The summer is here

I prefer not to blog while watching TV – all the more during Game of Thrones. But I am doing it now, hence the title..

But really, the summer is here and so are the shades of summer – bright, bold and a-lot-of-fun. The face will be more-a-covered, the legs that much lesser; the feet-on-street will be replaced by the splashes of pool-water.

I had read on the Digital Door Surat blog about the best summer drinks of Surat, and that brought back memories of some home-made summer coolers that I used to have as a child -

1.    Variyali nu sharbat – I remember having mixed feelings about this one here. I never liked the green algae-ish look of it but so much savourd its taste! Ma never made it coz it wasn’t quite popular in Southern Saurashtra, more so in mainland. But I remember Motumal Tanumal makes a really tasty blend. A mast-mast must try

2.    Ganna juice – The wife still scolds me coz I pronounce it j-yu-se and not joo-se; but well nothing beats the vernacular sweet taste of sugarcane juice. My foren-return relatives always shied away from it as it might cause jaundice and I always thought they were too much of a snob. Just recently I believed the fact after my embry-oo-la-la doctor friend decoded it for me.

3.    Golo – While I key in the sentence-starting word, I vow to myself to go have one tomorrow. But the lust that I have for whiskey now is what compares to the one for gola in childhood coz the elders always warned to not have it for the fear of getting a sore throat. The ubiquitous summer ice-dish of Surat, which is golo in Kathiyawad, is THE summer dessert I think.

4.    Rasna – If you’re someone over 30 years and never had Rasna while growing up, boy o boy you were never a child – never-ever. I remember the affection I had with the preparation of orange Rasna – wee bit more than actually drinking it. Mixing the water and the sugar and the liquid and the powder was probably my first cooking lesson – and the last one at it.

      RIP Rasna, farewell young-hood.

Out of the screen

Out of the box is not an uncommon phrase for any body of us. However my concern at a number of times is not out of the box but simply out of the screen.

I do not know whether this very unusual experience is just a short lived one or is it going to make a long term difference in the way I think and work. This unusual experience that I'm talking about has an arisen from the simple situation; which is my laptop screen going blank. After many a doubts whether I will be able to work without it or not it, I had to be give it for repair because there was no other way to use it. Since yesterday without the laptop on my desk I'm having sort of feeling liberated (too much eh). My focus has gone beyond what I see on the screen - one or multiple tabs for that matter. What I have simply done is stop performing tasks and started to monitor them for my team. I see the fads of my team more rather than the laptop screen. And it's anybody's guess which is
important and effective.

Another non-digital revulsion that has happened is my consistent use of diary rather than Excel sheets
Since yesterday I have simply started talking to each of weights and asking them what they need from me as a manager as a result I have been able to keep track of what is happening in my office, what is going on right or wrong, and indirectly having a chance to connect with my team rather than the laptop
out of the screen and looking for that then what your computer screen offers on your test.

The marathon Marathon

Most times I am less troubled about things around me because I do not fully grasp the gravity of it; probably that’s the reason the last SCHM went about without the seeming troubles.

That does not mean I did not take stress, did not have sleepless nights, had to let go of a number of commercial projects for this one, keep away from the family and basically go nuts over and about it; but most times there’s a single-minded madness of doing it just right. The dumbness surely helps at times.

The event, that got well over a month ago, was an outright success. And it was a remarkable experience too – both for the organizers and for the participants! As an organizer, I can of course point out tens of error spots, but the fact remains that as a participant, one would have a ball of a time!

Yes it is a milestone in my professional and personal achievements and of Surti Runners group as a whole; but the lessons learned invaluable – some marathon-related, others event management centric & some very personal ones too!

But the biggest problem is that I am readying for more of them. A many more.

A week before the half-marathon

Blame it on the democratization of the mouse and the keyboard that all of us novices also get to write blogs on running!

This one is rather on the last week’s run-up to a half-marathon; and the ideas purely belong to the time spent with feet on street last night (on the practice run).

Here are 7 of my mantras that might work just fine in the last week before your run:

1.       Patience vs Practice: Have the patience to wait for the final run and not get carried away to go all out in practice run and also keep that practice going on, though taper it.

2.       Familiar roads: Running on the actual event route makes a lot of sense. You get a feel of the local conditions like road surface, bumps and twists & turns. In the case of Surat marathon, it’s the headwind you gotta get acclimatised with. Since it’s on VIP road, there’s reasonable headwind in one direction.

3.       The real rehearsal: Use the same gear and accessories planned out for the race day. Same clothes, shoes, hydration pack, etc. You would know what hampers and what compliments your run.

4.       Hydration: You already know hydration is mandatory. But what and how much are you going to carry? How often will you drink and hence need to refill? I’m sure there’ll be many like me who get tempted to not stop for hydration during the run and jeopardise the distance and stamina. Practice runs will also instil this discipline in you.

5.       Chaffing: Nipple chaffing is one of the most common physical discomforts (especially in men) when one runs long distance wearing a dry-fit t-shirt. (Add to it the humid climate of Surat in April and the prickly sweat it will give you.) If you’re running half-marathon or 10K, at least apply some lotion/ cream if not apply some taping on them.

