Lockdown Days Covid 19: Part 3

5th May 2020

Politics never fails to surprise us. As the nation began Lockdown 3.0 on 4th May, there was a solid game of politics right from the morning of the 1st day. The Ministry of Railways in the order number DTP/2020/05/17 dated 2nd May confirmed that the local government (States) shall handover the tickets to migrant labour cleared by them and collect the fare from them and handover the amount to the Railways. (Point Number 11c). This notice was for the special trains that were organised for the transportation of Migrant labour. 

For the first time, after a long time, Congress played some politics which caught the ruling party off guard and on the back foot leaving them to do nothing but damage control with lies through out the day. On the morning of 4th May 2020, Congress President made an announcement that all state Pradesh Congress shall bear the prices of tickets of the migrants labour as the Central government was not providing them free of cost. No wonder this Government doesn't care about the citizens at all. This the same labour who hasn't earned a penny in the last 45 days, are totally dependent on food and shelter which is provided by either state government or some NGOs. How on earth can they afford to pay 800-1500 ticket prices? 

As soon as this announcement was made, the IT machinery was diverted to do all damage control. Now just see the entire chronology of what was said and done to give the party a face saving exit.

To begin with the Government spokesperson, ANI, tweeted quoting Government source's (Not any official order) that government will be waiving off the ticket prices for the special trains. But this was in vain, as at ground level many labour had already paid the ticket prices.

Then came the ruling partys IT machinery. They started sending out tweets quoting a government order which mentioned that no ticket sales will be done in the window. Well the order is true but one needs to applaud the guts of these IT machinery that they can speak and shout any level of nonsense to supress the truth. Now let's see the facts, why did the order say No tickets will be sold at the window? Because each labour who wished to travel in these special trains had to register to the local police station and then they will be directed to the Nodal officer from whom the tickets will be provided to them. So obviously there will be no ticket distribution in the window. But when you have just shout, be it white lies, we are just left with an option to stand up and do Slow Claps.

Next up was the Times Now who now started out giving news that only Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala Government took money from the labours. Another slow clap moment because what has state government to do about railways which comes under the Central Government purview? But luckily, to counter this channel, no one had to do anything as their own group companies paper Ahmedabad Mirror had done a news that the trains which left from Gujarat had collected money from the labour for the tickets, a BJP ruled state.

The MP of Rajya Sabha of BJP, Subramaniam Swamy had tweeted saying how moronic of the Government to collect Money from the labour. Later he tweeted again, now acting as a spokesman, that Railway Minister has been informed and no money will be collected from the labours. The Central Government will bear 85% and respective State Government will be paying 15%. Again, now the question came up was how did they arrive at the above figures? Let me explain, because this is another Jumla in the language of ruling party.

If at all you are buying a ticket from IRCTC website or ticket window the price you pay is already a subsidised price. Since railway is the heart of transport for majority of the population, the tickets are provided at a subsidised rate to the citizens. But damage control had to be done, so a BJP spokesperson tweeted this and it was used a reference by all IT machinery. I quote the tweet, "Railways already subsidises 57% of passenger fare . 1/3 rd passengers & empty train on return journey adds another 28%. This 85% is borne by railways . It’s asking another 15% from states of origin and not from labour". 

Now mind you, media person had already covered news for labours who had paid for the tickets and this tweet came up at 4:16 PM on 4th May. The person clearly mentions 'Railway already subsidises' which means the rate which we pay is already a subsidised rate. And that was coming somewhere between 800-1500. How does the 57% + 28% came only he knows. 

They even used the Press Trust of India Twitter handle to give way tweets of quoting Government source's that no charge will be levied on the citizens. But in all this noise, not a single official order by the railways confirming that they are not charging for the tickets.

Honestly, I am speechless now to comment about it. I just remembered few lines of a famous Marathi song from the movie Sinhasan:

कसे पुण्य दुर्दैवी अन् पाप भाग्शाली

अरे पुन्हा आयुष्यांच्या पेटवा मशाली

And for sure I am not a Congress fan either. These days I am watching a documentary on World War 2 on Netflix where I came across a stark similarity. When the Anglo American airforce had started Air Raids on the soil of Germany, their main intention was to cut the infrastructure of the country and break the morale of the citizens of Germany. But inspite of the all the damages done by those air raids, the citizens morale never came down and they were still seen in support of their Führer. Though I saw this part on the same day any resemblance is a mere coincidence.

6th May 2020

I had come across a post in Instagram of an ultra runner who had done an innovative workout to beat the lockdown blues. It wasn't something new, but he added some tastemaker to it to make it more attractive. It was about climbing the stairs of your building up & down, which is already their in my routine too which I had mentioned in the first part of Lockdown diaries. So what is the tastemaker then? The guy had listed out Top 10 buildings in terms of floors and then he did the calculation that how much will he have to climb his own building to achieve the feat of climbing the Top 10. I will break it down to make it more simpler. My building has 14 Floors. Lets take the example of Burj Khalifa which has 163 Floors. So how many times do I have to climb the stairs of my building up & down to achieve the climbing and coming down on the stairs of Burj Khalifa's 163 floors once:

Simple Math.163 divided by 14 comes to 11.64. So that means climb my buildings stairs (14 floors) up & down 11 times which will cover 154 floors (11 x 14). Now that leaves me the 0.64 (11.64 - 11) i.e. 9 floors (163 - 154). So in the 12th round I will have to climb up & down only 9 floors. So that will cover the total floors of Burj Khalifa. 

So taking this as a new task for Lockdown 3.0, I prepared the below table:

Name	Floors	My Building Floors	Number of times climb to be made	Rounding off	Rounding off	Total Floors climbed
Burj Khalifa	163	14	11.64	11*14=154	1*9=9	163
Shanghai Tower	128	14	9.14	9*14=126	1*2=2	128
Goldin Finance Centre	128	14	9.14	9*14=126	1*2=2	128
Lotte Tower	123	14	8.79	8*14=112	1*11=11	123
Abrai Al Bait Clock Tower	120	14	8.57	8*14=112	1*8=8	120
International Commerce Centre	118	14	8.43	8*14=112	1*6=6	118
World One (WIP)	117	14	8.36	8*14=112	1*5=5	117
Ping An Finance Centre	115	14	8.21	8*14=112	1*3=3	115
Guangzhou Finance Centre	111	14	7.93	8*14=112	-	112
Willis Tower	108	14	7.71	7*14=98	1*10=10	108

I kicked from today itself, covering the Willis Tower. So considering my regular workout schedule with the Sunday break. If all goes well, then I will be on top of Burj Khalifa on 16th May 2020 which is the penultimate day of the Lockdown 3.0. Yeah, I know it is a daunting task. So lets see how things workout ahead.

11th May 2020

Its been a terrifying week. So much happened back to back that good news seems to have become scarce. There was a gas leak in Vizag in a chemical plant which lead to 11 people and few animals dead and 1000s infected. The images which came were really horrifying. If this wasn't enough, next day we woke up to news that a goods carrier train crushed the migrant Labour who were apparently sleeping in the tracks. The labour who didn't get the transport to their native place in Madhya Pradesh had started to walk towards their homes. Enroute they decided to rest for a while on the railway tracks only to be dead in the sleep. 18 workers were killed. The images of Rotis lying on the track were bone chilling. Next day even a newspaper had a headline saying we are out of words. The biggest irony in all this was, the dead bodies of the labour were sent to their homes in a special train. The same train they had expected to arrive to take them back alive. The debate on the money taken from labour who were lucky to get the trains also didn't go into any logical conclusion as the Railways never came out with any official document. So much for living upto the name of PM Cares. On the other side the Government had started flying planes and sending navy ships to get them back from various destinations. Even the Covid 19 area too didn't give any cushion as the total effected cases have gone beyond 67000. With the Lockdown 3.0 coming in its last week, we still have no clarity as to what will happen next. 

