Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

We had 10 days in Ceylon. It was the first trip with Baby-A, and the three adults on the trip me, S and A, had to all pull their weight in terms of baby-tending duties. However, Baby-A was generally co operative and mostly predictable, a key contributor to making it a good trip. The planning constraint was to minimize shuttling between hotels- so that we could spread out the clothes and other paraphernalia and not bother to pack 'em all up often. We had a cab with a driver - a large-ish Toyota sedan - through the trip. We needed all the boot space, with the bags + portable stroller often spilling over into the back seat. 

Itinerary 

We landed at Colombo on Friday evening. After a stay at a hotel near the airport (Spicepeek Boutique), we set off early the next day after breakfast south towards Galle and its friendly neighborhood beach, Unawatuna. Unawatuna proper is quite commercialized, think Baga of Goa, so we stayed near a beach called Thalpe which was 5-6 km from Unawatuna's main drag. Beach hopping, SL vs Aus cricket match at Galle stadium, tea plantation tour, turtle conservation center, leisurely grazing at numerous good restaurants, bird-watching, walk through a non-touristy Sri Lankan town (Thalpe), walking Galle fort and beholding panaromic views it offered, cafe hopping in Galle fort, and shopping in Ceylon Spa - these were the memorable and pleasant highlights. On Wednesday morning, we set off towards the hill country town of Ella. Hike to Little Adam's peak (Little A going to Little A!) was enjoyable. The trip to Buddhist Pagoda atop a hill was not remarkable. We ate hearty meals at numerous restaurants in close proximity to each other, at Ella. We got back to Colombo for a crammed Saturday. Went on a tour of legendary architect Geoffrey Bawa's house, grazed at a cafe, the best showers of the trip at the Cinnamon Red (part of the famous Sri Lanka Cinnamon chain of hotels) and light dinner at the Cricket Club restaurant, browsing the stunning cricket memorabilia donning the walls. Sunday morning in the hotel gym, and an afternoon flight back to BLR.     

Thalpe/Unawatuna + Galle

We were concerned when we discovered that our hotel Serenity Boutique was around 2 km inland from the main road from which all the beaches originated. However, it was a blessing in disguise- firstly we were able to see 5-6 Sri lankan endemic birds in the verdant green surroundings, and secondly the neighborhood was less commercial - pretty much jungle and farms. Baby-A woke up at 6 every morning, too early for any tourism, so one memorable morning A and I carried him and walked for a good 2 km through rustic Sri Lanka sceneries. 

Most of our meals were in the main Unawatuna drag which did not dissapoint even once- we twice ate at Koha Surf lounge (international cuisine) , once at Hideout Mexican restaurant, and once at Wasantha Sri Lankan cuisine (fantastic local food - rice with 5 curries). The other restaurants near Thalpe we enjoyed were Wijaya- the breakfast was nothing to write home about but we saw huge sea turtles swimming in shallow waters near the sea, being fed by tourists, mostly Russian. Wijaya famously has a wood fired oven, whose pizzas we did not eat. Shanti Shanti cafe was on the beachfront with excellent relaxing ambience and lip smacking food. I'd say ambience-wise my favorite restaurant on the trip. Food wise, Wasantha was #2, the numero uno coming up later in Ella. We also heard from Wasantha herself about the story of her restaurant. From her, and other interactions, we realized how Sri Lanka was upended by the tsunami. 

Thalpe beach was enjoyable from the sense that it had multiple lagoons where you could settle down into. The sand was a bit coarse, which is not to S's liking. There was a small Angel beach between Thalpe and Unawatuna where we spent firsbee throwing time. It had fine sand which I enjoyed but it was sinky as per S so again not to her liking. On our way to Ella, we stopped at Welligama, which is a popular and massive beach full of surfers. We breakfast-ed at After Surf rooftop cafe, which can get crowded but we were lucky with seats. It commanded a great view of Weligama. The highlight from the roaming the historic streets of Galle fort , laden with cafes and shopping, were Cafe 82's ice-coffee and coconut ice cream, chitchat with the proprietor's son, and Kothu rice at Anod's lounge. The cashew ice cream at talked-about Dairy King was not great. Plenty of fine dining options at Galle fort, which we engaged with at lunch- Italian at Aqua Forte. Nothing spectacular. 

We bought various types of aromatic products (perfumes, room mist, soaps) at Ceylon Spa - Sri Lanka's Forest Essentials. Teas, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg were purchased. A loves the colors of Sri lanka's flag, so she bought a crickety-cap embellised with the flag.

We stumbled into quite the moment when, in the middle of our pleasant walk along the ramparts of Galle fort in the orange-yellow-light of dusk, two military folks along with trumped drew down on the flag at the Galle fort. The views of the stadium was great. The 4th day of the test we watched was also memorable. Easy to get into and get good seats at Galle, compared to Indian venues. Labuschagne's wristy straight drive against spin, played almost with a horizontal bat, was the standout shot. I read about Galle being a 'fortress' (literally and metaphorically) for SL cricket pre pandemic. It was spin friendly, and with their riches of Murali and Herath and Ajantha-Mendis and the like, they would bamboozle opponents. However, with the flattening spin playing abilities with the emergence of IPL, and lessening of the sheen of their own spinners, SL cricket can no longer call it their fortress. 

