Travelling and Self Discovery!

One of my dreams has been to venture into and survive the wildest of wilderness. The drive or inspiration or idea or motivation or what-ever-you-want-to-call-it came from a discovery channel program where a regular guy braves and tries to survive in the wild just like the primitive man would have. What this pointed out to me was how many things we take for granted in life. For eg, the roof on our heads, the stove, fire, canned food, microwave, TV, world news at our living rooms and so on! These things have become so commonplace that we don't stop to give them a thought or appreciate the benefits we obtain from them!

What would you do if one day you woke up and found yourself in the middle of amazon just by yourself? Are your survival skills good enough to keep you alive? The very thought of it sends shivers down my spine. Honestly I wouldn't know what to eat and what not to! Would you run as fast as you can or stay put when you see a coyote in the wild? Where would you sleep? Where would you get drinking water? What would you do for food?

Delve a little deeper into the thoughts and the philosophical head pops up. It is hard to understand how we became so removed and distant from nature. Are we too busy sucking up everything this material world throws at us? Sometimes all this looks like a cruel illusion created to keep us from being where we belong and what we ought to be. Every time I slip down the rabbit hole, the hot babe on TV pulls me right back to reality!

I strongly believe one week of wilderness travelling will lead to more self discovery than all the years I have roamed this earth. Testing the limits of endurance under extreme conditions not only helps understand oneself better, but also builds a strong character (Ofcourse, assuming you survive to tell the tale!!). I plan to make travelling a part of my life in the months and years to come. Wilderness... here I come!!

---Vijayasarathy---

Listen to the renditions of this thillana below by Rama Varma and Bala Murali Krishna! As a kid, I used to think of Balamurali Krishna as the guy who sang when someone important died. I clearly remember he was on DD when president Zail singh died... and then some others too!!

Although the nuances of carnatic music are beyond my comprehension I feel that by letting yourself to absorb the music and more importantly the music abosrb you, your mind transcends to a whole another plane, where it is so beautifully peaceful and consumate with knowlegde only defined by the virtue of the ubiquitous melody. I will never be able to express in words this obscure sensation the exact way I feel it. I am not sure if anyone can get to that place by learning music and practicing it with passion like these musicians. Or does it just feel magical to me because it is an unexplored place?

Whatever it is I sure got to give it a shot, if not for anything else to fulfill my long time dream of learning carnatic music.

Thillana by Student (Rama Varma)


Thillana by Guru (Bala Murali Krishna)


--Vijayasarathy--

How bad can flight delays be? Really?

Last week there was a segment on MSNBC about the increasing delays in flight arrivals and departures and the loud mouthed host went on yapping about the inconvenience caused by these delays. Although I don't recall clearly, I think the statistics pointed out that 30% of the flights were delayed last year in the United States. (Statistics are like mini skirts however, Siddhu would say, they hide more than they reveal!!!)... Then there was the infamous Jet blue airlines delay in which the flight was stuck in the run way for 8 hours with the passengers onboard! Late night shows had a ball trashing Jet Blue for well over a week. Moreover the security lines and special check line have grown steadily over the years adding to frustration and delays. Prime time news channels have a time of their life denouncing the airline industry and delays.

However it is quite a miracle that my personal experiences tell a very different tale. I flew twice in recent memory. Both times my flight got delayed. In the first case, I had to travel from Milwaukee airport to O'hare International Airport in Chicago by bus because the connecting flight was cancelled. American Airlines paid for the bus ride to Chicago and also compensated for the inconvenience by providing a gift voucher valid for one year! This was the best deal ever. The fact that I really find it ridiculous flying from Milwaukee to Chicago didn't have any bearing on it.

