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Fitness :Tackling Obesity

You know it’s a serious issue when Michelle Obama’s fighting against it. India too, suffers from an increased rate of obesity in children and teenagers. The WHO defines obesity as – abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. The three main reasons for obesity in India are – reckless diet, lack of exercise, and most importantly, over indulgent parents.
SYMPTOMS
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of body weight relative to height. It roughly indicates the level of fat accumulation in the body. It can be calculated by dividing height in centimeters by weight in kg squared. BMI greater than 25 is considered overweight while BMI over 30 is considered obese.
Some of the noticeable symptoms of obesity include – lethargy, breathlessness, difficulty in doing daily chores, ballooning of the abdominal area et cetera. Flabby under arms and thighs along with stress are also valid symptoms.
CAUSES
There are various causes of obesity in teenagers; especially in India. One of these reasons is the refusal to eat home cooked food. Children today insist on skipping home meals and replace them with highly fatty street food. A lot of teenagers nowadays experience higher levels of stress. This can lead to depression and, ultimately, binge eating. Distortion of the sleep pattern is also a serious offence which children commit.
It has been medically proven that lack of sleep aids obesity. Peer pressure often forces teens to light up. Smoking is as much of a serious threat as aerated drinks. Perhaps the most important factor is the sedentary lifestyle that young people today have adopted. In order to get rid of fat, calories need to be burnt.
Engaging in light physical activities like walking can be extremely beneficial in the long run. Indian society is also to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs. The weight of a child, apparently, reflects the economic prosperity of the household. The phrase “khaate peete ghar ka” is used quite proudly and misleadingly by mothers in India. Sometimes the reasons for obesity are hereditary. The child of an obese couple is more likely to be obese than the child of a normal weighted couple.
EFFECTS
The myriad effects of obesity include – cardiovascular disease, infertility, blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, liver and kidney disorders etc. The psychological effects of obesity are perhaps graver than the physical ones. Obese people are more likely to show low self-esteem because of their unattractive girth. They are also likely to face social discrimination because they don’t fit a certain mould of consistency.
TREATMENT
The best way to tackle obesity is to start exercising regularly. The calories need to be burnt in order to fight the fat. Hitting the gym is unnecessary in most cases. Brisk walking is shown to be effective. Practicing beginner’s yoga is also very effective.
A proper dietary plan is imperative. High intake of vegetables is always beneficial. Cutting back on fast foods; especially aerated drinks, is very important. Eating small portions at regular intervals is better than eating huge portions twice a day.
Kicking the cigarette butt and divorcing alcohol would be hugely profitable. De-stressing and getting proper R.E.M. sleep is also a necessary part of the plan. Surgery can be employed in severe cases. Operations like gastric bypass and sleeve gastronomy have proven to be effective in the past.
For normal or slightly overweight people, a proper balanced diet with regular exercise is all that is required to maintain a healthy body.
Anirudh Madhavan

A Nice Quiet Holiday

A nice quiet holiday is a book I stumbled across in my boss’ office while interning this summer. I was quite intrigued by the back cover and all that it promised to offer and since I had a short break for lunch and thought I’d read it for a bit, before I got back to work. I did get back to work, but only after I was caught reading the book over an hour later. Turned out my boss understood completely, and instead of showing any signs of annoyance, he gave the book to me and insisted I read it!
Aditya Sudarshan, a graduate from NLSIU wrote this book while still in college. He has practiced criminal litigation in Delhi after graduating, and is now a professional writer. This is his first novel and is complete with all the necessary ingredients that make an exciting murder mystery – set in a family home in the hills with several well-etched characters, exciting court scenes, and a controversial AIDS report that instigates mob violence. A Nice Quiet Holiday is a detective thriller set in a quiet peaceful town, Bhairavgarh, at the foothills of the Himalayas. A page turner, the book keeps you guessing as to who is behind the murder till the very end. And most often you’re guessing completely wrong. I found myself dead sure that every character was acting suspiciously and hence behind the sudden murder till the very end, when Sudarshan unveils the murderer, someone I hadn’t given a second thought to. The book keeps you completely absorbed from start to finish.
The narrator in the book, Anant, is a young law clerk who is both intelligent and passionate. He decides to take a break from the hectic city life in Delhi with his mentor, his boss, Justice Harish Shinde, who is not only a great judge and legal mind but an excellent judge of character and keen observer of human behaviour. They travel together to Bhairavgarh, where they stay with an old friend of Justice Shinde’s. On the way Anant is told stories of the supernatural that leave him feeling slightly unsettled. But these stories, he finds out later are just the beginning of a series of horrifying events, and what turns out to be anything but a nice quiet holiday. Both characters, along with the other characters in the book have been very well developed during the book, through their interactions with each other and their reactions to different situations. All of them are very different, have their own agenda, and yet they come together smoothtly.
Sudarshan writes very well. His style is simple yet pleasing. He manages to piece together sleuthing, court scenes, subtle romance, half a dozen characters, without leaving any strings hanging, holding your attention right through the book. Given that this detective thriller is his debut novel, it is most impressive.
I look forward to reading more about Anant and Justice Shinde, and hope that Sudarshan plans a series, much like Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie. Less than 250 pages long, the book is crisp, fast paced and exciting, and ideal for a short journey.
Gulika Reddy

Our Life Our World

The world is not fair,
One has to work hard even to inhale the air.
Life is not always easy,
It is in fact fast paced and busy.
One has no time to rest and love
To live life as one must.
Necessities have become a daily dose,
Standing and working all day on your toes.
The fast paced life and always moving has dragged all along,
But I wish the simplicity of the past to come back and undo the wrong.
So much has changed,
Lifestyles are ranged.
With the unknown future and forgotten past,
The present is shaking and wavering at last.
I Wish time would turn back,
I wish the glory of past comes back,
Where simplicity still lingers in air
And happiness is there to share.
The A world where there is friendship and brotherhood
And where love and peace stood;
Where borders and boundaries of land and heart are diminished,
Where anger and dishonesty are finished.
I know this sounds like a dream,
Yet it is a thought from my minds passionate stream
I know it is an illusion,
But it’s far better than harsh world and so called nuclear fusion.
Times are changing further,
We are slowly and gradually losing our world our mother.
With time all will be lost,
Our world our life our love is the cost.
Hope and hard work is all we have got
To save our world and be a happy lot …….
Aarshi Dua

Theory Of Happiness

We still remember some of the memories of past. Our first trophy of excellence, the first bicycle, the day we fell in love and other numerous memories. A momentary thought of these open-eyed-reams bring a smile on our face and we desire to live those moments again. Isn’t it a bit weird that we in the present enjoy the past marjoram of happiness? With time and age, the ravishing fragrance of these past gaieties will surely tarnish away.
Happiness does not require a proficiency in keeping ourselves blissed out, rather being like a new born who can easily be made happy by infant toys. The Wikipedia defines happiness as “the mental state of well being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy”. Surely for a common man, the state of felicity has nothing to do with the above jargons. In fact words may fall short if we begin to explain the true and hidden meaning of happiness. But on short note, happiness is like a philosopher’s stone. The one who touches it exults with joy and flies high above cloud nine.
But the present scenario reveals a different meaning of happiness for the today’s mortal being. For many of us, becoming a successful person, having a well settled life might be the means of happiness. We aim for acquisitive and object oriented happiness. No doubt that would make us happy and jolly, but till it persists. Human ideology to achieve things in short period of time has made them think mechanically. Happiness achieved by materialistic approach lasts for a short period of time and once it vanishes, we rejoice over them with our visualization.
12 muscles are required to smile, but it requires careless participation of every part of our body to mirth. Yes a careless attempt will make us free slack. Joviality is all about being happy and making others feel so too. Suppose you are the richest man on this planet; But what is the sole purpose of such comforts if we don’t have someone else to be a part of our triumph and to rejoice with us. It’s better to walk in air with someone holding our hand, who knows the importance of their company.
Happiness and sadness are two sides of a coin, and we as clever beings should welcome the happiness and let the doleful part pass on smoothly. The acceptance or recognition of happiness is there in us innately. We may not need to compare it with something to identify it. Be happy! Be blessed!
Vaishnav Thakur

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Salutes To Dada

It was fortunate for game of cricket that a certain young Saurav Ganguly inspired by his elder brother took an interest in cricket over football and began his career in the cricket since his teenage. But his first step in the domestic team was never imagined to be so harsh, as he was selected to play in place of his brother from whom he learnt the sports. From here, he was able to make a beginning in international arena in 1991 by just playing a single one day match and thereafter being dropped.