I enjoyed savoring the range of 15-16 teas we got to taste at the end of our tea plantation tour at Handunugoda tea estate. The weather that day - our most outdoor day of the trip including Thalpe beach and tea estate, was very co-operative: sun was mostly hidden behind clouds and it was breezy. We chanced upon the Koggala turtle conservation center. It was fascinating to get up close and personal with 4 types of sea turtles, including the vegetarian Green Sea turtle who we could touch, the aggressive looking Hawksbill, the sedate Loggerhead and our Indian friend, Olive Ridley.      

Ella:

Being more of a mountain person, I am glad we were able to go to the hills and it wasn't entirely a beach trip. Our hotel Little Folly was slightly cosier than optimal, but overall nice- it was a log cabin. Weather was quite cool. Just 100 m from our hotel we discovered AK Ristoro, an international cuisine restaurant with excellent live music. Jiving to Abba played on the live violin, we enjoyed Japanese dishes. The best food of the trip was at Matey Hut in Ella. Basic chairs and restaurant, but the curries were lip smacking. The view was gritty but great- overlooking a main road and a rail track. Little Adam's peak hike was around 2.5 hours up and down and not demanding. Views were nice. We missed the free meditation at our trip to the Buddhist Pagoda, without which the trip there was not quite memorable, for me. 

Colombo:

After riding back Ella via the same 'Southern Highway', stopping at the same restaurant complex for lunch, we reached Colombo with exactly 24 hours to play with. We stayed in the fairly upmarket Cinnamon Red (albeit not the more high end Cinnamon Grand) . The Bawa house tour was interesting, and inspires me to mindfully collect art at home, telling the story of my travels. I was also uncomfortable, because it was full of architects and people deep into the Bawa story, which I was not. We missed the famous Kumbuk cafe, which shuts at 6 pm. We ate at Cafe Coco verandah cafe instead- nothing to write home about. After enjoying material comforts of the best shower of the trip, we set off for a light dinner nearby- The cricket club cafe. They had eye popping signed cricket memorabilia adorning the walls, and the food was decent. The waiter was a massive India cricket fan.   

News and Geopolitics

There was a nationwide power cut when we were there, and the news coverage of that in their newspaper made for interesting reading. It was interesting to read the main paper of the country as it always is during travels - talked about how the economy is still in trouble and there are strict IMF norms which the country needs to adhere to. Was surprised by the lack of locals frequenting the restaurants and tourist spots we went to - mostly caucasian tourists thronging. Also read up a bit about India's complex relationship with SL especially given the sad Tamil war of the 80s and 90s. I remembered how the word 'Serendipity' is drawn from Sri Lanka, with the other name for Sri Lanka being Serendib. 

Appendix

• We were eggetarians, therefore all the restaurants listed above are to be viewed that way. 
• Trip Credits: T for the cab, F for the portable stroller which was invaluable for Baby A's trip and CSS-S for brainstorming. Lonely Planet on kindle, as always, for restaurant, hotel and itinerary suggestions. 
• Cafe Shanti Shanti had a flyer which mentioned all the events happening that month. 
• First night hotel near Colombo airport: Spicepeek boutique: rooms are fine, location great, food and service nothing to write home about (NWHA)  

Labels: Travellog

 I attended a great course called ‘Culture in Media’ in Undergrad in 2007. As part of the course, we watched the 70s movie ‘Deewar’ starring Amitabh Bacchan in his classic angry young man avatar. As a mafioso, he faces off against his brother the cop, essayed by Shashi Kapoor. Some of the commentary and discussions in our undergrad class focused on how the movie reflected the anger and frustrations of the youth against the Indian state, during those times.

During the 70s right through the 90s, the shambolic and helpless depiction of the cops symbolized the state of the Indian state. Financial health in decline, the country was tottering towards the balance of payments crisis of 1991. The Naxalite movement was burgeoning. Arch enemy Pakistan’s  GDP per capita was 1.5x of India in 1970, and Pak replaced India as the numero uno Hockey team in the world, winning Gold in 1968 and Silver in 72. The only bright spot seemed to be the 1971 victory in the battlefield against Pakistan. The Nana Patekar movie Prahaar demonstrates the situation well- the hopeless situation of the common man, contrasted with the effectiveness of the military.

While anger in the form of ‘angry young man’ was one response, the other reaction was escape. Escapist romantic love was the overarching theme of big Bollywood movies. A deep romantic love can lead to a complete loss of one’s logical faculties and convenient escape from the realities of day to day life- which I read later are actual neurological side effects (albeit momentary) of deep romantic love.  Suddenly, the courting couple are in Switzerland! How did they get to Switzerland from Dadar in a blink of an eye! And how can they dance and sing at the same time! Where are the drums playing? Those dance moves are ridiculous!

So many big movies of the time had this romantic love form of escape from reality. The desperation to escape (via the route of romantic love) was to the level of SRK chasing Kajol in DDLJ despite her refusal to entertain him. Message to the viewer caught in a gritty job and hopeless circumstances – try hard and find this romantic love at any cost. It allows a beautiful escape. Apart from dangerously encouraging stalking, this era of movies created a foolish exaltation of romantic love which I believe would have affected many impressionable young minds of the generation, including me. I had a complicated relationship with romantic love in my teens and 20s, on one hand despising and ridiculing the Bollywood depiction, but at the same time desperately seeking it and going weak in the knees at times, Bollywood style.  I avoided using the word ‘love’ in the ages 18-28- it was too loaded.

The escapist romantic love shown in Bollywood was also not the right kind of romantic love to demonstrate to vast audiences. ‘Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction’, said Antoine de Saint Exuperey, something a mature me resonates with. The romantic love of Bollywood rarely depicted the nitty-gritties of looking outwards in the same direction.