My latest rendezvous with a delayed flight turned out even more interesting. I was in DC and the flight (this time it was United airlines) was scheduled to leave at 7.00 pm. The chain of events leading upto my arrival at the airport may be described as 'a comedy of errors' at best. In a haste to get into the last train that would take me to the airport on time, I boarded the wrong train. Only when I reached the final destination did I realize that something had gone wrong! I ended up so far off from the airport that it took a $80 cab ride back. And hey! While you're out there why don't you throw in some nasty peak hour traffic to the mess, just for the heck of it? Let's see.. what other spice could the curry possibly take?

And when I finally reached the airport it was 10 minutes after 7.00. Luckily though, the flight was delayed by an hour and I happily taxied the same flight back home. There is saying.. 'One man's misery is another man's ecstacy!!'. Except my case was many to one! But God bless delayed flights, for making my journey cheaper, safer and last but not the least, possible!

Are you addicted to coffee??

I just realized how addicted I am to coffee. Well its not exactly an addiction in that, I don't have to drink coffee at a certain time of the day to avoid having a headache. But when I smell or see or am around someone having coffee I blindly walk up to the counter and get me one. Sometimes I feel like a computer program that does things without stopping to ask "why"?

If (see_coffee || smell_coffee || think_coffee)
{
drink coffee;
}

In the last fortnight alone, I must have averaged 3 - 5 cups of coffee per day. That is a LOT of coffee even by the generous standards of my people back home in Chennai (South India in general is known for its addiction to coffee). One wise investment that I made was the coffee maker. At least I don't buy "all" of that coffee from starbucks (OK don't get me started on starbucks... maybe I gotta write on the insanity of paying $4.50 for a mocha.. althought that was kinda due to the exorbitance of my sister)!!

Years ago when the "coffee culture" started spreading like wildfire in Chennai, I had visited them high-end-coffee-pubs a few times (like coffee day, there was one in the residency towers on GN Chetty road). I remember 5 - 6 of us had gone to coffee day in Nungambakkam once. The prices were so ridiculously high (50 bucks for 1 coffee, whereas coffee in a regular hotel was like 3 bucks!!) that we ordered one cappuccino and split the cost by 6. Imagine the waiter walking up to us, a table of 6 people, and we ordered 5 waters and 1 coffee!! hahaha... must have been hilarious! The funda for visiting these joints though was to catch a glimpse of the broads, so it really did not matter how many coffees we bought. But if I went back today, I would rather prefer to quietly enjoy my coffee!

My bragging rights for a marathon!

October 7th 2007

The sun was out and shining brightly as I warmed up to head south from Grafton high school towards Milwaukee's lakefront in what has now become the most painful yet incredibly satisfying 5.5 hours of structured madness, that I have taken a liking to - running a marathon.

The gun went off sharp at 8.00am following a short address by the race organizers. I lined up with the 6hr finish group although I was aiming to complete under 5 hrs. The humor of the organizers was evident in the finish time groups they had set up which read 3 hrs, 4 hrs, 5 hrs, 6 hrs, same day and sometime in the future.

Since the forecast for the day was an 86 degree high and 90% humidity, I decided to start slower than what I had planned. My friend Praveen, who teaches at Marquette and his colleague were running along side me at the start. It took us about 2 minutes to reach the start line from where we were lined up. I felt a rush of excitement as we got out on the road but did well to keep it slow and steady. There were a few people on the side walks to cheer the crowd. I was prancing along as I approached the 1 mile marker and the timer read 12:30. It was slower than what I expected and decided to run the next mile faster. (By this time I had lost Praveen and his colleague). From here on I walked for a minute after completing each mile (or the 10:1 run/walk). I was clocking 11 minute miles or less per mile after the rather slow first mile.

I had driven the entire marathon course about a month ago but running it was totally different. When I drove, I was only looking to gauge the elevation and downhills along the route so that I could prepare myself for running the course. But when I actually was running it, the elevations and downhills were things I did not want to notice. Rather I enjoyed the scenery through my newly bought cheap pair of sunglasses which I fancied for a while. As I passed along the water stations which were so well placed and well manned by volunteers I fuelled with gatorade and water as needed and remembered to thank the wonderful volunteers all along the way. Also I got some energy from thanking them. (or so I thought, since I ran faster for a while after thanking them.) Some people who lived on the marathon route had made water sprinklers out of their garden hoses to cool down the runners, while others played music or just cheered us as we passed them.

