Destination destiny

Destination destiny

Walking this long road I feel lonely at times,

Sounding like a cacophony of a million different rhymes.

Everyday is journey for a few miles out,

The tired bones head back home every night without doubt.

Bored of the repetitive routes I had etched to date,

Would uncharted territories change my fate?

Little did I guess where all I would roam,

As I limped back in pain, I barely made it home.

As I sat down and reflected on my whim,

Wondering if I should ever attempt to swim?

Resigning myself to my karma, I decided to float

Telling myself "Hang on to that steady boat"

Life is best when the sailing is smooth,

Concluded I had that that was the truth.

Until the monotony seeped in again,

And I started dreaming of catching a moving train.

As I ate, slept, worked and passed on the next day,

I realized I was missing every little ray.

Stuck indeed I was with an invisible self-made yoke,

All along, sleeping was I , but now I'm woke.

I took to the sails in the ravaging storm,

I held my breath and maintained my calm.

A broken bone and a bleeding arm,

Now, I would trade that over any good luck charm!

Day 8 - 12/21/2012 - Lost in paradise

Fresh fruits and bread for breakfast

The 5 am wake up call from the Red Howler monkey was as close to nature as it could get anywhere. A healthy breakfast of fruits, pancakes, bread and tea at 5:30 readied us for the trek ahead. I packed a large plantain red in color for sugar supply later on. There was Marco, the vibrant guide who had briefed us the night before booming 'chicos vamos' -  let's go people.

Reverse osmosis water filter

The OZONO master which I had used for filling up two bottles of water the previous night was sleeping no with no power. The trek started at 6:00 with an initial boat ride across the river. We anchored ourselves to point which had a steep clay slope upwards to enter the reain forest. Covered with a littl bit of sunscreen and a lot of mosquito repellent (not deet), we again looked up to Kavi (who isn't the most excited person when it comes to trekking) to take the lead.
The dense vegetation in the rain forest still let through a lot of light through allowing one to photograph without the use of flash. A simple observation would tell you that palm trees (not coconut) though had taken on the forest. As we started trekking, I stopped several times to capture the beauty of flowers and Kavi allowed Suzanna and Reiner to take the lead along with Marco. The ground was wet and slippery at times, but for the most part was soft and easy to get a grip on. We prayed it would not rain when we were in there eventhough we had the best gear possible made by Eddie Bauer, my pick among adventure gear brands. With every twist and turn the jungle floor became wetter and softer owing to millions of years of foliage that decomposed into once foot steps.

Bright flowers welcomed us through openings in the canopy of the palms and ancient species which lay waiting for us to explore. From the bark of the garlic tree, which could probably be used as a food substitute, but preferred by the natives as an insect repellent to the wide rimmed hollow trees that are used for radio communication in a state of emergency, the amazon has many hidden secrets for the curious. We had to guess what made the walking tree walk, albeit 2-3 m every year. The last year it was on the other side of the trail, the next on it and the year after past it. Kavi was not too enthusiastic about the long trek, but hit the mark - they walk in search of sunlight. The green cocoa pods that hung of the main stem were as intriguing as the large umbrella of the Chuchuhuasi tree which will stop you in your tracks with its massive size. 

Remembering John Muir

local mehendi

We took a few steps backward as one would if you were the movie sets of Jurassic Park, trembling, wondering where this came out of. A little disappointed that they were getting cut down large numbers, we learnt that its bark was used to prepare a natural aphrodisiac! The massive canopy, we understood, was home to a host of bird species, while the bark fed ants and reptiles, not to mention wood frogs that you couldn't spot unless you were trained to look for them. Colorful butterflies flying around without fear, skeletons of dead snakes ,
 Jaguar foot prints, creepy tarantulas wooed by human saliva from sleepy tree hollows, millions of army ants working away to the new year party, large termite nests hanging of tree branches, squirrel faced monkeys swinging of left arms, butterfly like birds melding into nature like leaves, spider webs on trail paths built hardly a day ago, floating lotus like water lilies, caterpillars on their way to metamorphosing into butterflies, trees that store water in their bellies, poison covered frogs that invite you to touch them with their appeal of natural beauty, ant hills that rise 5m up from the ground, tree roots that grow outside the soil spreading tentacles like red flames.....the list is endless.

We reached a midway point where

- ate big fat banana 700m boardwalk over marshy land to the lost lake
Canoe - turtles, big black bird
prehistoric cud chewing bird- stink bird

Caiman encounter

Walk 1 km back from tower to canoe Channel maintained by ecoamazonia lodge -3km - vulture 1 km walk Motorboat - kingfisher Tired - cold shower Lunch - boiled egg, spiced up rice with veggies , wrapped in banana like leaf - amazing lunch Slept and skipped 4 pm tour of botanical garden which had ayahuasaca vine Hammock - caiman - mosquitoes no power - lounge - pool - read book Dinner Read book till 9:30 -bobo down Slept in dark

Freeway to freedom

When one decides to run a marathon for the first time in their life, they are either challenging themselves to overcome an invisible barrier or continue through and complete a runner's desire to express their love for the sport. While I started off in the second category having done a few half marathons, I did not realize until I crossed that finish line that wherever you start, you always run to freedom at the end.

