Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

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

I've had colleagues and friends who are newcomers to Bangalore, ask me about travel destinations nearby. Today, I met H after more than a decade, and this topic came up again. 

I have now lived in the Uru for the past 6 years, and also racked up some stints in the past. Despite my 10+ years in Delhi and Mumbai each, by now I am unambiguously a Bangalorean. During this time, I've traveled around a bit. So, am compiling a list of travel options, mostly drawn from my first-hand experiences . So, next time, if someone asks me , instead of scratching my head trying to jog my memory, I can point them to this list. 

I think Bangalore offers excellent access to multiple natural sceneries and culture, so scroll through and hope it helps your plans and travels. I enjoyed compiling this list- went through in my mind some of the happy memories from these places- the sights, the sounds, the food, and the great company. If you want to suggest any place to me, based on my interests as demonstrated below, do add in comments.  

All of these spots are based on experiences from the past 5 years. In most places, I have added my recommendation for place to stay- it's mostly where I stayed.   

Weekend plan

1. Nomad Camp, DD Hills, Tumakuru : 2.5 hour drive: This is more glamping than camping. Good food, short hike, in the lap of nature. 

2. Resorts near Airport (eg: Angsana) or at Nandi Hills  (I personally did not like the KSTDC I went to right on top of Nandi hill, but many other resorts have sprouted up. Angsana is from a trusted source)

3.  Skandagiri sunrise trek: Start at 3 Am and get to the top for a glorious sunrise. You have to book with an operator- try BMC. 

4. Gudibande lake + fort: Nature. 2 hour drive away- this one's just a day trip.  

5. Halu Chilume Gange hike: Would not recommend if you are not hardcore into trekking. Need Alltrails GPS tracking (thanks KJ)- high chance of getting lost. 

Long weekend plan

1. Gorukana resort, BR hills : 4 hour drive: Nature. Gorukana is run by tribal locals. Small hike, safari, in the lap of nature, local culture.  

2. Srirangapatna and Ranganathittu: Nature. 3 hour drive. Can get up close and personal with the Kaveri river. Nice bird watching, especially water-birds during migratory season in winter, at Rangan. Mayura KSTDC ok but there are some nice Airbnbs. 

3. Varkala, Kerala: Nature + Gastronomics. Flight to Kochi. Not too much to do apart from the Varkala cliff-beach, so although the travel is long, Varkala can be considered for a long weekend. 

4. Belur Halebed: High culture. 3 hour drive. UNESCO world heritage site. ‘Jewellery on rock’, indeed. 4 hour drive away. KSTDC was ok but did not find anything else. 

5. Thanjavur: High culture and Gastronomica. Night train. The Bragadeeshwara temple is quite the pearl. The Tanjore king’s museum is well preserved and has some stunning sculptures. Nearby Darasuram temple is not as famous also stunning. 

6. Kudremukh trek: Night bus ride with trek company (BMC): One of the highest points of Karnataka. Tough one, baking sun. Need to pick the right weather.

Weekend + 2 days 

The road trip options are 5 hours away.  I write off the days with such long road trips and like two whole days there, so I’ve listed these options in Weekend + 2 days section. 

1. Sakleshpur : Nature: 5-6 hour road trip. Waterfalls, short hikes, coffee plantations, nice resorts in the lap of nature . Baan Nimbus nice but a bit pricey. 

2. Coorg : Nature: 5-6 hour road trip. Waterfalls, hard hikes, coffee plantations, nice resorts in the lap of nature

3. Chikmagalur : Nature: 5-6 hour road trip. Waterfalls, hard hikes, coffee plantations, nice resorts in the lap of nature. Coffee Bean resort. 

4. Hampi : Culture + Adventure: Overnight train/bus. Nice resorts, amazing culture – lots of ruined temples to hike / cycle around, getting up close and personal with Tungabhadra river . Heart of the Vijayanagara empire which spanned the entire south India. If not for the over-adventurisms and poor succession planning of the last king, Krishna Devaraya, we might not have had the British in India!  Also, the bouldering capital of India. 

5. Kabini: Nature. 5-6 hour road trip. Planned multiple times but trip cancelled due to COVID lockdown and other reasons. Know reliably that it’s a fantastic place for Safaris, Tiger and panther spotting, birding, and nature immersion. Jungle Lodges FTW

6. Pondicherry : Culture and Gastronomica: Night train. 

7. Dandeli and Ganeshgudi : Nature and Adventure. Night train to Hubli. Best birding I’ve ever had, at Old Magazine House and Timber Depot. Dandeli the only rafting destination in South India. By the shore of the beautiful Kali river. Hornbill resort, Old Magazine resort (this one no frills) 

8. Udupi: Nature. Night train. Lot of beaches and less commercialized than Goa. Stayed in Paradise Isle. Resort ok but location amazing- right opposite Malpe beach. 

