Just yesterday

It been almost 8 years since I saw her last time. Lot had change since. I have become 8 years older, I have more hair on my face then on my head now, cryptocurrency is the new currency traded today, oil price have become Rs 81. Perhaps my feeling for her is also no longer the same. 

Today I am returning back to Mumbai from Kokrajhar. I was at home for 2 and half days to see my parents and relatives. Generally whenever I come home, I stay for atleast a week time. However this time I could not manage more time as back in office there are people chasing me to make my life hell. More importantly I am saving my holidays for my Euro trip in May and Marathon at Leh, Ladakh in Sept. In this 2 and half days at home, I met all my cousins staying at Kokrajhar and few friends whoever could accommodate their time for me. I had to catch flight at 5:00 PM today and my house is 220 km from airport. Since I already had my boarding pass with me, I had asked the taxi driver to pick me up at 11:30 AM. I left home at 11:40 AM for airport after saying good bye to mom and dad. Along the way I had a long conversation with the driver. Since I had been away from my home for the last 7 years, there are lot of stuffs to catch up upon. These are the guys who had travelled in far corners of the state to know the ground reality of the issues our states are facing. We talked about lot of things, he told me about his family, his children, about immigration issues we are facing, other political issues. I told him about life at Mumbai, how life goes on 24 hours in this city. 

I reached Guwahati airport at around 3:30 PM. There was a long queue at security checkin. That's the reason why I always feel safer reaching early at smaller airport. You never know when you have to stand in such queue. I stood in queue for around 20 to 25 mins to get my check-in done. Once I was done with security checkin, I still had some time to grab a coffee and relax. I went to a coffee counter, grab a black coffee and sat down waiting for my boarding announcement. I had tried to gave up coffee some months ago. However after 3 months of soberness from coffee, I started consuming it again. 

After the boarding gate announcement, I went to the gate and saw people standing in queue. So as usual, instead of standing in a queue, I decided to walk around the airport and let the queue die down. As I was walking around I saw fair girl just passing by me. In no time, a name hit my brain and without even seeing her face clearly, I called up the name. She stopped the moment I called her name and looked towards me. She seemed a bit confused. Perhaps, she might had wondered who is this dark guy with a beard. Before she could guess, I told her my name and gave her my introduction. I could sensed that she could recollect.

It been almost 8 years since I saw her last time. Lot had changed since. I have become 8 years older, I have more hair on my face then on my head now, cryptocurrency is the new currency traded today , oil price have become Rs 81. Perhaps my feeling for her is also no longer the same. 

We talked about our whereabouts and what we are currently doing to meet our expenses and our travelling needs. She told me what brought her here for a month and is currently flying back to her so called home for the last 5 years. We could talked for about 10 mins and then I had to say good bye to catch my flight. 

She still looks as beautiful as she was 8 years back. Perhaps time has only made her look better. Back then I could still remember the time when I used to call her at 1:00 AM in the morning to talk about my love for living in the mountains and being with the environment. The days when I bunked evening classes just to walk alongside her in the beautiful campus and just discuss random stuffs. The memory of saying bye to her for the last time still feels like yesterday.

Good Bye 2017

Last year I missed publishing my good bye article highlighting events and learning from the past year. This year I don't want to repeat it. I don’t want to miss it because it had been an eventfull year. Like any other year, lots of learning and memories to be stored and kept. 

In January, as I was preparing for Standard chartered Mumbai marathon and since I wanted to train like a professional athlete, I decided to stay away from stuffs that would hinder my training like fast foods, alcohol, sugar, tea etc.  Though I could not keep away coffee from my life, however I had been successful in keeping away tea and sugar. Another thing I was successful at was throwing away alcohol of my life. Sober since last February. 

I completed my 2nd full marathon in 4hrs 20 mins at Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. Though my target was to complete within 4 hours, however I ran out of fuel in the last few kms and had to slow down. In Feb, I decided to join gym and add strength training in my routine. Believe me, it was one of best decision I made this year. Joining gym and doing exercise in a proper way helped me realize the importance of having good food and respecting the body this soul resides. Our body is the greatest gift all mighty has provided to this species. One has to respect it by providing good food and exercising regularly. Its one thing that connects our soul to our mind. 

In April, I went home to attend my cousin’s marriage. 1st marriage from my mother’s family. I enjoy attending such family marriages as it brings together all our family members from different sections of the country in one place. Else there is no way one can meet all of them in one place.

In Aug end, my parents came to Mumbai. Its always a very proud moment for any son/daughter to bring their parents to your new home. I live in a small apartment with a semi living room, bed room and kitchen that hardly exists. I have been living alone for the last 2 years. Last time my parents came I was sharing house with a friend. Since he moved to Pune, I had been staying alone. Since I moved to Mumbai some 7 years back for studies and then for job, I get once or twice in a year to meet my parents. Whenever I get  a chance I try to make most of it. Your parents are the greatest gift, whenever I get time I try to make most of it.

