I am MRR... I am a Mumbai Road Runner

It’s been almost 8 years since I have been bitten by the long distance running bug. Though I have been running track in school, never thought I would do long distance. But here I am, a convert to a long distance runner... if I can dare to call myself that... and have been running ever since. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that running has become an addiction (though my friends and family may beg to differ), it sure has become a passion, a part of life, a part of who I am.

Running has given me a lot. Sleepless nights is one of them (like before the Mumbai marathon, or any event for that  matter), early risings (after all we runners take to the streets while the world sleeps), how to run faster than the strays that are snapping at your heels. 

Jokes aside running given many friends who are dear to me, groups that I can call my family, my tribe, runners who I look up to who I admire, who I call my inspirations, my mentors. To name only a few and  it mention the other, due to the greying of the hair and lessening of the grey cells of the brains, would be a cardinal sin. Running has provided me with a platform to do what I do best, scream, howl and cheer and of course run, to touch the lives of others and help in anyway I can.

Running has showed me that you need not run fast to win, you need not stand on that podium to be called a winner. By just completing what you started makes you a winner. To overcome all those running phases, just crossing that finishing line is your sweet victory. Your speed doesn’t matter, same for your body type, your age, gender, background, all that doesn’t matter, your a runner and running embraces you and doesn’t discriminate against you, nor does the runners (well at least not the snooty ones). You cheer for the slowest runner as much as you cheer for the fastest runner. You pump and encourage every runner, whether you know them or not, cause at the end of the day we all need it. Running makes you more humane. 

Running lead me to the Mumbai Road Runners. A bunch of runners who embrace the spirit of running. Organising runs by runner for runners, where runners support you in the form of the wonderful Angel volunteers. A running group that’s more than running, that’s there for supporting for the ones who truly need it. A group that’s not exclusive and embraces everyone, no restrictions, no conditions.

Being an admin makes me part of a diverse group of individuals who manage to juggle their personal lives, their personal careers, their jobs, and the coordination of the various training runs and running events. People who work tirelessly to put together events and runs, behind the scenes. Makes me proud to be part of the team.

Being associated with the Bandra-NCPA gives me the opportunity to work with the runners who volunteer, the SPOCs, sponsors, partners and of course runners. Allowing me to give back to running what running has given to me. To meet runners and reach out to them. The only drawback is, I don’t know why people keep calling me Sir. I haven’t done anything great nor have I been knighted by any queen for the matter of fact.

So as we are on the cusp of celebrating the 8th Anniversary of the Mumbai Road Runner, really appreciate and thank everyone that makes MRR possible, without whom there wouldn’t really be an MRR. To every runner that takes to the streets of Mumbai, takes to the street anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, to every member. 

So tomorrow as we take to the streets between Bandra to NCPA, as a runner, as volunteer, we celebrate you. So run with pride, run with a smile, run with your head high, cause you are a Mumbai Road Runner.

Proud to be a Mumbai Road Runner, proud to be MRR, cause I am MRR.

Coming Back Home

I am coming home, 

to place that’s familiar to me. 

To a place that I know 

and they all know me.

I am coming to a bed

That’s made especially for me

To let my head drop on my pillow

And go beddy by

Forgetting the care of the day

That’s just fine by

Cause home isn’t just a 4 walled structure

But to a place where I feel safe & secure

A place where I feel loved

A place that I can call my own 

I’m coming to the people I love 

And the ones who love me

Without whom I would be incomplete 

Wherever they maybe that’s home to me

Truth be told 

Home is where I would rather be

Cause there’s nothing better in life 

Than coming back home

Everyday is Yoga Day

Well we recently concluded national, or was it international, Yoga Day. It’s the one day when you have people bending like pretzels, into positions that you never thought was humanly possible. Flooding the internet, social media with pictures and videos of them performing various yoga asanas in celebration of the day.

But then you also have those who perform yoga everyday. They perform yoga asanas at each and every part of their day. For example, they do the reshape asana where they contort their body into different shapes so as to try an squeeze into any space, which they are fortunate enough to find, in a crowded Mumbai local. Then you have the hang-in-there asan, where you hang on for you dear life, to every little nook and crevice, that you can find while traveling by say a Virar local (I am a Western suburb guy, no bias here). Then you have the shrink asan where to you try to squeeze as much as possible so as to fit into that fourth seat or make place for that fourth seat. 