“What is patience and determination?”, Saurav Ganguly asked the youngsters who aspire to play for the nation; as he was once again picked up in 1996-97. Most of the batsmen can only dream of making mark in the Mecca of cricket-Lords in England, but for him, dreams were meant to be fulfilled. With a wonderful century, Saurav joined the prestigious list of rare players who scored a century in their Debut Test Match. It was the highest score made by any batsmen in his test debut at Lords. What was being realized was not only his dream, but also his passion to deliver his best. All this shows how his hard work enabled him to be a part of international cricket team.
He made record of becoming Man of the Match for four consecutive times in ODI series against Australia in 1997. Another responsibility was waiting for him, when after a match-fixing scandal; Saurav Ganguly was handed over the captainship of the team. Under his captaincy both in ODIs and Test matches, he provided the team with victories against the best- both at home and abroad. He also achieved the record of making 9000 runs in Test matches at the fastest rate in January 2004. He is the first Indian to score an ODI century against Australia in Australia. Dada is the highest ODI runs scorer in the world (in a calendar year) in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
If controversy with Greg Chappell had not taken place, we would not have had the opportunity to understand his “Come-back spirit”. During those days in 10 months, an advertisement of cold drink depicted his will and motivation to again play for his nation. He came back with a bang and won the Castrol Asian cricketer of the Year Award in 2007. He scored his maiden double century in the first innings of the third and final Test match at Bangalore. He became Man of the Match in that match and Man of the Series in against Pakistan in December 2007.
Sanath Jayasuriya, after Ganguly’s comeback, remarked that he has shown with class and experience that age need not to be a barrier to success. His contemporary Rahul Dravid gave him the title of ‘God of the offside’. Sachin Tendulkar, who was at one point of time his captain, characterized him as a ‘secret weapon’ in September 1997. His all round performance has at every time given him what he deserved. He has been man of the series in Test matches for 6 times and in the ODIs for 2 times.
We can never forget how he showed confidence in the young players taking the Indian cricket team to success and by making an extrovert point by flying his shirt on defeating England Natwest Trophy, 2002; exuberating a non-defeatist attitude. We must salute his efforts every time we hear about him. On November 11, 2000 he made debut as a captain and after eight long years he has said goodbye to the international game.
Dada, Hats Off!
Bhumika Sharma

The Great Wall of India

I am quite the atheist when it comes to the religion of cricket in our country. I know its hard to believe that I even exist! But before you disown me and my article, being an atheist I must confess that I danced in  my pyjamas on the streets in Central Delhi, with complete strangers when India won the world-cup (ah! memories) and I even ogle the men in blue. Infact for a very long time my sister and I used to gawk at Rahul Dravid whenever she used to force the remote out of my hand, remove MTV and put on a cricket match. My interest in him dropped as soon as he got married. It was not only dis-heartening but also dissapointing. I felt betrayed. But my cricket fanatic sister’s love for cricket and Dravid remains unchanged. If I would have known what was about to happen to me today, I would have ditched the fight for the remote control those four years back and willingly surrendered myself to ten sports.

As I walked into my office this morning hoping to write on Mayawati and cast slur on her womanhood, I figured my boss had something else in mind. What he had in mind was the 15 years that Rahul Dravid had completed in his cricketing career and like my sister he too is a cricket connoisseur. I knew there was no escaping,  I knew the puppy face was a waste of time. Do I instantly called my saviour sister, told her about the situation and begged for help. As expected, she went into a dramtic flasback tout de suite. It goes something like this.
20TH JUNE 1996 – It’s India vs England at Lords! The atmosphere is charged with testosterone with the crowd cheering, the cricketers taking their positions in their  worn out greasy white flannels, the batsmen taking his stance, there is that anxious anticipation of the first ball being bowled to the England openers and finally the match begins. Amidst all this cricket pandemonium there are these two men living the biggest dream of their life and quietly making their debut at the home of test cricket only to give all of us cricket fanatics a reason to scream our lungs out! We know them today as Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Saurav Ganguly made an exhilarating 131 and dravid fell short of 5 runs from his century and got out on a nervous 95. What happened next is history. While Saurav went on to become the captain of the Indian cricket team and lead India to become runners up in the worldcup 2003, Dravid became one of the most respected and regarded members of the world cricket community and got a chance to lead the team as well.
Though whether this technical Bangalore batsman got his due or not is debatable. If you look at it he been not been given enough credit for his extraordinary contribution to cricket, infact quite the opposite. For most of his cricketing career Dravid has lived in the shadows of the huge sixes and fours hit by ‘God’ and cricket’s shirtless Salmaan. I doubt if they would have earned these titles (and more) without the support of the ordinary singles and odd boundaries hit by Dravid. The cricketer belonging to the ‘supporting category’ has been one of the most calm, consistent and a complete batsmen of his times and despite having single handedly won and saved so many matches for the country  has been abandoned by the selectors for the longest time and has never really been given the credit he deserves. On the contrary he has been criticized for being too much of a textbook player concentrating on the precision and technique as all people want to see is the heavy bat make contact with the leather ball, holding their breaths till the umpire lifts both his hands to call it a 6!
The cricket crazy (not cricket literate) people of our country have ignored for all these years is that it is this technique that makes Dravid so successful on overseas tours and foreign wickets. His role in changing the image of our team as ‘’underdogs and successful only on home turf’’ in the early part of the millennium to world champions has been pivotal. The India vs Australia tour in 2003 is a testimony of his strong will and character when despite being written off by critics due to poor form he along with Laxman changed the game for India at Adelaide by scoring 233 runs in the first innings and then hit the winning runs in the second innings as well with an unbeaten 72. The Australian ego was heavily bruised and although the series ended in a draw the whole world was all praises for the unique show of mental strength and character displayed by the Indians.
Dravid has scored more than 10000 runs in both the formats of the game and is at present the third highest scorer in Tests with a mammoth 12063 runs and has 31 Test centuries including 5 double centuries under his belt, while he piled 10765 ODI runs in the shorter version of the game. He is one of the very few players who has scored centuries in all test playing nations. Also apart from his contribution with the bat he has contributed to the team as a slipfielder filling the void of a wicket keeper. He also has the record for the most number of Test catches (200). But like most other great players, his career has had a few grey patches. He has more than often been criticized for being too slow or for not being assertive. His performance in the ODI’S has been under constant scrutinity and has invited criticism for only being suited for test matches. In 2009 he was dropped from the ODI squad due to a poor run when aus toured india and has never quite been able to make a comeback since then.
Resting the experienced players and giving chance to the young and talented breed of cricketers seems like the right thing to do on paper but unceremoniously ousting a legendary player and not giving him a chance of a comeback just doesn’t seem fair. Dravid is now playing against the West Indies and has put India in the driver’s seat by making a determined unbeaten 45* on the 2nd day at stumps.
Dravid may be a player who does not have the power of Dhoni or the timing of Sachin Tendulkar or the flamboyance of Sehwag. He may not be a natural strokeplayer or an obvious match winner but he is like that busy player who can stay at the crease undaunted for hours , test the patience of the bowlers with his unfaultering technique, let the others take the limelight and before you know it he slowly and steadily puts the match in the kitty. His footwork, his balance, his concentration, wrist movements and body weight transfer  scream perfection. He is what we call a cricket classic. The country can count on him in every situation and challenge. He has proved himself enough number of times, its just unfortunate that it has never been enough. But at times one doesn’t have to prove it to the world. One just needs to be true to oneself and Rahul Dravid has been true to himself, his religion and your religion.
Himanshi Chaudhary

Sports Is Costly! Way Costly

Players who once used to play the game for the love of it, often spending money from their pockets, are now increasingly demanding a remuneration package befitting a CEO of a large multinational corporation. Some argue that sports is an art and that the talent of the player deserves the greens. Agreed. However, quite chillingly, when you recall the horrors of the recent global recession and yet, when you roll through the figures involved and invested in the games across the world, it will become difficult to believe that the two happened in the same world, at the same time.