9. Gokarna: Nature. Night train. Found the Kudle beach to be as beautiful as any in Goa. Has a bunch of meditation and yoga retreats which are on my to-do list. 

Highlights from each of these places in my mind: lemme enjoy stoking some nostalgia! 

Nomad Camp, DD hills: During the hike back, the sight of three small brown colored pheasants bouncing along in a tight line behind each other (I christened them Ramesha, Suresha, Mahesha). The rare yellow throated bulbuls and the sounds of nature when we hung back from the group on the way back in the morning. The peaceful time by the lake in the village at the foothill. 

Nomad Camp, DD hills: During the hike back, the sight of three small brown colored pheasants bouncing along in a tight line behind each other (I christened them Ramesha, Suresha, Mahesha). The rare yellow throated bulbuls and the sounds of nature when we hung back from the group on the way back in the morning. The peaceful time by the lake in the village at the foothill. 

Nandi Hill: Nothing sticks out from this trip, but from a previous trip- the approaching clouds engulfed me and my friends. 

Skandagiri Sunrise treks: The conversations during the hike with friends, mostly the S + NIT-K gang. Clambering up some rocky stairs. The view of the orange sun. The wind on top which was chilly. And, the games at KJ’s place at midnight (football, basketball, frisbee)

Gudibande lake + fort : The view from the fort on top of the hill, the tree with vivid orange flowers filled with chattering starlings and the 3 of us getting close to the tree, the viewing the striking Red Adavat in a bush. 

Gorukana: The dance with the tribals along with their song. Goru-goru-go-gorukana. Panaromic view of rolling hills near the resort. 

Srirangapatna and Ranganathittu: The crocodile and a fleeting sighting of the rare Otter. Getting close to the Kaveri river and watching and Black-white kingfisher dive in. The different company on both occasions, with N, S and A the constant. My song: 

An otter in the water, 

a croc on the rock,  (rising pitch)

a duck in the muck,

And seeing all this,  (rising pitch)

a girl, does a twirl! (crescendo!)

Srirangapatna (in low bass voice, pitch below the first line)

Varkala and Kerala: My longest run ever of 18km in prep for Delhi Half marathon; it also started raining on the way! Diving on the beach for ‘PUMA Dive’ activation. The fantastic dinner at the Gateway. 

Belur Halebed: The intricacy of the designs on the black rock, with some of the cylinders looking like straight out of the lathe machine but did they have one back then! Exploring the ragi and sugarcane farms around, with Dad. 

Thanjavur: Viewing the huge gopuram everytime we passed by on the road. The marvellous sculptures in the museum. 

Sakleshpur: the huge waterfall that surprised us. The hike on the rolling, grassy hill. A knoll- where we in Scotland? 

Coorg: View from the balcony of a dense forest. The rice idlis common to this area (kadambuttu)

Chikmaglur: The view of Mullayangiri- the highest peak of Karantaka. Leech encounters. The owner of the Coffee bean estate with his proud family heritage. The ‘Nuthatch’ bird scampering up a tree trank. Learning about Robusta and Arrabica. 

Hampi: Up close with the Tungabhadra. The rice fields. The boundering. Cycling through the rocky wilderness. 

Dandeli and Ganeshgudi: Coracle ride on Kali river. Hornbills. Profusion of Flycatchers at Ganeshgudi. 

   

Labels: Travellog

 4 of us watched the final, and pretty much ball by ball, till Australia started coasting. Well, one might say- where's the cricket fan- why aren't you watching a great cricketing knock by Travis Head - but well, ball by ball ODI for the full length of the innings is not doable. 

Anyway, my thoughts on what helped Aus get ahead: 

1. Australia getting the better of the conditions. They called the toss smartly, taking the counter intuitive decision to bowl first based on the 'black soil' as Ravichandran Ashwin put it in his vlog, which cricinfo also picked.  The decision bucked the common trend of 'putting up runs on the board' in a big match
2. Brilliant fielding of Australia vs Slightly below par by India. Travis Head's catch of Rohit was electric. And Warner, Head and Labuscagne were throwing themselves around. They looked fast on telly, and this was confirmed by a colleague who watched the match live in Ahmedabad.  India has fielders who have to be hidden, which is not the case with Australia. I am not even talking about errors here. 
3. Reliable tail of Australia, which includes Starc and Cummins, vs unreliable tail of India. The worry of the unreliable tail is probably what caused VK and Rahul to bat overcautiously and take very few risks. Hardi Pandya's injury hurt us here, but we have had ample notice of this defeciency.
4. Shreyas and Gill failing on the big day. Shreyas' technique when he was hopping against a length ball, was suspect. My friend said- was he expecting the short ball?    
5. On the day, their bowling was also outstanding while ours was good. They had a great strategy which is also described by Ravi Ashwin, who mentioned how Pat Cummins bowled without a mid off and bowled lot of cutters. He bowled only 3 out of his 60 balls in 6 meter mark or further up on the pitch. And apparently 50% cutters. (Ashwin's article)  He did not have a mid off in place and had a 5-4 legside field .