The funny thing was these people on the road would shout "way to go John" or "you're doing good Julia".. but when they tried to read my name (on the BIB sheet pinned on my shirt) they went "way to go"......"eh!!,,,, I can't read your name"... I would just chuckle and say, "yeah, my name is just as long as the marathon! "

I could tell that the heat and humidity were affecting some of the runners as they slowed down or looked uncomfortable. I didn't really feel the heat much since I didn't think about it. (what a reason!!). Most of the first 15 miles were through the farmlands and went by pretty fast because I just enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful farm houses, the support of the few people who were there at major intersections and so on.

At one point, I heard sirens from a distance. Since these roads were pretty deserted but for the runners I guessed that someone was in trouble. A few minutes later a cop car flew by with sirens blasting. As I remarked "what the hell was that?" not specifically to anybody, one gentleman who was running besides me said "I hope everyone is fine". "Are you running the entire distance?" he went on. As I nodded affirmatively he said "I admire you guys, I'm running the relay. My 2 kids are running the marathon and got me to do this!!!". Certainly blown away by his kind remarks, I said "well!! you are doing just as great as anyone else here". We chatted about the weather, running and the lakefront marathon for a while before it was time to take my walk break.

Somewhere along the next few miles I saw the ambulance that I only had heard earlier and a runner passed out on the side of the road. The medical emergency team was attending to him and I noticed electrodes all over his body. All I could do was feel bad for the chap and at the same time tell myself that he was taken care of! The nature of the human mind to associate and understand the suffering of someone we don't even know while perplexes me, also tells me that there is always hope for a better tomorrow!

As the day grew long the temperature soared higher. I believed that it must have reached close to the day's high (86-88) 3:10 hours after the start (somewhere after mile 17). My head started to hurt as it felt like being heated on a stove. So at the next water stop I poured water over my head and ran through all the water hoses generously provided by the people watching us run!

One of things that made this marathon more than special was the goodwill associated with it. For instance, an elderly lady was sitting in her wheel chair in the smoldering heat and the scorching sun with a garden hose trying to help cool us down. I was truly touched and thanked her on my way! At other places there were school kids who were helping at the water stations, some of them filling out the water cups, some handing them out as the runners passed the water stations, while others picking up the cups dispensed by the runners and stashing them in the trash. To me these kids were the unsung heroes of the marathon, among others. Without these guys the event wouldn't have been possible!

I was on my way to a 4:40 marathon finish and was feeling great! Just when I though "so far so good!" I developed a serious cramp in my right hamstring. The excruciating pain brought me to a screeching halt. I sat down on the side walk for a minute, then stretched for another minute and slowly began to walk. It must have been after mile 21. Every time I tried to run, the pain kicked back! I just kept saying "one foot in front of the other" and tried to move forward!

During this time, I had all sorts of questions in my mind. "Why did I decide to be a part of this madness?", "Will I finish the race?", "What about 4:40 finish?", "At least sub 5?", "How could this problem just be in your head when your body is hurting this much?". As all these negative thoughts started creeping up, I decided I could not let it happen and began to jog. I kept saying "just run to the next tree" and ran it in a continuous loop! I didn't want to give up. I dragged myself slowly to mile 23 water stop where a lady gave me couple of electrolyte tablets to help with the cramps. She said "you are doing something 99% of the rest haven't done" or something to that effect! I was feeling dizzy in the heat but smiled and thanked her.

The next 2 miles were downhill and I would have run it in 16 minutes under normal circumstances. But it took me a whole lot more than that! Must have taken around 35 minutes! Mostly, I walked it feeling miserable at not being able to run the distance. All the others in the vicinity seemed to be walking as well, but at least they were walking fast! My mind was urging me to run but my legs were going to crumble anytime!!

