who must have been double her age and size. Her target was too fast for her, but for a moment she din't think it was unachievable. She gleefully just kept going round and round in circles as if someone had put her there to demonstrate that life is about the journey, not about the end.

I began building little stories around each of the characters. What would have been the purpose of their trip? Were they coming back happy, sad or neutral? I thought back to the very first time I flew (incidentally out of this very airport) and smiled to myself thinking of the excitement and the anticipation of a weird feeling in the tummy when the aircraft took off. Memories of some of the significant trips I had made out of here came flooding by. I thought of the uncountable times I had come here to see someone off or to pick someone up. My mind ran its little what-if analysis of some of these significant trips and how my life would be different if some of these trips hadn’t been made. I am glad I can’t be certain that the difference would be for the better or for the worse. It was just a little holiday that my mind took to go down memory lane…and when it came back…it wasn’t without some unwanted holiday weight!

To lighten things up, ironically, there was this plump 7-8 year old fair, curly haired girl. Her parents were obviously trying to reach someone who should have been here by now to pick them up. They were not too happy about being kept waiting and I pitied the person on the other side of the line. The family shared the 'plumpness' gene and this didn't look like a couple you would like to mess with! In sharp contrast, the little girl didn't seem to be bothered about not being home or in a car on the way home. She seemed pretty happy about not having an air hostess tying her to a seat. She kept herself busy by playing hopscotch on the mosaic tiles. She had made her own rules about which tile to step on and which one to miss and the fact that she looked clumsy and un-lady like was not in her scheme of thoughts. In the span of some 10 tiles in her charlie chaplin hop, she managed to win an admirer! This 1.5 year old boy (who had just about learnt to walk and was keen on honing his newly acquired skills) set himself free from his mother's grip and ran to the curly charlie chaplin! The speed and accuracy with which the 1.5 year old had picked the 'most interesting company' in the crowd of people was to be admired. It could only have been done by someone who hadn't spent a life time trying to learn the obvious!

The pajama clad guy's parents and sister finally emerged and no one judged him by his cover! Right behind them a group of pilots and air hostesses smartly walked by dragging their neat and chic suitcases. The group kind of maintained a little distance from one of the pilot-air hostess pair. They looked like they had a little something special going on between them. The way they were alienated from the rest of the group made it seem like they were breaking some commonly accepted rules in the society!

Everyone walking past the gate had a different pattern and a certain beauty about them. Here was a slice of life…in the power wielding security guy, the egotistical pajama man, the innocent girl running around in circles, the visionary toddler, the happy Charlie Chaplin and her angry parents. Even though I won the mind-game with the girl handing out the roses using some reasoning, I could have stood there all day and wouldn’t have been able to predict what pattern would emerge out of the gate next. Life is indeed a box of chocolates. The next one I picked could have been nuts, dark chocolate, plain, milk…..anything!


10:30 am, STILL Arrival lounge, STILL Bangalore airport.
Sweet music in my ears…my phone ringing...but I am not too happy about being distracted from the very engaging job at hand. There are so many more people to observe and analyze. ‘Where are you?’ In the maze of all this, I had missed taking note and observing what I came for in the first place. My parents, baggage et al, had walked right under my nose at around 9:40am (probably when it was stuck up against the glass window) while I was busy rotating the kaleidoscope!

Monday, September 18, 2006

I also-ran a marathon!

I proudly proclaim to be an Also-ran! :)
I completed the marathon!
I took 5 hours to complete it..:( Am a little disappointed with that as I was aiming at doing it in 4hours 15 minutes or so. But the joy of completing a marathon (in spite of the pathetic arrangements made by the organizers) is the predominant feeling.

We started at around 6am and had good attention from the volunteers and traffic cops for the 1st 2 hours or so. We were given preference at the traffic signals and with the barricades in the right places I wasn't worried about being run over by a bus/truck! The weather was just right and Bangalore did look beautiful! I observed a lot of the beauty that I hadn't noticed in so many years, while zipping past in my car. A lot of areas in Bangalore are still very green and running in the backdrop of a lake set against greenery is a unique kind of experience. It just makes you feel great, about life and about yourself. And there were a lot of very sweet Bangaloreans who stood by, cheering us and making us feel like celebrities! You also form a bond with your fellow runners and everytime you do something against the commonly known best methods, someone or the other reminds you 'hey, dont do that, do this instead' It is a nice feeling...you are out there with a bunch of people you don't even know and you are helping each other achieve what you set out to do...all by yourself...probably all for yourself. At a point when you are ready to drop and your body has just thrown up its hands...and seems 100% confident it can't budge another inch, a simple pat on the back from a fellow runner with 'hey, you can do much better than that' or a hand sticking out from the sidewalk to just shake yours for what you have achieved thus far just magically pushes your body to run along and takes you another km or so.