If these asanas weren’t enough then you have the holding your breath asana where you have to perform breath control when you’re pressed to someone with a well oiled head. The sarso and the naryal ka tail help you test your limits on how long you can hold your breath, and not to forget the various sweaty armpit, which you would be unfortunate to smell depending on your height. You also get a good stretch while trying to reach for the overhead handles that are two people away.

Then you come to office and you have to be constantly performing another set of asanas like the ballet asana where you constantly need to be on your toes, unless you’re the manager or the boss. You also have to do the bend-over asana where you need to bend forward and backward and in all directions to keep your leads, managers, bosses, clients, just about everyone, happy.

At the end of the day, when you’re back home after a tiring and stressful day, all you want to do is perform the shavasana, close your eyes and be dead to the world (not literally, hope you get the gist of what I mean).

So spare a thought for these poor souls, for whom every day is yoga day. They don’t even flood the social media and the Internet with videos and images of them doing yoga; most the time I don’t think they are even aware of what they are doing, but still do it every single day.

A Father’s Day Dream

I found myself standing on a familiar terrace, one that I have stood on for over 25 years of my life. I could feel a light breeze on my face as I stood there staring vacantly into space. There was loud music playing, must have been a wedding or a birthday preparation or celebration, like it could only happen in Stone Building.

Suddenly there was a familiar refrain (if I got this part of a song right) that could be heard playing over the speakers. Out of the blue came a voice, in tune with the song “Aey, Kya Bolti Tu”. I kind of knew who that voice belonged to, it was the one that I heard almost most of my life but hadn’t heard it in over a decade, never thought I would ever hear it again. Still I strained to see who it was. A smile bloomed on my face when I located the the origin of the refrain.

As if on cue, there came the response to the refrain “Aey, Kya Mein Bolun”. A familiar voice that I have heard each day of my life, morning, noon and night. I smiled and cheered as the voices of my dad and mum played of each other. I really didn’t know my mum could sing, never heard her sing before.

Later that evening we went to meet him. Seeing us, he hurried towards us, coming to the chains that bordered the area. He hugged his wife and planted a kiss on her forehead and then on either of the cheek. I teasingly suggested that he could do better and if he wanted I could turn my back, with a cheeky smile. He grabbed me and put me in a head hold like he always did.

It was a perfect moment, one that I missed, one that I longed for. I hugged him and buried my head in his shoulder. It was a perfect moment to be captured. I removed my cell trying to capture this moment for all eternity. 

I fiddled through the various modes to find the right mode. Suddenly I heard a faint sound in the background, like something ringing. The sound grew louder, a familiar but annoying sound. That’s when I realised that it was my phone’s alarm and it was time to wake up from the dream.

They say that early morning dreams tend to come true but I know this is one that will not come true. One thing for sure I am not going to shed a tear cause the memories are etched in the heart and there they will always be for eternity, making every day a Father’s Day.

The Merry-go-Round 2.0

It is that time of the year once again when we Mumbai Runnaholic crazies to do the merry-go-round, round and round the stadium, burning the track for 2/12/24 hours at a stretch, hoping for those precious drops of rains and that the humidity and heat doesn’t kill us before that, like only the Mumbai weather can.

So what was different this time around? Well to begin with it was different team of way more talented and faster runners, a different strategy, after all coach nay bola (if I may borrow this phrase from the MMA guys), a different running slot and time (a new experience of running at midnight, something that can be ticked off my ToDo list).

Being the forgetful git that I am (I blame it on ageibg and diminishing grey cells) forgot to put in my bottle of Enerzal (so there goes my pre-race hydration plan). To top it all forgot to put in my socks, even though I had removed it, so it meant it was running it and fear of those dreaded blisters.

It rained while they briefed us and click3: pics of runners in the slot, and while we warmed up (if you can call it that) and then the rain played truant once again. But running on the track there was a light breeze, at certain place.

So it began, the next 2 hours of running, passing runners, cheering and passing friend and fellow runners, and being passed by some awesome runners. For a change, the first hours actually didn’t feel too much of the humidity or the heat. It was a different feeling being on the track from the last go around. And even though I had my music blaring I could hear a couple of fellow runner cheering their running friends on. Thanks to the support of the awesome Ami who ensured that I had hydration and could maintain a steady pace for that first hours.