Way before getting to the start line that day, I had decided that the finish was the most important part of the race. That is why I started slowly today. "So what if your leg is cramped? Just run this last mile as fast as possible and finish in style", but my legs weren't listening. I got to the water stop at mile 25 and drank some gatorade.

In the midst of the desperation, I was gonna have some fun. Out of nowhere I got a burst of energy to breeze through the last mile. It was easily the fastest of the entire 26.2. I just kept chanting "almost there" and sprinted along. It was awesome as people came out and started clapping and cheering. I could hear names and finish times being announced on the loud speakers as runners finished, but could not see the finish line. I was running past some of them who had walked past me earlier. The path turned right, then left, then right again and veered left again but no sight of the finish line. Then I saw the clock at a distance. It was showing 5:29:09 and there was some distance to cover. I wanted to finish before 5:30 and stepped it up. I must have run the last leg @11-12 mph. The best part was I could smile for the finish line photo for having gutted it out! The medal was just a bonus! :-)

Praveen finished just a few minutes later and we congratulated each other before heading back home with a gleam from ear to ear and a medal to back it up. I have now decided to come back to run Milwaukee's lakefront marathon next year too, as I hope to run faster and smarter the next time!

However the first time is always special for anything worth doing (or otherwise). The first time you put kadalai with a gal, the first time your family seriously considered your opinion, the first time you won a competition, the first time you made someone's day... this subjective list could be endless. Now I have one of those firsts that make me incredibly proud. Conquering the 26.2! Just in the nick of time. Just before I turned 26!

But let me not forget to thank those who put up with me during this saga, my friends in India, friends in Milwaukee and the rest of the states, my family and most importantly muks who had the privilege of repeatedly listening to my accounts of foot pain, broken nails, chaffing, heat, dehydration, boredom and lot of other interesting stuff related to running! Thank you all!

-Vijayasarathy-

PS: What did you think? The entry about my first marathon would be 2 paragraphs long? haha!

Drifting away!

The other day I was bored at work (yeah... in the miniscule amount that I do do everyday!!... or is that because I am a fast worker??... I think I have to stick with a believable storyline for the sake of credibility!!) and decided to pick a spring marathon (I figured.. if I like running as much as I think I do, then there could be no harm!). So I went on to ask my best friend, who has answers for any and every question there is (well!!... almost) - google.

Georgia marathon, Big sur (CA), New Jersey, Green Bay were a few that caught my eye. Also I wanted to use the marathon as a pretext to travel to some place new. I heard from a friend (this time it is a person) that the Green Bay marathon follows a very scenic course. Also it had the cheapest entry fee among others. But I had been to Green Bay before and wanted to venture out of Wisconsin! (so GB marathon, I'm sorry... may be later!). New Jersey was a double loop and somehow I was not thrilled about it (I don't know why and guess what.... google didn't know either!!!... OK seriously, get over google!!). More over I have been to Jersey a couple of times.

Down to 2, out of which Georgia Marathon in Atlanta was so easy to pick, simply because my cousin lives there and that saves a bunch of money on lodging. But then the Big Sur in California was hands down favorite on the internet for its scenic route. I read a few articles and blogs on Big Sur, that took me along highway 1..... starting with the down hill... then a few ups and downs.... the big hill at mile 9...... the beautiful panoramic view of the pacific below... waves lapping up on the rocks... the mystic fog.... the bands on the side of the road..... and I wasn't at work anymore... I was running sub 7 minute miles.... (and what a surreal transformation that was!!)... If I maintained the pace, I would qualify for Boston easily...... I was running past other runners... those poor souls... hahahaha...

Let's see... what happened next?? yeah! that's right.... reality struck back! Like a booming echo from the sky... 'First finish this flat course Milwaukee lakefront marathon before sunset!'

