Long run YIPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!

It's been a long while since I went on a long run. Had planned one last week only for a personal emergency to put paid to the plan. Yesterday was a rest day. I have been nursing a cold coming into the weekend and feeling a bit off weather in addition to a runny nose. The alarm went off at 6:00 AM. I turned it off and went back to the warm bed. Finally at 6:30, I dragged myself out of bed,finished my daily rituals, laced up and stepped out of home, chewing on some raisins.

Warming up in Good Luck Chowk (GLC) was interesting.. It was around 7:15 and I did draw some astonished stares. The three guys sitting on the steps of the Batavia Medical Store feigned ignorance, the rickshaw wallahs looked amused.

Anyway I started off at 7:27, ran up BMCC Road and down Bhandarkar Road back to GLC in 20:08 minutes. This loop is around 2.67K and I had planned to do enough to complete 10K.

However started back on FC Road, decided not to strain my calf muscles with another climb and continued to the far end near Police Ground, turned and back down FC to GLC in 43 and odd minutes.

By this time, I had an idea forming in my head, how about running down Karve Road? since anyway I was not sticking to plan. Do I run up Karve Road (it is an uphill all the way till end) or down? Karve Road has major traffic no matter what time of the day. Avoiding traffic on my home leg won out as an argument, and I turned onto Karve Road, climbing it all the way. Panting and groaning, somewhere near Nal Stop chowk, I finished 60 minutes of non-stop running, went up further, turned into the bypass(canal) road near SNDT, on Law College Road.

By now, I was calculating my pace as roughly 8 minutes per KM, so was not 100% certain about getting 10K under my belt. Any way, at the next decision point (can't or won't), I went with won't (the alternative was to go down BMCC Road) and turned back into Bhandarkar Road to take the down-slope advantage. I ended back at GLC in 85:01:00 minutes. Cooled down, as I walked back home.

I was apprehensive about the distance when I logged onto my online pedometer. Joy of joys, I have run 10.8K. YIPPEEEEE.. I decided to call this route - Three Whorls on account of its three loops. Here it is.

Runner's Log

Today I ran 11 laps (7.04K) in 40:08 mins. All week, I have been increasing a lap each day and today I have got back to my previous high mileage of 7.04K. Started out after warm-up with an easy lap, surprising myself with the 3:36 time. I was running with no exertion and still doing a near 3:30 was great. Continued at the same pace till lap 6 when fatigue began to set in. Some days, the fates conspire with you to let you do your own thing. Today, the fates brought along the PYP (Pretty Young Pacemaker). Just keeping ahead of her meant I was doing 3:30 or less per lap which was great. She dropped off around lap 9 and I continued on to complete 11 laps. Doing this distance near abouts 40 mins was immensely satisfying. Cooled down with a compulsive stretch routine, heading home to a high carbo, high protein (read nuts) cereal and milk breakfast.
Overall mileage this week:~ 24K

बोले तो

बोले तो - this has been an interesting week
Did not run on Monday. On Tuesday 25th September I ran 8 laps around KNP (5.12K) in 27:40 mins. On Wednesday 26th September, I ran with a goal of running one more lap than the previous day. I ran 9 laps (5.76K ) in 31:43 mins. Today, September 27th, I ran 10 laps (6.4K) in 35:21 mins. The usual PYT was running today and so I ran in pace with her for a first lap of 3:08 with some exertion, ran the second lap in 3:16 for a time of 6:24. She dropped off and I continued for another 8 laps. I have noticed lesser exertion this week to keep to a 3:30 pace. Good things I am sure

बोले तो - the Indian Twenty20 cricket team came home yesterday, and were taken with much fanfare to Wankhede stadium from Mumbai airport in an open bus plastered with scenes of their victory. Apparently the 30 KM ride took 5 hours among terrible traffic snarls. Only in a cricket crazy country like ours, can a place like Mumbai come to standstill for a victory cavalcade. Dhoni was the only cricketer on the podium during the felicitation ceremony ... where were the others? आयला, the senior Indian cricket "stars" who did not participate must feel the heat, no?.

