Mussoorie - II

Some of the birds spotted @ Mussoorie that were first timers for me...

This is the Green-Backed Tit. Almost like the common Sparrow but has this beautiful yellowish-greenish colour.
Title "The alarm clock outside my window" ;)

This is the Streaked Laughingthrush. Plenty of these around and you can spot them throughout the day...

Title "Too much rouge???"

This dude was hanging upside down and still pecking away effortlessly. It was a full 2 minutes where it just went about its business without any care and then finally flew away. Can't title this one...

Grey-Hooded Warbler, very beautiful bird, did not get any good shots...





Russet Sparrow, the back of this bird was a brilliant chestnut colour that was really bright in direct sun light. The bright colour, you can see only a little bit of it in the picture, was a first for me...

Mussoorie - I

Posting some interesting pictures from the recent Mussoorie trip...

I was quite surprised when this picture came out. Had a very small object to focus on and was expecting it to be out of focus but as it turns out the chimes were in focus and the background blurred...




As someone pointed out, couple of flaws in this picture, top of the head is cut and her eyes are closed. But I was quite happy with this, the conditions were tough, it was in low light and she was stirring her wok and was continuously moving...




My favorite, it has a dog and a mountain :) Bright sunlight and a very relaxed dog made taking this shot fairly easy.



You really can't capture, in a photograph, the beauty of hundreds of these flags with Buddhist inscriptions fluttering in the wind on top of a mountain. Plus being at the foothills of the Himalayas made this hill-top even more special. I can never forget the sight and the sound of these flags...

Recent Books...

...read from the last few months. A quick update...

Istanbul - Orhan Phamuk
Well written but I put it down about half way. Slow pace and not really a story, more of a documentary.

Almost Single -Advaita Kala
Time pass book that I found quite enjoyable, even comes with a slight bollywood ending. Good book for doing some light reading on flights etc and finish off in a couple of sittings.

Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry

A really good book. Loved the style and the story. Slow book but has a steady pace and really just so well written that you won't mind the pace. Going to pick one more from him for sure...

Lee Child Novel's
Killing Floor - Really good. The first Jack Reacher book...
Nothing to Lose - Total crap!
The Hard Way - Average read, ok plot and pace.

Birds of the Indian Subcontinent -Grimmett, Inskipp, Inskipp
This is my birding book, thought I would list it here. Amazing book, a must have for people into birding...

Next reads:
White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
The Black Swan - Taleb
Lunatic in my Head - Anjum Hasan

You a runner, huh???

As I recover my health, recover from my injuries and try to get into a decent running form I revisited this mail to get some inspiration...
Want to test if you are a "runner"??? Answer the questions below and see for yourself. The things I have done from below are marked with a 'X', scored 33 out of 57 ;-)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A RUNNER...
- when you run to your gate at the airport even though you aren't late and you aren't wearing running shoes
X- when you pack a separate bag for your running clothes
X- when your idea of sightseeing involves visiting the local running store and finding the best places for hill repeats and long runs
X- when you get off an 18 hour flight and go for your long run because a) you need to stretch your legs, b) you want to see the city/country, and c) you have a scheduled run
- when you realize that all the traveling you did in the last year revolved around races
X- you avoid travelling to places where you won't be able to run
X- when you get back from vacation and the first thing you tell people about is how the running was
X- when you fly with your running clothes and shoes in your carry-on bag

NUTRITION
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A RUNNER...
- when all your friends think you eat too healthy
- when you not only eat gels, but you know the best flavors for every brand
X- when you consider pasta to be a food group
- when the sports drinks are in front of the soda, beer, and juice in your fridge
X- when you have two eggs, two pieces of toast, a slice of cheese, a glass of juice, and a yogurt for breakfast and are still hungry by 11 AM
X- when pasta is the only food you'll eat two nights before a race