The only ray of hope in all this was seen coming from Kerala. The last I checked was the state had 505 cases in total and around 450 have recovered. They have been able to tackle the Covid situation very bravely without any much assistance from the Central Government. And not to forget this was the same state which registered the first case in India, the patient who had directly come from Wuhan. Let's hope even Maharashtra sees some good days. But summer surely isn't the season for good news.

At personal front, the new task which I mentioned above for Lockdown 3.0, I completed 5 days of the same. Well surprisingly, it has went well uptill now. So now the Top 5 buildings in the world are remaining. The weighing scale too gave some relaxation with it coming down by a small fraction (0.5Kilos).  

15th May 2020

On 12th May the PM addressed the nation, but not related to Covid. It was more of a lecture on AtmaNirbharta, how we should buy local and make our brands as global brands. To be honest I am 100% in for this idea. But like the old saying goes, charity begins at home. Well the man who just wants a country to all of a sudden turn local is the same man who is driven in BMW, writes using a Mont Blanc has an eye gear of Maybach and watch of Movado. But then expecting logic and honesty from the current ruling dispensation is an Interstellar dream. I remember back in 2014 when the current PM was CM of state Gujarat. He use to be driven in Scorpio which is an Indian brand. When he first time landed in Delhi, the victory lap too was in that car. The owners of Mahindra had then tweeted that if we are provided the rules and regulations of how a PM car should be we will be happy to design one for them. I then had seriously hoped that PM might agree to that considering the RSS background. But unfortunately that didn't happen. And here we are after 6 years in power they suddenly remember to become local. Let's see how things go. 

Among other things he also hinted that there will be a Lockdown 4.0 but this time with different rules. However considering Mumbai is the Covid Capital of the country we knew an extension was bound to come. We have already crossed 80000 cases after the 20 lakhs test which were conducted till yesterday. 

About me, my routine is still the same. Work, eat, sleep and do some or the other type of workout to ensure we don't land back on sqaure one. I had heard the term of binge watching a lot but never did that as I use to have something or the other in my hand instead of watching a series the whole day. But here I am finally doing it. Not sure if I mentioned above, or even if I did would like to mention it again. I completed Family Man, Special Ops, Jack Ryan, Bard of Blood, Dark, Stranger Things, Money Heist, Breaking Bad, Suits, Rise of Empires - Ottoman, World War 2, Tanhaji, Tashkent Files, Extraction, Cosmos, The Spy, Darkest Hour, R.A.W., One Day, Angrezi Medium, The Angel, The Meg, Contagion. And currently I am watching 13 Reasons Why, Vietnam War, Cricket Fever (MI), Inside the Mossad and may start Patallok. Also finally completed Raghuram Rajan autobiography. And currently I am reading a book on Panipat War. As regards to my progress on the Lockdown 3.0 task, I have completed 9/10 tasks successfully. And most important is today I climbed the Top Most Building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Yeah, as per the schedule in the abovementioned table that should be happening tomorrow, but then I took some liberty to alter it at the very last moment and shuffled the number 1 & 2. So all I am left is to climb the Top Second building in the world tomorrow to ensure I complete the task. This week has also been a bit busy on work front too. Generally I do get some spare time in working hours but this week was a packed one. So signing off for the day. 

16th May 2020

Its the penultimate day of Lockdown 3.0 and last day for my Task of climbing the Top 10 buildings in the world. Thankfully I was able to climb those successfully. Completed the last piece today in 56 minutes. So lets see now what to do next. Its been almost 6 weeks now. I must say there has been some improvement but it is just a small push. Still a long way to go. There are also some other things this lockdown has taught me. Ever wondered why are criminals kept in prison cells and not allowed to roam outside like how we use to before the lockdown. I am not sure what was the original idea behind a prison. But my personal experience says that those walls in which you are confined gives you the time to do some real thinking. Thats what this lockdown has been all about. It makes you realise who you really are as a person without the cloak you wear for the world. Many a times because of our impulsive behaviour we have ruined some moments or hurt some closed ones. Its not what we think always, is the reality. Truth is always, always stranger than fiction. Because it is simple, without any tempering or icing. So I have decided to write down what are the things that pisses me off or gets on my nerves. Becauses those are my areas of improvement. Ofcourse its not a badge of honour that it will be in public domain. As such improvements need to be done silently without anyone getting any part of the heat. So yes, among others this will also be a task for the upcoming Lockdown 4.0. Awaiting for the official news on it. Till then I will get back to some home work or binge watching.

17th May 2020

Sunday means the relaxing day. Its been 54 days since the country is in Lockdown. Almost two full months since I had a good running workout. It seems ages since I left my house. But the workouts which I have been doing has been good. Nothing planned as of now. After the last task which lasted for 10 Days and ended up climbing over 1200 floors thinking of going easy this week. Work pressure will also be there as deadlines are coming and our bosses are eager to wrap it within original deadlines to gain some brownie points from clients saying inspite of Covid 19 we did fulfill our commitment without using the option of extension. On other news, I also completed the Cricket Fever and Mandalorian series to add more feathers to the list I mentioned above.

Covid 19 cases are multiplying faster now. India has now crossed the six figure mark of which the last 25000 came in just 5 days.

The news of Lockdown 4.0 finally came in. This one will now last till 31st May. So technically the country will locked for 68 Days. As of now I ain't sure if I will do a fourth part in this series. But as they say, Never say Never. Ending Part 3 with a hope that we soon reach the peak so the curve starts coming down.   

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You!!

Nothing More Nothing Less

What is it that doesn't let you sleep

A question I asked myself at the stroke of midnight

And it wasn't a surprise

That reasons for it are too many

Depends which prism you are looking through

You ask a winner what doesn't let you sleep

They would say the hunger to continue the streak

But if you ask someone who would be on the opposite side of them

They would say the desparation to end the streak

You ask a strong-minded what doesn't let you sleep

They might say few things from which you may conclude

They know things

But if you ask someone who is on the opposite side

They might say tons of things and yet you will feel

They know nothing

So it all depends on which colour of glares you wearing

Coz that is how the world will be painted by you

But what if we say about a possibility that

The answer to that question just maybe

You don't know, what really is going on

I mean we aren't perfect or a programmed  machine

No one is a 'I Know All' person

Coz if anyone feels like that

They are just fooling themselves

The winner who is trying to maintain that streak

Will never be able to bask in the glory of it

We create a façade so people don't look through it

These are same breed who categorise people

Coz that is the easy way

That's the reason I called out one winner

But didn't mention the other as loser

Or said someone who is strong-minded

But didn't call the other as weak

Coz who are we, what do we know?

We are just a peck of dust

Nothing more Nothing less

So coming back to that same question at half past midnight

I would say I really don't know 

And I will keep it that way and just close my eyes

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You.