The romantic love of the 70s-80s-90s not only caused escape but overruled and ultimately defeated other kinds of love. In DDLJ, romantic love was the ultimate manna towards which paternal and maternal love were subservient or worked to enable. Love towards one’s work could not be talked about, because work itself was hard to come by, and if it came, it would likely be desultory and dissatisfying. Private sector was small and the uninspiring yet sprawling public sector was parodied in shows like ‘Flop Show’. ‘Love siblings, parents, or neighbors’ would imply a grounding of the screenplay in the domestic mileu, which was to be avoided because of lack of material comforts and the poor state of housing, sanitation, and public services. ‘Love friends’ was difficult to show because ‘friend-zones’ such as college or travel were not common. ‘Love nature’ was not possible, because the world then was in thrall of industrial and human invention, and the zeitgeist was of humanity ‘conquering’ nature. The conservation movement was yet to take off seriously.  

The term 'love-story' was a common term when discussing a movie plot. It referred entirely to escapist romantic love. So 'love' in this definition did not refer to all the other kind of loves (parents, siblings, friends, community, work, nature, hobbies, what not). Together, these other loves can play as big, if not a bigger role, in many lives, than romantic love. There could have been fantastic stories woven around those loves too. 

These thoughts came to me at a spiritual event I attended recently, chaired by Nipun Mehta (who by the way has done lot of good through the organization he founded called Service Space). My friends RR (a regular volunteer) and NP were also with me in what was a beautiful evening. So in the middle of some other point he was making, NM said something on the lines of expressing love towards others, and casually added ‘not like the Bollywood kind of love’. This was not even the key thrust of his talk, just a sidenote. However, it stimulated me to put down these thoughts which I’ve often blustered about in bits and pieces to friends and family over the years.

To some extent, I concede that the conclusions I've drawn might be somewhat amiss due to my limited knowledge of Bollywood movies. I’ve watched few Bollywood movies compared to many friends. So my data set might not be big. Happy to engage and be corrected!

 

 

Labels: Cinemas

 

Watership Down is a nature fantasy book written in the 70s. I came across the book on Tim Ferris show- a nice episode starring Tom Morello, the front man of Audio slave whose guitaring I really enjoyed. For example in the song ‘Like a stone’.  It’s LOTR based on rabbits because it narrates the many adventures of a gang of rabbits as they break away from their ‘warren’ and set off for greener pastures. In fact, considering the many stories which the rabbits tell each other about El Ahrairah the mythical rabbit god, the book can also be called 'The Lord of the Rabbits'. It can be called that for another reason, which I shall not reveal to avoid giving out a spoiler.    

Nature fantasy is a genre I have discovered recently. That term is my own creation- don’t go and ask at a  book store. The Bear by Andrew Krivak, which I read around 3 months ago, and this Watership down, are examples. Narrative themes this genre touches upon: intricacies of nature, man’s negative impact on nature, fantastical behaviour of nature’s denizens (rabbits in Watership down, and bears and pumas in the Bear). The prose is often descriptive, revelling in the beauty of nature, which slows down the narrative.

I think I read watership down a few years too late in my reading journey. In terms of the plotline, it follows the classic ‘hero’s journey’ as shown in LOTR, Harry Potter, Star Wars and many more epic fantasies. Unlike those, though, the entire world of Watership Down is very much at home on earth. I think it can be a good read for the young lad at home, if introduced at the right age. Just like in the other books mentioned, the rabbits encounter multiple dramatic situations. They display camaraderie and intelligence. The book leans on a created vocabulary, just like Harry Potter and LOTR.

I have lost touch with reading adventure fiction, so I struggled to completely suspend my disbelief. I was also impatient, having again lost touch with reading long books (this one being 605 pages in length). While I was drawn in at times, I did not find the book a rip-roaring ride. I found it slow, often, especially given the multiple long descriptive passages. However, there was one page which was entirely about ‘moonlight’, contrasting to sunlight, which I found beautifully written:

“We take daylight for grander. But moonlight is another matter. It is inconstant. The full moon wanes and returns again. Clouds may obscure it to an extent to which they can’t obscure daylight. Water is necessary to us, but a waterfall is not. Where it is to be found, it is something extra, a beautiful ornament. We need daylight and to that exten it is utilitarian, but moonlight we do not need. When it comes, it serves no necessity. It transforms. It falls upon the banks and the grass, separating one long blade from another, turning a drift of brown, frosted leaves from a single heap to innumerable flashing gragments; or glimmering lengthways along wet twigs as though light itself were ductile.

…We do not take the moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or dew on a July morning. It does not reveal, but changes what it covers”

You can see how it’s nice, but also can be slow if I’m try to power thru.

I have also lost touch with long epic fantasy, so I did not spend time to ponder, imagine and wonder at the world which the author had done a good job in painstakingly creating. The day to day life and dwellings of rabbits are well described. I have read very few 500+ page books on kindle. I found it challenging, because at times I felt as though adrift in a vast sea.

I’ve not seen rabbits in the wild, as I suppose people in England have commonly seen. So I found that slightly difficult to relate to. For people who have seen rabbits often, they can more easily get a visceral ‘cuteness’ response from some of the passages. It's also set in English sceneries and refers to some English towns. The word 'down' itself is: 'rounded and grass-covered hills in southern England that are typically composed of chalk. The name comes from the Old English dūn (“hill”)' 

If not rabbit, what somewhat wild creature have i seen a lot of in their natural habitat? Squirrels and peacocks. And lots of birds- egrets and cormorants. In fact, if watership down was set in Indian settings starring birding protagonists that I relate to, I feel I would have enjoyed it much more. I read 'jungle book' in adulthood, and enjoyed it.    

