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....