One hour went and we reversed, and then kept looking at the clock to when to increase the pace. In the mean time had an awesome sprint catch up with Girish and Thyag for a couple of meters.

Right around the 90 minutes mark something didn’t feel quite well. Started to to feel an uneasiness, a bile working its way up. Could be an acidic reflux or maybe it was trying something new, was not able to put finger on it. Had to walk for a couple of meters. Even tried to wretch out the uneasiness, only to bring out a bit of bile. And when I decided to up the pace, felt a muscle tighten, not able to give that final push.

In the end finished pretty close to my target so was satisfied with the run. Actually needed this cause was feeling down and low about running from the past couple of days. Call it the weight effect or the effect of age, at the end of the day was glad to have done this, a shot in the arm that was required.

So another stadium run is in the bag. Loads of lessons learned and loads of chinks to fix but no regret. Albeit a tiring experience, an experience nonetheless. Got to thank and congratulate Sunil Sir and Sangeeta ma’am and NEB sports for another awesome experience, my ARC team and it’s captain and coach Girish and Varun for the opportunity and of course the awesome captains and team members, to the crazy running family, my MRR family and my fellow team members (could hear Manoj and Jesu cheering even over my Bose... my name dropping skills at its best) and my fellow running family and the awesome volunteers.

So till the next year, next race, another stadium run in the bag, another set of memories in the bag.

Morons of the Street... the characters you meet on the road

You find them everywhere, roaming around like they just don’t care. Often assuming that they are the greatest thing to have walked the earth, the greatest gift to mankind. Well if they are a gift then could I have the receipt please, maybe they could be exchanged for a better piece, if a refund ain’t possible.

They go around like they own the streets, they own the road, as if they are the king of the road. Following rules is so beneath them, rules ain’t meant for them, not applicable to them. The road is their formula one, motor GP track, and they are future Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Danica Patrick and Rossi, speed demons, who have a need for speed.

Helmets were not made for them, cause how do you give them something that would spoil their appearance, a tool that could drive them bald, a conspiracy by those who are jealous of their looks. So you will find them on the wrong side of the road, helmetless, at times three on a poor two- wheeler that has to bear their weight, talking on their phone, jumping signals, trying to cut lanes. 

They love their horns more than anything in this world, or so it may seem, blasting it every single opportunity, as if each blast gives them some sort of orgasmic release. They are always in a high, a high beam that is, almost blinding the poor oncoming traffic with their headlights in high beam. Thus making it their mission of making their fellow motorists deaf with the blairing  of their horn, blind from their headlight.

And should you chance to find yourself in front of one of these, beware, be prepared, just give them way. They will blast their horns, and give you icy glares, till you give them what they feel is rightfully theirs. How dare you block their way, how dare you?

So if you chance to come across one of these creatures, which you very likely will, take a deep breath and stay calm, cause loosing it will do you more harm, cause they will remain the morons that they are.

Don’t Dream it’s Over

Even if the world may seem to you like a cold and lonely place and everyone seems to be on your case, but remember that the world is a better place with you in it.

You may feel that people conspire against you, luck seems to look down upon you, nothing going your way, just have faith and hold a little longer, cause you never know when your luck may change and the chips may begin to fall in place, cause the fortune favours the brave, the brave who believed, the brave who held on when others let go, when others stopped believing.

All is never lost, nor are you a lost case, a lost cause, cause all you need to do is know where to look and you’ll find a way out of the mire that has been sucking you in, and you will find your way back home. There’s always hope for the most hopeless of cases, there’s always redemption for the repentant soul.

Even if your heart is filled with darkness, let the light through, even if it is just through a crack or crevice. Let it seep in, little by little flooding your heart with light, banishing the darkness that clouded your mind, freeing you from its clutches. 

Do not internalise the pain that you feel. Let it all out, give it vent. Cause when you hold it all in the only one that it will torture is you, curdling and festering till you can hold it no longer. All you need to is just reach out and there will always be a hand to grab you, a hand to save you from the pain you inflict on yourself. There is always someone out there to help you, to save you, to embrace you, to make you feel the love you deserve, the love you need.

Remember when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. There can be nothing beyond rock bottom; the harder you fall the higher you shall rise, the higher you shall bounce back. Just keep believing, just have faith, cause even if it is as small and tiny as a mustard seed, it will grow to bear fruits.