In 1st week of Sept, I travel to Leh, Ladakh to run my 3rd full marathon in one of the most challenging environment- 11K feet above level. I came a week early so I had ample time to accamaltize and visit various places close by Ladakh. It was not the best timing I had, however considering the challenges the environment provided and the preparation I had, it was the best I could do. [More about my marathon experience can be read in my older post]

One of the most important things I learned in life over the years is to never take things for granted. One cannot take his job, health, friendship and relationship for granted. One needs to constantly work over them to maintain it. It is also important that you don’t allow others to take you for granted too. If someone does take you for granted, its time that you take action over it. 

Will like to close this year with a beautiful quote I found today in Instagram:

My experience of running Ladakh Marathon

It all started in April when I saw an notification in FB for Ladakh Marathon. I had just joined gym then and started taking strength training seriously. I had been training seriously for next year’s Mumbai marathon. I ping Rahul if he would be interested in running at Leh, Ladakh half marathon. At that time, I thought running full will be too much for my body to take at such an attitude. Rahul replied me back that he will not travel all away to Leh just for half marathon. It had to be either full or 72 km Khardung-la Challenge. The very next day I registered for Ladakh Full Marathon. Rahul was still deciding weather to go or not (Rahul would later finished Hyderabad FM at mind blowing timing of 3hrs 37 mins). A week later I booked my flights for Leh so as to ensure that I had no choice but to go to Leh. I had never been to Leh or any other part of J & K earlier. And I must say this was the best decision I had done. 

My preparation for the marathon started very good. However sustaining it was a challenge. My running numbers reduced with the monsoons and increasing office work load. Though I ensured that my strength training was never sacrificed. I ensured that I visit the gym at least 5 days a week. My running numbers reduced from +200 K/month  distance in Apr, May to close to 100 K/month in June, July. Aug was worst with just around 50kms, blame it on monsoons or my laziness. To be honest, this was not the ideal preparation for Leh Marathon. I was not sure till the race day if I could complete entire 42km. I thought my heart would just stop at 32K. 

I reached Leh a week ahead of the race day. For any runner planning to run at Leh, you need to be here at least a week earlier to get acclimatised. It stands at 11,500 ft above sea level, oxygen levels are low here. On the 1st day, one can easily get headache or breathing problem. So it's important to take proper rest on the 1st day of arrival. Reaching a week early, one gets lot of time to visit the local monasteries and nearby valleys like Nubra, Pangong lake or Khardungla and ample time to practise in the mornings. Believe me these places are mind blowing. 

The first time I ran here on one of the mornings, I was breathless in less than a kilometre. I learned after running here that you need to start slow especially if you are not a localite or some professional runner. Up incline walk, don’t run. Down decline or plan road, run. You need to ensure that you never run out of breathe in the entire race. So my strategy for the marathon was simple, stop at most of the water station for enerzel, water or some banana. I ended up stopping at all the water stations(there were 14 of those for 42k) and finishing it at 5 hrs 42 mins. 

Leh trip was an amazing journey for me. It made me appreciate nature even more. Since my return from Leh, I have been telling my friends, it is a beautiful place and one must visit this place once in his/her lifetime.  If you haven’t visited this place yet, don’t forget to add this on your list. 

Leh Trip: Part 1

Reached Leh on Sunday, 3rd of Sept. The night before I had Diamox. Diamox is a tablet that helps travellers to get acamatized faster in a high altitude places like Leh, Ladakh. As I got down from the airplane, I was just amazed by the beauty of this place. the dry hills with ice on top is a view to be seen. 

1st was I was feeling fine. The hotel people advised me just to take rest and don’t do any activity, just have food and sleep. So I listened. After taking rest for a while I got bored and decided to go for a walk to the market. After I came back, had lunch and went to sleep. After an hour of sleep, I decided to out for walk again as I was getting bored sitting inside the hotel.  I went to the market again and walked around the nearby areas. Bought couple of sports items and came back to the market. As i entered the market again, a sudden rush from nature start calling me. I needed to pee desperately. I started to find places where I could pee. I asked people where I could do so, people had no answers or I could not locate the place. Then I started to find corner areas with no people however could not locate. So i decided to enter a coffee shop. As i entered I could find no bathrooms. I ordered coffee and drank it and asked the waitress for washroom. She gave me the key to washroom. In Leh, most of the restaurants, rest rooms are not attached to the restaurant. The restrooms here remain locked so that no strangers can enter and use it. So you need to ask for a key. Point to be noted. 

In between as I drank the coffee, I could sense heaviness in my head. The coffee was very strong and the hotel guys had earlier strictly asked me not to have coffee on the 1st day. I decided to head back to the hotel. As I reached the hotel, headache was getting worse. I had my dinner at hotel and took one Diamox and hit the bed.