Sports is meant to entertain. And that it does. However, there is a lengthy price-tag attached to the experience. Golf leads the way in the regard. With millions being part of the game, it has several tournaments organized each passing year, money has becme a big draw for the clubbers. Formula 1 and NASCAR follow close, although sponsorship in these games can be cited as a cause. But money does have its (big, fat and enticing) role nevertheless.
Basketball continues its rich affair in the States and in Japan. Tennis stars grow richer each year with the top five stars in the male (three) and female (two) lanes together pocketing nearly 120 million dollars every year! Football and cricket too have been big spenders. Only the top three footballers – Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo — earn more than 100 million Euros together each year! The football clubs of Spain and England continue to pile debts in thousands of millions; the Italian League still has echoes of a major money scandal, but the game goes on. As result, the top twenty clubs have an average enterprise value of $632 million. And yet, the buyers never fall short!
The Giillette family owns a club; steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has one. The Sheikhs from UAE, Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula 1 guy, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi and Paul Allen (Microsoft’s co-Founder) have one a piece too!
Even though cricket has yet to catch up with the fan following that football commands, it is not so as far as the cash-splash is concerned. With three successful (commercially and otherwise) the IPL has taken the world of cricket by storm. Franchises have always carried hefty labels and the sums involved in the players’ auction would make Midas go shy.
Various studies have lent credence to the view that, when the incentives are increased, players will aim higher and perform better. Whatever happened to the players’ romance with the sport? And what is more appalling is the sheer unnecessary amounts being invested in haywire projects and premature careers. Chelsea Football Club recently signed an 11 year old footballer, their reason being his quality with the ball. Though the green figures on the cheque will probably increase in the coming years, just to make sure he is not ensnared by a rival! Almost eight years ago, a promoter offered Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi $10 million for their daughter to appear in a women’s tennis tournament in 2017! Somebody make some sense of that to me, please? So how exactly is the money involved? First, you build a team and a stadium. You buy, sell and transfer players. You hire a coaching staff and ensure their stay, travel and other needs are attended to. This alone takes the bill astronomically high! And if you opine that ticket sales are a major share, well, wake up! Ticket shares form the meanest fraction of the ways in which money is minted. The investors involved would still have their grins as wide even if a single ticket was not sold. Merchandising; sponsorship; TV, radio and online revenue; prize money and of course the “investment” by owners/ board members all ensure for a happy ending even before the game has started.
However, in all the flood of money, what is so surprising is that there has not been much done to check this commercial chaos! And the same idols that thousands of followers look-up to, seem to go unheeded by it all… busy, of course… spending the riches is not an easy task when the reserves are so thick and warm!
All one can hope is for the mania to get some refrain… if not for anything else, then just for the love of the game!
Rohit Rohan

Why Sir Alex Fergusson Must Go?

First of all, heartiest congratulations to Barcelona for a victory well deserved and well earned. Beautiful football is what you play, guys.
Although I must say that the display in the final of the Champions League last night that resulted in Barca’s win, was not only a result of Barca’s above par performance, but also of United’s shockingly below average performance. Coupled by a poor draw of luck of course. They were denied a string of fouls, one of which was just outside the goalkeeper’s box; and a penalty for a hand ball by David Villa. However, a deserving team would not need these handicaps to win.
However, let us get back to what this post is about: Why it is time for Sir Alex Fergusson to go. The guy receives the best of respects from me and from every other United fan for what he has done to the team. Perhaps the greatest thing to have happened to the Old Trafford outfit. He has been simply a chapter in history himself.
However, we know that all of us are but mortals and that everything has to go sometime or the other. And the same applies to SAF. He just does not seem to be his old self. Infact when the 2009-2010 seasons ended and there were rumours about him quitting, I for one was not very sad about it. My thoughts and opinions are not just a shot in the dark but an accumulation of several things. Let me draw comparisons from the last match played by him itself. Moreso when you want to be compared, why not do it with the team that is the best at what is being discussed.
Look at the Barca gang. You have players who have BECOME stars while playing for the team. And almost all of them have been around for a very long time together. They seem hungry, active and energetic. They pounce on the ball like hungry dogs do on a flesh of meat. And they take opportunistic shots. My point here is, Barca have cultivated a style of playing thanks to their manager. And because of his dynamism, he ATTRACTS the kind of players from the world over who WANT to play under him. Same goes for Mourinho!
On the other side, you have SAF whose tactics have become outdated, at best. Mind you, I still do not think they are the best team in England (Arsenal would be that) and they won the League title only because Arsenal and Chelsea could not. It was because the others faultered, that United won the title. But honestly, even this 12th under SAF was nothing like the other 11, or at least the other 6 that I have been around to see. His approach to the game has slackened a pace and his dynamism has gone a bit blunt in the last few years robbing him of being considered a true TACTICIAN.
He does not attract the bubbling class of players anymore. Rooney was only justified in his outburst and a sudden possible exit. United can now BUY the players they want. But they cannot entice them into coming there. Ronaldo went away. So did Tevez. Nistelrooy too did the same before them. Forlan was sold and he does not want to come back. Joe Cole chose Liverpool ahead of United. Rooney wanted to get away. Vidic could possibly be on his way out. They just don’t want to be in Old Trafford. And SAF had to depend on the used feet of Giggs and Scholes. Mind you, these are again players of class. But you have them on the feild or guide others and provide inlets; not to the running about and puffing up and down the pitch!
Another factor is AGE. SAF is old. No one can deny that. No matter how young he feels even now, he has to face something; there are other people who feel younger than he does! Arsene, Mourinho, PepG, Redknapp, Moyes etc. are all the best of managers out there. And all of them are young! Time and again we have seen that age gets the better of managers (Dalgish will have to defy that in the second season as well!). A camera caught SAF’s hand shivering and trembling at one moment during the game while the man sat there clueless as to what was happening to his team!
While PepG stood there outside the pitch calling out to his players, SAF could only warm his seat and look out in despair. He no more has that energy to get out there, shout at his players, make them do what they should. Players need that. They need to be shown where they are lacking, what they are not doing and where have they left the gaps open. While Arsene, Redknapp, Mourinho and PepG (even Dalgish!) do it in every single match, SAF is an irritating scene perched high in his cozy seat.
Even when it comes to tactics, SAF seems to be out of breath. While Mourinho twice broke into Barca’s ring this season, SAF failed for the second time in the two meetings with Barca in three years! Barca’s play a passing game. Quick passes, short passes, tantential passes, front and back passes. United should have planned to interject them. Instead they stood around and saw the ball being passed from one player to another. And when it came to them, they depended on their long passes to do them some good. Really? Rooney and Hernandez against their tall defenders? Long passes??
And the final reason I believe why SAF’s time is done, OPPORTUNITY. You have three top managers (four if you consider Moyes) who could very easily be lured into taking the United job. Mourinho I unhappy at Madrid and has already stated he wants to return to England. Redknapp is ambitious and would be ready. However, I would not favour him since he could easily be lured out of United’s post by a “better opportunity” (like an England job! Who knows!). And finally PepG. Although he has signed a short one-year contract with the Catalonians, he is just out of challenge. He has played with the best players for long. He has cultivated a team, a style of play, a winning pattern. He has won it all! And is just out of work. United could be just the place for him to reignite the challenge. But OPPORTUNITY was the key argument. And although these managers could be brought in, there are other pastures too! Chelsea job is available. And city could change their minds and splash the cash. They are committed to excel and have shown they will do anything to get to that!
So if SAF has to give this team an able successor, now is the time. You have done it all, Sir. But with all the due respect and love, we understand that you should now sit back and let someone else take your chair. We have been blessed with your presence for a long time and have loved every bit of it. However, the time for a change has come. And it cannot be helped!
Rohit Rohan

Sport Climbing For Fitness

At first glance, rock climbing seems complicated, difficult and dangerous. But climbers also look seriously fit, ripped, flexible… and insanely cool. Luckily for the average guy, there’s also a very safe, accessible and regulated version of rock climbing – it’s called sport climbing, and it’s easily do-able in practically every Indian metropolis.

