Farm in Mandwa

It takes just 45 minutes to get to Mandwa from Bombay by ferry, but the voyage takes you to another world. From the mad rush of Bombay to the tranquility of the Maharashtra mainland. Here, the nights are really cold and starlit, the air is pure and the neighbouring metropolis seems a world away.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444188@N05/sets/72157628997302367/

Stars in the Mandwa Sky

These words belong to Ahmed Ali, author of Twilight in Delhi, but sum up what I saw last week, while I was in a farm in Mandwa.

"The stars shine in clusters, so many of them, ever so many, little bunches of light, twinkling away with a white radiance, holding court, as it were. There are big stars and small stars, stars shining with a lonely lustre and stars glowing in bunches like pearls strung together in a necklace or like the forehead ornament of a beautiful brow. There are bunches of them shaped like a semicircular purse, and stars shaped like a nosering on a delicate nostril. And there are stars and stars, and inside the stars are cool green worlds, and every star is a lovely maid."

Knight in a Honda City!

This post is coming a week late, but I need to thank my anonymous hero from marathon Sunday.

After running the marathon on Sunday, three of us struggled to get a taxi outside VT. We were too tired to walk back to Churchgate station as every ounce of energy that we possesed that day was sapped by the marathon. Finally, a cabbie agreed to take us to the suburbs and all was well, or so we thought. As we drove past the same Bandra-Worli Sea link that we conquered around sunrise, the cab ended up getting 2 flat tires. The cabbie managed to get us past the toll booth but then the wheels started coming off.

We were exhausted and stranded on a stretch with no energy to walk to S V Road. Still in our running clothes and wearing our medals, we tried to hitch a ride to the main road. After a few minutes, a kind gentleman stopped his brown Honda City and gave us a ride all the way to Andheri. We got off at a signal and couldn't get our Knight's name. I didn't have my card to pass on to him. All I know is that he swims at The Club in Andheri. Oh, how I wish I could find my knight and buy him an expensive bottle of champagne. He was my hero on marathon Sunday...

Mumbai Marathon 2012: All Glory!!

When I walked into the holding area for the marathon runners at the Azad Maidan yesterday, there wasn't an inkling of doubt in my mind about how I would perform in the marathon. Yes, my preparations were plagued with illnesses at the wrong time and the knee that I injured during the Delhi Half Marathon could have posed a problem for me. But this was about me running my marathon in my city...

It started off wonderfully well. I initially stuck to the 5 hour and 30 minute pacers. Rahul Verghese and Tanvir from Running and Living were the bull's eyes that I focused on. The weather was perfect and the city was beautiful in the early morning, well before sunrise. Despite the run starting early, Bombayites turned up in large numbers. The marathon means a lot to this city and the crowd support was a huge help to me.

The first 20-odd kilometres were like the gentle sea breeze in the morning. We negotiated Haji Ali, Worli and the Sea Link without a hint of problems. But the knee that I injured in Delhi started acting up and I struggled till the 24 kilometre mark. The medical team suggested that I pull out or take it really easy. No force on earth was going to make me pull out on that wonderful day.

Cheered on by the voiceferous crowd, I put in everything and like last year, got a burst of energy at Caddell Road, near Shivaji Park from the wonderful locals. My father lived near Shivaji Park in the 1960s and always told me how wonderful the people there are. How right he was!! I think it's the sporting tradition of the park, which has produced some outstanding sportsmen that the faithful of the area encourage athletes.

We were pleasantly surprised to be cheered by the policemen on duty!

It started getting more difficult the second time around Worli Sea Face, when we had to run all the way till the Prabhadevi end. Once again, I was encouraged by the locals. In fact, I caught a glimpse of the 5 and a half hour pacers who were ahead of me and Tanvir urged me to keep going. That, I was going to do. 31 kilometres and on the sea face, a few kids offering biscuits and water... and I am talking 7 and 8-year olds told me "Uncle, keep going, just 11 kilometres left."

The most difficult part was to come. The stretch from Worli Sea Face to Haji Ali felt like 20 kilometres in itself!! The sun was out and it was getting warmer. The voices in my head started telling me that my knee wouldn't let me finish in the heat. After all, there was the climb up Pedder Road. I just had to tell the voices in my head to shut up! The much-dreaded climb past Jaslok Hopsital and the Russian Cultural Centre was rather easy.