Lockdown - Covid 19: Part 2

15th April 2020

As mentioned in my previous post, the inevitable finally happened. CM of Maharashtra after interacting with the PM extended the lockdown in the state till 30th April. This was after Odisha and Punjab had already done their part by extending it till the same date. Whereas the PM in address to nation on last day of lockdown announced the extension of it upto 3rd May. So that means a 21 Day part one is over. And 19 days part 2 begins. A total of 40 days closure.

By now most people have become used to the new routine. Generally it requires 21 days to build in a new habit. So now it is safe to say that people have become habitual to it. But as I came across a caption today in Instagram which read Social Distancing is for those who have a house to stay, food to eat and savings in their banks. The picture was of a bridge on Yamuna river where people, mostly labours, were staying below it and were surviving on one meal which was provided to them by the nearby Gurdwara.

To be honest the situation of migrant labour, those who survive on daily wages is worst than one can imagine. There are images of these labours carrying their luggage and walking miles on the road towards their homes. They do not have food nor water nor money. The reason why I criticized the lockdown in my first post was because of this. Had a notice of atleast 2 days given before imposing the Lockdown, people who wished to go back could have used the available transport for reaching their home town. Ofcourse, the lockdown was essential. But not in a way that in the bargain of saving lives from Covid 19 we hear about people dying from hunger or accidents. A recent survey which I came across on Twitter done by SWAN who talked with approximately 11K stranded workers. The report said 96% got no ration from the government, 70% didn't get cooked food from any agency while 89% of them said they were not paid by the employer. Such is the plight of the migrants. And then when you hear about the incidents which happened in Delhi, Surat and Mumbai. People safe under their roofs enjoying the seasonal fruit criticise them, whereas balcony government (As Kamal Hassan referred to the government) doesn't have any answers to this. But somehow state CMs only of Delhi and Maharashtra are held responsible for the same.

Surely before I begin with, a special salute to such politicians who can think about politics even in such pandemic situation. As soon as the lockdown extension was announced ABP Majha played a news saying trains may leave from certain stations towards North India for migrant labour. In their defense they have claimed that there was a railway department note that the South Central Railway may run trains for the migrants, but it was just a proposal. And the proposal was already rejected by the railways on 13th April. The news on the base of this rejected order was played on 14th April, an hour after the second part of lockdown was announced. Also what is intriguing is how only one channel had access to it and not any other news channel? After hearing the news a huge crowd gathered at Bandra Terminus. Police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the crowd. 

And I do not need to say any further things about the opposition party in Maharashtra. Everyone was quite when the same thing happened in Surat as it is their party who is in power. And yes we did saw how after the Home Ministers intervention 28 luxury buses were ordered for 1800 tourist from different district of Gujarat stranded in Uttarakhand, to bring them back. We all knew the lockdown was bound to increase, so why wasn't the railways asked to run special train for transporting the labours to their home states. The CM when increasing the state lockdown till 30th April had used the term "Minimum" which means if the cases go on increasing then the lockdown can further be extended. All I can do is really hope and pray they atleast get food to eat and a roof to stay until they are away from their homes or till they find a passage towards their homes.

19th April 2020

The state government did take action against the journalist regarding the news. The police arrested him and was produced in front of the session court. The court also agreed that the news was incorrect and that media has the ability to influence a larger number of people. Though there is freedom of press, but that right has to be used responsibly by the journalist. The court also agreed that the channel did not give timings of the trains, but the mere fact that trains will be running was enough for the large gathering that happened in Bandra. Hence there is no requirement of further interrogation as everything was put in front of the court so the court granted him judicial custody.

I, officially completed two weeks of the new workout schedule. Unfortunately it didn't show any impact on my weight figure as it is still up by a kilo when I checked on 19th April morning. As I am already spending approximately 2:15 Hours daily in the workout, I do not wish to extend the same as then that would have negative impact on my conviction power and I might loose interest in it. Also it needs approximately 21 days for any new habit to settle in. I am just two weeks into it. So still one more week to go to get settled in the same. I may think of trying to have some running in my building complex in the early hours of the morning on one of the day in the week. Also the exercises are taking time of more than 30 minutes, so I may divide the same in to two part. On one day I will concentrate only on legs which includes Squats, Lunges, Calf Raises whereas the next day I will take up the exercises of Upper body which may include Planks, Pushups, Sit Ups, Sides. But then this is all in my head as of now. When the day and time of the day will come I may think about what to do and what not to do. So just hoping that what I am doing is at the least sufficient to not shoot my weight any further up, if not going down. Currently it isn't happening, though.

As of today there are still two weeks to go in the official lockdown. However the governments have taken the decision to start some industries and other related things by April 20th. PM had announced in his speech of lockdown that few concessions will be given to those where the intensity of Covid 19 is less. However Mumbai being the epicentre of Maharashtra it doesn't seem that we shall get any of those concessions.

Speaking of the lockdown, that one decision is surely commendable that we announced the lockdown even before we had crossed 500 cases countrywide. Though as I mentioned in my earlier post that the way it was announced is surely debatable but one thing everyone agrees to and that is, it was essential. The number of cases registered post lockdown are approximately above 14000. So one can surely imagine the number had we not announced the lockdown early. Festival celebrations such as Gudi Pawda, Easter, Ram Navmi, Ambedkar Jayanti, Hanuman Jayanti etc fell in the first half of the lockdown. Whereas the month of Ramazan, Maharashtra Day shall be falling in the second part of the lockdown. These festivals could have resulted large congregation of people. So to a larger extent we were able to break the chain. But the figures are still worrisome. 

1st May 2020

Maharashtra Day. The state government had extended the lockdown upto April 30th but PM had recommended until May 3rd. Lot of people were hoping to celebrate this day. But it is the same lot who hasn't yet got the grip and understanding of the pandemic. Forget about Maharashtra Day, even the Diwali celebration of 2020 will have shadows of this pandemic. The second part of the lockdown is coming to an end with new announcement expected in a day or two. Though certain hints are surely out. The ministry of health and family welfare has divided the country, it's states into Red, Orange and Green zone. To understand more better at micro level, district have been used as the base. Today CM in his address to the state also said that some concession can be expected for people who are in the green zones. Unfortunately, Maharashtra has 14 Red zones of which the prime ones are Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Pune who are collectively having the maximum states patients. So life won't be getting back to normalcy atleast in these Red zones. Hence instead of getting into any speculation let us wait and watch if I have to write a part 3 in this series or will part 2 be the concluding one.