Artificial climbing walls have sprung up all over India in recent years, and top Indian athletes have been competing worldwide. But how can you get started? Ganesh Chettri and Mohit Oberoi are two climbers from wildly different backgrounds and generations. They both have the same advice for young Indians looking to get into the climbing game.
Climb to get fit… Get fit to climb: Climbing itself will get you fit, but you can’t start climbing if you’re overweight or otherwise physically unprepared for strenuous activity. ”Physical fitness is the most important aspect of sport climbing competitions,” says 28-year-old Chettri, formerly the country’s top-ranked sport climber and member of India’s national team. A cool head is also important.
“Mental preparation is also critical,” adds Chettri, who’s now dropped competing in favour of coaching younger climbers to better compete internationally. But starting out doesn’t need Olympic levels of fitness or preparation – good old running and swimming are good enough ways to build a base. And mentally, just be ready for something a little out of the normal… and trust your instructor.
But don’t over train: Like in any sport, “be careful of overdoing it,” says Mohit Oberoi, who’s possibly the country’s most experienced rock climber, former national team coach, and the writer of Delhi’s only climbing guidebook. “Lots of competition climbers get fatigued when coaches push them to climb till they drop dead. [Figuratively, of course!] That’s pointless,” he says.
For Chettri, yoga is a great way to stretch, cool down and balance out sport climbing’s twitchy power bursts. “Yoga is both physical and mental,” he says. Just like the sport.
Join a club or your local wall: If you can jog down your street without collapsing, and aren’t prone to panic attacks, head over to your nearest sport climbing wall. “Find a local wall, at stadiums, schools or even camps,” says Oberoi, who’s also the owner of Outdoor School, which builds international-level competition walls across the country.
Most large Indian cities and towns have excellent artificial climbing walls, with a readymade group of people to hang out with and learn the ropes from, so to speak. There are also open groups on Facebook that take first-timers out. At the very worst, you’ll make a new group of friends.
Be safe: Safety is pretty crucial for rock climbing. All artificial sport walls come equipped with bolts as well as top rope anchors. As a beginner, you won’t be expected to do anything requiring technical rope skills. “I took young people climbing outdoors too, and we just rigged a lot of top-ropes. They don’t do any leading,” says Oberoi.
‘Leading’ is a technical term denoting the practice of a climber clipping a rope to anchors as he climbs to protect him, but still leaving him (or her) open to falls twice the distance to the last anchor. While this is also done on sport climbing walls in India, “beginners don’t have to do anything except follow instructions and just climb up”, says Oberoi.

Get a sporting culture: Chettri comes from the Darjeeling, home to India’s Sherpa community. India’s northeast regularly takes in a large haul of medals in any competition, says Oberoi, because these states have a sporting culture. So it’s up to you to get in the spirit and surround yourself with people who think likewise. Rock and sport climbing are addictive, and have a subculture all of their own – once you get immersed, it’s hard to get out. And who’d want to?!
Have fun! Climbing comes instinctively to human beings. We’re all 96% monkeys anyway – watch any fearless two year old in a jungle gym. As adults, we’ve forgotten what came naturally to us as kids. Sport climbing is safe, easy and the funnest way to get fit. So get on the wall and have a blast!
Apoorva Prasad

The Wonderwall

On April 3, 1996 when Rahul Dravid made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Singapore, he was a young, shy, boyish looking bBngalore lad who got out only after scoring 3 runs and failed to deliver. Almost 15 years later, as he dons the blue coloured clothing for the last time on the cricket field, he has scored over 10000 ODI runs, has captained his team and is one of the most revered members of the world cricket fraternity. It’s been a long journey indeed with its share of bitter and sweet. The statistics will speak for the sweet.
But I say bitter because despite his selfless contribution to Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid has never really got his due. On most days his carefully crafted intelligent knocks that are full of precision and technique are often overshadowed by a more glamorous display of batting ruthlessness that comes either from a bigger star or from a heavier bat. When it comes to Dravid, somehow commiserations manage to exceed the celebrations. He is what we can call Indian cricket’s unsung hero.

Rahul is all about the understatement. He comes across as a sorted family guy who quietly carries on with his business and is anything but a controversy’s child. Unfortunately, things like ”propriety and sobriety” are not marketable; which is probably why we fail to see the star in him .Unlike Dhoni’s helicopter shot or Sehwag’s ”upar cut” Dravid does not have a trademark shot .When he walks in to bat, unlike the usual feelings of euphoria , excitement and uncertainty , there is an unexplainable sense of safety and tranquillity. He is usually not a party to famous individual cricket rivalries. Instead he is content to compete with himself and the only headlines he makes are the ones that come out of his Britannia bat.
It is amazing how underneath this calm and composed demeanour there is man with nerves of steel and the concentration of an eagle. Terms like aggression and power are generally synonymous with batting legends. However, for Dravid an ice cool temperament and unwavering focus are his weapons of mass destruction during any cricketing battle. Yet there is a passive aggression about him that tells the opposition that no bad delivery is going to be left unpunished and he will not serve his wicket to them on a platter.

He is like that industrious and persevering workman who would show up on time for practice, plan his entire innings with careful precision and reflects on his mistakes every night before going to bed .These are the characteristics that invite wonderment and respect from the public but not stardom. So, in our cricket doctrine, while Sachin Tendulkar is the ultimate God and Saurav Ganguly is at least God on the off side, for some odd reason Rahul Dravid is considered as a mortal. However, this is also because this Bangalore boy’s career is far from being a fairytale. Instead it is something that is closer to reality. It has had its share of wins and losses, ebbs and flows and praise and criticism. What he is today , is a product of his own blood and sweat .There have been no flukes or elements of ”divinity” but plenty of ‘devotion”

He has been a regular at the no.3 batting position for a long time, which is one of the most crucial positions in any batting line up. He is also the ultimate team man who has played the role of a makeshift wicket keeper, a captain who led by example and a role model for youngsters. In the process he also drew flak for not having an appropriate strike rate, declaring an innings when Tendulkar was at 194 and being too orthodox as a player. Now, after 10889 runs, 334 one day matches, more than 15 years of experience, comebacks after comebacks and numerous coveted awards, everything else seems smaller and irelevant.
Dravid, the cricketer has always been bigger than Dravid the showman. He is not someone who needs to stand out, be in the limelight or make his presence felt but something about him tells you that he is ALWAYS THERE. His greatness doesn’t lie in being worshiped and applauded but instead it lies in the fact that he chooses to be taken for granted. If there was ever a movie on cricket, he would be hailed as one of the best supporting actors in the history of world cricket.
So, at 38 years of age, as he walked out to bat in his last one day match something was different. The stadium was packed to capacity, the applause were a lot more louder and every shot of his was being cheered on by the spectators. When he got out after a scoring a well played 68 in typical Dravidesque fashion , he evoked a standing ovation from the crowd, as well as his teammates and every England player rushed to shake hands with him and exchange pleasantries.
It was as if, suddenly everyone realized that ”he may not be there anymore”, and just like his entire career his swansong was not entirely picture perfect. Despite losing the match, Rahul Dravid came out as a winner. When a journalist asked him – ”Do you sometimes feel that you have not got enough accolades’?” To that he said ”.I’ve never really worried about that. People keep telling me that maybe you don’t get the recognition you deserve, but I think I’ve got enough. In my own mind I’m very comfortable. I think I’ve got a hell of a lot of recognition.
When I look around me and I look at the other cricketers of India who’ve also done well, the number of guys who play first class cricket for years, there can be no complaint. Outside of cricket, you look around and see so many guys who struggle day and day out and get nowhere near the reward for the effort they put in. Living in India you just see it every day, it’s in your face. There are a lot more disadvantaged people than you and you can’t really be complaining about small things. I’m very comfortable and happy with what I’ve got. I think I’m recognised and rated for my work by colleagues and peers. A lot of nice things have been written about me in these 15 years and I’m very comfortable.”
So here is a little song dedication from 1 billion cricket crazy fans (especially the girls) to ”the wall”- my favourite cricketer, my first crush and the perfect gentleman,
”Because maybe you are going to be the one who saves me and after all you are my wonderwall”!
Divya Gaba