When I started, I was very conscious of all the fundas for conserving energy and was at par with my target for the 1st 2 hours. Once you run about 5km, your body just gets into rhythm and all the panting etc stops. At that point, you feel you can run for ever! I know glucose level in my body dips very suddenly and after I had done 15km, I craved for some sugar, some salts, something! All the water stops had water...no dearth of that but nothing to replenish your salts. I kept myself motivated by telling that surely at the 21km stop I would be treated to something more than water. All I got was an apologetic shake of the head from the volunteer when I asked for glucose/electral. I was cursing myself for not carrying money...I could have bought myself something from the shops near by :(

After I did about 22-23km...I was bored. All the runners were separated by atleast 1/2 a km...barricades were beginning to be removed...traffic had increased..and auto waalas were being their usual selves...and my body was deprived of sugar. That is when I started to walk a little...and run a little. My feet weren't tired...I wasn't panting...I was just a little dizzy cause of lack of salts. I was a little paranoid about blacking out. At one of the water stops, as usual, I begged for something sweet, and I got lucky. Got the last mentos chewy dragee that a volunteer had! :) Fortified with that, I felt replenished and started to run as if I had just started the marathon! I know..I know..most if it is probably psychological...but thats what this is all about.. after 10km it ceases to be an effort on the body...it is overwhelmingly about the mind! And even a seemingly trivial thing (like a blarring indica taxi) is enough to upset the shaky focus you have built in your head...and makes you want to stop.

At about 28km, my messiah came along! He was one of the members of the medical team and was cycling with water and electral. He stopped and offered me electral! He must have thought I din't know what I was doing...cause I gulped down so much of it in one go...that I could have been in trouble. I profusely thanked him and ran along again. I knew I would need some again after 4km or so and tried to keep him in sight. That kept me going and I caught him again when he had stopped to help the runners.

The last 7km or so was just pathetic. There were hardly any water stops...all the barricades were removed (and I was beginning to lose track of the track). The messiah had departed...and no new ones cycled past me. Somewhere around then the emergency van drove past and the guy stopped to check if I was doing ok or if I wanted to join some of the runners who had quit and were in the van, being driven to the stadium. I was dizzy but I did not even have to think before I shook my head and said 'thanks, but no thanks'. It did not even occur to me that quitting was an option...that's how much I wanted to run the marathon and am glad, everything aligned well for that.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Marathon - 17th Sept 2006

I said "I wanna run the marathon. It is one of my little dreams and I want to put a tick mark against this item in my checklist of life"
Dippie said "Yes yes...go run. You are not mediocre"
Mommie said "Huh? Won't you be tired? Why are you doing this?"
Neeru said "Ya, you can do it once"
Chhavi said "Oh ya? That's cool, Arc and i wanted to do it together"
Pathak said "42kms? that's crazy. Boss..its a lot...infact even 21km is a lot" (I said "Don't act like my mommie")
Shrinidhi said "Good run the marathon. In the next 7 yrs I may also run one;) "

Others "Wow, how exciting!" "Are you sure" "Have you trained enough?" "Don't you have anything better to do?" "Hey, we will come and run the last 7km with you"

Amidst all this I started training...about 1.5 months back. After a week's training and figuring out where I stand and what I am really capable of, the Monica in me said 'Hey, you aren't going to win this. Don't run. What's the point running when you can't win'.
I said "Shut up. for the sake of my checklist, I am willing to be labeled an 'Also-ran'...cause this is no ordinary feat..it is the marathon"

And today, just 2 days before the marathon, there is no real data to prove I can make it. Infact everything is against the fact that I can make it. My feet hurts after I run 15km and my body begins to feel tired.

The-Monica-in me says "Hey...Ms Also Ran, don't tell me you aren't even going to be that."

The only hope I have is my mind...and my desire to make it. I hope it will push my body beyond its threshold. When my body wants to give up, I hope the Monica in me jumps out of my skin, puts me on a skating board tied around her waist..and zips away to the finish dragging my body along! :)

Lets see what I can blog (read 'brag') about on the 18th. (Am sure I will sleep through the 17th!)

After thought: Need I mention, that the Monica referred to here is the 'Friends' Monica?

Friday, September 08, 2006

Am Lovin it...

I always knew music influenced my moods a lot. Wonder why I din't think of ensuring I had good music around me most of the day! A simple and effective way of being happy and chirpy.

At the moment, am lovin my new phone ringing...(even if it is some tele-marketing folks trying to sell me a credit card I will never take)...coz when it rings, my fav mp3 clip plays and makes me feel like doing a jig (w/o bothering where I am!).

It makes me feel like taking those broken wings and learning to fly
It makes me feel like touching things and turning them to gold
It makes me feel like I found 6 chocolates in a pack of 5!

Am lovin' it....