Coming to the important thing which keeps troubling me more in this difficult times, the fitness part. It's been over 40 days since I had a decent running activity. And not sure how many more are left. Comeback, is surely going to be difficult. Still not changing the long term goals though with a hope that I may just make it somehow. It's been four proper weeks since I had implemented a new workout schedule. Three weeks went decent. Weight, atleast, didn't go any further up. But the last week has been a bit troublesome. I won't say injury exactly, but there is small thing which comes on your skin. You can touch it but can't pull it as it is attached to the skin, like part of your body. I have small ones on my neck, chest and thighs. They don't trouble basically, but this time the one on my thigh grew a bit big. Or may be it was my view which made me feel I am not sure. But it was looking different. Hence I decided to get rid of it. For long time I was contemplating on using the trick my maternal grandmother had used once when I was small. I had the same type of boils on my neck too. So I never use to wear round neck t-shirt back then as it use to be visible. So she came up with this trick, to tie a hair on it and then just leave it there. After a few days, that thing had become soft as if it had lost life and I was able to pull it out smoothly. So I used this trick and tied hair on the one which I had on thigh. Since I was walking in the house in this lockdown period, which is a bit constricted when compared to your walk on ground for obvious reasons, space constraints. Hence my legs use to be close to each other more often. Plus the mercury is also at its peak with summer on our head. All this I felt may have been the reason for the sudden change in the shape of that thing. So post the hair treatment, two days I rested completely. Just 500 steps in 48 hours. There wasn't any change in it, but it started paining a bit. Now that there is no comeback from this hair treatment as you cannot remove the tied hair, I am only keeping my fingers crossed that my grandmothers treatment works. After the two days rest I decided to walk again. I also hope to start the light exercises too. I just decided to not concentrate on the pain and to divert my mind as much as possible. Let's see if that works. The fourth week has been a total rest week. So I am for sure the rest will be visible when I check my weight on May 3rd.

2nd May 2020

The Home Ministry finally came out with the orders for extending the lockdown for two more weeks starting from May 4th. So now the next deadline is 17th May. But this time there wasn't any fancy address by the PM nor any new task. Ofcourse there will another theatrics on the coming Sunday. The Airforce has been told to shower petals on all Covid 19 hospitals across the length and breath of country. Now I would have said, "Imagine the cost that the government is ready to incur for all this antics", whilst we are being asked donate generously, you may still find concerns raised by hospital staff regarding lack of PPE etc. But then this is going to fall in the deaf ears. Recently we saw how in the name of national interest the Central Vista project was approved and given a go ahead when we need to allocate funds to fight Covid 19 and later use them to jumpstart the economy. But then again who needs that, pseudo nationalism is more important. Talking about politics, when all efforts to destabalise the Maharashtra government went in vain, the centre ruling party used another trick and decided to build the International Finance Services Centre  in Gujarat instead of Mumbai. And the timing was also so apt, on the Maharashtra Day.

The injury which I had mentioned above aggravated a bit today. So finally I had to visit a doctor. Luckily we had one in our building itself. Till yesterday I was mainly conscious about the pain, but the pain can be felt for real. Last night I tried to cut loose the hair using all equipments at my disposal but couldn't dare to go ahead. So the doc visit was inevitable now. I explained him the scenario and also told him the hair treatment I had done. He said, sometimes the hair treatment works. But generally the hair is sharp. Hence if you had tied it so tightly and pulled it out once and for all may be it would have come out. There would have been some bleeding and some pain too. But it would have healed. Since you have left the hair tied there in, the sharp edges of the hair must have created a small wound on that thing which is why it is giving you the burning sensation now when you touch it. So he gave an antiseptic cream some tablets, a course of two days. And has asked me to return on Monday, the first day of Lockdown 3.0. Keeping my fingers crossed that is just heals faster, as looking at the new guidelines given by the government, our offices may start anytime now. But more than that it is important for me to get back to my normal walking activity.

3rd May 2020

Just to add, as it is the last day of the Lockdown and following the routine of checking weight on weekly basis. With a heavy heart I somehow stood up on the weighing scale. As expected, a kilo had gone up. Well the same trend might be there next week too considering recovery is on from the injury.

On that note, signing off from Lockdown 2.0


-SR.

PS: May The 4Th Be With You !!!

Reality it is

A lot has changed overnight
Some are still finding it difficult to adjust

Lifes have altered, way of living has changed
The facade is over
People are breathing into reality

But for me, it really feels home
Maybe this is the life that I want more

No more fake smiles or unwanted greetings

Less fancy stuff, living on basic essentials

You are closed to your families
And more closed to the loved ones

The care for each one them has increased manifold
And rarely do you hear anyone
Bitching about any soul

Suddenly Instagram bucket list is gone for a toss
Even the planet is breathing a sigh of relief
For its largest bacteria is finally in control

Our desires and wants are never ending, to such extents
That each one has created multiple versions of themselves
For every alternate universe as they live in

Success and Happiness also has an index
Financial status sets the standards for each of it
And also the respect you receive

One virus, that is not even visible to the naked eye
Has crushed all these alternate universes, in a blink of an eye
And now it is standing at your gates
To shatter the only universe you are actually made of

Truely, a lot of has changed overnight
And some are still finding it difficult to adjust

Time it is question our traditional beliefs
That we never are right, and we only realise that
When the universe casts its dice


-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You !!!

Lockdown Days - Covid 19: Part 1

If you set aside the consequences of the Pandemic which the present day world is suffering, one thing is for sure and that is our names have forever been written in the history books. We had heard from our elders who talked about the freedom struggles or the wars or the riots. Now we are the generation who will be talking about this historic lockdown. We will be talking about the times when the planet came to a standstill. The times when environmentalist will be finally having a sound night sleep.

The last time we saw an epidemic in such a large scale was somewhere in 1920s, the Spanish Flu. Though the flu originated in England but as World War I was going on, the political leadership refrained from disclosing the same in the media. Whereas when it had reached Spain the news finally broke to the world and hence it got the name Spanish Flu. It had literally made the planet bleed with approximately 500 Million cases and a death figure ranging between 17-50 Million.

When you look at the above the figures obviously you might breathe a sigh of relief. Because as I am writing this the current count of the Covid 19 pandemic stands at 1.7 Million worldwide. But then again I am not an expert to enter into a debate as to whether this will increase or which way it will go in the coming days. But one thing I can be sure, that this is going to have a H.U.G.E impact on the economy. Again, I ain't an economist too but being a common man whose life is dependent on the monthly salary which I receive. When I received an email from my company that there won't be any salary increment this year I can say one thing that we are yet to see the consequences of the Covid 19 and those are going to be more drastic then the current lockdown.

Even the way lockdown was announced was a bit dictator type announcement in my opinion. When you can give a two days notice each time for the theatricality of banging plates and lighting lamps why weren't the people given atleast a day or two notice before putting us in a lockdown. Everyone saw how Singapore went into lockdown. Why not us? Ofcourse this will never be debated by the contemporary media as we have more of cheerleaders than real journalist. The latter count is diminishing on daily basis.

A lot of things (Alleged or Controversy) were happening behind the curtain which not many people are aware as this never comes in the media. The only good thing about being on Twitter is you get access to lot of information. 

Lets see a few of them. The moment we saw a spike in cases there was a demand for more testing kits to be manufactured in the country as the only way to tackle this pandemic was to test as much as possible. In the mid of March 2020, there were some firms in the foray to manufacture the kits. However the government (Health Ministry) changed the rules and added a condition that only US FDA or European approved kits will be used. That meant only one company based in Ahmedabad will be allowed to manufacture the kits. The trick here was the other firms who were waiting for their kits to be validated were going to sell the kits in the range of Rs. 400-500. Whereas the kits manufactured by Ahmedabad company will be costing in the range of Rs. 4000-4500.