An Interview With Shubhadeep Roy

An IIT Kharagpur (2005) and IIM Calcutta (2007) alumnus, he worked in marketing and advertising roles and then left it all to venture and live his dreams. This is Shubhadeep Roy for you. He is brilliant, determined, remarkably creative and above all courageous. His passion for theatre and cinema has led him to be involved with various theater groups.
However, presently stationed in Rishikesh, his work today stands to be Photography. An avid photographer, he is currently capturing the festive fiesta of India in his Nixon D80, a project in line with the concept of “baaro maashe tero parbon” (thirteen festivals in a span of 12 months). Here is a brief journey with this youth through his iconic life.
Q) How do you want people to recognize Shubhadeep Ray?
Mr Roy: It depends on the definition of the word ‘people’. For example, I am happy when friends recognize me as a friend. But for the broadest definition of the word, it is adequate to be recognized as a fellow human being.
Q) You went on from being a well established corporate man to a dream chaser. What was the driving force behind the decision?
Mr Roy: It mostly was a desire to lead life the way I wanted, a life that is not dictated by monthly paychecks. And then there was (and still is) so much I wanted to do and most of it is practically impossible to do in parallel with a corporate job. So there was enough clarity to take a call.
Q) How difficult was it to cope with family, friends and most importantly the orthodox society and make them accept your decision?
Mr Roy: Family has been very supportive throughout. Friends have reacted in diverse ways – some appreciated it, some recommended more caution and some chose not to comment at all. Some friends have gone out of their ways to help me because they thought I was leading a life they could “only dream of”. Irrespective of the type of response, each one of my close friends has played a positive role in it. So cheers to all of them!
I don’t think the ‘society’ is as orthodox as it was ten years back.
You find a lot of people in the developed countries doing what they really want to do. And it has started happening in India also. This partially is because the Indian economy is at that stage of evolution where people start becoming entrepreneurial and selective. In that my generation is luckier than the previous one.
The deadliest battle, however, is fought within one’s own head. You keep earning money and chances are high that you would get used to money. You stop doing daily work and you might start doubting your social commitments and accountability.
Q) How did photography happen and where did you gain the requisite skills from? Or is it sheer talent?
Mr Roy: Well it’s a long story. As a little kid I wanted to be a bus conductor. Society rejected it outright. After a ferocious bargain we settled for photography. I was about four then. But the first camera happened when I was doing engineering.
Five of us bought a Kodak KB10. It was Rs. 500 back then. And the first SLR was procured five months into my first job. It was an instant addiction. Finally after quitting I set out on an unplanned, indefinite trip of India. (My first encounter with Rishikesh, where I live now, was during this trip.) The photographs were shared with a larger audience. The feedback was encouraging. So I kept clicking.
See theatre is my first and longest-lasting love till date. And I am a die-hard fan of what most call ‘world cinema’. So a basic sense of aesthetics and composition had already developed. As for the technical parts, we have books and the internet. The rest of it is emotions, which no one can train you in. And now I have friends in couple of really good photographers. I learn from our discussions and from watching works of the maestros. Also I try to learn from my own mistakes. It’s a continuous process that, I hope, never ends.
Q) How has life changed after taking up photography? How has the journey been so far?
Mr Roy: At a micro level, now every day is a different one on the field – lots of uncertainty, many challenges and a lot of sweating. But then in the evening you check the day’s work on the laptop screen and every drop of sweat looks worthwhile.
At a macro level, photography has brought a lot of travel. (Or was it the other way round?) I am getting to see a lot many places (another childhood dream) and meeting people from diverse backgrounds every day. And almost everyone I meet treats me with a lot of warmth. So despite the shady hotels and a thin wallet so far, it has brought a general state of happiness. Shifting to a village near Rishikesh has also contributed to it greatly.
Q) Tell us about your current project and your inspiration.
Mr Roy: Currently I am travelling to 13 Indian festivals, majority of them lesser-known ones, within a span of 12 months ending in February 2012. To give you an idea, with the ex-headhunters of Nagaland I have celebrated a festival that involves a lot of gun-firing in public places. This festivals project which is being supported by Delhi-based travel agency Copper Sky Journeys is called The Country Within.
There is a Facebook page for it and a book of the photographs from these festivals will be published sometime in 2012.
Well the idea first occurred to me while reading William Darlymple’s “Nine Lives”. So I shared the idea with a friend and he insisted it was a ‘wish’ and not a ‘plan’. So I sat down and made a ‘plan’. And now it is all happening.
Q) What is your style? What do you look for in a perfect click?
Mr Roy: My areas of interest are people’s candid moments and documentary photography. Since I go to different locations to capture them, naturally parts of the stock can be classified as travel photography. I do not have a signature style yet. Normally it takes far more time.
At least in my areas of interest, a perfect click must tell a story. Then the other components need to fall in place according to the story. For example, if you are clicking dancing people, the rhythm has to somehow show in the photo. Also it needs to be technically sound.
Q) Theatre is another domain that interests you. What is it that attracts you to the stage?
Mr Roy: My love for story-telling, I guess. For an actor the thrill of getting into someone else’s shoes is addictive, more so when people come back to tell you how the character moved them. As a director, while reading a good script I always have images moving in my mind like they do in a bioscope. If those images attract me, the objective becomes clear – to create them on stage for the audience to see.
Q) What is your advice to the youth of India, herding to join the corporate brigade?
Mr Roy: ‘Advice’ is a strong word. I can at most share couple of realisations:
I. It is critically important that we keep contributing to the betterment of the community, by joining the corporate brigade or otherwise.
II. The heart and the mind can work in tandem. Finding the right combination for the two is difficult but not impossible. And the prize is worth the effort.
Q) 10 years down the line, where do you find yourself? Will you be doing the same work as today or pursuing another raw dream?
Mr Roy: 10 years is a long horizon to comment with certainty. But I hope I would still be chasing dreams.
Did I tell you about this childhood dream of making full-length feature films?
Amrita Sarkar

Just Good Friends

“Hey, he’s not coming…apparently he’s got some work left”, she said. Though I was more than happy to hear those words, I kept my emotions under control. “So I guess, then it’s just you and me…lets hurry up, I think it’s gonna rain again”, I said.
Within a couple of minutes we were on our way. This was the first time we were walking alone and now when I look back, I could not have asked for a better setting than what we had that night. It had been raining all day long and even though the downpour stopped an hour ago, the gentle breeze that was blowing just made the crisp moonlight peeping out of the clouds all the more enjoyable.
Here I was, walking with a girl who could not have been more perfect for me, on this amazing night. I thanked my stars for that. And none of it would have been possible had a common friend not been stuck at the office due to some work-related issues. So I thanked my stars again…
Once we left the building I noticed that she had her earphones on. Maybe that is why she had been so quiet for the past minute or so, coz her being quiet is pretty unusual. As I noticed the earphones my gaze
suddenly fell on her hair swaying with the swift wind.
And within a second she looked at me with that weird stare, her eyebrows raised. “What???” , she asked. “Nothing”, I said, “It’s just that it’s really impolite to be walking with someone with your earphones on”. She smiled gently, pulled the cord out of her cellphone and then smiled again, “Is it okay now?” she asked. “Yeah”, I said, “but why the hell are you listening to Nickelback?” She didn’t reply.
We discussed random topics for the next 5 minutes or so. What topics? I can’t remember. Maybe I wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying and was concentrating more on how she said it. It’s really hard to act as though you are listening attentively to someone when actually all you are doing is being mesmerized by their presence. But I do remember when she abruptly stopped talking and pointed towards something across the street.
“PANIPURI !!! I want to have some…” she pleaded. “Sure…why not?” I replied. Why not? Hmm….lets see…..coz the last time I remember having one of those was about a year ago and I ended up turning sick due to food poisoning after consuming the damn thing. But how could I say no to her.
And that wasn’t the only problem. Ask anyone who has ever crossed a road with a girl and you’ll understand the situation I was in. Now, had I been alone I would have been on the other side in less than 10 seconds, but when you have a girl along with you, it typically takes a hell lot longer than that.
They turn left, then right and until and unless they are perfectly sure that they’ll make it in one go, they won’t even take a single step forward. The Bangalore traffic wasn’t helping the cause either. I wanted to grab her hand and just make a run for it but I didn’t. And after 4-5 minutes of struggle I finally managed to get us both on the other side of the road.
“These are amazing…Bhaiya, make it more spicy” she said, and even though I knew that I may have to regret having them (remember the food poisoning?), what made me happy was to see the sheer pleasure in her eyes because of those damn things. I tell you, girls and Panipuri are like…“Bhaiya, give the last one without the PANI”, she said, “God it’s so spicy!! Hey lets go have something sweet na, a Mango Shake maybe”.
And we were off to our second stop for the night. It was 9 ‘o’ clock in the evening and with the rain in the air, there weren’t many people on the roads. Especially when we took a turn into a colony where this Juice corner supposedly was, I couldn’t see a single soul on the street.” Perfect”, I thought, “What more could I ask for…” I murmured to myself. “Huh? You said something?” she asked. “No, nothing….”, I
replied hurriedly.
But before I could even start a conversation, she started talking again. Although this time I remember exactly what (or rather who) she was talking about. She had this boyfriend with whom she was having all these problems, and even though discussing about her boyfriend was so unbearably awkward for me, I had to oblige. Afterall, she considered me as her friend.
She kept rambling about him on and on and as you can judge by my tone, it was far from pleasing. To be honest, I don’t know why. This continued till we reached the juice corner but by that time, the message was pretty clear….he was too important for her. And as sad and dejected I was on the inside, I kept a smile on my face – the very smile I always maintained whenever she talked about him.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to have it on for long as we approached the Juice corner. “2 Mango shakes please”. As I placed the order, I couldn’t help but think why exactly I felt so awkward every time she talked about him. And within no time my answer was there.
With the brisk breeze still blowing as the aftermath of the day-long downpour, her hair was going all over her face. She then gently pulled ‘em back and tucked them behind her ear. She had one of those dangling ear-rings on, you know, the ones that moved with her every move. And there it was…the most beautiful face I had ever seen….she was perfect and even more so perfect for me. Suddenly, I was brought back to my senses, “2 Mango Shakes, 40 Rupees please Sir”. “I’ll get it”, she said.
“No, no….I got it… I got it”, I insisted.
She had taken just one sip from her glass when a 4 or 5 year old came abruptly running towards us. He stood there and stared at the both of us. “Would you like to taste it? It’s yummy…..” she asked the kid. The kid
nodded. “Oh, he’s so cute”, she said, “Bhaiya, one more glass of Mango shake”. The kid kept staring at us and it almost seemed as if he was amazed as to how a jerk like me could be hanging out with a girl like her (or maybe it was just me).
“Lets go, it’s getting late and it looks like it’s gonna start raining again”, she said. After saying good-bye to the weird-yet-cute kid, we were on our way again. I for one wanted this walk to last forever but she
seemed to be in a hurry. No sooner than we got out of the colony and onto the busy roads, I saw my bus coming. I tried ignoring it so that she wouldn’t see it too, but I was too late.
“Hey, that’s your bus isn’t it? Go, go, what are you waiting for? You probably won’t get another bus for the next half an hour”, and despite me telling her that it was late and that I should at least drop her home and then catch a bus, she was adamant. “Don’t be stupid, I live just around the corner. If you don’t catch this bus, you’ll definitely get soaked in the rain”, she said.
And with a heavy heart, I had to stop at the bus-stop. “Goodbye, and thanks for the Panipuri and the Mango Shake”, she said, and all I could do was smile. Seeing the bus approach the bus-stop, she said goodbye again and started walking away. But you know what, I never got onto that bus. I just stood there watching her walk away, thinking how I was going to cope up with all these feelings.
There are very few things in this world that are more painful than to see the one you care for walking away from you, seeing the distance between the two of you grow with each passing second. One of those things is to know that despite how you feel for that person, you might never end up together; another
is knowing that when you wake up the next day all that transpired today would be a distant memory and you’ll get back to being “just good friends”. At that moment, standing at that bus-stop, I felt all three of those things.
Nishant Prakash