When you read a concept, it shows up everywhere. One of the 5 life journeys that have been detailed in ‘Forged in Crisis’ is that of Frederick Douglass, who was an escaped slave who made significant contributions to the anti-slavery movement. I was separately reading the useful seeming NY Times list of best books of the 21^st century that come out recently, and lo and behold: in it features “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of freedom”. Apparently, this biography also won the 2019 Pulitzer prize in history.

Be warned that ‘Forged in Crisis’ is not an easy and smooth read, definitely not a page turner. Maybe you get into a ‘crisis’ midway through the book, when you are not able to progress. Then you eventually muster up the will power to move ahead, and thus are you ‘forged’. The book requires annotation, and a second reading. The book is a mini biography of 5 leaders- Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Shackleton the south pole explorer, Rachel Carson the scientist environmentalist who got DDT banned, Frederick Douglass who's described earlier, and Baunhoffer a German priest who resisted Nazi-ism through his interpretations of Christianity.

All five lives in this book dealt with serious crises in their lives. Matters of life and death. Crises large and small. Their sense of adventure and breaking out from the norm is remarkable. Escaping slavery, providing for a large family as a young sole breadwinning woman in the 1950s, finishing a tour de force of writing and journalism while fighting cancer, marshalling men to safety with limited resources near south pole, outspokenly fighting the nazis, dealing with losses of sweetheart and son while having broken away from birth family- these are experiences that can completely break someone who is not incredibly strong internally. The fact that these famous five endured is testament to the human will- it can endure so much hardship, yet emerge unbroken with solutions.

This concept of ‘dealing with struggles and failure’ showed up in multiple places for me, on the lines of how Frederick Douglass did. In a conversation, M, a frequent acolyte, talked about how Indian myths such as Mahabharata and Ramayana are all about the hero dealing with serious adversity although in the popular tellings of the tales we don’t appreciate or empathize with the hero. Rama having his wife stolen and then dealing with life as a nomad as he tried to find her. Krishna, who forever wanted peace, failed miserably in his quest for peace for after all he presided over a massive war. A powerful tale of ‘giving’ and ‘failure’ from Abe Lincoln’s life is dramatically told in the excellent book Give and Take (gotto read more of Adam Grant!). I listened to a great podcast episode on parenting, on the reliably excellent Huberman Labs podcast, this one starring parenting expert Doc Becky Kennedy. Doc Becky stressed upon the importance of children learning the skill of dealing with frustration and struggle, at a time when the world provides many conveniences with minimal effort, such as movies on Netflix, food on Swiggy and essentials on Zepto. Just yesterday, I was giving up hope when Lakshya Sen was down 5 points vs TC Chou, with Chou seemingly outplaying him in the QFs of the Olympic Singles badminton. That was some crisis. The way Lakshya came back was inspiring, making him the first Indian male shuttler to the Olympic semis. ‘Comebacks’ being bigger than the‘Setbacks’ is a mantra going on at work, given the tough time our industry is facing.   

The other interesting aspect which came through for me was how the final position or perspective of the life in question was built over time. Some of the 5 initially in their lives had no special interest or willingness to build that grand perspective for which they have become famous. Therefore, the word ‘forged’ in the title becomes apt.

The famous 5 also got swept up in something that is bigger than themselves, and that gave them the strength to overcome hardship. At the end of the second paragraph, I expressed awe about how they endured – and that’s how it happened- they were bolstered by something much bigger than their own puny selves. This concept I came across today as I heard a youtube video recommended by Tim Ferris, a an interview of Joseph Campbell, the author of the book ‘Hero with a thousand faces’ which is said to have inspired countless artists and leaders. Campbell talked about the importance of the ‘struggle’ in the story of the hero, and also about getting involved in a cause that was outside and beyond their own limited ego. This makes the hero realize that their own ego is small in the bigger picture. He is an instrument of a far bigger force, and they draw power from that ‘force’. Especially in the context that the video was describing Star Wars movies. All 5 people in this book ‘used the force’, the force being contextual and customized to their circumstances.

The book details out the subject of emotional mastery, which was mentioned in the book Awe whose review is my previous post in this blog, and in the movie Inside Out which I rewatched recently. The author of Awe was a consultant to the directing team of Inside out. He talks about how the ‘Inside’ in ‘Inside out’ means that our emotional experience of an event is driven by which emotion is at the helm of the mental console inside us, and hints that we should have the skill to enable the emotion we want to be at the helm when we want. Doc Becky says that children deal with the entire maelstrom of emotions as an adult, but don’t have the skill to deal with it.

The book produces some gems from time to time – ‘In moments of great turbulence when the stakes are high, the fate of a particular enterprise comes down- briefly and critically- to the energy and actions of the individual leader’. This is mentioned about Shackleton, who is the Captain of the endurance which is grounded in the South Pole. Sidenote: In one of my favorite movies, Interstellar, the spaceship is named ‘Endurance’  putatively after Shackleton’s vessel. One more gem, from the life of FD: ‘I lived more in that one day than I lived in a year’. On a similar theme, about how certain moments get etched in memory, by Rachel Carson when on her deathbed wrote a farewell letter to a friend: ‘For me it was one of the loveliest of the summer’s hours, and all details will remain in my memory; the blue September sky, the sounds of wind in the spruces and the surf on the rock, the gulls busy with their foraging, alighting with deliberate grace, the distant views of Griffith’s Head and Todd point, today so clearly etched though once half seen in swirling fog.’