As soon as the lockdown was declared the government had started asking for donation from the public. Sometimes I wonder as a layman, why should we pay everytime a tragedy strikes. A common man already pays Income Tax (of different types) on whatever we earn. We pay indirect taxes, we pay Toll, we pay stamp duty and what not. And after all this we are asked to contribute in the times of disaster as well. It is not that I am against it, for even I personally made a contribution upto my level in the CM Relief Fund. The government uses tax payers money for lavish events such Namaste Trump or the huge swearing in ceremonies and not to forget the alleged toppling of government. And then they come to us again to contribute as much as you can, feed as many people as you can etc. I mean few days before lockdown government approved a budget of Rs. 20000 Crore for Central Vista, revamping the Rajpath area and other constructions. But the first announcement towards tackling the Covid 19 came later that and it was Rs. 15000 Crore. That shows our priorities.

The troubling part was even in the above mentioned donation asked from the public, we saw politics. The opposition leaders in our state asks to donate to the PM Cares fund. When even today there is no clarity as to why PM Cares fund was started when we already have a PM National Relief Fund. Also the contribution which are made to this new fund are eligible to be considered as CSR Contribution. But any contribution made to respective CM Relief Fund shall not be considered as part of CSR Contribution. Already with the implementation of GST, every state is at the mercy of Centre for getting their share in GST Contribution. And with these small amendments it is in a way demotivating the business houses to not contribute to CM Relief Funds.

Even when it came to donations by the people's representatives, they were trying to take the high road by donating their MPLAD funds to PM Cares. Firstly, this is a government money which is to be used for the constituency from where they have been elected. So how is that a contribution by the politician? Another decision that was taken by the Central Government was two years MPLAD funds shall not be given to the MPs. This will again dent the federal structure. MPs are using the MPLAD funds to fight the pandemic and they will also need the same once this is over to revive the economy. If for two years no funds are allotted to the MPs then again State will be at the mercy of Centre.

Then came politics over procurement of PPE (Personal Protective Equipments). There were already protest by the medical community over lack of PPE for the nurses and doctors who are all in the front line of this war. So as all the states were preparing to procure the PPE, suddenly Centre Government refrained all states from doing any such procurement and said that they shall do it and distribute amongst the states. India has always been a federal state. And our federal structure is indeed very strong. It is because of this federal structure that we have been able to keep the Coronavirus at bay, atleast our increase in figures aren't in the same ratio as that of the Italy, USA, Spain etc. The Chief Ministers, the State Health Minister, the local agencies (BMC) are doing everything they can to break this chain. Even before the Lockdown was implemented in the country, Maharashtra was already in the state of curfew. Nothing much changed in our lives as we were already asked to stay in our home till 31st March. So a layman question arises to me is why break the backbone of this federal structure in such times when we need to fight together? Also not to forget how the government caved in when the US President threatened our country if we do not provide them the medicine that is currently used on Corona patients in the absence of vaccine. Hydroxychloroquine, the medicine used for malaria. In the wake of the pandemic, India had banned export of all drugs in the end of March 2020. But with the open threat given by the US President, the same was decided to be exported to the US the next day. And the way media cloaked all this in the guise of friendship was simply unbelievable. I heard someone saying that US has all the infrastructure to kill the people around the world. But they lacked the simple infrastructure to save their own population. Such hollowness and then they call themselves super power.

Another example of the position of the super power. A new thing happened w.r.t. Rapid Test Kits on 13th April when a consignment of four lakhs kits which was bound to Tamil Nadu had been diverted to USA by China. When some journalist asked this question to the Health Ministry official during the 4PM regular press briefing which happens, their reply was no comments.

In one of the above paragraph I mentioned about toppling a government. No matter how much the current establishment talks about fighting the epidemic, history will always remember that in the times of adversary the ruling party was busy toppling a government in the state of Madhya Pradesh and ofcourse not to mention how they adhered to the rules of social distancing while celebrating that victory. Also it has been almost three weeks since the new government was sworn in and the state still doesn't have a Cabinet. This is during the times when health department of the state itself has become a hotbed for Coronavirus with the health officials testing positive.

And what to say about the communal virus. Being a 90s kid from Mumbai who had seen the 92 riots, this communal virus has come to all of us as a by product. So as I grew up and when I started to understand certain things I had made up my mind that I should not be the one who will be passing on this communal virus to the future generation. But what happened in Delhi and the pattern in which the total count spiked and also how the media and government pointed it out, one thing for sure, the coronavirus will be defeated in the near future. But this communal virus is here to stay for another long term.

Now coming to some personal impacts of the lockdown. Most important aspect for me surely is the body weight. For someone like me who has been in the obesity for almost 28 years of my life, gaining weight is not something that will require time. It can happen in a matter of few days. With total lockdown, my regular routine of morning walk or cycling or running has come to halt. I had also registered for a challenge to complete 500 Kms of cycling in the month of March. But I could only complete 373 Kms. With my regular schedule of running or cycling totally stopped, there was no activity through which I was sweating out to burn those calories. No matter how much I walk indoors, unless I don't sweat profusely daily, I won't be able to keep my weight figure in check. So I knew I had to do things in a different way this time alongwith abiding the rules of lockdown.

Initially I thought my only target should be stay on Level 5 of the Step Set Go App. But then those statistics are not directly proportional to fitness, atleast in my case. I was proved right when in the first week itself my weight shot by a kilo. So something had to be done as I knew this lockdown was surely going to be extended till minimum 30th April. So I thought I need to do something more then just walking indoor. At first I started walking on my floors steps for around 30 mins and a 15 mins walk on the terrace whenever I got the open window. Atleast I felt I was doing something. But again that wasn't enough too. So next change was inevitable. 

Instead of just walking on my floor steps, I started doing up and down of the total 14 Floors of my building, two times. And then landing up on the refuge flat and doing some walk there. But there an old lady joined me. So I wasn't comfortable doing my walk there. So this schedule lasted just for a day. Such tricks I kept on trying in my first week. But none could be finalized. And after almost five months I missed the weekly target of One lakh steps.

So finally I decided to go down in the building complex. Some people use to come down for morning walks. Hence I avoided the garden. I found a secluded area in my building near the Bank of Baroda branch and started doing my one hour walk there in a loop. Approximately I covered around 5 Kms in the one hour.

So this became a routine for few days. I was able to get some sweat out which made me breathe a sigh of relief. But then as the Covid 19 cases started increasing, stringent measures were adopted by the state and I had to stop going down. Not that someone told me to do so. But I personally found it risky. Plus I was not able to concentrate too. Whenever someone use to just pass by I use to become skeptical and try to maintain a distance. I was scared to touch something enroute too. So instead of having this distraction I thought to figure out something else.

When the skepticism started happening in my head a thought had struck me. This phase is going to change a hell lot of habits amongst all of us forever. These habit changes will be the scars that Covid 19 will leave upon us. Next time while shaking a hand or hugging an unknown or pushing in a crowded train/bus people will spare a thought. Not to mention the sales of sanitizer are going to sky rocket and very soon it will become an essential part of everyone's life. Ofcourse the change in habits are indeed good. But what makes me wonder is at what cost this is going to happen? Being a firm believer of a larger picture in each and every case this will be good. But for that we all need to come out alive in the current scenario.

Coming back from my skepticism to reality, I remember achieving the 150 Heart Points per week target in Google Fit use to be a cake walk as one good run was enough to achieve that. But now it has actually become a weekly target with no space left for walking/running. With the fear and lack of concentration creeping in, now going down was not an option. So stay at home and workout was the only option left. Hence I had to initiate what I have been avoiding for a long time. Exercises.

What is it that you avoid? Something which you are scared to do or you don't know about it. Same is my relation with exercises.