One Fine Day

Life has been good for him so far. Atleast that what I feel so. I have never seen him sad or angry. He has been in good health since the time I saw him. He gets up everyday at 5:00 AM, wears his Nike shoe which I gifted him and goes for a walk. He does not have many friends. And this no. goes down further every year. He is in late 70's now, my grand father. Unlike me and my father, he doesn't consume any alcoholic drinks at all. He said he tried it while he was much younger but he did not liked the taste. He reads lot of books. Infact I got the taste of reading from him. Couple of days back, we were talking about a book by Virginia Woolf called 'The Lighthouse'. 

Yesterday, I borrowed my brother's car and brought him to Shillong as none of my friends wanted to come with me.  I enjoy talking to him a lot. Ever since  I moved to Mumbai some 5 years back, I don't get much chance to talk to him. Though often I called him up on phone. However, he does not like talking long hours on phone. I took this as an opportunity to talk random stuffs with him. The best part about talking to him is he does not force his thought or opinion on you. 

Today, we started our day early. I wanted to visit Mawsynram, the wettest place on Earth. The last time I visited this place was when I just graduated from IIT Ghy. Though I knew that any rain around this time of the year would only be a miracle, however I enjoy the ride to this place. It was a two and half journey from our hotel at police bazaar. The road to Mawsynram was almost traffic and pollution free. Driving in this scenic beauty is a joy. Small houses around the country side and the children sitting outside the house added more joy to our ride. As we were half way towards our destination, both sides of the roads were just covered with beautiful landscapes. We stopped in between to breathe in fresh air and to click few selfies with nature. We reached Mawsynram around 10:30 am in the morning. We visited a small cave called Mawjymbuin. It has a small nature made stalagmite Shivalinga. There were just few tourists. Perhaps not the right season for tourists to visit. We stayed there for around an hour. For us, the journey was more beautiful then the destination itself. There were nothing much more too see. We clicked few photos and decided to head back towards the city. 

We reached back to the hotel around 12:30 PM. We freshened up and headed to the hotel restaurant for lunch. After lunch, Grandpa hit back to his room and continued reading 'The Years', another classic by Virginia Woolf. I went out for a walk just outside the hotel. 

At around 2:30 PM, I entered my grandpa's room, he was still reading. I asked him to get ready and company me to Golf Course. He looked up towards me and continued reading. After few seconds, he put his pen down in between the page and closed the book and said 'I am ready'. We started driving towards Golf Course. We reached Golf Course in around 45 mins. I parked the car on the side of the road and walked towards the golf field. As I walk towards the golf field, I could feel the air getting thinner and colder. I asked him if he is feeling cold. He said 'No' nodding his head. We walked towards the center of the field. I asked him if he liked this place. He smiled and said 'Ofcouse'. I could sense happiness in his face. He said he is glad that I asked him to company me. We sat down at the middle of the course and talked about the beauty of the place, deforestation and pollution that is killing the beauty of this place. He told me about the time when he and my grandmother visited this place. How they used to love visiting this place again and again. We talked for around an hour and decided to go to St. Xavier Church. 

As I started driving towards St. Xavier Church, my grandpa asked me to stop and take him to a small village called Diengiei. I asked him if there is anything special about this place and had he been there before. He said nothing much and asked asked me to drive there. I could feel the chance in tone when took the name of the place. I did not ask again. Just type the name in my Google map and followed the direction shown. The place was deep inside the city. By the time we reached the place, it was almost 4:30 pm, about to get dark. I could see him getting anxious as we were about to reach the destination. Perhaps, there was something about the past that was going inside his mind. 

We stop at a place beside a large open ground. Some children were leaving for home after their football game. Some were still playing. My grandfather got down from the car and without saying anything, he walked towards the ground. I parked the car on the side of the road, grab a bottle of water and followed him. As I was running towards him, he asked me to leave him alone for some time. I decided not to ask anything and leave him alone. The ground was getting empty as we entered the ground. There were few young guys jumping around and enjoying the evening. Few young couples with their children were enjoying the evening. This was the first time I came in this part of the city and the evening looked absolutely stunning and peaceful. Being the end of the year, it was getting cold. The cool breeze was making ever colder. The worst part, my stylish leader jacket (which I bought to impress few girls) was not helping me in this weather. 

My grandfather walked alone for sometime then he sat down in middle of the ground and looked at children running around. I decided not to disturb him and leave him alone. I walked around the ground taking a sip of water. After sometime, my grandfather called me up. I ran towards him, he was still sitting at the same place. He looked very happy and relieved as if all the tension and sadness got released by the beauty and peacefulness of the place. I joking asked him if this was the place he used to date his ex girlfriends. He slapped me on my face playfully with a million dollar smile and said 'lets move'. We drove back to the hotel. We reached back around 7:00 PM. 