The world isn’t against you, it only believes in challenging, to shake you from your stupor, from your slumber, to discover how capable you truly are, capable enough to rise to the occasion. It has no intention of breaking you, bringing you to your knees. It’s only intention is to hold a mirror to show you who you truly are, not what you perceive yourself to be.

Your life is a precious gift, a gift not just for you. Giving up on what has been gifted is a selfish act, you end up thinking more of yourself and less of the ones who will be affected by it. Don’t give up on life cause you never know when it will surprise you. Even in the most darkest of night, even in the most difficult of situation, you will find that shining light within you that will guide you home.

So don’t ever give up on life, don’t ever dream it’s over, cause there’s so much to live for, there’s so much that we can give. So hold on a little longer and you’ll feel you’re getting stronger, even though the world may seem like a dark and lonely place, everything seems bleak, there’s always hope for you, your hope and faith will guide you home, find a way back home. Don’t dream it’s over.

Running in the park... after the Rains

Stepping into the park, after it rained the previous night, is like stepping on a path that has been set aflame. The rain has unburdened the Gulmohar of their red and yellow flowers, which lay strewn all along the path, like a carpet in your honour, that has been set on fire cause you would be burning it up with your pace, no matter it may be.

Everywhere you look, everything you see, looks so fresh, shiny and new. The rains has washed off summer’s grime, leaving everything looking fresh and clean. Everything seems to appear gleaming and shining till dust once again sets on them. 

The smell of wet mud fills your nostrils, intoxicating your senses, fueling your runner’s high. And though it may stick to your shoes, cakes of mud clinging to it, refusing to let go no matter how much you may drag your feet, the only time you’re allowed to do so and not be a bad thing, leaving behind a trail of muddy footprints, your footprint on the damp mud.

You see tiny streamlets, not yet a gushing stream, but far from a roaring rapid, sufficient to have a flow, to make it through the fallen twigs and leaves, downwards flowing, to a watering hole, or meeting up with a fellow streamlet to become a bigger stream, washing away anything that may come in its way.

You see droplets of water on the leaves, glistening in the light of the morning sun, refracting the light, bursting into a prismic rainbow, a remembrance, a memory, of the rain that bathed the world previous night. Adding to the allure of nature, the beauty of nature, adorning her like no accessories can.

You feel light headed and giddy, cause you’ve got that runner’s high. The freshness of nature freshening up your senses, making you feel all shiny and new like the nature around you. You can’t help but go hopping and bounding, hippity-hop, sprinting and leaping, splashing and sploshing down the carpeted path, with a joy-filled, gleeful heart, hoping that it will rain while you have fun on the run.

Smile... and the World Smiles with You

The day, Sunday... the occasion, the weekly long run. Been struggling all week, thanks to the weather, thanks to a stomach bug, so was determined to complete the target mileage I set myself. The weather, surprisingly humid and hot, considering there were thunder showers the previous night, did no favours.

I plodded through my run, my pant soaking wet, dripping, as if i had peed in them. Could feel the sweat trickle down my leg, drip from my cap. I knew I was struggling but I also knew I had to build confidence that I desperately needed before the merry-go-round, or as you may call it, the stadium run.

A friend at the other end of the road waved at me and joined me (we had already passed each other a couple of times). I am glad for her company, though I know my pace has slowed down, nonetheless, glad for it. I remove one of earphones so that I can hear what she says and continue to jog with her now.

As we chat, as we discuss, I say how so often that we are so involved in our trainings, so focused on our runs, our gadgets, that we forget to interact with our surroundings, we forget to relax and enjoy our run, we forget to cheer and raise the spirits of those around us, we forget to be human. As an example I smiled, a genuine smile (hopefully not a creepy one), a at-the-spur-of-the-moment one, at the lady who was running on the other side of the road, half expecting it to be returned. She smiled back at both of us, a genuine appreciative smile (thank god she didn’t think me a strange, creepy fool trying to smile or hit on her). As we continue our run we passed another runner who running strong and steady, we gave her a thumbs up and applauded her effort (she was running almost the same time as I had started).

After a while, almost at the two hours mark for me, and the 10th km for my friend, decided to call it a day for running, as the heat was taking its toll and yeah nature was calling. So a bit disappointed that couldn’t complete the mileage I set out to do, I stopped and rushed home to answer nature’s call.