Now this meant I had to figure out a new schedule. The one kilo rise was already a warning sign. So I finally decided to start some exercises. There is already too many stuff in my YouTube about the same. But just never cared to look into it. Well now it was the time to go through some of it and come out with a schedule.

So this is how I ma spending my mornings these days. I start with the usual. Begin my day with a walk/jog in the house for one hour. Approximately I cover around 5 kms in that hour. Walking in one room round and round. Sometimes I even try to do a slow run in the limited space without making much foot noise for the below floor people to complain. For regular running I use to get up at 5-530. But now that is not feasible as at that time there is still dark out. And dark means the connected balcony will be home to my worst nightmares, the dinosaurs descendents. Hence a new situation so a new timing. I get up at 645 and start my morning indoor walk at 7Am. 

The walk goes on till 8. Then comes the most difficult part. For exercises I had shortlisted a few things to be done. Through out my life I have attempted Gym only twice. And each time I left for three main reasons:

- PushUps
- Pull Ups
- Surya Namaskar

I just cannot do it for I have never tried it till date in my life. And to avoid embarrassment in front of everyone I have left the Gyms on both the occasions. So this time I said to myself we have time plus we are lonely here. So no embarrassment. So why not start trying it out. Hence as per the beginner schedule I started doing pushups by taking support of a kadapa (Seating arrangement in balcony). It isn't easy too. So for the first week I did it 4 X 5 i.e. four sets of five reps each.

Before the pushups I do an initial warmup exercises for 5-7 minutes which I had learnt in my recent stint in the gym. 

With push-up done, next is a 60 second Elbow plank. Earlier I was able to do more than 60 seconds. But now even that 1 minute feels so long. 

Then a simple one. I call it sides. For this you just need to bend on your sides. So I do this 2 × 20. 

After then another small exercise for the calf muscles. For this one needs to stand on a elevated platform, can be a small wood. Your half foot should be on the elevated platform and balance half in the air. So you go down by bending your bottom of the foot and go up again. This I do 2 × 20. This was a new addition recently so I must have done only twice I guess. 

Then the normal squats. 2 × 20.

So these five exercises take around 30-35 minutes time. And then at 830 AM I get into my sports shoes and go to climb the steps. Our building is 14 Floors, so I have ample steps to exercise. So for the morning session, I climb the steps up and down of the 14 Floors, a total Five times. It takes 6 minutes per round. So a total of another 30 Minutes. Which finally makes the count of my morning workout to 2 Hours. Also I use to do sit-ups too. 2 × 10. But then the problem was when I use to go down that time I use to land directly on the ground as I do not have a Yoga Mat or something soft to keep below. Hence inorder to not injure myself I dropped it from the schedule.

After sorting out the timetable of what to do, next question was how much to do? Generally, during normal times I try to get something or the other on the weekdays and total rest on Sunday. But then these aren't normal times and exercises and me have a history of giving up. So I decided to follow my school pattern. In our school we use to have two weekly off. One, the usual, Sunday and one one Thursday. So I decided to use this pattern. On Thursday I do walk, climb some steps too. But exercises has a holiday. 

I feel this is not at all bad. Ofcourse there is tonnes of scope for improvement and pushing my limits more further from the comfort zones. A lot many out there might argue upon why you need two days off, some may question the small number of reps in each exercise. But at the end of each day's session of two hours, I know I am sweating profusely. So it gives me a sense of satisfaction. I also drink a litre of water too in the due course which helps to keep my water limits per day in check as well and also saves me from dehydration as the mercury is rising upto 38.

Then I have a small evening session too, after my working hours are completed. This is divided into two parts. First is incase I miss out on any exercise in the morning, mainly because of my laziness, then I try to cover that up. Otherwise I directly jump to the second part which is going into my shoes again to go back on the steps climbing up and down the 14 Floors, but now only three times. Though, in this schedule, the second round when I climb the stairs up I skip one step while climbing. This puts some strain on the hamstring and gives it a exercise too. These three rounds approximately takes 15 minutes time. 

So this is my daily schedule of 2:15 Hrs of exercise for the lockdown period. To further add to this I do a 45 Minutes walk post lunch and another 10-20 Minutes walk post dinner. I am not sure if this is going to keep my weight in check or whether it will have benefits in the long run to achieve my target of 42.196 KMS in Jan 2021. But this is the best I could come up with to keep the war against weight loss on.

Along with these I am currently (Or I must say still) reading Raghuram Rajan autobiography. And occasionally a newspaper incase we get it. I watched a few TV Series too like Special Ops, Samantar, Family Man, Jack Ryan and some movies like Farjand, Tanhaji, Ashi hi Banva Banvi. I try my hands in kitchen as well, trying desparately to get a round chapati. And also an occasional VC with friends just gives us all a much needed break.

Yes, there are lot of fears too. Fear of being laid off, fear of contracting the disease. But then one cannot stop living just because of them. Your fears are necessary for they keep you grounded. But they should not define you. 

As the lockdown is coming to an end, an extension of the same is inevitable. Just an official announcement is pending. So till then Stay Safe everyone.

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You !!!

लहानपण देगा देवा..

 लहान असताना सगळेच विचारायचे 

 तुला मोठे पाणी कोण व्हायचं आहे

 

 पण आज जर मला कोणी विचारलं

 तर मी एकच म्हणीन

 मला पुन्हा लहान व्हायचं आहे

किती निरागस होतं ते आपलं जगणं

ना कसली फिकीर नाही कसला विचार

सकाळचा अलर्म म्हणजे आईची हाक

आणि डोळे बंद होणार तेव्हा रात्रीची झोप

आता तर झोपेचा नाही ठिकाणा 

आणि नोकरी धंद्याच्या ओझ्यात 

सकाळी नुस्तं अलार्म चा सपाटा

मन मोकळं होऊन बोलायचं ते दिवस

आणि मोजून मापून बोलण्याचे हे दिवस

पिकनिक म्हटले की नुस्तं कल्लं

त्या क्षणा मधे बेधुंद होऊन जगायचे

आणि आता फक्त फोटोच असतात 

पण त्यात आपण किती जगलो ते क्षण ?

माहिती नाही

धावपळीच्या या जीवनात आयुष्याचं मूळ रस

निघून गेला आहे

मोठे होण्याच्या शर्यतीत आपण लहानपण 

गमावला आहे

लहान होतो तेव्हा फक्त मोठे पणा ची ओढ 

आणि आज लहानपणाची किंमत कळली

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You !!!

Yes We Can

What is going on today, I had only read in the history books
Up until now

The levels at which things are moving around, was unthinkable
Up until now

The fear, the paranoia, what we are witnessing at unprecedented levels
Was only seen in the movies by our generation
Up until now

But Todays NOW is not just any other day
It is History in itself
And We are very much a part of it

What contemporary politicians will do today
History will judge them tomorrow

Idol Gods have already left the battlefields
And the real Gods are the ones wearing masks in this war
And fighting day in day out to save lives

The Police, The Media, The Bankers, The Government Servants
Are toiling out their to ensure We Do Not Fall

People are dying for real
And families can't even accept the dead bodies
To contain the spread further

We need to understand the Gravity of it

Hence, what WE as people will do today
Will decide if there will be a future
To tell these stories Tomorrow

So Stay At Home.Stay Safe. Hold Together.