FAMILY AND FRIENDS
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A RUNNER...
X- when you've run, showered, and eaten breakfast before your family/roommates even wake up
X- your family knows that you will run on Thanksgiving and Christmas (or other holidays you celebrate) no matter what
X- your friends no longer look at you like you're nuts, because they know it for sure
- when you forget birthdays and anniversaries, even major holidays, but never the date of your next race
X- when your boss tells you to go run because you're having a bad day at work
- when you plan vacations based on where your next marathon will be
X- when your non-running family and friends know the differences between feet that are neutral, over-pronating, and supinating
X- when you run so much that you have a separate laundry basket for your running clothes
X- when people stop asking you if you are going to run today, but rather ask you when
X- when you tell people you ran a 10k and you are shocked that people think that is a long run
X- when you call 4 miles an easy day
X- when your friends know that if you don't answer your phone, you're probably running
X- when you try to convince people to run a 5k because it's "only" 3 miles
X- when you no longer have to explain to your friends why cotton isn't the best choice for running attire
- when your friends think they need to practice more before they can run with you
X- when you smirk at people who tell you that you run too much or are crazy for enjoying a run

INJURIES
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A RUNNER...
X- when you know how to pronounce (correctly) Plantar Fasciitis
X- when you have a favorite ice pack
- your room smells like a nursing home because of all the analgesic you use
- when you run even though you are sick
- when you put more time and work into taping parts of your body than to your tax return
X- when you laugh about chafing
X- when you go through a box of Band-Aids without getting a single cut
X- when it hurts worse to take a shower than it does to keep running
- when you find yourself standing in front of the mirror trying to see if you have a leg length discrepancy
- when you know the names and remedies for every possible injury from bursitis to shin splints
X- when you could teach a class about biomechanics and the different kinds of shoes people need
- when you are the only person in town who knows what quinine is used for besides treating malaria
- when your physical therapist or massage therapist is on speed dial
- when your rolling pin is kept near your bed instead of in the kitchen

CLOTHES
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A RUNNER...
X- when you refuse to wash your running shoes because the dirt is a badge of honor
- when every T-shirt you own has a race name and sponsors listed on it
X- when your socks come in two categories: running socks and others
- when you go from having a drawer for your running clothes to having an entire bureau for running clothes
- when you have tons of race shirts but can't find a work shirt for the life of you
X- when you balk at the cost of everyday shoes and then spend $75-$100 on a pair of running shoes and think you're getting a fabulous deal
- when you refuse to buy running shorts with a seam longer than 2 inches
- when you think a black Timex Ironman watch goes with black tie dress
- when you are constantly washing running clothes but have to go through piles of clothes on the floor to find work clothes each morning
X- you can shop at REI and your local running store for hours, but can't stand 5 minutes anywhere else
X- when you spend $12 on socks that help you avoid blisters
- when you have more shoes than your girlfriend or girl friends (as the case may be)
- when you have to explain to everyone why you can't run in the T-shirts you get at races

August & Everything After...

This album by the Counting Crows has been playing in my music system for a week now. I have owned this album for almost 12 years now. Actually in between for about a year it was out of my possession but I managed to get it back after a bit of hounding! ;-)

August & Everything After, remains one of my top 10 albums of all time. Great lyrics, music and stories throughout the album.

The album starts with 3 amazing songs "Right Here", "Omaha" and "Mr. Jones". On these 3 songs along with almost every other song on this album you will find that while you are listening they have this ability to bring along amazing imagery. After the first 3 songs just when things seem to settling in there is the haunting "Anna Begins". Oh but you just wait for "Raining in Baltimore". This song is "simple" with Adam Duritz the vocalist on the Piano.

Most of the songs are about everyday things and everyday people but the lyrics really take a hold of you. Just play the album and see if you can stop yourself from drifting off to a few years back thinking about some incident or person in your life.

Overall the album is fairly dark and gloomy in nature but the music is such a beautiful compliment that it ends up making the album very pleasing in nature. The album is very much like the month of August itself, at least here in India. It is the rainy season with dark clouds hovering about and it gets quite gloomy but there is still a beauty and freshness around that makes the environment feel blissful and there is still that harmony all around, especially when the sun breaks through the clouds...

TdF

Le Tour is done, those 23 days in July are over. Lance Armstrong's comeback was the highlight for me. His charge on stage 16 after falling behind on the climb to Col du Petit-Saint Bernard gave us a chance to see the old Lance...amazing!

Other highlights were getting to see the climb of Mt Ventoux for the first time. The stage that day itself was a little let down for me as it did not produce much excitement. There was too much strategy of the defensive kind on that climb and less of the risk taking and fireworks. Alpe d'Huez still remains my favorite TdF mountain. Another find from this year's tour was finding a really beautiful vacation spot. The tour this year passed through a really beautiful lake town, Annecy. Check it out here...Annecy.