Fast forward to today. I’ve been having one of those days where a cold gets you down, and your body hasn’t yet developed the antibodies to fight it, so it piles on the work stress and makes you irritable, susceptible to anything that annoys you. While checking my messages I get a ping on my messenger stating that someone trying to connect with me on it. I checked as it had just put up a volunteer post for the Bandra-NCPA run, so may be it was someone who wanted to volunteer or needed some information about it.

What I saw was a pleasant surprise, it was same lady from the Sunday run. She was grateful that I smiled at her cause when she smiled back she relaxed and was able to go an extra kilometre, thus realising the importance of smiling during running and helping others to smile and relax. For this she was grateful.

Reading this made me smile, taking me away from the stress and irritation I was feeling, eventually relaxing me. So now it was my turn to thank my fellow runner for the wonderful message, wonderful appreciation, cause by your words you were able to put a smile on my face and brighten up a dull day.

So it’s true, when you smile, the world definitely smiles with you, and that smile has a way of finding itself back to you, brightening up your day. So pay it forward.

Challenging the challenges

Life is fraught with challenges. Wherever you look, where ever you may turn there’s a challenge waiting for you. No, no, I am not talking about challenges in a philosophical way, nor am I talking about the Game of Throne kind. I am referring to the challenge that people keep throwing at each other, you perform a challenge that has been thrown at you, make a video of you performing it, upload it on social media, tag others to do the same.

Well challenges are good, they keep you on your toes, they keep you active, give life meaning, and all that crap. But when every Tom-Dick-and-Harry keeps throwing some sort of challenge or the other, at you, then it may not be a good thing, after all too much of a good thing is not always a good thing. With so many challenges when do you rest, when do you recover? Moreover these challenges are more like fads, trending one moment, forgotten the next. What happens to the challenge once the challenge is completed? Does anyone remember the ice bucket challenge?

The Current set of challenges, not matter how well intentioned they may be, always seems destined for just the hash tag, socially mobile generation, in other words for the social butterflies, the social elites, the celebrities, just for the pomp and show. Most of them don’t seemed to be quite well thought out, hence their shelf life is limited and are quickly forgotten once the hype settles.

If you need a country to be fit, it’s not just performing some five minutes exercise that going to make it fit. Fitness has many connotations and it’s not just physical fitness, you need to have mental fitness too, and for that you need to improve the current lifestyle eliminating the stress that one faces. The notion of rat races and career orientation and constant moving have made life quite stressful. Not to forget the butt kissing and haanji culture, and the boss/customer is always right, all adds to the stress. Where do you materialise the time to do these challenges when you are always running from one point or another, from one deadline to another, and then challenging the next person. What happens after you perform the exercise, do you go back to living a sedentary lifestyle? Being fit is not just exercising, what about mental fitness, most importantly access to well-balanced and wholesome meal. We live in time where adulteration is rampantly practised and often goes unchecked. Everyone seems to be living on a razor edge and are set off even at the slightest of provocation. How can a nation be fit by just performing series of exercises and posting on social media?

Then you have the various running challenges. Well, if you are constantly running when do you let your body rest and recover. If you want to stay fit and running injury-free you also need to perform strengthening exercise. Constantly running, without proper rest and recovery could lead to injuries. 

In a way, if I dare to say, many of our religious practices themselves can be seen as a challenge. The month of Ramadan can be seen as the fasting challenge, the season of Lent can be seen as the abstaining challenge, you abstain from gossiping and talking bad behind others back, a.k.a. Bitching (most gossipy aunties seem to be bursting with gossip, come Easter), abstaining from liquor (with the full kasar taken once again  on Easter).

And if you are talking about challenges, maybe we should come up with a challenge to our politicians to fulfil all their pre-poll promises, or even trying to take the Virar local, for the government the challenge to buy something with paises they have reduced in petrol, for the BMC ensure that there are not a single pothole, for celebrities and socialites to do something without making a big thing or posting on social media. Now these challenges would definitely make thing interesting and would be beneficial to all.

In the end whatever the challenges that one tries to throw your way, tries to nominate you for, you don’t have to get caught up in all the euphoria of performing it. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to perform it or not and what’s in it for you, what’s best for you. Sometimes it’s better to challenge the challenge than blindly do them.