The Name is Bond

The hills come alive under his artistic mastery of words.

He bonds with the mountains, them becoming his companion.

The stories are light, descriptive and emotional.

The characters are real, simple and loving.

He writes about the old Europeans who made the hills their homes, had large homes and bigger hearts.

The Sahibs and Memsahibs and the Indian kids who went to English schools.

His stories do not have ill-will, they do not speak of treachery.

They carry the innocence of childhood even in the old, the generosity of friendship even in the poor.

Bond's language is simple just like the mountain people. His feeling is real.

''Great trees of the mountains, they know me well. They know my face in the window, they see me watching them, watching them grow listening to their secrets, bowing my head before their outstretched arms and seeking their benediction.''

I remember reading one of his books when I was just a young girl, imagining and wanting that life.

Today, I would love to visit his mountains, smell the pines and deodars, walk along the lanes and experience Mussoorie as he describes it.

Read Ruskin Bond's " The Prospect of Flowers" for the love of nature, for the beauty of friendship, for the joy of caring.

Strange Bedfellows

Disclaimer: This has no relation to the movie by the same name .

This is more than any movie could possibly cover in 150 minutes.

Mention a Goan Get-away to friends and they all think you are going to be rushing from beach to beach, exploring shacks and driving from North to South.

They all come up with ideas and advice on which is the best beach, where you can eat the best food, which is the best dance floor and where you can get the best deals on adventure sports.

For some like us, these are all moot! 

What matters is  a "Chalet", a stocked pantry and a house full of laughter. 

The initial fear of "Will I belong" soon disappears with welcoming hugs and broad smiles! 

A quick trip to the alma mater, 

Stories from the past which gets us laughing and blushing?

Creating new memories, forging stronger relationships.

Some come to vanquish demons, some to re-live what they left behind.

For many it's a get away from the mundane, 

for some its remembering, some- its forgetting.

Sadness and disappointments too are talked about without fear of being judged.
Old friends and new. 
For all of us it's a time to connect, meet and share. 

Through all this 

Music and food are the constant. 

We have all changed over the past 20 years. Success, stress, fighting battles, losing some. Winners all.

We talk, building our support mechanism, stepping in to fight  for others, proving that time and distance and ego stand no chance when it comes to brotherhood and sisterhood too.

We have our jokes now, the camaraderie continuing to invite and include more every year. 

Designations, levels, roles, age  all disappear for those 3 days, everyone becoming equals. 

The rooms stand witness to the stories we share, smoke rings accompanying a longing sigh at times, numerous empty bottles forgetting,remembering, creating.  The hot flaming stove warming hearts and body. 

Rum soaked food leaving you wanting more of the same.

Kicked out of beds, bathroom doors being banged on, toothpaste being borrowed, countless teas shared. Nothing changed!!

14 beds, 25 bodies, singing one song! 

"Mere Rashke Qamar"

Proving happiness too can make strange bedfellows!

One Step Closer

Race Report 

I never pride myself on being a fast runner!

I am a plodder, focus being on completing strong and getting back to normal routine immediately after a race.

Any organised run with a timing chip qualifies as a race to me.

When I signed up for a half marathon at TRORT-2017 it was because I needed to be able to assess myself before the Full Marathon in October.

I was aware that the route was tough. 

I did not know where this was located.

I do not understand maps, elevations. 

I was aware that there were several ups and downs. 

I was told by a friend that this was no joke. It was not just a half marathon!

I decided to prepare for it. Which meant hill training, which I never do.

I run inside an apartment complex where it's all flat! 

I took to running outside, where I could feel a slight climb and felt I was doing good! 

Till I was told that the elevation on the route was way more!! 

So I took the bull by the horns and faced my nemesis- flyover!!

I ran the Indiranagar flyover a couple of times, up and down. 

I ran when I was tired and my legs felt like lead. 

I did this for 2 weeks. 

I felt I was ready to face Pipeline Road.

There were not many runners at the start point.

67 Full marathon participants

310 half marathon participants 

172 10 Kms runners 

A very functional location, no frills venue.

The warm up was what we needed, not the 'in vogue' Zumba and loud music, but necessary stretches to help face the hills. 

The run started on time. 5:30 AM for the half marathon.

The first 1.5 kms were on mud roads, made wet and slippery after the heavy downpour the previous night.  It was still not very bright at that time and the puddles and rubble made the start a little difficult. 

The next 3 kms were the famed Pipeline Road.

It was well laid tar road, waste land, some construction on both sides.

You could see the road stretching way far- just ups and downs. 

It was bright and the runners could be seen in a serpentine queue, some still able to talk, others already huffing and puffing.

I silently ran, comfortable with the pace. 

Every aid station was stocked with cut bananas, glucose tabs, water, electral, salt, hard orange and lemon candies. 

It helped that the volunteers were cheerful, forcing people to hydrate and eat something, urging us to take it easy and enjoy the route! 

Saw a runner struggling to walk, she had cramps and was in pain.

Stopped to help her to the side, as usual my bottle of water came to her aid, she stood and stretched a bit till she was comfortable she could walk and I could go on.

Having struggled and living with a DNF because of not getting the timely support, I could not leave her and run knowing how bad cramps could be. 

( I checked her time later and was very happy to see she had completed the race)

Kanakapura Road was a neat stretch, well laid roads, again with its fair share of ups and downs, with villages on each side.

the 10.5 km turn was a relief, knowing now we were racing towards finish. 

Little did we know,that doing it all over again was not just a 10 kms run. 

It was run, walk, run from the 14th km. It took every ounce of mental and physical strength to push myself to run.

I saw the ups and went ohhhh! I went down and cried Aaahhhh!! 

and just when you thought it was flat, it started again!!

This continued till the 17th km, where we again turned onto Pipeline Road. 

And this was a test of each runners strength.

I wondered what more I could have done to be able to face this stretch.

Was it legs, upper body? Or knees or glutes, what should I work on? 

When I run, I normally set myself a moving target and look at pacing myself to reach and cross that runner. 

This time I set stationary targets to run till I got there, then take a walking break- these were not more than 2 min runs by now!!

I could see everyone walking in front of me and behind me! Not many attempted to run this stretch.

I was maintaining a steady pace with my run walk routine. I felt fatigue taking over every bit of my body. 

I told myself and others who were passing me, that it was just another 2 kms. 

Once we hit the mud road, I knew the finish point was not far off.

I could run. It was easier to run on the mud road, with very little elevation here. 

I was determined to complete it running and took off!  Determined not to stop!

Every step taking me closer to the finish mat.

Felt good! To be able to run, all the months of conditioning at the gym were now coming to my aid!

A final burst and the mat was touched!

2:20:51 for a race I was proud to be part of.

The cool down was again a basic and much needed stretch. Breakfast was hot and tasty. Volunteers were cheerful and friendly. 

Overall the best race in my 9 years of running.

The Run of the Raramuri Tribe-009 

July 29, 2017

Organised by Attitude Prime