बोले तो - Punekars (and all over Maharashtra) said their final goodbyes to Ganapati Bappa on Ananth Chaturdashi. Never mind that Punekars continued to say goodbye a day later till 5 in the evening when the विसर्जन सोह्ळा finally ended. Now the cleaning crew can finally move in to clean the debris from this on and around Laxmi Road, Karve Road and other affected areas.

बोले तो - the Uttar Pradesh police has apologized to the Japanese tourists who were raped last week. What the ... how does any apology make what happened any better? What of the all the women in India who undergo this trauma every week?

बोले तो - the Bombay Stock Exchange has been on a major bull run these last few days. the BSE Sensex went up 1000 points to 17000 in only 6 trading sessions. "Irrational exuberance?" - let's wait and watch

4 balls remaining, one six required

The sound in the background is the very loud cheering, cacophonous car and motorbike horns blaring, the cheers of "India Zindabad" and "Chak De India", interspersed with bursting fireworks. There is one HUGE block party going on right now on Ferguson College Road and the reason is India's win over Pakistan in the inaugral Twenty20 World Cup. The screaming, the yelling, the flag waving, is probably going on all over the country today even at this late hour.


What a final it has been. At the end of over 16, Pakistan were 104 for 7 wickets and India pretty had the game sewn up or so it seemed. 54 runs required in 24 deliveries.. not impossible, but difficult. Then Misbah ul-Haq hammered three sixes off Harbhajan Singh in a single over, the score jumping to 123. The very next over Sohail Tanvir hit Sreesanth for 2 sixes before being bowled by a lovely yorker length delivery. With 20 needed off the penultimate over, it looked mathematically possible - 3 sixes?... RP Singh got Umar Gul out on the 5th ball of his over... 17 required off 7 deliveries with the last man in. Mohammed Asif got a four off the last delivery and there was groan... 13 runs required off 6 deliveries as Joginder Sharma bowled a big big wide. Dhoni hurried over to talk to him. Misbah hit Joginder Sharma for a six and it looked like India had lost for sure.

4 balls remaining, six runs required and Lady Luck smiled on India. Much will be written about Misbah ul-Haq's choice of shot (a scoop over fine leg), much about Sreesanth's cool, calm catch, much more about the eruption that followed and how the young Indian cricket team wrote its name in the history books.

What it comes down to is this: A great game of cricket, with all the right elements of drama and tension between two extremely passionate rival teams ended up coming down to the wire and the team that won held its nerve best.


And my favourite photo tonight. This is a signboard outside a coconut/flower vendor's stand near Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai Ganapati. Translated it reads " 10 rupees discount - a fifty rupee toran (chain of coconuts) for forty rupees only because India won the match (today)"

Chak de India... India chucks Australia out

This is a post delayed by a couple of days on account of some inadvertant personal emergencies. In fact, I have not run in the last three days - had to cancel my long run yesterday and getting out of bed this morning was a non-starter. Well, there's always tomorrow :o)

(Photo credits AFP, cricinfo.com)
Much has already been written about the Indian resurgence in the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup and its match against Australia on Saturday. Check this post: Historical Won for Team India. In a nutshell, the Indian team posted a total of 188 for Australia to chase. Australia with its great reputation of winning all the major cricketing tournaments in the last few years failed to make anything of this match, losing only their second match.

India was all swagger and attitude - Sreesanth's glares at the end of each delivery; his shies at the stumps for no apparent reason at all; Harbhajan's ebulient fists pumping in the air; Sreesanth's drumming the ground when he bowled Hayden out and finally Yuvraj's yell/scream and body language after he took a catch...even Joginder Sharma jumped for joy after bowling Brett Lee... All these scenes are a candid reminder that the Indian cricket team is full of piss and vinegar.