Past Babulnath and on Marine Drive, less than 5 kilometres separated me from the finish line. By this time, it was more mental than physical. I suddenly realised that it was quite a distance from Churney Road to Marine Lines and from Marine Lines to Churchgate. I was at Talk of the Town and closing in on the Flora Fountain and yes, the glory of Victoria Terminus and the finish line beckoned me. 500 metres, 200 metres and yes, I DID IT!!!!! 42.195 kms.. I was a marathoner!!! Almost 24 hours after it was all over, the feeling hasn't sunk in yet.

I need to thank Rahul Verghese, Tanvir and the Running and Living Team. Please check out their website. http://runningandliving.com/ These are a wonderful set of people, who encourage and promote long distance running. Thank you guys..if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had a prayer of finishing.

I also want to thank the people of Marine Drive, SHIVAJI PARK, Pedder Road, Worli Sea Face, Prabhadevi, Mahim and Girgaum Chowpatty for coming out and cheering us. It's people like you that make this one of the greatest cities in the world. I am proud to be a Bombayite and days like yesterday make me prouder to have been born and to live in this city.

Special congratulations to my friend Bjorn Eklund, who came all the way from Stockholm and set the roads of the city on fire, completing the marathon in good time. He ran for a good cause (for AAWC, a charity that supports children of commercial sex workers).

And finally, kudos to Procam for organising a flawless event. The route was altered, making the run easier and volunteers and event crew helped make the run smooth and fun.

Sri Lankan Passion for Life

If there is one trait of the Sri Lankan people that really stands out, it is their passion for music and dance, which is their own 'joie de vivre.' The island nation's faithful love to sing and dance and are always on the lookout for an occassion.

When I was in Matara last month, I saw a group of young people put on carnival-esque costumes and dance with a band playing in the background. So, what was the occassion, I asked. These were friends of a couple that tied the knot the same morning and they were planning to playfully suprise and abduct the couple in a bullock-cart.

The group would grab passers-by and make them dance to their tunes. The only ones that would be 'spared' were the monks.

The dances were a free public spectacle and just about everyone on the street seemed to be happy and enjoying the performance. While the band was hired, the dancers were just a bunch of late 20-somethings who wanted to make the wedding day memorable for their friends. What I particularly liked was the entire unpretentious way the street party was held and how everyone was free to join in.

What is the punishment for murder of 7 people in India?

In November 2006, a drunken rich brat drove his fancy car off the road and over 15 labourers. Alistair Pereira managed to kill 7 of those labourers. In 2007, he was convicted and handed a sentence of just 6 months (!!!) imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 Lakhs to be paid to the kin of his victims.

Of course, the young man challenged the sentence and today, the Supreme Court of India handed him a sentence of 3 years! That's it!! 3 years for the murder of 7 innocent and poor people. This is what you call justice in India. Sigh

Read more here

Book Review: In Search of Sita

When I was in Yogyakarta last year and watched a wonderful rendition of the Ramayana, I was ashamed that despite being from India, I didn't even know the story properly. There are various versions of the great epic, but I had a skeletal idea of the most accepted version.

'In Search of Sita,' a compilation of essays and writing on Sita and the Ramayana, edited by Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale, is a good look into the various versions and folklore associated with the epic in India. The editors have gone through a lot of material before carefully choosing what to include in the book. A large number of these essays written by scholars such as Reba Som and Shashi Deshpande, question the broad and obedient acceptance of the actions of Lord Ram.

The most powerful of these essays is written by Mallika Sengupta and titled 'Sitayana.' Here Sita is quoted as bluntly asking her estranged husband: "You have done grave injustice on me and my sons merely on the suspicion of what may happened in Lanka. There can never be a proof. Today, if I take the oath of chastity, will you give us back those twelve years of our lives, Your Majesty?"

The book also contains valuable insights from scholars like Indira Goswami and Madhu Kishwar in a dialogue format. 

I personally could never just accept the 'excuses' made by various people for Lord Ram's mistreatment of his wife. All this stemmed from a chauvanistic attitude that a vast majority of Indian men have toward women. Like in other parts of the world, women have had to fight hard to earn their rights in India, which has been by and large a sexist and patriarchal society. After reading this book, I have developed a great deal of respect and admiration for Sita, a strong, loyal and beautiful woman, who was wronged by her husband and the ever-backward society of India. 

In my pursuit to know more about the Ramayana, this book is a valuable reference point. I have decided to read a few versions of the book this year, as well watch some folk performances in different parts of the country.