There is still Hope. There is still a silver lining.
We shall OverCome. Yes We Can.


PS: May The Force Be With All of Us !!


-SR.

Finding Ears

Lot of things pile up inside you

For you don't get people to share

It doesn't mean that you are a loner

But finding like minded who will 

Atleast respect, not share your enthusiasm

Is something of a rare breed 

You will find today

For people will either ignore you directly

Or make fun of it, to hide their ignorance

Though you can't blame them

Nor it is something like vendetta against you

Just that they are not under any obligation

To listen to you 

Or be as excited as you

True emotions flow only when you let them loose

But when people walk away, it does pinch

In a way or the other, that is true

So it is up to us to find the right channel

To share that enthusiasm 

Which will give justice to that adrenaline rush

PS: The Reason Why I Took To Writing

PPS: May The Force Be With You.

-SR.

Tata Ultra Marathon

Last year one of my office colleague had mentioned about this event. Though then I wasn't aware of the name. All I had heard from him was that this event is held in Lonavla and that the race begins very early in the morning at 230AM. So after my stint in SRT Ultra, where I had heard a lot of new names of Ultras conducted all over India, I had started planning for the year 2020. So in this process I came to know the name of Tata Ultra Marathon (TUM). It mainly had two categories i.e. 35 Kms and 50 Kms. The qualifications for these categories were as below:

- 35 Kms: Should have Completed Half Marathon in 2 Hours 45 Minutes

- 50 Kms: Should have Completed a Marathon in 5 Hours 30 Minutes

Along with the above two, the ones who have completed any Ultra Marathon shall be qualified for the event. 

After going through eligibility criteria I assumed my SRT Ultra (25 Kms) certificate shall be eligible for TUM. So I registered for the same and was waiting for New year to book the accommodation. But somewhere in the month of January I got an email saying the link (SRT Ultra Marathon Timing Certificate) mentioned in the registration form wasn't working so I had to share another link in order to ensure my qualification in TUM. Luckily, I had a good start to the year 2020 at the Navi Mumbai Mayor Half Marathon where I had completed it in 2:21:18. So had I received this email in 2019, I wouldn't have qualified for TUM. After sharing the new link the organisers confirmed my eligibility for the 35 Kms category.

The reason to participate in this event of 35 Kms was simple for me. In the run up to TMM - 2021, this would be a step up from Half Marathon by nearing the mark of 42.2 Kms. And most importantly the organisers had mentioned in their website that they will be taking care of Hydration as there will be water zones on the route. So that will mean less luggage for me as I will not have to carry the small bag and extra bottles for water. 

So by January end I had booked the accommodation. The package didn't include food as they were providing bus drop from hotel to start point and from finish point back to hotel. When I had checked my location of the hotel, fortunately they were close by from the Lonavla station and also from the Start Point. It was approximately 1.5 Kms. So to reach Start Point we could walk but the bus drop was essential from Finish Point as it was around 25 Kms away from the hotel.

After accomodation, came the travel plans. For reaching Lonavla I had booked a seat in the train, Deccan Express. But for return when I checked for Deccan Express, all the tickets were full. So I booked an available train which was at 1230 from Lonavla and shall drop me at Kalyan by 3Pm. From there I will have to take a local train. But whether I will be able to board this train or not is a bit dicey. As the race will end at 930AM. Then from Finish point we have to cover the journey of 25 Kms by bus which was going to start at 1030 AM. Most probably the bus will be dropping us at the Start Point which is still 1.5 Kms walk to the hotel. Then freshening up, changing and walking 1.5 Kms to Lonavla station. I was skeptical that I will be able to board the train. So I had explored the options of luxury buses and ST buses to reach Mumbai on Sunday post race.

On the D - Day, I reached Lonavla on time checked in the hotel by 11Am. Got settled and went to collect my BIB. The Start Point is exactly near the Sunil Wax Museum. I took the goody bag which contained my BIB Number, T-shirt, Bandana, Cap and Torch. The volunteer explained me that I should return the torch as soon as the sun is out to the nearest hydration zone. I took the bag and started walking back to my hotel. Enroute I had seen a tea stall, so I waited there to have a cup of tea. All around me there were Chikki stalls. But ironically, they were empty and all the wine shops were crowded. After entering the hotel room, I prepared my morning dresses like attaching the BIB on the T-shirt, my knee cap, protein bars, mobile holder, wrist band, Bandana, Cap, shoes etc. 

With all that done now it was time to relax and wait for race day. This time the stay was more comfortable as compared to my previous Ultra stints as in both cases I had opted for tent stay. Here we had a AC room, with TV, comfortable bed, multiple charging points and attached bathroom too. So this was going to be a comfortable stay. I had switched on the TV to my favourite daily soap Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and was relaxing on my bed awaiting the arrival of other roommates. It was supposed to be a triple sharing room. 

The evening race briefing was cancelled. So now we (Me along with my roommate) were just killing time by playing Carrom. When bored we went out for a walk and visited the Race Expo again. We checked the hydration zones and marked the distance in which we were going to get water supply. We had a cup of tea and again came back to our room. By now the third member had also arrived. Coincidentally we all three were from Mumbai and all three were Maharashtrian. So rapport building wasn't that hard. We talked for sometime and then switched on the TV and were watching a movie Raid. 

At around 7Pm we left our rooms for dinner. Since we were supposed to get up at 2Am so it was necessary to have dinner early. We both had a Veg Thali. Post dinner we did a small walk and then directly into our bed. All alarms were set for 2AM. Approximately 5 hours of sleep was all we will be getting before we start the race. 

Finally came the race day. We all geared up and gathered in the lobby of the hotel. The bus dropped us at the Start Point. Announcements were being made for all runners to get inside the holding area as refreshments were served. The host was also making important announcements such as about the route, hydration zones, cut off timing etc. On Saturday I was doing my calculations. Already 5 hours for 35 Kms was a huge task for me. To add to that we had to adhere to an intermittent cut off too. That was at 3 hours 20 minutes and at a distance of 25 Kms. So I had kept it as my reverse countdown. The race will kick off at 430 AM. So my target was to reach the 25 Kms target at 730 AM keeping 20 minutes in buffer. And then complete the balance 10 Kms by 9 AM, keeping 30 Minutes as buffer. During SRT Ultra, I was keeping track of time by looking at my phone. This time I didn't had the luxury of time to take out my phone from my pouch and keep track of time. Luckily the MI Band which I had gifted to my brother which was lying in the house unused, I had brought with me. And it was indeed a blessing.

As part of the refreshments, I had a cup of tea with some glucose biscuits and a banana. Also I was having some dry fruits. This time I also had two protein bars with me to have during the course. After the initial rounds of instructions, we were asked to move towards the starting line. It was almost 430 AM. Amidst the roar to the answer of How's the josh? High Sir, the race kicked off. As ritual, I started all my apps i.e. Strava, Pacer, Relive, MI Fit and Wynk. I had also prepared a new playlist of around 50 songs for this race which had some DJ songs as well downloaded from YouTube.