I am your quintessiantial day dreamer, so adept at drifting away from reality! (What was I doing now? Whatever it was I better get back to it!!).

I am Vijay Govindarajan and I approve this message!

-Vijayasarathy-

The running philosophy!

It is anyone's guess why most of my profound babbling's tangent off of one activity!

Yesterday I ran 14miles ... nothing great about it. Infact it was between bad and average! The week leading upto the run was miserable... I fell sick after eating out! I figured running is just like life. There are good days and bad days. And then some promising days that turn out to be not-so-good, just like yesterday!!

When you run 14 miles you have a lot of time to ponder over such things. So I did...........

I had 1 bad long run in the recent past (2 weeks earlier), the 20 miler and then this current predicament. But the 16 mile run a week before was great, arguably the best run I've had to date. For the 20 miler 2 weeks earlier, I ran with someone much faster than I was and ended up with a hamstring pull and had to limp to the finish 20 minutes short of my goal time. This one, I was running with someone slower than me. Still not feeling so good.

But why was the 16 miler so great? I ran alone with a group of 70-80 runners! That was the key! Running alone in a group! I paced myself according to my needs, goals, pains and strengths. I drew just enough inspiration from the others around me but didn't let the competition dictate the terms of my run.

That's it! You have to try and improve with reference to your previous performance, not based on some Mr.X. You can still draw inspiration from someone in a better place than you and reevaluate your goals from time to time!

Is this applicable to life? If it does it makes things so much more simpler. And you can still relish every step you take in difficult times. I'm going to try this philosophy in the coming days and try to do things better today than what I did yesterday. It's not like Einstien just discovered e = mc2 right? All of us must have thought of such "brilliant" things before! However this might just be what the doctor recommended. I think, I just rediscovered a pragmatic solution to my everyday rubik's cube.

And then the water stop interruped my thought.

-Vijayasarathy-

no pain no gain!!

It was the 16 mile taper run for the lakefront marathon on 9/16/07 (a day after my Al's run 8k@41:59) with the badgerland striders group at 8.00am. I neither felt like waking up nor running 16miles that day, but that is the advantage of committing oneself to a group run. I did go.

The congregation of about 70-80 runners had assembled by the time I reached. After a few minutes Dr. Meuller enthusiastically climbed up the park bench and gave away some free inspiration, instructions, enlightened us with the route and the location of the water stops and atleast got me psyched about the next 3 hours.

We began the run around 8:15am and I started at the back of the group since I didn't want to get caught up in the initial rush. Not withstanding the pep up talk by Dr. Mueller (the one man organizing guru!), I wasn't really warmed up for the run physically and mentally. So I started out pretty slow, I would guess around (11-11:30 minute mile). Luckily there were runners of all sizes, age and more importantly speed. Although a majority of them took off ahead of me, there were quite a few along side and behind me. Not bad I thought!

After about a mile the pain started. I was worried because it was the shin. I did not want to injure myself just 3 weeks before the marathon. But I just kept running. Then the left foot started hurting. Everytime I landed my foot it felt like a hard slap which was getting increasingly painful. It felt as though I wasn't landing my foot right. But I was not doing anything new. So I decided to overrun the pain. It lasted for another 3 miles. I tried not to think about it. I did try some goofy things to distract my thought from the shin and the feet that were'nt cooperating..... like experiment with hip extension during running to see if the swing got any better....... tried to push harder with soleus for speed..... experimented with different stride lengths..... looking at other runners and bikers on the trail...... looking up and down like the character in the song pon malai pozhudhu.... yeah!! whatever it took!!

Finally after what was quite a painful run, I got to the first water stop and there was Dr. Mueller with encouraging words, water, gatorade and gu gel. Four and a half miles in good time he announced. This time he had some espresso flavor gu gels, a welcome respite from the exaggerated sweetness of raspberry flavor last week. I fueled myself.

