Biking baby steps!

Cycling is not easy! Especially, if you haven't done it for years. Even if you are generally fit. Even if you have done it in the gym. 

My enthusiasm for cycling was to be satisfied. It always seemed the thing that was missing in my list of aspirations. 

I have cycled so much in life, I was an expert in city biking, in Bombay. And, this cliche, if you can bike in Bombay, you can do it anywhere in the world. I used to enjoy the breeze on my face, with music in my ears on an old tape walkman, ever ready to take off just like that. 

And now here I was, 20 years later, trying to feed my desire to get back on that bike again. And I've been fascinated by a folding bike because I could carry it along to various places. Though, I now realise, it is easier said than done. And I was not finding a foldable bike that had a wheel diameter of 26 inches. 

When I finally found one that met my specifications on Groupon at RM 599, I jumped at it. Well, not really. I still took a few weeks before I took the plunge. It was a Korean make Excider 26 inch. 

The bike arrived one Friday afternoon, a few days before I expected it. It didn't take long to assemble, but the gear required some adjustments. I did that over a weekend and brought it back home. 

No more excuses now. I took her on a trip one Sunday night, after much preparation, getting my Endomondo and S Health apps started, out on the road, changing gears often, and up a slope, when Oh! the pedal threading came off and I fell down, a minor injury on my knee. I walked back the way home, cycle in tow, with the broken pedal in my hand. 

I parked the bike and didn't look at it for a couple of weeks. A visit to Chow Kit over that weekend, and I saw cheaper bikes, though not foldable, and felt worse. 

I mustered up my will last evening and got the bike to Rodalink for repairs. The guy there is good at his work but bad at small talk. He managed to get the threading back in place, replaced the pedal and got it back in working condition. I had spent RM 100 more on the bike with not many miles to boast. 

Last night I decided to start again, no Endomondo or S Health apps, no changing gears, no slopes, just plain simple doodhwala-biking, on a flat stretch of road just outside our place. 

I had to come back to taking baby steps, rather than try something ambitious, so that my confidence is back in place. This time it worked, and though the result may not have been that romantic, it still counted as a positive. 

And it rekindled hope that things will slowly get better!  

Good Will Hunting

Sean Maguire to Will Hunting in one the best lines from the movie Good Will Hunting; Sean hits back at Will's reluctance and arrogance, and Will begins taking Sean seriously and opens up.

You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talkin' about.

It's all right. You've never been out of Boston.

So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that.

If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid.
And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help.

I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell.

And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself.

And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid.

But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fuckin life apart. You're an orphan right?

You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.

Live life

Walk in the rain,

jump in mud puddles,

collect rocks,

rainbows and roses,

smell flowers,

blow bubbles,

stop along the way,

build sandcastles,

say hello to everyone,

go barefoot,

go on adventures,

act silly,

fly kites,

have a merry heart,

talk with animals,

sing in the shower,

read childrens' books,

take bubble baths,

get new sneakers,

hold hands and hug and kiss,

dance,

laugh and cry for the health of it,

wonder and wander around,

feel happy and precious and innocent,

feel scared,

feel sad,

feel mad,

give up worry and guilt and shame,

say yes,

say no,

say the magic words,

ask lots of questions,

ride bicycles,

draw and paint,

see things differently,

fall down and get up again,

look at the sky,

watch the sun rise and sun set,

watch clouds and name their shapes,

watch the moon and stars come out,

trust the universe,

stay up late,

climb trees,

daydream,

do nothing and do it very well,

learn new stuff,

be excited about everything,

be a clown,

enjoy having a body,

listen to music,

find out how things work,

make up new rules,

tell stories,

save the world,

make friends with the other kids on the block,

and do anything else that brings more

happiness,

celebration,

health,

love,

joy,

creativity,

pleasure,

abundance,

grace,

self-esteem,

courage,

balance,

spontaneity,

passion,

beauty,

peace,

relaxation,

communication and

life energy to...

all living beings on this planet.

- Bruce Williamson

Republic Day Parade

I saw the Indian Republic Day Parade after a couple of decades today. I had nothing else to watch this morning on TV, and it seemed to be the best of the rest. I was surprised by the quality of the presentation; I'm impressed, maybe, because I'm comparing with what used to happen 20 years back, or maybe I've very little expectation from an Indian presentation. 

But honestly, the amount of effort and hard work that has gone into it is commendable. It must be made compulsory viewing in school, because it is educative, besides being one of the things that could stoke your passion for your country. 

In terms of structure and content, it has enough diversity and depth. There are the different contingents and battalions of our armed forces, there are ministries, states, and institutions. When the armed forces' contingents are introduced with how many awards they've been given, how many generals they've given to the country, what's their motto, tagline, music band. And each state and ministry presents a certain theme highlighting their features and strengths. You can't but help feel proud of India, and we being Indians. 