We had dinner at the hotel itself as we were tired of going outside and searching for good restaurant. After dinner, I entered my room and decided to continue reading  'The daughter of Time', which my grandfather suggested. As I turned the pages, I started wondering why did grandfather wanted to visit that village. Perhaps, the place might remind him of some past memories. Or, perhaps it's nothing. Then, why did he get uneasy when he asked me to take him to that village. Why did he asked me to leave him alone there. All these thoughts started wandering around my mind. Perhaps, perhaps some day he will tell me. 

Thank You 2015

Time flies. Just yesterday, we celebrated New Year and today 2015 is coming to an end. No wonder time really flies.

I remember last year when I was writing the goodbye 2014 article, I voiced that I would do few things this year. Had I achieved what I voiced?

2015 started with a bang. I ran 2 half marathons in Jan itself including Std Chartered Mumbai Marathon where I achieved my personal best timing of 1hr 48 mins. This whole year I ran 4 half marathons and covered over 700 km. From my health point of view this year had been really good. Hope my health continues to get only better with time.

Also in Jan, I cracked my first job interview this year after 9 failed attempts. What else could I have asked in the 1st month of new year itself. I decided to join new company and leave MphasiS where I spent more than a year. The next 2 months of my notice period at MphasiS was a roller coaster. In the beginning of March during Holi, I visited Delhi to meet my cousins and uncle-aunty. Since I had just 3 days holidays, I could not meet any of my friends there.

At the end of March, after serving my notice period, I went home at Kokrajhar. Met my old friends. Had lot of good home cooked foods. Got up early in the morning as usual and ran a lot. 10K every day. Learned driving.

So in April, I joined the new company with hopes for better learning and profile. However things didn't turned out to be the way I wanted. I wanted to leave the organization from the day I joined. The culture, way of working, people's attitude was totally alien to me. During my initial days, I felt like I had made a wrong decision joining this place. The first six month at this place had not been easy for me. Still I don't feel like I belong here. However, maybe I got adjusted here. The hunt for learning and better opportunity is still on.

This year I could not write as much as I wanted. Though read good number of books. Thanks to my friends from MphasiS who gifted me Kindle. Writing is something which I want to keep doing along with reading. Writing makes me feel good. Many time when I feel low and down, I either feel like going out for running or sit down and jot down those feeling into words. 

At the end of Sept, I visited Bangalore to met my old friends. I stayed at Jenni's house. I had lot of good foods which she and her husband prepared for me. Crab, Prons, Chicken. Dam the food was tasty. Also met Deepshika after may be more than a decade. She is getting more and more prettier with age.

To sum up, this year like last year was no different. Yes there were challenges. If 2014 was emotional draining for me this year I was mentally drained. Am I expecting next year to be challenge free? Ofcourse not. My experience with life tells me that whatever be the challenge, the solution has to come from within. Weather, it's overcoming a breakup or dealing with a difficult situation in office, the solution has to come from you. Yes you. If you expect some angel to come and solve all problem for you, believe me you problem will  go to infinity.

Each year is teaching me new lessons. Each year is making me better. Each year I am meeting new people who with them introduces a new perspective towards life. Big thank you to all for coming into my life and instilling me a push to learn and become better.

With this I would like to sign off for the day. Wish you all a very very Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Letter to my future daughter

Dear Daughter,

I haven't seen you yet. Infact to be very honest, I haven't met your mother yet. Or incase I have met, I don't know yet if she is going to be your mother. Yet, I am sure just like your mother, you are the prettiest thing I have ever seen on earth. 

Dear daughter, few months back I wrote a blog for your brother. I gave him few advice to live his life. Same advice goes for you too. That's does not mean that you have to follow all the advice that I gave him. Being a father and someone who has gone through what you guys are going through, I feel these advise would help you guys. Ofcouse, eventually life will teach you all the lessons in due time. Oh wait regarding the 'fall in love' part, being a father I might not want you to take those words seriously. Ok, you can. But, please keep me and your mom know about this. 

This life will hit you hard. Very hard. Many times you might feel that its a curse to be born in this world as a women. Many times, you might question why is this world so harsh to you. Don't be afraid darling. Challenge will be a constant part in your life. It had been in your moma's and papa's life too. We are sure you will handle them very well. Yes, sometimes in process of trying, you might fail. Don't worry. Keep on trying. Failures bring the best in us. We are always there to support you. Eventually you will find out that the solution to all the problem lies within you. 

Darling, remember to have fun in your life. Find fun in every activity you do. Keep on dreaming. Go outdoor and explore new places and new things. Find things you are passionate about and do it. This life is beautiful. Go out and taste your life. 

Love you,

Daddy