6.       Run-tracker dilemma: Don’t get into the temptation of starting the run-tracker (watch/ phone) at the last time before the run. It’s a lot stressful and diverts attention. In the event, you’d anyway know the exact distance and also the time so chill out, start that tracker a little in advance and get over with it.

7.       Playlist: Ready that playlist well in advance and run with it too; you might be surprised how many of those songs on that list don’t make sense change it, change it again if the need be, and run with the final one to ensure it’s just the right music for your ears.

Mara-thon Tera-thon (part 1)

Just the 3^rd edition of Surat Night Marathon, and it hit a bump this year in form of the widely epidemic swine-flu. Though I’ve been just recently bitten by the running bug, I’ve had a more than a little company of some regular runners. And when it comes to marathon, my profession as an event manager enables me to see a probably-unseen side of it too!

It’s been just 5 hours the event has been officially postponed, thought will key in a blog about the top challenges from the marathon organizer’s point of view.

1.       The wagging tongue syndrome – Normally when an event of this scale is rescheduled, the tongues go wagging about the organizational capability and in some way gives the participants a dissonance.

2.       Domino effect of this one delay – A major event is but yet another professional project for the organizer. They want to do it in the best way possible and then move on to the next coz just 1 event doesn't pay all the bills! This might all the more be true for organizers here who are more into commercial rather than client-based events.

3.       Rescheduling the visitors – From elite runners to pre-booked international entertainers; all will have to reschedule their travel plans. usually there’re more drop-outs than add-ins in such cases; though let’s hope at least the elite runners will turn up on the next date!

4.       The increased ad-spend – A 2-month delay means to keep the visibility and hence the final impact as it is. It’s as simple as a monkey’s red ass that it is impossible. However, a second final-phase of ad-spend will have to be incurred in April to gain momentum and reach a shattering climax.

5.       Laxity in the revving event team – As an event reaches its final phase, the event team revs up and work at its peak. Such an event team has a lot of temps who come on-board just for that project; and go over to their studies or another project after that. A sudden trough like this will leave the team clueless at first, then worrying about the delay. Some attrition is bound to happen and organizers may have to re-train the new chaps.

6.       Dipping interest levels – It’s no rocket science that the success of an event is gauged by the participation levels. A lot of runners and enthusiastic junta were doing their last lag preparation and this cancellation will can it. Some might just not get in that mood again after 2 months.

7.       Loss of revenue – A lot of sponsors get on the bandwagon at the last moment – yes even in the last 1 week. (Just FYI, in case of Navratri, AT LEAST 30% sponsors are confirmed within the last 24 hours - before the 1^st of the 9 days.) I’m not sure if the same will happen in April also; considering that a lot of them may not have frozen their ad-spends for the next financial year and will take a while to decide (and miss the bus).

8.       The large looming shadow – Come next year, there’ll be a breed of stupidus-maximus who will nonetheless fill up the form; will also throw a jibe like – ‘aa vakhte pan tarikh padse ke shu?’ This one unavoidable rescheduling will remain in collective memory for around 5 years.

One for the road

Lately the ‘right of way’ on indian roads has been a big talk. It is when a vehicle driver stops and lets the pedestrian walk by rather than passing herself (or driving over the pedestrian)!

I have taken pride in being a responsible driver for a lot of years now by following basic road etiquettes like - 

1. Not throwing trash (including spit) on the road
2. Giving way to walkers (including runners)
3. Giving way to non-motorized vehicles like cycles, cart pullers (so that they do not break their inertia)
4. Being specifically mannered around school buses because children should see and learn aptly

However, I have been a bit of a jerk when it comes to letting pass other motor-vehicles; as my wife points it out! These manners, thankfully, have not created a huge troule or delay ever in my life and I am still alive.

Reason for writing this today is very specific. Today morning I again stopped by at the round-about at one end of Citylight Road and allowed the vehicles to pass by. To my surprise, I saw bike drivers, auto-wallas and other cars stopping around me! My sense says it was because they saw a red sedan stopping, considered it good manners and imitated the same. I realize my responsibility is also towards setting examples for others to imitate – whether right or wrong!

This holds true for you too – whether you like it or not!

The changing facade of Surat

I’d not want to get into the cliché blowing of Modi bugle – especially when I see positive change in this entrepreneurial city!

Just the last week it was the fallen parking parapet of my office building – the one of the many that had stifled the road. I was glad the parapet wall made way for the bottlenecked road; though at a measly disappointment of losing my parking space! And today it was the freshly installed signage pointing, thankfully, in all the right directions!

This city (administration), like all the others, keeps abreast of changing times – as much as it can. One of my biggest compliments to it is the keenness to develop recreational spaces in the city. When the Science Centre came up on this very road 5 years back, I was super glad! Such spaces serve not only as recreation but are also a rich source of informal education! And the number of school students visiting it on regular basis, I’m sure it’s serving the right purpose. It has given the city not only a science gallery and planetarium, but also superb places for exhibition, conventions and concerts.

Then came the aquarium where I did 3 trips but came back coz it was pre-booked. This goes on to show how much this city needs such public places and how little has been done about it! Tapi river-front has been another strong step in that direction; hoping many more such come up in the near future.