Yes, as they say, the toughest part of running a marathon is in the training that precedes it; but then again , not all of us follow through and execute plans on schedule. I took the risk of hardly training for 6 months, but just ran once in a while to enjoy the beauty of nature's breath. Having crossed the line,I know how it feels when you are carried away in the inertia of running and how you get overwhelmed with a sense of joyousness it generates. Can I confidently conclude that it is probably the easiest way to experience bliss on earth? Not half, but an entire marathon is run in the mind.

It was an evening of good fun and chatter as I stretched every facial muscle and enjoyed dinner at a way side restaurant with people dear to me: my parents, family and fiancée. We drove me to my sister's place to rest for the night. As I said earlier, its all in the mind: When I had my doubts, my fiancée prepped me "Its possible". I used some nervous energy in pinning the bib on to my shorts on the night prior to the d-day, but slept away to glory dreaming of crossing across a yellow finish tape that never existed. Before I knew, it was morning and the nervous energy was still alive urging me to hydrate, pack in some proteins and head into the city.

We(me and my motivating fiancée) rolled on to the metro towards pentagon. I had had a unusual can of mangosteen juice that I had picked up at the exposition the previous day: It was like 4 packs of red bull loaded with soda. I was overjoyed to see runners and only runners abroad the orange line that was now as colorful as it could get from the inside. I realized that it would be a packed journey as all seats filled up at West Falls Church. The train driver kept us in a light vein with repeated instructions to avoid over crowding and targeted jokes at bike riders who were unaware of the event that was about to happen in the nation's capital: the peoples marathon.

It took us 15 minutes to walk out of a metro which reminded me of Mumbai's packed railway stations ; but then there was no inconvenience of rubbing against sweaty bodies without body sprays on them. The escalator broke midway and made us move our legs in a motion that would repeat itself for 20 odd miles later that day. It was a pleasant day with energy awash: I was bouncing up and down as they warmed us up with some heart pumping music. It was ironic that my fiancée had all my butterflies in her stomach after convincing me that I was all set. I indeed was.

I moved myself to the end of the line and repeatedly told myself that I wouldn't exceed a 12 min pace.I was a tad bit inexperienced at this game: I had never run past a 16 mile marker in the 31 years of my life preceding this day. It was a feeling of simple runner's joy when I started off. When I crossed Rosslyn metro, I knew I was on to something special. When we entered the woods around Spout Run, I knew I couldnt expect to see my fiancee until Mile 10. Was I running to the finish line or to her?The cool winds by the river front in Georgetown brought in a pleasantness anew.

The rock creek parkway was greenery not seen in planned cities, but more in uninhabited jungles. The hug at mile 10 energized me resetting the freshness level of my legs to mile 0. The run around the tidal basin was undoubtedly the most scenic part of the entire course bringing on a cool breeze that purged the heat from a body in true inertia (yes, when you run continuously for a few hours, you forget how to walk). Running towards the capitol and back towards the obelisk called Washington's monument, I was filled with memories of the cherry blossom festival that had been a standing event on my annual calendar for the past 6 years.

Hitting the wall is something I didn't believe in until then. Leaving memories of the monument behind I started carrying some iron in my legs. I started to feel some cramps in my quads. I stopped and I stretched. I had a sense of satisfaction prior to crossing the bridge at mile 20 as I had made it to the bridge before the 'bus of shame' arrived to pick its cargo.

The run into Crystal City where I had planned to meet up with My Cousin Anand earlier in the year didnt materialize. My honey caught me right on around the loop next to the Crystal City metro. She gave me all the energy needed to complete the remaining 3 miles. I did believe I can fly.

The last three were the toughest for a very strange reason which turned into a feeling of exhaustion and sunk into me like an anchor plunged in clear water: Einstein's theory of relativity. I was running in a sea of 'sinking legs', with a band of 'dead runners' who were all walking and sometimes trudging along probably having exhausted all available glycogen early on. I steeled my mind, closed my eyes and pushed myself past this depressing yet fighting crowd unto the finish line dropping my speed by a steady half a minute per mile over the second half of the course.

It was a moment of pride being garlanded a medal by a Marine. My heart swelled up with emotion on seeing my fiancee and brother in law with a reflection on their faces of joy and pride of what was within me.Now,they did get it right when they said prode goes before a fall: It was more than a few minutes for me to get lost and found, borrow cell phones and make distress calls before I rejoined the retinue. My nephews were more excited than everyone. We had a fun time warming down with a walk up the hill into Clarendon. Some spicy Mexican food at California Tortilla in Courthouse was followed by some cold Oktoberfest: I felt invincible. It wasnt before 8 pm that my legs started complaining.

From now on, any recovery will remind me of the warmth one experiences when wrapped in a finisher's foil ,garlanded by a Marine, who reminds you of what it all means on the freeway to freedom: 'Pain is temporary. Pride is forever'

Focussing : Solutions vs Problems

Case 1


When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.

Case 2


One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soapbox that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly! line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soapbox went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste,
the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a whoopee amount to do so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed
with the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays,
etc., but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong
industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched
the fan on, and as each soapbox passed the fan, it simply blew the
empty boxes out of the line.