Multiple traits of leadership are touched upon through the 5 lives- cheerfulness and positive attitude during difficult times, creating ‘distance’ from a team, nimbleness in terms of goals to react to the environment. The leader has to ‘define the crisis’ – first for themselves, and then for the people involved. There’s a point around avoiding the ‘seduction of the single definitive answer’. Except for Shackleton, four others are excellent communicators, either oratorically or through the written word, or both. ‘Right action requires taking a long pause and considering how one can do the most good. This always entails putting one’s gifts and experience to their best use’. The ability to create and sustain an effective community. Effectiveness as a human: Everyday kindness, humour, humility and accessibility. The need to move beyond data and facts to translate information into knowledge, knowledge to understanding, and understanding to wisdom.

Those who live an adventurous life do various crazy things out of the norm. When Lincoln reached ‘Springfield’, a colleague from state legislature offered the newcome free meals at is Springfield home, and for five years Lincoln ate there free of charge. Earlier in his life, at ‘New Salem’, he took on wrestlers from a neighboring village in front of a large crowd. The author Nancy uses a nice word to describe him- an ‘autodictat’ – one who learns by himself. Lincoln shook hands with 6,000 patients at a hospital, after the war. And after that as a show of strength, he chopped wood with an axe. A feat which soldiers could not repeat. Bonhofffer, a priest in Nazi Germany and one of the five, suddenly wonders , ‘his mind turned to Mahatma Gandhi, and he wondered if the time had come for him to take a sabbatical in India’.

Although not its main thrust, the book satisfyingly dwells upon other big themes such as history, religion and ecological conservation. Apparently, Lincoln’s assassination stopped a clean healing process post the Civil war, and the book speculates that even the current racial issues in US might have not existed had Lincolns assassination not happened. Gurucharan Das expressed a view about Gandhi’s untimely death, saying that Gandhi was the only ‘Liberal’ in India who was not English speaking elite, and with his death the concepts of ‘liberalism’ did not reach the masses in India.  When it comes to religion, Bonhoffer redefines Christianity as ‘not focused on man’s salvation after death but rather on man’s life on earth’, ‘deal with life and goodness rather than death and guilt’. He came up with a ‘non religious’ interpretation of Christianity, which ‘presented man with the challenge to serve those who are powerless, oppressed and reviled- in short, those who suffer’ . In Rachel Carson’s life, we see how scientific temperament of the masses is shaped by journalist-scientists such as Rachel Carson, and publications such as Scientific American. I asked C, a relative and a prof at IIT, if such publications and writers exist in India. He mentioned a publication from IISc, which we scanned through and decided to be more technical than a layman would like. Carson’s ‘The sea around us’ , which was a book on the wonders of marine life, reached #1 on the New York bestseller list.  

So, I recommend this book, but it won’t be smooth sailing. Apt, for that’s the situation Mr Shackleton encountered.

Labels: Books

 I was 'awe-struck' by the number of connections I made to the book. Firstly, the author Dacher Keltner (quite a unique name) was a consultant for Inside Out, which I had rewatched just a couple of days ago. We have been plotting a trip to the cinemas for Inside Out 2. The narrative mentions Nipun Mehta, who we had heard speak in close quarters around 7 months ago at a spiritual retreat, in what I would say was the best live talk I have heard. The narrative talks about hiking and mountains, at a time when I am going to soon meet a famous mountaineer, who has climbed Everest. The book talks about the 'awe' of a newborn baby, at a time when we are expecting one. It also refers to the Triple Rainbow video, which is one of my favorite videos on the internet. 

'Awe' provides a scientific and artistic tour and explanation of the emotion of 'awe'. It breaks it down into eight sources of awe- inspiring stories of others, collective action such as sports, nature, music, visual arts, mystical encounters, life and death, and lastly epiphanies. It's well written. It's set to a deeply personal backdrop. During its explorations of awe, the book ventures deep into art forms such as paintings and music. It introduced me to some beautiful artworks such as those of the Dutch Artist Pieter De Hooch, whose paintings despite being all the way back from the 17th century seem so closeby in terms of the emotion and the experience of the people residing in those frames. Also Monet is not all water lillies- Rue Montarguel's waving flags strike a chord for me because I always find waving flags remarkable. Also, the Euros just ended and France did put up a decent show.  

The book quotes some remarkable passages, such as the ending stanza to Charles Darwin's Origin of Species which I found remarkable. Charles Darwin was deeply moved by music and art, and I think can be called the patron saint of Awe. The last chapter and page of the book packs some beautiful writing to tie the ribbon the book.

I enjoyed the book, and hope to dip into it repeatedly. It's a slow contemplative read - a stroll, not a dash. This could also be because I spread it across multiple sessions due to circumstances. So the reading experience itself resembles the concept of 'awe walk', which is defined at length in the book. 

         

 

Labels: Books

Had originally planned a comprehensive 13-day Vietnam North to South trip way back in 2012, but lost my nerve when executing such a long solo trip, so backed out. Here was the post, which talked about my effort to entice people to join via Facebook , along with this detailed itinerary:  link   Nothing wrong in losing nerve then- no regrets. I finally ended up going now, 12 years later. Lonely planet, a 10-year later version, was invaluable as always. S and Sh were company. Appendix has specific restaurant and stay recommendations.