TdF remains one of my favorite sporting events. Don't know why, maybe it is the sheer brutality of the event or the fact that it is the ultimate example of what an unwavering spirit can accomplish. Or is it Lance Armstrong? Unlike other things in life which you really start to get into only when you dig deeper into the subject and start to appreciate the nuances, TdF had me hooked from the beginning. The first time I watched TdF I knew there was a human by the name of Lance Armstrong riding in it and it was probably why it hooked me but this happened without me knowing squat about cycling or much the event itself...

Getting back to this year's TdF, the Schleck brothers were amazing. Andy Schleck is just 24, compare that to Lance Armstrong who is 37. If I want anyone else other than Lance to win next year it would be Andy. They both need to improve their individual time trialing ability. Can't wait for next year, can't wait to see what shape Lance will return in. Can he still remain in the top 3 and make a run for the top spot??? I sure hope so, can't wait to see the head to head between Andy and Lance...

Recharge n Recover

You have just finished a weight training session or a run in strenuous conditions or a hectic trek then you know you are going to be sore somewhere or the other the next day. Or you are just into fitness and want to make sure you are healing up after your exercise routines. Or you just have some muscle damage like tears or pulls or spasms that are bothering you. Then, here are some things, mostly natural, that can heal those muscles and help you bounce back faster...

Green Tea, I am a big fan of this, contains ingredients like antioxidants and other things (catechins) that help reduce muscle damage and aid recovery. If you, like me, really drink tea (green or black without milk) often, then go for it unsweetened or use artificial sweetener to avoid the excess sugar calories. Now another amazing ingredient you can add to green tea is Ginger. Ginger is known to help inflammations and is very therapeutic. So grab that Ginger stick and chop it into your next cuppa...
Another item known to aid recovery is Chocolate Milk. Yummmmm! Choc milk has carbohydrates and proteins (apart from calcium and vitamin D) that can really help you after exercises. Again try to watch the sugar and if possible use milk with reduced fat. Now with milk another great traditional muscle soothing item that can be had is Turmeric. Turmeric has a host of medicinal benefits but one of them is helping reduce inflammation. I haven't read anywhere what is the amount of turmeric that should be taken but what I do is add about a small spoon of turmeric to about 1/3rd of a glass of milk and gulp it down in one shot because everyone knows it tastes pretty bad, but hey its really good for you and you can follow it up with choc milk ;-)
Couple of last few items, Walnuts and Almonds. We all know that nuts are high in fat content and high in calories, but as it turns out the fat in Walnuts are plant based Omega-3 which help in decreasing inflammation and increase your HDL (the good cholesterol). Almonds are also good for you, it contains vitamin E, an antioxidant. The fat in both these nuts are in fact good for our heart and help in keeping our arteries clean. It is really good for people into fitness, exercise or running. Just note that cashews are still are not in the good books but walnuts and almonds are. They have been found to help muscles recover and keep you really healthy. So, go nuts!!!

The 11th Hour

Caught portions of the movie 'The 11th Hour'. This is a documentary in line with Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'. This movie seeks to increase the awareness of the hideous condition of our environment and tries to bring about a change in how we think. Definitely liked what I saw but one para narrated by David Suzuki, an environmental activist, really stuck. Here is the paragraph:

Economists don't include all of the things that nature does for us for nothing. Some technologies would never be able to do what nature does. For example, pollinating all of the flowering plants. What would it cost us to take carbon dioxide out of the air and put oxygen back in, which all the green things do for us for nothing? It's possible to do a crude estimate of what it would cost us to replace nature. Well, it turns out, Constanza, estimated it would cost us $35 trillion a year to do what nature is doing for us for nothing. Now to put that in perspective. If you had added up all of the annual economies of all the countries in the world at that time, it would come to $18 trillion. So, nature is doing twice as much service for us as the economies of the world. And in the madness of conventional economics, this is not in the equation.

These are the kind of things that people should listen to. Everyone has their view of this world. This particular point should be noted down by economists and business people. Global Climate change is not just a problem that science alone can fix. It is not something you should think about only in your individual capacity but it is something that big Wall Street firms can sit up and take notice too. After all there is an economic formula that can applied even to this. This environmental problem that we face needs a change in everyone's thinking and at all levels...