India play Pakistan tonight for the inaugral Twenty20 World Cup. In the cricketing world, there is no greater rivalry, no more emotional game than this. Today, fans on both sides will bite their nails down to the cuticles..including this one. Fingers crossed again.

Shabbas India

Today, I ended up at Chittaranjan Vatika again. Warmed up with my usual one lap walking, stretches, squats, etc. Ran the first lap in 4:06 which is better than the last time (4:30), stayed on pace for the second lap as well to complete it in 8:09, slowed down in the 3rd lap marginally to complete in 12:21, going on to finish five laps in 21:11 mins. I ran at slightly faster than my usual pace so I was huffing and puffing by the end. Stretched a little at the end, caught my breath and ran half a lap just for kicks :o). Tomorrow is most likely a rest day and Long Run on Sunday.

"Inspired India evict South Africa" is cricinfo's headline this morning. The Times of India had this: "India help Kiwis fly" In South Africa, The Daily News in Durban carried this headline:"Gloomy Smith heaps praise on Indian players" and finally Mail and Guardian Online (Johannesburg) said "India send SA packing". India's Twenty20 game last night against the favourites- South Africa was extremely entertaining and a great sporting event to watch. At one point, India had lost 3 wickets at 33 and I (and I am sure a lot of Indian fans) groaned. Karthik was out first ball and I truly wondered why the hell the Indian cricket still continued to have this guy in the team, Yuvraj or no Yuvraj. After struggling, India managed to get the counter ticking over and Rohit Sharma in his first match played a chipper knock, unbeaten at 50.

(Picture Copyright Rajesh Jantilal, AFP)
Even with a 153 on the board, I wasn't so sure - there was more hope than certainty about India being able to do anything with it. Sreesanth firing off five wides in the first over did not help quiet the butterflies in my stomach. At the end of the first over, South Africa 11 for no loss looked to be set to cruise and then....RP Singh bowled a lovely delivery to send Herschelle Gibbs back. Jubiliations and joy. Karthik then took a brilliant impossible catch in the slips to send Graeme Smith to the dugout and I found myself willing to forgive Karthik's duck. Next over, de Villiers was trapped in front of the wicket by Sreesanth. 12 runs for 3 wickets and there definitely was a game ON. More jubiliations and joy. Two dismissals later, South Africa with 31 runs on the board were in BIG trouble. Morkel and Boucher stabilized the innings, adding 65 runs to get South Africa to 100 in 16 overs. After being wicketless for 10 odd overs, India finally got Boucher out, him dragging a Sreesanth delivery back to the stumps and then at regular intervals South Africa lost wickets. In the end, India won by 33 runs.

From tracking the run rate required to win the game, the commentators started tracking the number of runs required to qualify for the semi-finals, which demonstrated how effectively India had strangled South Africa.

Another "paisa vasool" experience. India play the Aussies on Saturday for a berth in the finals. Fingers crossed again....

"If you have just joined us, where have you been?"

First the runs. Skipped running yesterday on account of a sore calf. Today I was feeling a bit lazy, but decided run anyways. After my usual warmup, I ran a well paced first lap at 3:16. During the second lap, I noticed a PYT who had started running too and decided to pace up ... did n't want to be overtaken by her (the games we play when we run...a topic for a post some time). Anyway, ran 5 laps in 16:13 mins which averages to about 3:15 per lap and then stopped. Walked for one lap to catch my breath and then ran the remaining 2 laps in about 7 mins with another PYT. Total 7 laps (4.48K) in 23+ minutes. The good part about today's run was the pace and... the pace makers :o).

Last night's India-England Twenty20 match was a corker. Tremendous entertainment, definitely "paisa vasool". At the beginning of England's innings, the TV commentator on ESPN retorted "If you have just joined us, where have you been" ... he was so right.
In the penultimate over of the Indian innings, Yuvraj Singh conducted a clinical demonstration of cricketing DEMOLITION. Six times, Stuart Broad bowled, and six times, Yuvi sent the ball out of the field. The first "six sixes in an over" in International Twenty20 for sure, Yuvi joins the greats - Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri (6 sixes an over in first class cricket), Herschelle Gibbs (6 sixes an over in ODI)and also gets the record for the fastest fifty in T20 - off 12 deliveries.