The initial 6 Kms were going to be crucial. As that was the only patch when we will be having the flat route. Post that the elevation will begin. At the start I wasn't feeling that good. But those are just the initial uneasiness which one has to overcome as body begins to adjust to the process. The torch was on. I was only carrying one bottle of water as the route was hydrated at regular intervals. I was consistently checking time on the band to ensure if I am within the reach of my target. My initial focus was to reach at the Cut off checkpoint by 730 AM, which meant to cover 25 Kms in the first 3 hours. As I already mentioned the 5 Hours Total Time for the 35 Kms route was already a task for me as in SRT Ultra we had 6 Hours for 25 Kms whereas in Deccan Ultra we had 7 Hours for 30 Kms.

Inspite of the initial uneasiness, I was quite surprised to have clocked my personal best in 5 Kms which I had it covered in 32 Minutes. That was indeed quick and my first hint that I may be able to complete this race. Running long distance is as much a mental game as it is physical. It is essential to keep the thoughts in control as body will respond to the signals the mind will give. At each kilometer there were placards showing the number of kilometers left. Watching that can sometimes be cheerful and sometime might have a negative impact. So it is essential that such information should only be used for informative purpose and one shouldn't adjust their run according to the distance mentioned in the markers. Ofcourse in the end one surely has to adjust when you are near the cut off point or the finish line. So with each passing placard I was doing my mental calculation of how much time has gone by, how much distance covered and how much is left? If the outcome of this discussion was positive I went on with my race.

This experience was surely better than all my earlier marathon type events mainly because I never did so much mental calculation or had looked at the time. Today I was also not concentrating on the Finish Line. I was just taking One Kilometer at a time. That was my target. With 6 Kms over, we had just crossed the second hydration station. I checked my bottle and it still had enough water for me to sustain for another 2 Kms which was the approximate distance between two hydration zones. So with that began the ascent from INS Shivaji. Though I had earphones plugged in still I could hear some runners chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. From here, it was more of walking now. Only when I got some flat road did I run. In the next water station, I had to fill my bottle.

It was still dark. As I was walking on the ascent, I decided to open the protein bar and have a bite. Things were going as per the plan. The hydration zones were equipped with Ice packs and sponge to cool you down. Truly the organisers had taken lot of efforts to ensure the runners feel comfortable enroute. As we reached the 15 Kms mark we could now see the 50 Kms runners also on the route. I also came across one of my roommate as we crossed the mark.

After I completed my half marathon I checked my clock. It was almost 720AM. Approximately, three hours had passed by. Now the tension was building up. I had only 30 Minutes left to cover the next 4 kms else it was going to be a DNF tag, again. Already One DNF I had this month and for sure I didn't want it again. So I started to pick up speed as much as I could. From now on I was almost watching the watch every minute. 750 AM was the cut off. Around 500 meters before the 25 Kms checkpoint they had written it on the road, "Cut off Ahead." Luckily there was some descent which helped me pick up some speed. Finally the 25 Kms check point was visible and I surely cannot explain how much soothing it was to my eyes. As soon as I crossed the timing Mat it was 7:46 am in the clock, which meant I had reached the cut off time 4 minutes in advance. This was also the first race in which I had an intermittent cut off. So the experience was surreal. I could see some runners already celebrating and clicking selfies. Apparently, this was also the Cut off zone for 50 kms runners too. So for them the distance was 40 kms.

Up until now there use to be two signboards showing the number of kilometers left, one for my category and other for the 50 Kms category. But post the cut off now it was going to be just one as both categories had 10 Kms left in their quota. I relaxed for 2 minutes, took some energy drinks and then checked my clock. 1.5 Hours of race time was left and 10 Kms distance to be covered in it. One battle was over but the war wasn't over yet.

On a regular day this much time and distance would have been a cake walk. But on the hills its a different game. You just cannot run when the ascent begins. And from here on we had a lot of elevation to cover. One thing I remembered quite vividly from the elevation chart was the last 5 kms had the most elevation in this final leg of 10 Kms. So it wasn't over yet. Whenever I got downhill, I ensured I will run with the pace of the road and let gravity guide me. Some runners were being cautious but since I was wearing trail running shoes I had a bit faith in them that they won't slip on the tar road. It was like climbing one hill and getting down and again climbing another.

As we reached the final 5 Kms, the hydration zones were now available at every Kilometer mark. And I was filling water bottle at each zone, plus having some of the energy drink to keep myself hydrated. The sun was firing upon us. I had to change the position of the cap on to its regular pose as too much sunlight was coming on the eyes. A lesson I have taken that I need to carry sun glasses, the next time I am on a Ultra race.

The last 3 Kilometers were left now and we still had 30 Minutes in the clock. I was at peace as well as at war in my mind. The time was enough but now for the next 2.5 kms we had a Up hill climb. Now this was going to be testing times. Multiple "What If" thoughts were looming in my head. What if I end up with a DNF tag at the fag end of the race? With 33 kms down, this was already the highest ever I have run on any route in my entire life. But it still wasn't enough. I then remembered the Navi Mumbai Mayor Half Marathon at the start of the year where I had achieved my personal best. It was with a long term target to ensure my qualification for the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2021. If I get a DNF today, then surely I will have a laugh at myself that how can I aim for a Marathon when I can't complete 35 Kms? The failure of Deccan Ultra also came in front of my eyes. How it still hurts? What if today I again fail?

All these thoughts had my head filled in the last miles. The clock was now at 923 AM, which meant we had 7 minutes to go and the Finish Line was still not visible. Then we saw a guy coming on a bike who was cheering the runners. He said, Come On, "700 Meters To Go and 6 Minutes Left". That was a siren. We were still climbing with no signs of flat surface. Now there was only one option left, RUN. 

We were some 200 Meters away when I stopped my music player. That's when I heard the sound of dhol. Now the finish line was audible but not visible yet and clock was at 927 AM. I pushed myself for one last time as suddenly I got a doubt that what if my clock and their clocks aren't aligned with each other.

Now, finally, I could see the finish line with lots of people cheering at us as we were ending the race. That's when my eyes went to a heavenly scene. I finally saw the official clock. It said 9:28:20, which meant now I had 1 minute 40 seconds more to go. That was the first time I breathed a huge sigh of relief in the past 5 hours.

I passed the finish line with timing of 4:58:30 thus completing my Tata Ultra Marathon in Category 35 Kilometers. The medal was indeed precious. I hope this helps me achieving my final short term goal. Indeed it was a positive step towards it.

Though for now, it was time to relish the refereshments (Noodles, Boiled Egg, Sandwich and Cake) and later on figure out the transport to home as my train was cancelled.

Until Next Time.


-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You.

Reflect Refuel Refresh

When the going becomes tuff

When every step becomes an obstacle

When defeat is the outcome 

Inspite of all the efforts

Time it is to pause, Take a short break

One thing you should always understand

Not everything will be in your control 

Sometimes letting go is the only way forward

Mind and body

No matter how much you mould it

Will react to the surroundings and happenings

It is upto us to understand the signals

And make amendments in the way

So, when I say to pause, it is mainly to reflect 

Just turn the time and reflect upon the journey

You covered uptill now

You have come this far surely for some reason

Not all can walk the path you walked

When I say to pause, it is to refuel

Visit the battle grounds which you conquered

When you started treading this path

That is where the motivation lies

Refuel your body whilst you bask in your past glory

You have come this far surely not to return in the past

When I say to pause, it is to refresh

Mind and Body both need a break, to breathe

So take that short break, to reflect and refuel

In order to stand Refreshed, on the Start Line again

For a New Battle in the Life's War

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You!!!