Life lessons

I'm learning a lot of new things of late. The list so far -

• The rate at which I use toilet paper (it's been 10 days/roll on average). And in the event that I am never able to find another roll at the store ever, I will be ok. After all, I didn't grow up using the stuff.
• I really miss my desk at work. 2 days at my first attempt at a makeshift workstation had me running back to rescue my amazing chair and my body is very grateful.
• I am not cut out for working from home. I had always wondered about this, but now with at least a fortnight's experience, I know. 
• The best spot in the house for videochatting, lighting wise to spare people a horror show. 
• And on that topic, I should probably wash my hair more often than I do. Flat hair looks terrible on camera. If my appearance has been scaring people for years and years, this is my humble apology to you all. 
• Latest realization: I'm very rusty when it comes to writing, I've been keeping a journal but when it comes to writing for the benefit of someone else, it's been a long time. 

Runner's haiku

On a run, I see
A known face, we smile! we wave!
And onward I go...

Happy Holi!

I live in odd times, when it comes to Indian festivals. Growing up, we would know when something was coming up because there'd be a public holiday. In grad school I would know because my mom would give me instructions on the phone on when to call and wish family members, plus I would notice the full moon and make a connection to which month had which festival, the new moon festivals went by unnoticed for the most part though. Now, a recent conversation went like this: 

Me (to a friend a couple of days ago): I think it's Holi soon. 

Friend: Really? I haven't gotten any Whatsapp greetings yet. 

Today I woke up to a barrage of videos, stock photo greetings and large group messages. There's no need to look further than my phone, I guess it is officially Holi :) 

Butterflies in my stomach...

...I haven't felt this nervous since I had pre-marathon jitters a few years ago. I'm off to join a bunch of friends in climbing Half Dome at Yosemite National Park on Thursday. The nerves started when I was told to prepare for it just the way I would prep for a marathon. Hydrate, carb load, and rest up. Similar to what happened when I looked at the course map 3 days before the DC marathon, I started reading about the cable ascent yesterday and since then slight panic has set in. When I haven't been shopping for hiking gear, I've been having nightmares about falling off the mountain. I did go get a pedicure, so at least I will have nice feet no matter what happens. I don't intend to be foolhardy, and I am excited. I get to see a friend I haven't seen in over ten years though we stayed in touch and she's the one who made this whole trip possible, and climbing Half Dome has been on my bucket list ever since I saw it in the distance in 2007. I just have no desire to kick the bucket while actually doing it. 

I'm hoping to come back with some good stories, pictures, and memories to last a lifetime. Now time to go hyperventilate elsewhere. 

Off to new beginnings...

Another adventure lies ahead. I'm done with grad school. Moving to a new place is exciting but it also means I'll be internet-less for the next 10 days, mostly thanks to poor planning on my part. So I'm celebrating my last hour of internet access from the comfort of the family couch by marking the occasion here. My bags are packed to the brim and I managed one overhead press with my carry-on bag which should suffice for hauling it in and out of the overhead luggage space.

More from the West Coast!

Keeping my word...or trying at least.

Awake. At 4:30 am. With myriad thoughts chasing themselves round and round in my head. I'm trying to divert myself by making good on a promise made a while ago and so here I sit trying to write something, anything, after a long time...
...
...
...

Since that hasn't really yielded much, it appears, here's a poem instead -

TeeVee

In the house
of Mr and Mrs Spouse
he and she
would watch teevee
and never a word
between them spoken
until the day
the set was broken.

Then 'How do you do?'
said he to she
'I don't believe
that we've met yet.
Spouse is my name.
What's yours?' he asked.

'Why, mine's the same!'
said she to he,
'Do you suppose that we could be - ?'

But the set came suddenly right about,
and so they never did find out.

By Eve Merriam

How I started running...

Since I finally bit the bullet and started training for a marathon this fall, plenty of people have said, "I didn't know you run, since when have you been running?" Therein, definitely lies a tale.

Summer 2001 : The treat I was getting after a (supposedly) gruelling 2 years preparing for the HSC board exams and the JEE was a Youth Hostels Association trek up in the Himalayas. It was a memorable trip up in the mountains. I came back sunburnt and happy, with lots of stories, pictures and a ravenous appetite. There's nothing like strapping on a backpack and trudging up mountains at an altitude of a few thousand metres to make you capable of eating everything in sight. It doesn't hurt on the trek but back at sea level that can be a different story.

Freshie times : So with all that trekking under my belt, I started college and got swept up in all the late nights, coffee, making new friends and the rest. While chowing down some of the greasiest, most terrible hostel mess food ever. It was a classic case of the Freshman 15, if there ever was one. Somewhere by the middle of the semester, I could tell my jeans were starting to complain. By the time end semester exams rolled around, it seemed like time for some action.

Dec break : The final straw on this camel's back came when I went back home after the semester. I come from a place that sends about a dozen strapping youths to IITs every year and people are used to seeing these kids come back looking like wraiths after a semester of not being able to eat mess food. And there I was, chubby cheeked and noticeably tubby. Definitely unusual. There were plenty of digs on the lines of, "Suna tha mess ka khaana accha nahi hota, sudhar gaya hai lagta hai." Gets embarassing after a few times.

So I decided to make a New Year resolution (apparently I wasn't embarassed enough to start something right away, in the middle of December), to go running with a senior in hostel who used to run fairly regularly. Seemed like a reasonable option for someone who never really played any sports as a kid. I already had sneakers, shorts (and an abundance of free T-shirts). All I had to do was get out and jog. And jog I did. I tagged along with Vidya on the 3rd of Jan 2002. We went up a hill which defeated me somewhere in the middle. Still, I was hooked. That started a habit of running for about 45 minutes maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

This is one New Year resolution that has stayed with me now for close to 8 years. I've given up on running in between, due to illness or struggling with adjusting to a new place (where I promptly put on weight again). But running has never been far from my mind. I'm happy to be running regularly again, challenging myself to do distances I've never done before.

A friend however, had a simple explanation for why I run. After watching me struggle with a piece of sushi and a pair of chopsticks for about 15 minutes, he said, "I know why you run, you're too uncoordinated to do anything else! "