From Reality To Fiction

Everyone’s Reality is Someone else’s fiction.
Who would have thought that, not even a graduate, but a college dropout, the founder of the world’s most eyed product, Steve Jobs, a man who beautified technology, with an unimaginably astonishing life story. Put over adoption by his young mother after birth, being adopted by the Jobs, on a condition to be provided with good education, at least a graduate degree, it seemed his fate wasn’t obeying to what was a promise between his biological mother and foster parents.
He left college half way through, collected empty coke bottles to earn some pennies, ate at Hare Krishna temple to have a palate satisfying meal, and adopted Buddhism as his religion. All this was his ‘reality’. However harsh all this may sound or be, this was the beginning of his good luck and end of his miserable fate.
As if this was not enough to accentuate empiricism in his life, when he was fired from Apple, the company he started in a Garage, all by his sweat and blood. Luck is imperishable, which got proved, when Apple Inc. had to buy his company NEXT, and Jobs re-stepped into his kingdom of dreams, a dream come true indeed!
It was then when he turned out to be an exceptional designer, CEO, and leaving college mid way proved to be a boon for his life, including the calligraphy he had learnt, which he used in designing Apple products. The God of technology was at the peak of popularity in his lifetime when he launched the first i-pad and i-pod, and overnight Apple even overtook Microsoft in the list of top companies of the world. Poor Bill Gates had to manage quite a lot of relations with Steve, of a friend, rival, and colleague.
But even the Gods’ don’t have the ultimate power they say, it’s all written somewhere. His fate returned to him from the past, in 2004 when Jobs was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, and his countdown begun. His health deteriorated rapidly but the strong spirited man kept pouring out his creativity. Jobs passed away at the age of 56, leaving the whole world, wonderstruck, as to what shall be technology and Apple like, without the Creator. He was compared to Edison, Einstein, and every possible historic inventor. He was indeed the Einstein of the 21st Century.
Staying Hungry and Staying Foolish is today’s and Job’s reality. But what was Job’s Reality might sound like a fable to the future generations, like the historic lives of famous people sounds like fiction to us. What we did not see, did not experience, howsoever real, will be somewhat similar to fiction for us, with imageries and hypothesis to the human mind. What happened to Jobs is the story of a few majestic lives, where the men are masters of their fate. Eventually people in the future or a few of them even today might not believe truly in how he toiled himself and emerged victorious in life.
Practicality is still open to interpretation and varied beliefs. Someone else’s practical life cannot really be feasible for another. Reality doesn’t take time to turn into fiction for millions of people. Or what might become obsolete with time, is perceived to be fictitious. Though Steve Jobs shall fetch spaces in the literary archives of the world in golden ink, but may be fifty years down the line, when students might learn about him, all his reality will appear to be fiction for to them, leaving them bewildered.
Today when he rests in peace, even his reality, which might be tomorrow’s fiction, is worth winning accolades and seeking inspiration. When we live in the Shakespearean world of literature, out of which his plays and work which are purely fictitious in nature, and despite that, influence us deeply, Job’s real life is a better and more exceptional source of inspiration for mankind to live while you know you’re dying and make a difference in the universe.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
-Steve Jobs
Shefali Saxena

Infidelity

Infidelity, I don’t know where to start on such a complicated issue. You hear it happen every day at every step in life from the rich and famous to the girl at the checkout counter at your local grocery store. Media has a perverted hunger for any story on infidelity, marital betrayal or just a plain juicy risqué report. I can only imagine the level of pain inflicted on a partner by a story of sexual indiscretion that the media is dissecting with coarse and vicious pleasure simply because I have been at the other end of infidelity.
My fortune, so to speak, is that I didn’t have to re-live it over and over every time I opened a newspaper or watched the news. The door to my bedroom was shut so that nobody was allowed to peek in without my permission. I am opening that door now because I believe it’s not only therapeutic for me but I could possibly offer a common ground for anybody who’s found questioning the eternal vows of matrimony and integrity.
People speak of charms and incantations, some eat right and workout, while others get an education or worship a higher being; but we all create and recreate ourselves daily. I know I live and I hurt by my own doing or undoing and somehow I convinced myself in the midst of my last marriage, albeit reluctantly, that life comes and goes the way I made it to be, with nothing more than a mild hangover.
I lived through my last matrimony in complete ignorance and tacit acceptance of what turned out later to be a sordid and vulgar side of “for better or worse”. See, I was so frightened there was something pathologically and socially wrong with me that when given clear choices and clues I chose murky compromise and denial instead.
My ex husband and I married relatively young and began our process of maturing together. When I met him I was ending a chapter in my life that panned out to be more traumatic than a 20 plus some year woman is equipped to deal with, so I looked at marriage as a band aid on a wounded heart even though in the long run it ended up as a band aid on an open heart surgery.
We grew unhappy really soon. I am not sure what exactly was the triggering factor but I think it’s safe to say that it happened to both of us, unhappiness that is, approximately at the same time. Maybe it was the mundane social status a married couple is quickly labeled with: house in the suburbs, two kids and a well behaved golden retriever in the yard. Whatever reason made us feel unfulfilled quickly with each other it’s not as important as the end result. See, paradoxically, we ended up in a pretty confined cul de sac, if only mentally and emotionally while trying to avoid the very same thing socially.
My husband was living a double life and while I was aware of it, we never discussed it openly as I lived in a state of total denial. Simply put the comfort of avoiding confrontation prevailed over the dignity of a pure heart. I wouldn’t say it made me unhappy at that time. I was too young and too busy being vain to pay close attention to my moral hygiene.
As the years went on, we became more and more tangled in the socio economic web that catches anybody as quickly as we dabble into adult life. Kids, braces, mortgages, jobs PTA meetings. We continued to live our financial and social life as normal as any couple. Joint checking account, dinnertime together, small chat about work, about the day, a glass of wine, a laugh.
I never brought up infidelity because I convinced myself at that point that I didn’t care. He was very discreet and I was never confronted with the vulgarity of it.
Many years passed this way, and the suburban life became as oppressive as a hot humid day at the tropics. I could feel the stench of dishonesty and I still ignored it. My husband and I talked more often now about venues outside our marriage. I remember nodding absent mindedly because it felt like such an abstract, surreal idea.
One fine day however my husband sat me down while on vacation in Europe and told me all about the woman he was seeing. The gates of false emotions became wide open at that point and they started claiming their true value on the scale of human passions. I was not prepared despite all the years of complicit knowledge.
The mere fact that now there was a real woman, with a name, a face and a body, a voice I could hear on the phone made it unbearable. I became crushed. I dragged myself through the rest of the vacation like a corpse. I had stepped outside myself and could now see a body and a face that I knew were mine but had no desire in reclaiming them.
We came back home and began the painful process of separation. Later on when every fork , every plate and every piece of furniture was counted and divided I discovered in the deafening silence of my new found solitude that I had been open to hurt, insult and bitter feelings far longer than I cared to admit .
Since then I pledged to live my life in an uncompromised manner. I know how despite years of being held hostage my heart has evolved and mature as I am now, fully aware of what years of insincere oath do to a union disserving complete honesty and dignity.
Garima Obrah

