SCMM 2010 in a PERSONAL BEST

Successfully completed my 6th Mumbai Half Marathon in a PERSONAL BEST time of 2.25.56 hours today. The race started with a melee today at the starting point, and I started with a good pace and kept at it till about 9 kms mark after which i started sagging a bit. from Mahalakshmi race course onwards, the sun was directly affecting the runners and the pedder road climb took a heavy toll on the legs. Passed the magificient african athletes at about that time. The marine drive stretch also took a heavy toll and i started walking to the count of 30 steps each time to recover my energy. From just before the turn into V.N. Road, i started again strongly, and kept at it without stopping, slowly increasing my pace all the time. At the flora fountain turn, i was determined to run strongly to the finish and i started accelerating my pace all the time and from about 200 metres to the finish, i started sprinting strongly to finish strongly in a good time of 2.25.56 hours. If i had not taken those walking steps, i could well have finished under 2.15 hours, which was the target.

South Karnataka

Had been to South Karnataka on a temple pilgrimage from week ending 6th June to 11th June 2009. Covered Kollur Mookambika, Murdeshwar, Dhareshwar, Idugunji, Shringeri, Dharamstala, Kukke Subrahmanya, Kateel and Udupi. Total distance covered in excess of 1000 kms. The scenery was breathtaking throughout the entire journey starting with drive from Kundapura railway station onwards. Dense and thick forests along the way all throughout was absolutely breathtaking. Udupi was a busy town, though other places where we halted for the night viz. Kollur and Kukke Subrahmanya left a lot to be desired. Power situation is absolutely poor in these parts. Food was no problem and in fact it was scintillatingly delightful. Karnataka is a mystery left to be discovered by one and all. It was indeed beautiful. The drive up to Shringeri was breathtaking and Shringeri itself was a delight in itself. What beautiful facilities have been created there a mix of the old and the new, the heritage stone temple being almost mystical. Kukke Subrahmanya was a surprise because there were book stalls inside the temple complex itself which is a new attraction for me. Picked up Gandhi's autobiography for just rs.95/- only. Got some more books from Udupi, there were some three small stalls where we purchased lots of books that we do not get otherwise in Bombay. At every place food was served free in the temple complex itself. The method of serving food was unique in all the places and the innovative methods adopted for serving at a time, more than 1000 persons deserves to be patented. Murdeshwar had a breathtaking statue of Shiva which was about 23 foot in height and near the Arabian Sea. There were other statues as well, which was an absolute wonder.

The Cry of the Halidon

Just finished reading "The Cry of the Halidon" by Robert Ludlum. It probably is one of Ludlum's worst effort, because he does'nt manage to hold the readers' attention. It is not his usual riveting, fast paced thrillers. Goodreads review 2/5 

Golden age of cricket - no more

Letter sent by me to the Times Crest Edition today

Refer to Ayaz Memon's article on Saturday's Crest edition, page 20, probably the golden age is just past us now. Where are the bowlers of esteem, bowlers who could take wickets on any track, bowlers whose name spelt fear, people like Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Shane Warne etc. Cricket has completely become a batsman's game now, with bowlers not getting any help from flat tracks. Also too much cricket in one form or another has taken the mystique away from some performers. Bowlers who could have made a difference are perenially injured, like Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond etc. In my view the Golden age of cricket has gone away never to come back. Statistics don't make a golden age, the beauty of the game has been lost.

BEST A.C bus service to andheri east

Letter which I sent to Times of India regarding the transport situation in Andheri East.

Reference to your news item in today's Times of India, Mumbai edition, page 5. I am surprised to note that BEST has completely bypassed Andheri east in introducing new A.C. Buses. Andheri East is probably the fastest growing suburb in Mumbai today especially from the office goers point of view. There are numerous CBDs already existing here such as SEEPZ, MIDC, besides which numerous office complexes and buildings are coming up here. The number of people working in Andheri east far surpasses that working in the original CBDs such as Nariman Point, Cuffe Parade etc. The bus services to this area is completely pathetic. Auto-rickshaws totally refuse to ply to Andheri East mumbling some idiotic reasons. One should come down in the evening rush hour to witness a spectacle - that of thousands of people walking down from everywhere to the Andheri station. It is therefore imperative that more A.C. buses start plying from andheri east to the western suburbs of Goregaon to Borivli, central suburbs of Ghatkopar to Chembur to Mulund and to south Mumbai.

True Believer

Just finished reading "True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks, did not realise it was a romance fiction, my first and hopefully my last ever. There was nothing in it.

Easy Run - Thursday, 14th January 2010

Completed my running workout for the SCMM 2010 today, ran 63.56 minutes, easy pace.