As I headed out, there was no more pain. It felt like someone had cleaned the slate in my head that screamed "PAIN". And I didn't feel no pain until the finish. I picked up speed and just kept running. I went past many other runners who I didn't see after the start line. The rest of this 16 miles was a cake walk. The pain during the first 4.5 miles was a lot to take. But I was happy that I did not give in to it. I ran through it. I fought the battle at a higher level - the mental battle. I successfully dissed the dis-comfort and finished strongly. 2:30 for 16miles... with gas left to go for more!

-Vijayasarathy-

Al's Run

Last year around the same time, when I saw an ad for Al's run on one of the boards at the alumni memorial union at Marquette, I said to myself that one had to be an elite runner to run a 5 mile race. But I had nothing to do with running then.

Times have changed since and so has my perception. In the past few months running has become THE mainstay of any conversation with my family and friends. To me it is not just a void-filler in a conversation. It has become the fulcrum that keeps my days and weeks in balance. It is like my warehouse of motivation to go on with the school work and job search which otherwise have the potential to drive me nuts.

This year Al's run is on a saturday (15th september 07). I am bifurcated between running an all out 5mile race or doing it at an easy pace to save myself for the 16mile long run on sunday with the badgerland striders running group. (am I lucky to have found them or what!!!) Whatever it is I believe it will be a great experience to share with 16000 other runners, unlike anything I have done before.

On a different front, I am trying to help raise funds for the Children's hospital of wisconsin. This is again one of the firsts for me!!! Honestly, I was afraid that I might end up being the only contributor on my fund raising page. But at the end of day 1 the pledges from friends went upto $25. I was truly elated!! I crowned myself for a grand success at my first effort!!! Even though this is not the reason for writing the blog, my fundraising page is still up and open for contributions :-D..... so feel free to take a look!!! I thank all of those who have pledged and all those who are going to in future!!

-Vijayasarathy-

My favorite interview from my favorite star!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the honest truth of God...... I hate star worship in cinema.... the only exception I have made and will ever make is Rajini.

I was born at a time and place where Rajini was beginning to cast a spell, a spell that would continue to grow and transform his stature from a bus conductor to a phenomenon worshipped by millions. Without delving into the making of Rajini I will say that I am one of those millions who have pledged their allegiance to him.

Why? He is the quintessential form of inspiration and hope. Let me explain!
Have you ever thought, why so many people go to the casinos every day? What does the casino offer people? It gives them hope, however insignificantly small, hope to make it big. But the casinos have a bad spin, because the probabilities are heavily tilted in their favor. To use the hope that the casino provides, you have to gamble with your money. Now imagine you get the same kind of hope for free, with more intensity and huge positive spin on it. Just looking at a person is all the inspiration you need. That is what Rajni symbolises for millions - Hope.

As someone who was commonplace, a bus conductor, and worked his way up to the highest paid actor in India, Rajini personifies success to everyone with a dream. He has a very special gift - the ability to connect with people. Every kid thinks of himself to be Rajni. Every kid mimicks his on-screen style and repeats his line.

And remember, 'once a Rajini fan, always a Rajini fan'. One summer while vacationing in the US, he shaved his head and a hundred Rajini fanatics shaved their heads the same day in South India. I know!! Until I heard that I thought I was the craziest Rajini fan. But these people defined new levels of craziness in Rajini worship.

Anyhoo, what I like about Rajini, other than his onscreen style is his offscreen humility. If ever I were to become .001% as famous as he is now, I would go berserk. But this man's humility and modesty are beyond anything I can fathom at this point.

This is my favorite interview of the one and only Thalaivar!!! It's hard not to smile everytime I see this!!!!!!

For the incessant runner!

If you happen to fall in the above category, here's a cool website just for ya!!

..and don't forget to enjoy the weather while you're at it ;-)

-Vijay machi-

cul-de-sac??