Started to twitter ... http://twitter.com/bharatpatil

Ek Hulchul

Ek Hulchul, ek aberration, ek weirdness...that is what the movie Dev.D is...

Of the tons and tons of things that are wrong with our Hindi movie industry, Dev.D is an aberration. It is what is right and how the industry should be. The movie is bold, frank and risky. It is all things that the Hindi movies should strive to achieve. The movie is so good that I totally don't care about its flaws, which is mainly its length. The movie should be shorter by about 30 minutes. But despite that everything about this movie, I appreciate...

Anurag Kashyap, Abhay Deol and the whole crew, they don't deserve to be thanked with just a pat on the back. They need to be blindly given all the awards for this year. Just give it to them, all of them. The movie on a whole is brilliant, the concept, the story and the script. The direction, the music etc all stand out. The movie is just too risky and risqué! So glad that they made a movie like this, really shows the talent that resides deep inside bollywood.

The music is outstanding. The songs Ankh Micholi, Duniya, the rock version of Emosanal Attyachaar all are good stuff. Nayan Tarse is really good, the start is so Pink Floyd-esque, it's a trip ;-). When has a Hindi song ever been a trip (Tell me if you know of one, maybe I haven't heard it). Dhol Yaara Dhol and Saali Khushi really stand out. Dhol Yaara Dhol is actually outstanding with its beautiful Indian folksy music, arrangement and singing. But the song I liked the best is the uplifting 'Ek Hulchul Si'. That is exactly what this movie is...Ek Hulchul!

With recent movies like A Wednesday, Rock On, Dasvidaniya and Dev.D this "hulchul" seems to be catching momentum and it for sure has whet my appetite.

Smoke Signals - Summertime Rocks

Came across this song by a folk/pop/rock fusion band called Smoke based out of Bombay.
Kailash Kher, who is probably the current "Voice of India", is the singer with background vocals by two guys, Ashu and Dhruv. Ashu and Dhruv who own a pub called Bull Frog in Bombay are the mainstay of the band Smoke and Kailash Kher is the guest singer on this song...
One thing apart from the song and music that stuck with me are the various sights from around Bombay that keeping popping up and passing in the background :)

42

No, no, I am not giving the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. It is just that I finished another full marathon and a marathon is 42 kilometers...

The Bangalore Midnight Marathon was held last weekend. This event was supposed to happen in December 2008 but got postponed and then at the very last minute they rescheduled it and probably that is why the participation was very low. The half marathon still had decent participation but the full marathon participation was extremely low, probably less than 100 people ran the full marathon.

Anyway, I had been preparing for the half marathon and targeting 1 hour 45 minutes but a week before the run decided to do the full thing. Did a 16k run the weekend before in 1 hour 23 minutes and felt that the 4 hour mark for the full was definitely attainable.

During the race, [as expected] since I had prepared for the half marathon, the first half went off quite well. I was at the halfway mark at about 1 hour 50 minutes and the 4 hour target was still in sight. But then the decline set in. And it set in at a much faster rate than expected. I was able to get to 31-32 kilometers only by about 3 hours, about 10 minutes behind schedule. The last 10K saw further decline and I finished the whole thing by only about 4 hours 18 minutes...

The race organization was definitely flawed. We were running loops of about a 10km route and the water stations in the second section were just too less and later in the run whatever few water stations were there they also had wrapped up and disappeared. Luckily friends who had earlier finished the half marathon helped out and provided electrolyte water and some energy bars.

Since the participation was less and the professionals hadn't showed up, I finished 5th in the men's section and 6th overall. The first two spots went to professionals, an Ethiopian and an Indian. The fifth overall spot and first in the women's section went to my friend who finished in 4 hours 16 minutes...

So the race was good for me, I was really sore after the run, had to pop an Advil but overall I was quite satisfied. There was a nagging suspicion that the route had not been measured accurately and later we confirmed from a friend who had run with a GPS watch that the organizers did actually blunder with the measurement and in fact the total distance covered was 43.2kms. One kilometer more than the official distance, so based on that I probably would have finished the full distance in about 4 hours 9 or 10 minutes. That puts me below 4:10 so that gives a little more satisfaction...

Satisfied but not sated. Missed the 4:00 mark...

I plan to run more races this year than last year. Probably shorter distances for now, a 10k and a half marathon before taking a shot at the 4 hour mark once more towards the end of the year...