Itinerary 

Flying out Friday afternoon from Bangalore, via Kolkata, we reached Hanoi late Friday night (2 AM). We spent Sat-Sun in Hanoi, Mon-Tue in a cruise through the Lan Ha bay (a less commercialized offshoot of Halong bay), then Wednesday second half thru Saturday first half at Hoi An.  Saturday night was spent back at Hanoi, and we took a 3 AM flight via Kolkata, getting back to Blr at 9 AM.  There are direct flights to Hanoi from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata- so travel from there would be much smoother than from Blr. It's a night 5 hour night flight from Mumbai, which will allow you to hit the ground running the next morning. Kolkata is just around 2.5 hour flight away from Hanoi- so close. With a simple e-visa process, it is a great travel option. If I had more days, might have gone to the mountainous areas of Da Lac or Sapa. 

Hanoi, and food aspects common to the entire trip

We stayed in the 'Old quarter', where all the action is. I enjoyed the food despite being a veggie- they replace the meat with tofu and egg, and the modified versions tasted good. Obviously I am blissfully ignorant of what I'm missing by cutting out the pork, beef and what-not. My favorite dishes- Bahn Mi (sandwich), Bao (buns), rice paper rolls, variety of curries, and the dessert Che. The coffee was fantastic. While I found the egg coffee interesting but not necessarily tasty, I loved the coconut coffee. I also enjoyed the concept of Vietnamese black coffee with a drop of condensed milk. They try many other things such as salt coffee (which I tried- was interesting and could grow on one) and yogurt coffee (which I tried to make by mixing yogurt and coffee, producing an unsatisfactory outcome). I enjoyed the local fruits- Rambutans, Mangosteens and Longan, all through the trip, with Mangosteens the best of the tropical trio. Thanks to Sh for buying some 2 kg each of both fruits early during the trip, which lasted a good part of the entire trip. All of this holds for Hoi An, too.  

Got to be ready for a lot of walking in exploring Old quarter. Some of the t-shirts with nice local and quintessential-Vietnam designs,  artful shoes (non branded) and paintings where nice- happy with my/ group's purchases in these categories. Costs are pretty much same as India. Got to be smart in shopping, though- I got frazzled a couple of times at the night market by the combination of crowd, lights, variety of wares, and the heat. I think the best way to do it is to do a recce for an hour, buying on or two items, and doing price discovery. Use that time to compile a list, and then do targeted swoops next time. Our targeted swooping was on our last night on Saturday, and it was efficient and enjoyable. Ceramics is famous, but we found it to be too expensive and not significantly better than the wares on India ecom.   

I enjoyed the water-puppetry show, which must have originated in the flood plains of the Mekong and other rivers which feed the rice-growing plains of Vietnam. The 'train' street was exciting, especially for a train-lover like me- as I sat and enjoyed my bao (bun), a train bustled past me at arm's length away. I got to see how the characteristic sound of a train which so enchanted me in my childhood is produced, as a wheel passed over the small gap between two lengths of the track. I also enjoyed going to the 'Citadel', a monument and location which was the seat of power for Vietnam for most of its history. The indoor museum there also provides a walking tour of Vietnam's history. The walking tour we went on, with students, was average- no great insights.  

I spent a lot of time around Hoan Kiem lake, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's unique in my travels, for while it is a historical and cultural sight, it is bustling with activity by the locals (zumba, couple dance, runners) and also has great restaurants near it. I went on two long runs around this lake (on Sun morn and Tue evening). 

It was uncomfortably warm on Saturday, but thankfully it rained on Sunday morning and for the rest of the time at Ha noi, the weather was great. 

The cruise in Lan Ha Bay was a novel experience. You start at around 8 30 from Hanoi, and after a 4 hour comfortable journey (including a RoRo ferry) you get to your cruise boat. Ours was called Cozy Boutique. The rooms are quite luxurious. I enjoyed the Kayaking the most- kayaking on the gentle sea with huge limestone karsts looming all around, then getting to a secluded beach and dragging the kayak on with you to the beach. In fact there are 4-5 beaches around, and you can pick which ones you want to visit during the 1.5-2 hours you are on your kayak. S and Sh loved the sunset on the deck after this, because they had a nice endorphin rush from the kayaking- would rank in their top moments of the trop. There was a cycling trip next morning, which took us to a small village. 

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Hoi An

Hoi An is a lantern town, with beautiful lanterns of various designs and hues dangling from cables that run across the street at a height of 4-5 meters. It runs along a clean river with a well maintained promenade. However, when these lanterns are lit up in the evening, the tourists throng and it gets jam packed, which I did not enjoy. My favorite part of the time in Hoi An was the 6 30 AM walking tour, through which we learnt about Hoi An's past as a great port city, serving Japanese and Chinese traders who were on the way to India and Arab lands. We also went on a morning cycling ride through a small town Cam Kim, which I did not enjoy too much, mainly due to the heat. We bought a few lanterns, which we hope to dangle at our home during some party we might throw someday. 

We liked our trip to the nearby An Bang beach, just 5 km away . It's a long stretch of sand, and the waves are friendly. I kicked a football around with a British guy who was a fan of Luton FC (unfortunately close to relegation), and we discussed the upcoming Euros. I also did a 45 minute core workout routine on the beach, while S was frolicking around in the waves while also doing some yoga. Distant mountains loomed, clouds formed intricated patterns, and the sunset was beautiful.  