England came back, tame in the beginning, but making steady progress, helped by dropped catches (Joginder Sharma was singularly unlucky with two catches being dropped on his bowling, robbing him of what would have been his first T20 wickets), but in the end, that one over made all the difference. India meet South Africa tonight.... a win and a ticket to the semi-finals, a loss and they are out of the competition. Fingers crossed.

Ganapati Bappa Morya

First the runs.
Today, September 18th 2007 , I ran 7 laps (4.48K) in 25:46 mins. After my usual stretch, my first lap was an easy 3:36; managed to stay on pace and not compete with a couple of PYTs running laps at twice my speed. Feeling some strain in my left calf. This is sounding like a nag now.

Monday September 17th 2007 , I ran an easy 6 laps (3.84K) in KNP. Started out smoothly after warm-up, clocking 3:36 for the first lap and stayed on pace to complete 6 laps in 21:27.

Sunday September 16th 2007
I ran 7.05K, starting out at 7:00 AM. This was a lovely run. The route was exactly the same as the last road run I went on: "The run is a loop from Roopali hotel on FC Road, up BMCC Road, up Senapati Bapat Road, turn at the University signal, past ESquare, down Ganeshkhind Road, turn into Ferguson College Road, and all the way to Good Luck Chowk, up Bhandarkar Road and stop at IIPM". Reached all my milestones earlier than the last run which was gratifying:
Pyramid Store on Senapati Bapat Road: 18:30 mins (19 mins last run)
Far End of Senapati Bapat Road: 27:30 mins (27 mins last run)
ESquare: 30:30 mins (31:30 mins last run)
Far end of FC Road: 39:30 mins (40:30 mins last run)
Roopali Hotel on FC Road: 49:36 mins (52:19 mins last run)
End: 52:31:84 mins (54:19:46 mins last run)

The only difference was I avoided the bridge opposite ESquare this time. Very satisfied. 10K next weekend.

On Saturday, my favourite diety, Ganapati Bappa came visiting. We got the idol on Friday evening. I did the prana pratishta puja on Saturday amid the sonorous rendition of सुखःकर्ता दुखःहर्ता. सकाळ संध्याकाळची पूजा, विसर्लेल्या आर्तिंचे पुन्हा आठ्वने , नैवेद्य प्रसाद, घर भर्लेले -- मन प्रसन्न झाले.

The नैवेद्य was twenty-one उक्ड़िचे मोदक which is Ganapati's favourite food (and mine). Oh, to bite into a steaming morsel of rice flour covered coconut and jaggery filling, to slurp surreptitously the juices as you drool a little, the lovely balace of the sweet (filling) and bland (cover) and finally the explosion of sweet as it tingles your palate...mmmm..
Sunday late afternoon was the goodbye - the ceremonial विसर्जन, amid the cries of "गणपति बाप्पा मोरया ... पुड्च्या वर्षी लवकर या "

Runner's Log

Back to KNP today. Completed 3.84K (6 laps) in 21:40. Had a good run today. My calf did not hurt, I was able to keep to my pace (most of the time). After my usual warmup, I ran a 3:36 first lap, 3:30 second and third lap, then slowed down to 4:00 minutes for the next and then back again to 3:30 for the last two laps.

Did not start out with this in mind, but it sounds like a good way to run laps (3 fast, 1 slow, 2 fast).

Runner's Log

For a while now, I have been wanting to run in Chittaranjan Vatika. This is a beautiful park with lots of trees and a mud/earth running track which seems much larger than my usual Kamala Nehru Park track.