TIME Person of the Year

TIME's introduction to Person of the Year says 'For capturing and highlighting a global sense of restless promise, for upending governments and conventional wisdom, for combining the oldest of techniques with the newest of technologies to shine a light on human dignity and, finally, for steering the planet on a more democratic though sometimes more dangerous path for the 21st century, the Protestor is TIME's 2011 Person of the Year.' 


And adds 'History often emerges only in retrospect. Events become significant only when looked back on.' About the protests, it says 'The protests marked the rise of a new generation. Technology mattered, but it was not a technological revolution. Social networks did not cause these movements, but they kept them alive and connected. This was not a wired revolution; it was a human one, of hearts and minds, the oldest technology of all.' 


Not all of TIME's choices in the past have been deserving, and many were outright wrong, and several of them biased toward America (a fact acknowledged by TIME in the past). TIME's definition of who should be Person of the Year is one who has made the maximum impact during the year. Julian Assange impacted more than Mark Zuckerberg last year. American Presidents who have won, at times twice, like George Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, have been stupid choices, couldn't they find anyone else?; Osama bin Laden should've been, when Rudy Guiliani was. And why was Kate Middleton in the list this year? 


This year has been fair. Many had expected Steve Jobs to make the list, but he did not make any impact this year. TIME has chosen a common noun, as it has done in the past, like The Computer, The Middle Class, Young People, GI Joe etc. (YOU was a terrible choice). The Protestor has made the news this year, without doubt. And shall continue to have impact going forward. 

The cricket world is an elaborate farce!

I'm convinced, more than even before, that the world of cricket is completely stage-managed. This ICC World Cup of 2011 has been a revelation!

Did you see the match between India and England which ended in a tie despite each team scoring 330 odd runs? Both teams could manage so many runs but fell short by one! And the match between England and Ireland, which also had about the same number of runs, and Ireland chased despite England being the Ashes-winning team they are! 

Both these matches were characterised by sudden and surprising turns, with bursts of high scoring, followed by fall of wickets, all resulting in uncertainty, all the time. This helps in making the game more interesting, resulting in more viewership, more kicks for the same money for the sponsors!

The India-England match, I understand, had the highest ever viewership as per statistics. And I presume that the tie would be because some influential quarters demanded a tie! 

The recent expose of Pakistani players being involved in spot fixing, earlier scams involving Indian players, the Cronje episode were only specific instances that had to be revealed, probably since the evidence was so out in the open and could not be concealed. And some could claim that they've acted on cleaning the game up. And result in more inclusion! I'm saying there is a more elaborate stage management at work here.

Why did Ireland win against England now? And why did Bangladesh shock India in the last World Cup? That is because we have to have more inclusion in the game, more teams have to emerge, more audiences have to be tapped; we have to plan for the future!

I have a theory that the World Cup has to have India in the finals to make economic sense. Else, who will buy the tickets and who will watch the ads during the breaks? And Sachin has to help India win a World Cup before he retires! So it helps if we can facilitate all of this.

I'm not asking for the game to be shut down, and the guilty to be punished. Thats been the traditional approach! Why should we be worried that there is no game left in cricket. We're disturbed only if we view this as a degradation of the game, a loss of purity. But this is no longer a game, but an enterprise.

And if so many are benefitted because of this enterprise, generating employment and work, why shut it down? As long as someone, somewhere is earning something, it's good. We are a free nation!

The only worry is that the common people should not waste their time on this, and while away their lives, earning nothing but excitement. But this is true for so many other such things, like reality shows and entertainment programs. Audiences have to go through this farce and emerge more mature. They have to recognise what they are investing in terms of mind and time in such pursuits, and see if it's all worth it!  

Whose business is it anyway!

New York! New York!

An exceptional Mumbai-bred mathematics student is convicted of threatening to kill George Bush and other ministers over his web post. The FBI has filed a case against him based on messages on a Yahoo site, and they believe that the statements calling Iraqis to avenge war on their country by America, were sent from his computer in his university.

That's Vikram Buddhi! He has already spent two and a half years in jail, and has apparently been the target of racially motivated violence. He is looking at 35 years, if convicted. And people believe he is innocent and wrongly held.

This is another example of a possible over-reaction by America post 9/11. A subject very well handled by a recent Hindi movie 'New York'. We saw that movie a couple of weeks back again when it ran on television. The treatment of the subject is very mature. And I like the character played (very well) by Irfan Khan.

Especially two lines. One where he says that it is only a person within the system can restore the confidence lost. And the other where he says that this is the country in which you can still expect a migrant's son to captain the baseball side. Somehow, the way it is said invokes a sense of belief and leaves you assured that things change for the better.

We may or may not agree with what is said. And what was said could be untrue. But in the context and presentation, it appears justified and logical, depending on how liberal your viewing lens are. The current episode of Vikram brought back memories, and gave another reason to not believe!