Anyhow, Olympics is coming, and we had a glorious Asian Games. FIFA WC qualifying campaign in full swing. Lots of other sports area currently heating up, and can shift focus there.   

Labels: Esprit de sports

Yesterday was my 2nd time on the spanking new Mysore - Bangalore expressway. In addition , last October, I had driven on the partially completed version, so it's satisfying to be part of the journey (of the journey). 

It's an enjoyable ride. 3 lanes on each side with the road surface shiny and smooth. The skeptic might sandpaper that gloss by attributing it to the newness of the road, but it has been through one monsoon and the surface has survived that. The entry and exit toll plazas look grand, the tool booths domed by cream-colored conical structures like those atop Cricket stadium stands. Thankfully there are clear lane markings, for navigating such a wide road at high speeds is impossible without those. There are very few entries and exits to the expressway, which reduces interruptions from vehicles entering or exiting. The other aspect that enables high speed travel is that 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers are not allowed. Now the owners of Cruisers and Speed bikes (like K) might bristle at that statement, but they have to accept that the median 2-wheeler on the streets of the country is unlikely to hold 100+ speeds. The downside of this is that a vast majority of the citizens cannot access this road. The expressway enables one to bypass the towns of Ramanagaram (mountains and Sholay shooting site), Channapatna (hub of traditional toys and home to S), Maddur (home of the Maddur vadas), Mandya (sugar city- lot of Sugarcane) and Srirangapatna (site of the Kaveri trail run, our destination yesterday)

The goodness of the road is justified by us hitting 150 kmph yesterday with T at the wheel, while not realizing for quite some time that we were at that landmark speed. The car alarm starts continuously beeping at 120, but then over the course of the ride you get to ignore it to some extent. 120 is a speed limit, and seems like a logical limit to have (unlike the 80 which I've seen on some highways). Thankfully this blog is not popular enough that some Karnataka Transport official reads this post and enraged, finds out my Vehicle number and promptly dispatches a challan, adding a link to challan in the Blog comments. The expressway got inaugurated in March, and the new car came in June- so nice co-incidence there. The Red-Venue, aka Revenue, drew compliments from T who found it holding up well beyond 120 kmph, and N for its boot space. Oh important point to note: Yesterday, T was the revenue-driver.  

One challenge on the road is that vehicles don't respect the fast-lane slow-lane logic. In fact, I don't even think there is an effort from the powers that be to inculcate this habit, because I did not see any communication about it on the roadside information displays. Ideally, slow traffic (eg: lorries) should ride on the leftmost lanes, and fast (close to 120) should ride on the rightmost lane. This will reduce stress on drivers, and accidents. Currently, due to non adherence or non existence of fast-lane slow-lane logic, there are lot of perilous lane switches at high speed. As the number of the such quality highways grow in India, speeds of vehicles will increase, and therefore implementing this logic becomes critical to road safety.     

The road, at a height of 10 odd meters for most of the trip, overlooks green fields, mainly paddy and  sugarcane, on both sides. Both water intensive crops are fed by the Kaveri river, which runs through Srirangapatna, and many canals emanate from it. No wonder the Mandya district is at the heart of the Cauvery agitations, which led to two bandhs just a month ago. We make close contact with the Kaveri during our hotel stay beside the river, and further during our trail that ran along a canal. 

The most beautiful spot on the expressway for me is near Ramanagara, when huge monolith rocks loom on both sides of the road. The road rises, and we see the sky in front, framed by the monoliths on either side. To the left and right is the greenery of forest and farms. The green vegetation, brown-black rocks and blue sky dotted with white clouds, with the grey road cutting through, makes for an alluring sight. This is further beautified if the sun is setting, when the sky develops hues of pink and orange. Nothing like a big panaromic view imbued with many natural colors, to make the heart soar!       

One section that saddens not gladdens, is when you clearly see the walls of cut rock on both sides. The natural landscape has been demolished to make way for this road. Another downside has been that many restaurants dotting the older National Highway have seen business plummet, with commuters preferring to zip through the expressway. Scant compensation to the thousands employed along the highway, but there is one restaurant that has benefited immensely. Kadamba Veg is located in the half-km stretch after the NICE road exit to Kengeri and before the start of the expressway. Bengalureans heading towards Mysore, esepcially from Eastern and Northern parts of the city, will wipe their brow after getting out of the city through Nice road and would like a small break before entering the expressway. Kadamba veg is located at that exact spot, and no wonder we had difficulty in finding a parking spot. We eventually did, and enjoyed a hot cuppa tea /coffee. 

The Bengaluru-Chennai expressway is coming up next. Apparently Bengaluru Hyderabad highway, which I already heard praises of, is also getting an upgrade to 6-lane. The transition periods of road construction will be painful, as I heard from T and S, who recently drove to Chennai. Hoping to experience those completed roads sometime soon.