Today I had to drop off my kid to her school which is right across. Ran 5 laps in 23:40. Haven't been able to compute the actual distance. My first lap was 4:33 and I slowed down on each following lap. I have not run on a mud/earth track in years and it had rained heavily yesterday leaving a lot of wet spots. This was also an exploratory run - to find out more about the place and was not pushing myself. Interestingly, there appear to be quite a few other folks running around as well.

Looks like I have found a new place to run.

Injuries...

Ran 3.2K (5 laps) in 19 minutes. Had to curtail my usual pace and distance on account of two things - Had to drop off the kid to school at 9 AM and strain in my knee. Started out well at 3:06 in the first lap, the next was around 3:44 and the third... well the third is when I felt a piercing shooting pain in my right knee... stopped, stretched (never stopped before) and continued on very very gingerly. Wanted to complete at least 5 laps and did that...but am concerned.
Need to warm-up better for sure.

Runner's Log

Completed 7.04K (11 laps) in 40:06. After my usual warmup, I started out slowly; I was feeling some strain in my left calf and didn't want to aggravate it. First lap was 3:46, second almost similar at 3:47-3:48. Stayed with the same pace and my penultimate lap timing was 36:56. Looked like I would be able to come in under 40 minutes. Paced up... close, but no cigar.I am much surprised and satisfied too. A slow start and a constant pace may be the way to run these next few weeks till the HDHM. This week's mileage so far is 14K, tomorrow is another day..

Karma bhoomi aka Kamala Nehru Park

First the run. Ran 11 laps (7.04KM) today in 39:40 minutes.. Had only one kid to drop off to school. Started at 7:40 AM. My usual warm-up of one lap walk plus the usual stretching took about 10 minutes. My first lap was fast 2:59 minutes, the next 3:11 minutes and then I slowed down for a couple of reasons - one: haven't run for the past 4 days and two: got winded...Pant pant... the next two laps were slow .. around 3:45/4:00 each, speeded up again to 3:30 to set my self very nicely for a sub 40. My timing at lap 10 was 36:16. A sub 40 was now definitely ON. My first sub 40 7K and I am very satisfied.

I have been running regularly at Kamala Nehru Park for a couple of years now. This mini green lung boasts a good track recently put in, a smallish fountain right in the centre, and green lawns. It is maintained by the Kalyani Group of Industries. There is a tiny Datta Mandir (the original) which later moved to one side and now has its own separate entrance right next to the park's main entrance.


Located off Bhandarkar Road, this park is a green patch convenient for folks in the Deccan Gymkhana area. It is not big, but does have a decent enough children's play area. The park does have nicely maintained bottle palms that line the green lawns, Ashoka trees and many others that I can't label. All in all, a very pleasant verdant area.

Every morning (and evening), its shaded tracks transform themselves into high traffic areas with the usual morning/evening walkers/amblers - groups of men, women, kids who have been coming here, every day for the last many many years, interspersed with the few runners (like me)weaving through the slow moving masses. Overheard conversations often vary from the last night's soap opera update to strong opinions on the local issues to काय ही अजची पीढ़ी...

A great good morning start to my day....

22 yards, 50 overs and the hopes of a nation....

(Picture copyright cricinfo.com)
No running today. I had an early morning meeting which shot all my plans of getting some mileage under my belt this week. Well, there is always tomorrow :0)

Last night I watched the 6th one day international cricket match between India and England. And what a match it was... edge of the seat excitement all the way till 2 deliveries before the end of the match. The outcome was most satisfying for any one in India with even a passing interest in the game - India won with two balls and two wickets to spare.

Going into this match, India was down one match in the 7 match series, having stayed in the race by winning its previous match. Regardless, it was do or die for the Indian cricket team. (which is obvious to any Indian fan). England totted up a huge score of 316 runs with a scintillating display of batting from Mascrenhas hitting sixes on each of the last five deliveries, the scoreboard jumping 30 runs in a matter of minutes. I groaned...was this going to be over every Indian cricket fan rued?

Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar came out, all guns firing and the first wicket partnership was worth 150 runs. Great start. Unfortunately, Sachin lost his wicket in the 90s again (he missed his century four times this tour). By the time I started watching the match, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had just come in and was beginning to stroke the ball, but no big sixes that were expected. Around 9 runs an over was the asking rate, and the English bowlers were successful in keeping the give rate under 5/6. Dhoni left at 294 and that guaranteed a nail biting finish, no matter which side you support.

I cannot describe what the last couple of overs felt like. James Anderson conceded around 15 runs in the penultimate over and that still left 10 runs in 6 balls. Robin Utthapa got two runs and then a wicket....by this time, my heart was pounding. Utthapa spooned the next delivery towards the fine leg boundary for a four... Three balls to go in the final over.... The Indian fans could smell victory... but as the truism goes...भाई यह इंडिया है, इसका कोई भरोसा नही,कुछ भी हो सकता है . Robin's next shot was classic cricket, driven through mid-off for another four... India wins..Exhilarating cricket or as we would say पैसा वसूल.

India has squared the series 3-3 and now onwards to Saturday at Lords, the mecca of cricket.... and on that match, lie the hopes of a nation. India won the test match series earlier and what better than to add the ODI series to that list. I would love to see Sourav take his shirt off at Lords...Again

Govinda aala re aala....

First the run. There was no run today - various reasons mostly precipitated by the delightful intervention of the Most Wondrous.

Yesterday was Krishna Janmashtami aka Goinda/Govinda (in Mumbai parlance). Actually Krishna was born at midnight, but let's not quibble about the details.
So Goinda.... I have these great memories of wandering around Chembur as a kid, looking at handis (pots filled with milk and dahi - yogurt/curd) hung high up in the air (from ropes tied to electricity poles or building terraces or the odd tree), adorned with garlands of marigold and other bright flowers, currency notes in plastic packets lined next to the pot and the marvelous human pyramids that went up and collapsed as a little Krishna broke open the pot to get to the dahi. Gulal, abhir in the air making clouds of red, black; rain pouring from the skies; and the loudspeakers blaring "गोविंदा आला रे आला, तेरी मटकी संभाल, ब्रिजबाला".(Govinda aala re aala, teri matki sambhal brijbala) or "आज गोकुळात रंग खेळतो हरि, राधिके जरा जपुन जा तुझ्यां घरी" (Aaj Gokulat rang khelto Hari, Radhike jara japun jaa tuzhya ghari). The roaming groups of Govindas in flower adorned trucks, having finished with the prestigious dahi handis of Lalbag, Parel descending on the suburbs; the small prizes ...typically 101 rupees.


Much has changed. The handis now hang from mechanical cranes, the prize money has gone up to lakhs of rupees, the entertainers - singers, dancers and other enthusiasts on raised platforms, live television telecasts with commentators even explaining the logistics of creating and collapsing the human pyramid, the huge walls of 1000W speakers blaring Brazil or Gasolina or the latest Himesh Reshammiya croon.

What has not changed is the joy and fervour of Govindas as they go from handi to handi, the community's involvement, people's patience with traffic snarls ,and the zhanzha (hand held cymbals) players leaping in the air in step with the rhythmic sounds of the dhol (large drum)and the taasha (Indian kettle drum) . Govinda re Gopala...Govinda aala re aala...

Wada Paav

First the run. 7.09KM on the roads. I am so thrilled and it felt sooo good. 54:19:42 was my timing. This is about 10 minutes more than my purported 7k when I run loops in KNP. (I suspect the KNP loop is probably shorter. This run served as a good calibration run.) I am satisfied with my run today. Started off at 7:00 AM sharp - no kids to drop off, no other early morning distractions.... just the road and I.