The last morning, we went to the local market (Cho) which the walking trip guide had shown us, and bought Mangosteens for folks back home. We also bought Mung bean cakes and some Rice + mung bean cakes for back home. 

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Through the journey, I started and completed a Sci Fi book called Ascension. Around 400 pages long and a read which was moderately difficult. I read during our time on the flights, a bit during the cruise, and during the afternoons at at Hoi An, when we wanted to relax and anyway the heat forced us to be indoors.  

The locals are pretty friendly and the tourism ecosystem is set up well. Language is a problem but Google translate helps out. There was tourists from across the world , with a high share of French. I chatted with a Danish guy as we sat at a sports bar in Hanoi, I watching an Arsenal game and he catching a Rugby game. Reminded me of the value of following a truly international sport such as Football - you can easily make friends with someone from a different geography. 

Vietnam's had a history of being occupied. Chinese, French and finally American. Their path to independence was through war, unlike India's. Ho Chi Minh is their Gandhi, and is on their currency notes just like MKG is on ours.      

I enjoyed spotting 'Vinfast' electric vehicles- bikes, cars and buses. 

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Appendix

Ha Noi: Hotel Serene Boutique (on the outskirts of Old Quarter which was nice because a bit away from the bustle), can try Silk Path if the budget is higher. No complaints with Serene Boutique, but nothing mind blowing. Memorable restaurants with good veg Vietnamese options: Bahn Mi 25, Hoang's Restaurant, Met (this one's a chain). The pizza and experience at pizza 4P's was great (now also open in Indiranagar BLR and booked out for 1 month)  and the founder's story touches a chord. Street food Bao at Banh Bao Binh Mo. Che dessert at Little Bowl. Coffee at Cafe Giang, the one who invented egg coffee, and with branches across Asia. Desserts for taking back home at Com Nangtan  ; bought Banh com and Keo Cu do.  Enjoyed reading post it notes at Note Cafe. Tour agent for Lan Ha bay: Ethnic. Family run enterprise, trustworthy. 

Hoi An: We stayed at Vinh Hung riverside, one of the finest resorts there, right by the river. We booked a riverside cottage which was nice. The breakfast buffet was solid. Because of the heat, a lot of Grab ordering. Great vegetarian restaurants: Minh hien and Rom. Bahn Mi Phuong was excellent, and Anthony Bourdain apparently loved it. Walking tour by Momo travels - real good.  

Links: 

Desserts from bringing back home: https://vinpearl.com/en/vietnamese-food-souvenirs

     

Labels: Travellog

Completed an enjoyable TCS 10K. Just like every memorable adventure, it's a holistic experience starting from the preparation and anticipation phase.  

Much thanks to S for spending 3 hours to and fro to get to Palace road to get to his bib and also pick up mine, since I was out of town. Need to figure a simple way next year. Before the run, I did solid research on the route, which led me (finally) after 13 years (albeit discontinuous) in Bangalore to get a clear understanding of the roads of Central bangalore. MG road parallel to Cubbon road parallel to Infantry road, with Queen's road being the 'transversal' (ahh- so satisfying to use high school math terms: Transversal is a line intersecting parallel lines). Queen's road has Cubbon park on one side and Chinnaswamy on the ride- so quite the iconic road. Queen's meet's MG road at the circle where MG road turns and becomes Kasturba road. Kasturba road hosts Kanteerava and Konark cafe, where I had sumptuous dosa after the run. Lavelle road also meets Kasturba, MG and Queen's road at the same circle. You can imagine Michael Lavelle, an soldier who struck gold at Kolar Gold Fields, and Queen Victoria, arriving as guests to the wedding of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. Despite all this reaserch, I did not check the altitude map of the race, which was later to have a decisive effect on my run.  

I was coming into the race after 5 weeks of training with D, a famed running coach of Bengaluru. Of the 10 runs in his plan of 5 weeks thus far, I had only missed 1. However, I was not quite setting the speed guns on fire in the training program, D opting to build up steadily over a 3 month period. Since I had not done a 10K at my PB pace (or anywhere near PB) for more than 6 months, I was somewhat anxious on how I would fare. However, I was also coming into this after an enervating football session with colleagues 3 days ago.   

The route plan for TCS 10K had been radically changed. Kanteerava was the erstwhile start and end venue. The ingress to today's entry point was easier than the Kanteerava - just get off at MG road and walked 200 m into the holding area, Rajendra Singhji Army Officers Ground. Much gratitude to N for helping with driver - driven- car (thanks, S) for drop off, which allowed me a precious 20 mins more of sleep and got me to 5.5 hours, comfortably clear of 5 hour sleep benchmark below which I see performance dips in life. Before big races, sleep duration is expected to be lesser due to early awakening, but for me it's best if it stays above 5 hours . The area post race finish was also armed forces territory- Sam Maneckshaw ground, so my salutes to Indian armed forces for sharing their facilities with the civilians. Apt to utilize this ground in the year of release of Sam Bahadur.  