Real Women

“A real woman always keeps her house clean and organised, the laundry basket is always empty. She’s always well dressed, hair done. She never swears, behaves gracefully in all situations and all circumstances. She has more than enough patience to take care of her family, always has a smile on her lips, and a kind word for everyone. Post this as your status if you, too, suspect that you might be a man.”
Thus read a friend’s Facebook status message. It was intriguing but not more than the comments that followed. While some women, who suspected that they were ‘men,’ liked the status message, a lone man raised the issue of the adjective “real” which was being used in that message. His comment went thus: “I am just bothered about the adjective “real”. The usage of the term actually makes it “unreal”. If no, why do you need to use it (women are real)?
So x suggests that there is an amount of “unreality” in women. It makes sense if interpreted sensibly. The “unreality” could be a culturally forced phenomenon, like asking you to wear a sari and a blouse probably, or may be asking you to wear girly dress, or may be reinstating a social identity in you. So what she narrates is nothing but what she thinks is unreal. So is “unreal” – undesirable, forced, unlikeness,imaginative or is it something else?
This status message and the comment by that gentleman were my food for thought. Long ago, I had always assumed that biology classified men and women; I was proved wrong when I read Judith Butler, who says that gender is nothing but a performance. Well, I had to take some time to digest Butler’s definition. When I read that status message, I thought, is the opposite of ‘real’ woman only man? Can we try to define the ‘realness’ of a woman by the way she dresses, cooks and engages within the sphere of the house? Ah, does that not sound incredulous? It definitely does.
Some men can cook, keep the house clean and do almost everything a woman does. Does that then classify those men as women? This brings us to the issue of stereotyping women and slotting them in cubes labeled cooking, cleaning and being patient. The status message also brings another argument: If the aforementioned qualities make a woman “real,” then there should also be something called an ‘unreal’ woman. Let’s say that a woman who rides bikes, swears, sits cross-legged, smokes and does things that supposedly only men do, then is she not a “real” woman?
Facebook enables some worthwhile thoughts brewing and this post is but one of them. I think about the women/girls who were gushing when they read the above status message and rushed to hit the LIKE button. I wonder whether they were proud to admit that they weren’t “real” woman. The word “real” makes all the difference, I reckon.
Susan Deborah
She is an English Instructor in the Central University of Tamil Nadu at Thiruvarur. Having just submitted her PhD thesis on trangenders, she is looking forward to study more on alternate sexualities and identities. Writing is a passion for her and she is learning the art with each piece she writes. And, she is a blogger, immensely enjoying the journey which began in 2008.

I Do Miss Them...

It was only when I entered my fifth grade that I knew everyone had a relation called dad &

mom. But I know lots of them without both. Indeed lots. We play with each other during

evenings, we study together, we eat together. I never felt bad without my dad & mom. Why

should I? I get food thrice a day. I get books to study. The Father in our church advise us daily.

What else do I need? Why should one need a dad & mom? I had my doubts at first. If everyone

had both of them, where are mine? Why did they leave me? I once asked our Father. He told

me that he got me from the roadside. How could anyone leave me on the roadside & go?

Maybe I did something they didn’t like. But still, was I so bad that they left me once for all? Even

convicts get a second chance in court. I wish I could meet them-not to ask them to come back &

take me with them. But to ask them a few doubts which are in my mind for years. How can they

be so merciless to throw me away as a baby? If they cannot bear my responsibility, why did

they give birth to me? Did they think that I could survive in this selfish world all on my own

throughout my childhood? Now I am in eighth & I go to school everyday. Yes, I do tell I am

happy without my dad & mom- except during the mornings when most of my friends enter the

school after a sweet kiss from his mother & evenings when they run at the stroke of the last bell

into the hands of his father for a lovely hug. Yes, I do miss them at those times alone. Often, I

make a lot of mistakes in my homework to be taken to task by my teacher. I used to wonder

how my friends finished them perfectly only to find out that their dad& mom helped them out.

Yes, I missed them then too. And once when the school closed for vacation, I was walking back

slowly to my church. One of my friend, Raju asked me about my plan for vacation. Before I

could answer, he started blah blah about his tour with his parents to some place.. err.. ya..

Bangkok it was. Silly Boastbag! Though I dint know in which part of the world that place was, I

wished I too could go somewhere with my parents. I missed them at that time too. Then once

when my exam results came, I topped the class ahead of Raju. His dad picked him early that

day for an outing. He got a watch as a present it seems. I had no one to take me anywhere. But

I didn’t need a watch anyway. We already have a big one at our church & a still bigger one at

school. But I missed my parents that day too. Rest of the time, I am happy with my church,

Father & school. After all, am I not a grown up boy? My dad & mom left me to my responsibility

when I was a baby. Shouldnt I keep up their trust in me? I can manage without them. Guess

they will be preoccupied with their work in some part of the world. I am not angry with them. But

still, somewhere deep within, I do wish they were with me atleast for a day.. Just to know how it

feels.. to get a mom’s kiss.. a dad’s hug.. to be fed by them.. to sleep between them in a cold

night.. walk beside them holding their fingers.. atleast once..