The run is a loop from Roopali hotel on FC Road, up BMCC Road, up Senapati Bapat Road, turn at the University signal, past ESquare, down Ganeshkhind Road, turn into Ferguson College Road, and all the way to Good Luck Chowk, up Bhandarkar Road and stop at IIPM. The distance is 7.09 KM per this really nifty tool on the web called Map My Run.
Map My Run is a mashup of Google Earth/Maps and some really nice route mapping tools (The author does not have any implicit or explicit interest/shares/stocks in nor is he paid by Mapmyrun for this, though, he would be more than willing to plug for money :o))

Here is the route (Have been waiting to do this since the day I found out about this feature)

Reached the Pyramid store on Senapati Bapat Road in 19 minutes, slaving over a small hill and a fairly big incline up and down near Symbiosis, End of Senapati Bapat Road was 27 minutes (better than my last run many moons ago which I remember as 35 minutes), passed ESquare at 31:30, reached the far end of Ferguson College Road at 40:30, past the start point of Roopali at 52:19 for a end timing of 54:19:46. Phew.

Changed out of my wet togs and went to KNP to cooldown. 5 loops walking, stretching, touching my toes seemed to be enough.

Now the wada paav
I am a sucker for this very accessible Indian "burger". Mashed potatoes spiced with minced green chillies, chopped coriander, ginger, garlic covered with chickpea flour batter and fried is the wada. The paav is a bun .. very rustic no sesame seeds or the like. Slice the bun, add some dry garlic chutney, some sweet saucy chutney, enclose the wada and mmmmmmm.....bite into 100% authentic Indian street fare... One is never enough so I end up ordering at least a pair.

This post is inspired by my latest wada paav adventure.
Jumbo King opened just down the street from where I work yesterday. Unable to resist (the no potatoes diet be damned), I took 5 of these packaged goodies home. Wrapped in slick Jumbo King adorned wax paper, the bun is slightly longer than the traditional paav, the wada somewhat bigger. The garlic chutney is already rubbed into the bun and the sweet chutney (amchur, garam masala, etc. in a sweetish base) is packaged in small plastic sachets. The wada paav was good and as usual I demolished two, hankering for more.

An interesting tid-bit: August 23rd is now World Vada Paav Day, started by the founders of this chain that claims to bring western food models to the quintessential Mumbai food. My other favourite tid-bit is you can order wada paav in one of the ritzy swanky 5 star coffee shops in Pune.

Would be interesting to see how this desi "burger" chain fares in Pune. The Wada Paav of course RULES.

Rice and Potatoes

First the two runs.
I ran 5K on Saturday at an even pace to complete in 28:50 min. Today (Monday) I ran 4.480 KM in 25:56 mins. Both runs were not as satisfactory. SOmehow I felt lazy to continue and kept/keep promising tomorrow will be better. Will have to guard against this tendency.

I am not a big believer in diets. I prefer the thought of a great mutton biryani motivating me than to make me feel guilty. That being said, over the past week, I have quit rice and potatoes...that staple of the Indian diet... certainly mine.

So back to the eternal debate - food as fuel or food as pleasure. I firmly place myself in the category of pleasure. The oilier the better, the more meat, the better, ....etc. I am a dedicated foodie. So, how does this diet "miracle" happen?

The month of Shravan considered one of the most auspicious in the Hindu calendar started on August 13th. Shravan is sort of like a Hindu Lent or a Ramazan where one relinquishes food/pleasures and/or fasts in hope of bettering oneself.

During this month, meat is proscribed. I have a more scientific belief: given that it rains heavily, there is a strong likelihood of meat going bad when no modern refrigeration was available. What better way to prevent upset stomachs, weakness and death than to ritualistically proscribe it?

I have never followed this removal of meat from my plate till 3 years ago when we started celebrating Ganapati at home. So strike one - no meat for a month.

While my timings have improved, I realize that I need to lose weight if I have to have any hopes at all of running a decent half marathon (time wise) in October. Something had to go.... in the spirit of self control and relinquishing, I decided it would be rice and potatoes. Strike two

The rice and potatoes experiment is only a week old. No carbs, no animal proteins....no weight loss yet. Am I grouchy yet? This is a question for the Most Wondrous.