After the colossal defeat of the "men in blue" following the collapse of its celebrated batting lineup against a so-called minnow, Bangladesh, one cannot but wonder if it is the end of the world cup 2007 dreams for Team India.

Prior to the beginning of the world cup there was an interesting article in The Hindu. It was as though the author foresaw what was impending the eleven players who were carrying the hopes of a hundred billion Indians on their shoulders. Or maybe he was just targetting the overly passionate following for cricket in India.

In this "neck of the woods", as Tony Greg would put it, there is only a thin line between passion and madness when it comes to cricket. As long as the Indian team wins or atleast puts up a decent fight, the players are followed like deities. For uninspired losses like this one against Bangladesh, the response is often burning effigies and staging violent protests.

Coming back to the current world cup scenario, even to sustain hopes of moving to the super 8's India needs to win the next two games, and win big. I do see a slice of light in all this gloom and darkness. Are the big guns going to fire or is it the end of the road for India? While we pray for the best, I'm signing off to prepare myself in the event of an Indian world cup calamity. ;-)

Beating the House!!!

For someone who was forbidden to play memory using cards, I have come a long way in discovering and understanding the nuances of poker and blackjack. I should admit however that roulette is the first "casino" game (probably the simplest too!) that caught my attention when a friend of mine narrated his experience at a casino (fortunately, he found providence).

I hadn't seen a roulette wheel until then. So he explained it from scratch. I understood that it is a game of betting and each bet has a fixed probability of winning. And more the risk, more they pay. My rather naive mind began to wonder why people didn't play roulette full-time to make money, but quickly realized how big an advantage the house enjoys in roulette.

Inspite of that I must have spent a couple of evenings researching "how to beat the house" from various online sources. Many mathematical system from greats like fibonacci fail to conquer roulette. These systems are based on certain assumptions that are forbidden in modern casinos, ergo invalid. I tried to create my own method of betting that would be effective, but soon figured out that all systems spiralled to the inevitable truth - the house is always 2 steps ahead of everyone (0 & 00).

Incidentally I came across an amazing book titled "the eudaemonic pie" which is a true story of how a few engineers and scientists (in their quest to make millions) device a method to predict the number on which the ball would land in the spinning roulette wheel, all in real time using microcomputers programmed into their shoes.!! The predicting equation similar to what NASA used to find out where a spaceship orbitting the moon would land. Pretty cool eh??!! (and all this more than 2 decades ago???)

Einstien said "the only way to beat the house at the roulette table is to steal money when the dealer is not watching". According to me, the only way not to lose to the house is by not playing it.

-Vijayasarathy-

Mind Over Body

[say... 2 decades ago]
Growing up as a kid, I once heard a little story about my great grandfather. He had achieved such perfect control of his mind (through meditation), that he could rise up a feet from the ground (in a sitting posture). The man could float in air!!!. (If I remember right they have a picture of him, defying gravity, in my mom's ancestral home!!) I should admit that it didn't mean much to me then. I never gave it so much of a thought.

[Jan 2007]
I was running in the gym nearing completion of the third mile. I wasn't tired (for not being much of a runner), and the breathing was just perfect. Could have easily added a couple of miles to the count.... For some reason I stopped at the end of lap 24. Not a step after that. Why? I was definitely not physically exhausted, but the mind was revolting as though the limit had been reached and shut down on me like some major security breach had taken place.

[Reverberating in time]
I believe the story about my great grandfather that I was told as a small boy, though Newton might not be particularly pleased. With only 1% of that kind of control, I'd probably run 30 marathons a month without breaking a sweat!! The inevitability and importance of the mind's control and understanding of the body in achieving one's goals cannot be over-stressed.

-Vijayasarathy-

Madai thirandhu... late, yet the latest!

I had decided against posting video links and embedded videos in my blog, but this one was so cool that I couldn't resist. Outstanding remix of an old tamil song with hiphop tunes. Tamil Rap is here to stay ;-).