During the 30 mins before the race, I was glad to have bumped into an eclectic set of people. A from the apartment complex we stay in, who I had timed for a 60 min 10K a year and a half ago. S from IIMB times, with who i have had enjoyable Ultimate-frisbee times. B, a senior from my UG hostel wing and one who started long distance running in his teens, H a reader friend from B school who has recently been ticking off HMs. Also spoke on phone to my boss from work, M, who was in another part of the Holding area. However, all of this plus a 10 min warm up routine meant that by the time I tried to get to holding area 'A' (allotted based on my finish time last edition)  , it was already emptied out and I had to join the 'Jatre' (as A calls it) from holding area C. Jatre because the first 1-2 kms are like a crowded religious march. Lot of sideways movements, including brief spells on the footpath, to get ahead. There was a dhol party right at the start, maybe 500m in, adding some verve to the proceedings. 

It was warm for Bengaluru, though not unpleasant. A rare whiff of the chilly Bangalore we know and love hit me when taking the U-Turn at Vidhan Soudha. I remember my conversation just yesterday with a cab driver when I was passing this road. We bemoaned the fact that this road, right in front of a hub of administrators, was quite bumpy. Which we did not experience, of course, when running. Thankfully, I did not have any sprains or injuries, unlike S who took an unfortunate tumble last year, curtailing her adventure. There was one moment, though: I went off-track (literally) and encountered some bushes on the footpath and within that patch was a sizeable rock, which i kicked inadvertently as I ran. I could easily have landed on it and met the same fate as S.  I enjoyed seeing the water on Ulsoor lake, and the ornate gate of the Madras Sappers regiment, who maintain this lake. Also salute some people who lined the road cheering one and all. It was a joy to see regular runner S cheering people on- I had also seen last year. A lake is a good element in the route which was not there last year, and also symbolic of Bengaluru because many runners of the city run around lakes such as Agara. It was dark when we started, but i remember the sun rising through the run. At the subsequent Dosa session- saw two extremes of runners : D who did not even realize that we crossed Vidhan Soudha, and one of his pupils who had shot a video of the sunrise while running.     

I ran at 4:50 min/km for the first 2 km, as prescribed by D. After that, I tried to bring down the average pace every KM.  Having brought the average down to 4:39 at 8 km, there was a chance (albeit slim) of taking down my PB of 4:35 min/km. I needed to run the last two kms at 4:19 mins/ sec. I started the first 500 m of 9th km decent, going at around 4:22 vs the asking rate of 4:19. However, then came the ascent i had not foreseen (see second chart below). A 13 m ascent over 1.5 km implies a 0.9% incline, which is not insignificant. This made the 4:19 ask further hard. So in the last 2 km, I did not get the push to 4:19 that would lead to PB'ing, finishing at 4:29 in those 2 km. I thus lost 20 seconds over my PB , finishing the 10K at 2 secs/km slower than PB. See chart below, which shows the ascent at the end, and the resulting decrease in pace 8.2 km onwards. The last 200 m before the finish came up after a turn, and after rounding the turn it was disheartening to look up and see it all uphill to the finish. 

While I pushed hard in the last 2 kms, my heart rate did not go up beyond 169. During previous runs, it has routinely gone up over 180, so it seems I am doing similar speeds at a lower heart rate, which is a sign of progress. Now if I can push to 180, then maybe I hit a new level. I also felt more in control during and after the run, and except for some parts during the unexpected ascent, I never felt I was running on fumes.  

After the run, ambled over to the refreshment area. The two bananas were helpful , but the sugar laden soda (12 gm of sugar in 100 ml of soda) was atrocious and not touched. Reconvened with UG senior B. Bumped into AM, an old friend from 2009 times. Coach D was waiting with his pupil gang, having completed in a scorching 41 minutes. I saw SB in his pupul gang and then realized SB is my batchmate from Undergrad. Felt great to serendipitously bump into him (i will reveal that S is Sagar and I later remarked on chat to him that it sure was a Sudden Suppai , inline with the popular meme of the day. He replied that it was a sudden surprise for him, too)  . It was his 8th TCS 10K- so that's quite inspiring. Met N from apartment complex, who I see running downstairs so often. It  feels good to bump into your neighbors at places with a different context. Met M, boss from work, who was overjoyed from completing his first 10K. He did better than he anticipated. And talking of work, was nice to see a non-insigificant number of PUMA Nitros flashing about, especially pleasing to see a runner from the conspicuous Japanese runners club, wearing one. 

Walked 2 km after that, a bit longer than ideal, to get to Kanteerava Konark where D and his gang of pupils were convening. I ordered Idli but D convinced me to change to Dosa, which Konark is famous for. The Dosa was good, but the standout was chutney- they add either Coriander or Dill to the coconut chutney, which makes it stand out. Discussed Himalayan treks with the pupil gang, including Pindari glacier, Gaumukh Tapovan and Goechala. Saw the label 'Procam slam' on one of the runners, which means in 365 days that person has run 4 Procam marathons- Blr, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai. 

Walked over to Starbucks on Lavelle road (named after the Irish soldier, if you remember) to meet H, B school friend who I had met earlier in this tale. Got my proteins in the form of an Egg bagel, and some refreshment thru cold coffee. We chatted about books, work and friends. I talked about the Economist special edition on India which I read yesterday. The coverage was refreshingly free of lazy stereotyping which had been the norm thus far, and had summarized the key successes (Financial and tax system clean up and broadening, Govt. Capex spending) and key challenges (Labour, Agri, Education, Co operative federalism, debt market strengthening) . She mentioned her current stance on capitalism and non-profits. 

So all in all, it was a wholesome adventure. 

For next time: Prepare strides and hill repeats? Observe sunrise. Take pictures in portrait mode with shoes. Observe shoe brand market shares. Continue to make post-run hangout plans.    

     

   

        

Labels: Esprit de sports