-Dr. Aravind Menon

On The IIT's, The Coaching Centers And Mr.Murthy's Statement

“I didn’t even know there was something called facebook or for that matter much about internet
until I reached college” – says a friend of mine. A rather shocking statement considering the fact that he is of the same age as me and I on the other hand knew much about facebook right in my 10th std and about internet a couple years before that.
That statement made me a little curious, it was not like he didn’t have a computer at home or anything, so I ask him how he wasn’t aware of the trend that was rising like a wave, gathering everyone’s attention and probably was becoming a part of everyone’s life, to which he says “Arey try to understand, I was in one of those coaching centre’s in Andhra preparing for IIT”.
Nothing new really- “preparing for IIT” was a standard answer you would get from every other person, in his 12th class in the country, in fact even I had done it or rather I was seen doing it, perhaps one of the many false images people have/had about me. But in spite of my so called preparation, (I did attend coaching classes) I wasn’t like him, I was indeed aware of the things around be it the facebook or the other prominent things that happened. This fact made me a little more inquisitive and so I asked him on how he could have missed such a big thing.
“Buddy you don’t understand how it is like in Andhra. I had joined a reputed coaching institute during my 11th and 12th class, a residential one”. Apparently his parent’s had put him there probably hoping that he would one of those success stories those institute’s always advertised of, and they thought that he would be one of those “gifted” few who would ultimately enter the premier institute- the IIT.
It’s sad that he is not in an IIT now, he had missed the cutoff by less than 10 marks and he was telling me all this sitting right next me, in the college canteen! I’m little saddened by the fact that he had missed it by a mere 10 marks and at the same time I’m drawn into his story. To me what he said after this was completely indigestible and the fact that for everything he said I could see myself in his position made the feeling even more horrible.
“Life there is worse than being in a jail” he says. A typical day of his begins at 5:45 in the morning with a loud thud on the door signaling that it’s time for the machine within him to start. “They give us 15 minutes for our daily routines and by the stroke of 6 we’re supposed to be at a classroom for the 1st study hour of the day- 6:00 to 7:30”-he says.
At 7:30 the breakfast is served and by 8:00 the regular school begins. They teach only math, physics and chemistry and this continues until 1 in the afternoon. After 1 is their longest break he says, exactly 1 hr for lunch which he says is the same old stuff- rice and some curry, nothing new. I ask him by mistake if they serve fried rice or biriyani and he’s quite amused at that and tells me that those are forbidden words because they think a fried rice or biriyani can hamper his preparations!
By 2:00p.m you’re supposed to be back at the classroom for the day’s 2nd study hr- 2:00 to 4:45p.m. After that it’s break time for 45 minutes, and at 5:30 it’s time for him to go back again – the 3rd study hour- 5:30 to 8:30. Half an hour for dinner and again from 9:00 it’s study time again right up to 12 midnight.
All this is fine he says, he doesn’t like the weekends much, there is no school on weekends, which means its study time from 6:00a.m to 12 midnight with only 3 breaks totaling to 3hrs, solid studying for 15 hrs! At this point I become a little nosy and ask him what happens if someone sits in front of the book and sleeps to which he calmly replies- “Menon, you don’t think they’re fools right? They make us study in classrooms where we have a supervisor in every corner, everyone is given an individual bench and in case the supervisor finds you sleeping he will just come and poke you with the long stick he always carries”.
I was totally shocked on hearing that and next I ask him whether they get to see news and matches on TV if any. The moment I ask that he’s thinks I’m mad- “leave alone the news or sports on TV man! they don’t even allow us to read newspapers inside the campus!”. There is not even enough time to have a bath” he says. To him having a bath was a luxury, which he says is something he could afford to do only once in 3 days during the summer and once in 5 during the winter.

What about going home? Do they allow that? I ask next and he says – “Yes, twice in a year and if we’re lucky we might have a telengana bandh. We’re allowed to go home during these days too. And as far as parent’s coming here is concerned, they’re allowed only once in a year for our birthdays’.
And monthly once we’re allowed to go out but only for a haircut that too for a maximum of 45 minutes”- he says. He seemed happy when he said the last statement and I ask him what makes those 45 min so special. He says that those 45minutes according to him is the most precious time- a time when he can go to the nearby shop to get some biriyani or fried rice parceled and throw those packets to his friends who would be waiting near the back gate.
I was completely out of words when I heard that, that was something terrible I just heard and I was sure it can’t get worse than that. Shocking indeed!
The fact that they were being taught only math, physics and chemistry made me ask him about the board exams. “It’s simple. Board exams are like a cake walk for us. We hardly study for a day. 3 days before the exam they tell us all the probable questions and we’re asked to by-heart all the answers.
Only problem is with physics, since the answers are pretty long it takes time for us to do it, but still we mange it quite easily” -he says. That is not all he reminds me –“at 9:00 p.m on the day before the exams they hand us the question papers along with the sets. We are asked to practice those until 2 in the morning. How much more easy can it get, huh?” – he asks me.
WTF??? That’s even more shocking to me, I mean how can a system like that even exist, question papers along with the sets leaked out on the previous night – I raise that point to which he replies- “Dude common it’s an open secret, everyone knows it’s the case here in Andhra!”
In the beginning I thought he was doing a bit of exaggeration when he said Jail was better but then after hearing this I could do nothing but empathize with this poor soul. I just couldn’t imagine their plight, those grueling study hours, the rude supervisor, the endless wait for their biriyani’s…
And at the end of all this I ask him- “How could you ever cope up man? How did you even survive? Aren’t you angry at your parent’s?” Surprisingly I did not find any regret on his face, in fact he was smiling and he coolly said- “Never man! My parent’s only did what everyone else in Andhra does. And moreover I’m happy they put me there otherwise I wouldn’t even have reached where I’m now!”
In a country where every other child is brought up with a fixed goal in front of him – to somehow get in to an IIT – it doesn’t come as a surprise when someone like Mr. Narayan Murthy comes out with a statement that the quality of students in deteriorating. I find it quite evident, for there are many students in these premier institutes who have got in from coaching centre’s like the one described above and I’m pretty sure that almost all of those lucky ones will have a story like the one above.
Many people did get offended by what Mr. Murthy said but I think we need to accept facts and that was something someone had to say at one point or another. It’s indeed a wakeup call to our system, we do need to buck up because 20yrs down the line I don’t think we would want someone like Mr. Murthy to say- “Oh! IIT? – Just another engineering college!”
I was actually flabbergasted by the way my friend responded to that last question I asked him. I think if I were him I would have definitely cursed myself and my parent’s for ruining 2yrs of my life. Incredible, that reply I thought!
Vijay Menon

Jagjit Singh : An Immortal Voice Of Silence

Back in 1980, I got my first Tape Recorder (two-in–one) as a gift from my father. Two blank Sony tapes came free with it. On one we recorded our voices and voices of all the family and neighbourhood bacchas. Believe it or not, that was an amazingly fun pastime for our generation.
On the other I recorded the runaway hit of the time Jagjit and Chitra’s – The Unforgettable. I did not understand all the Urdu lyrics. But his voice transcended the necessity of mere understanding meanings of words. Even as a frisky teenager I could appreciate the soothing silences and the meaningful pauses animated by his silken voice.
Then came Mirza Ghalib on Doordarshan. I had no inkling about Ghalib. Gulzar recreated Ghalib’s life and brought him into our drawing rooms – but he could have scarcely done it without Jagjit’s rendering of all those Ghalib Ghazals. One immortal, lending voice to another immortal. I could appreciate Bazzecha-e –atfaal before I could understand it. Ghalib’s life story was about making Urdu poetry a popular idiom. Taking it out of palaces and courts to the lanes and streets. Jagjit’s life story is about making Urdu poetry a listening pleasure for the masses.
He could lend gravity to nostalgia (kaagaz ki kashti) and love ( jhuki –jhuki see nazar). He taught me that life is all about nuances (Tum itna jo muskara rahe ho), that love is reaching home (tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya…) and that there is dignity in despair (chitthi na koi sandesh).
His bhajans are imbued with spirituality for the same reason. Even an agnostic can put on Hey Ram or Kabir and feel the calmness and peace flooding them. His voice is able to reach places in our hearts that even we are not aware of. That is why he always stood above and apart from all the raucous cacophony and even melodious pleasantness that is popular music.
He had his roots in the classical tradition, his heart in Urdu literature and a deep spiritual instinct. His spirit soared high to bring together all this for the listening pleasure of the man on the street – from an auto driver to youngsters to aficionados. We could never have enough of Jagjit.
His going is going away of those magical silences that made music go beyond words beyond language and beyond meaning. Aah ko chaahiye ek umr asar hone tak – Jagjit we will never stop sighing.
Varsha Tiwary
Full time bureaucrat and mother of two,part-time dabbler in rhymes and preacher of health and fitness as a way of life.

Past Midnight Between A Journey

Looking down at the river’s crystal surface,

No sign we see of its flow

A drop of a pebble, the echoing swallow of its dip,

Reminds us, it breathes too, and lives.

Its a night quieter than any, for we breath within ourselves

An unspoken silence reigns unanimously

In front of us, before our eyes, and not above

Hangs dully a pale silver orb, passing reflected glory

No hands can move, no fingers pick stones

Transfixed by nothingness, we watch held in our peace

No voice does break, nor a wind does blow,

Time too is resting between us now.

A trail of light shines on that river below,

The lit water shifts randomly, uncomfortably,

As if tossing in disturbed slumber

And wanting only to be left alone this night.

Above us lies a world we could never imagine

Swirling clouds of grey, thin and wasted

Shimmering points of light dancing in ancient forms

From centuries before, on till forever.

We try to give them names, and make them ours

They smile down and indulge our curiosities

Do they know of how we call them ours, to conquer and hold one day?

And so do they just let us live on, in our short-lived games?

The sound of an engine from afar

It breaks this stream and turns us around

Through the leaves, the lights shine

The arc widens and the train screams past.

We don’t see it from our station

For we sit, supported, below the bridge

The mighty beast passes over us, unnoticing,

Shaking us back to a sudden life.

-Nishant Jain