Family Madness

Family mania is etched on my mind in the aftermath of this holiday season. It was a drama and emotion packed week for me as I celebrated Diwali after almost six years. I refuse to call the last few years - Diwali celebration (when in the US), with the phoney mithais, crayon rangolis, wax diyas and stale goodies. A new Eureka moment dawned on me as my mind has reluctantly registered that it was actually missing the family drama and chaos that drives such festivals. Infact I have enough ammunition to write a new tele serial! The only sad moment this Diwali was loss of a ailing family member. As a mark of respect, we decided to not celebrate ‘Bhau beez’ and instead went out to Water Kingdom! I must have been an amphibian my last life. My soul lights up when I am in water, but this was something else. The crazy slides literally pushed the wind out of us after which we stuck to the kiddies rides! What fun that was!

I want to know!

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

and if you dare to dream

of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched

the center of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,

mine, or your own,

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you

to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful,

to be realistic,

to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me

if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty,

even when it's not pretty, every day,

and if you can source your own life

from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of a full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know

where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up,

after a night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the center of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me

where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you, from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. 

-Author Unknown

Aila Competition!!

Giggles!

The FIRST 21!!

I ran the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on 15^th Jan and what an experience it was. I count the 4hr-run as a trip and hence a travelogue is in order!

I remember vividly being so excited that I got up even before the alarm went off. With barely any sleep, we gathered at the holding area. The excitement was contagious; it was as if we had been shot with adrenaline. You could see people bent in strange poses as we began our warm up exercises. We huddled near the start line bobbing up and down to keep warm against the cool breeze. We clicked a hundred pictures on our camera phones. Finally the race started as we began our slow jog towards the sea link. The moonlit bridge came into view and the city rose dark against the black sky. It reminded me of the NYC sky line. Just as we were about 5 kms into the race, we saw few a athletes sprint by on the other side of the bridge in full action. I was told that they were the full marathon participants who had started at our finish line and had made their way across to us! It was amazing to see these athletes as they jogged on effortlessly, our entire batch cheering them on! As we were about half way through the sea link, dawn broke and the sky turned crimson. I sorely missed my camera which I had deemed an unnecessary- extra baggage! At that moment, I swore I would finish this race as opposed to quitting at 10K limit! As we exited the bridge, our first audience came into view and the entire lot of us increased our pace determined to put on a good show. We grinned at the bystanders and took longer swifter strides. As we turned left we met some more ‘full marathon runners’ who continued almost gliding to their half way mark. As the road turned around the “XYZ” the mundane streets dulled our enthusiasm which was only revived when larger groups of people huddled the street sides cheering us on! Then there was a siren and police bikes raced ahead with flags and a cameraman followed them. The astonished lot of us looked around to find the first of ‘full marathon’ runners overtaking us as our paths merged. We cheered harder and felt real inspiration to go on. The organizers had done a spectacular job of setting up ‘water bottle stands’ at every half km ride. There were stalls handing out wet sponges to cool our overheated limbs. We gulped down copious amounts of water and strew the empty bottles at the sides as instructed to ensure their swift collection and disposal. That was the only time I felt terribly guilty of littering the streets of Mumbai. I silently thanked those volunteers who would be cleaning up after us.

By the time we completed the full circle and came back to ‘Bandra sea link’ I could feel the tiredness creeping in. This time I was saved by another ‘U-turn’ as my own team mates who were ahead of us came into view cheering me on. I laughed and gave them thumbs up! We continued ahead with slow jogs that alternated with walks. A fellow team mate to whom I am thoroughly indebted to, motivated me by being my ‘half marathon’ tour guide! He literally listed out all the attractions along the road (right from Babulnath temple, Mahalakshi Temple, Pedhhar Road, Haji Ali, Marine Drive) edging me towards the finish line. After the 11K mark, exhaustion crept in and I yearned for some energy drinks. My sleep deprived mind played tricks on me and I swear I felt I was sleep walking. If that were true I would have entered the Guinness book of world records for longest ‘sleep walk’ EVER!

My monologue and reverie was broken as my blood sugar reached a new low. I was in denial of my fatigue, the pain in my legs as they grew heavier by the minute! My prayers

were soon answered as some bystanders offered ‘Parle G’ biscuits to the lot of us. We broke our stride to grab some biscuits and carried on nibbling. With renewed zeal we moved forward. All was indeed well till about 13km after which my legs started seriously hurting. For the next 5 kms I walked, crawled even. Bystanders cheered us on and that was the only reason why I made it to the finish line. As we turned the last corner onto Marine drive, it was as if we had entered a new world. Groups of people had put up stalls and the loud music got me jogging once again. The final frontier was the jog from 19-20km! It seemed never ending and was the longest stretch by far. The minute we reached the 20K mark, a renewed me was born who jogged ahead. I couldn’t believe I was almost finishing it and my own heart swelled up with pride! I was smiling by the time my ‘bib’ beeped the for the last time at the 21km finish line! FANTASTIC!