Run.........

If there's one thing that I have loved doing since childhood, it's running.

I have worn spectacles since I was in third standard in school. I never knew that I could run fast. But one fine day just before the athletics day of the school that year, we had trials for selecting 100m and 200m runners from each section. Participation in trials used to be compulsory. We used to wear canvas shoes and i still remember that on a hot day they used to literally burn the feet.

Our PT teacher had a loud voice (a pre-requisite for any PT teacher). She was hyper active and had a huge temper. She was not huge but we used to fear her a lot.
On that day she was very strict .She quickly arranged the enthusiastic children in a row, showed us a wall at the other end of the ground and and shouted Go!!

I have not looked back since. I won almost every short distance running competition during next 5 years in my school. Though I was good at academics in school but still I pocketed more certificates for running than academics. From 100m to cross country to relays. I loved it all. I must have been an amusing sight - a thin boy with huge spectacles on, running fast. I still have a photograph clicked at the end of a race in 3rd standard where I am posing with my medal. The spectacle is covering almost half of my face!!!!

As I entered into 9th class , my school stopped organizing athletic events for seniors and the focus shifted more and more onto academics .I am not sure though if that’s the right approach that some Indian schools take. I believe that extracurricular activities and sports are as much important if not more than academic books and exams. Leading a team of cricket in my schooling days taught me the fundamentals of leadership and team spirit which have helped me become what I am today. No exam that I ever took in school talked about team spirit. A practical lesson can never be forgotten and I believe that Indian education system needs some transformation.

Anyways coming back to the time when I entered 9th class, gradually I stopped running.
College happened but I did not run.
Got a job in a company but did not run.
Came to a different city - did not run!!

I had forgotten the bliss and joy that I used to get from running , just running.

I was working one day in the office and suddenly some friend e-mails me about an event in the city. Bangalore - 10k. A medium distance run.
The old memories came back. I was again in the third standard , running a 100m and sprinting towards the finish line.....
Without thinking much I enrolled myself into the event.
The experience of Bangalore 10k not only brought me close to the city but also reignited the desire in me to run. Although my main motive while running the 10k was to just enjoy and spread the message of peace ( I was supporting Sparsh-Ek Prayatna's effort for helping underprivileged kids) still i managed a respectable time of 65mins for finishing the 10k.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I realized that running is still something that is and will always remain very close to my heart.

Currently I am practising with a couple of friends to compete in an event - Urban Stampede, this August.

I feel free, I feel close to nature, I feel power, and most importantly I feel bliss when I run
I am not going to stop running anymore.................

PS: A special thanks to Guppu who encouraged me to start running again

Dettol vs Savlon

I have always been an outdoor person since childhood. I always preferred to ride my cycle than to play ludo at home. I was not hugely built but pound for pound I packed quite a punch. I cannot count the number of times i have fallen off my bike or dived and scratched my arm while attempting a catch. It was the order of the day .Surprisingly it was not the prospect of getting reprimanded by my mother but something else that used to send shivers into my spine..........................Dettol!!!!

As if the wound did not hurt enough that the monster liquid took upon itself to multiply the agony tenfold!!!! My mom would clean the wound with Dettol, and even if it was a small scratch it burned like ambers on fire.
I was not the only unlucky child. The Indian mother had become so used to the application of dettol on her child that unless should hear the howls of her kid she would not believe that the wound would heal. You could not complain, she was showing her love and concern, but we were too unfortunate to be pitted against the wily old liquid!! It was a one way wrestling affair throughout. The Giant liquid pummelled us into submission.

And then came our superhero. The superhero had a lot of superpowers to protect us children from all infections but alas he was not the articulate types. He lacked the skill of interacting with the media. So even if he did a good deed, no one could see that because of him being a bad communicator. Soon the hero disappeared into wilderness.

The superhero was /is called Savlon. It was an antiseptic lotion that did not hurt. Yes, it did not hurt!!!!!!!!! It was as if Santa Claus decided to gift all the children in India the magnificent gift of Savlon bottles seeing our misery. And Santa in his own inimitable style decided to add a bit of zing in the form of a scent to the antiseptic lotion (Our villain dettol used to stink like a hospital).
How can a product ,which was proved by laboratory tests as better than its competitor, backed by one of the most reputed business houses in the world, having many product advantages over its competitor, have any chance of failing in the market ?
But it did.

Why did it fail?
Lack of effective marketing is one of the most important reasons.
Rather than marketing Savlon as a better germ killing antiseptic, J&J promoted Savlon as a non stingy, non smelling antiseptic. But what’s wrong with that? The answer is that J&J could not read the Consumer Psyche.

Consumers tend to believe that the stinging sensation is a side-effect of the effectiveness of the antiseptic.So if it does not hurt, it is not effective. Dettol had taught them that way.
Launched in 1936, Dettol antiseptic liquid was as generic to its category as Xerox became to copiers. There was little that needed to be done to promote it .Dettol’s brand equity was built through sheer usage over the years.

Though Dettol had a high penetration level and almost all households kept a bottle of it handy, they rarely used it. So to stoke sales, Reckitt (then Reckitt Colman of India) decided to expand Dettol’s usage beyond cuts and bruises. This resulted in a communication campaign that showed that Dettol could be used as an all-purpose antiseptic while shaving, rinsing babies’ nappies, as a general disinfectant and so on. Soon, all these uses pointed to a number of possible extensions, namely Dettol Soaps which forms nearly ¾th of the 230 crore brand’s turnover.

Savlon (J&J) arrived in the Indian market as the way giant Soviet Union Ice Hockey team arrived in the 1980 winter games. They entered the Olympic tournament as heavy favorites, having won every ice hockey gold medal but one since 1956. On the other hand US had a team of amateur and collegiate players. The U.S. and USSR prepared for the medal round in different ways. Soviet coach Viktor Thikonov rested most of his best players, preferring to let them study plays rather than actually skate. U.S. coach Herb Brooks, however, continued with his tough, confrontational style, skating "hard" practices and berating his players for perceived weaknesses.

A better product (team) was beaten old school by innovativeness and tenacity of the inferior product (team). The bad preparation and laziness of the better product ( team ) helped .
Miracles do happen. Sometimes on ice and sometimes in marketing!!!!!

Felt like a cloud ......

The Himalayas are enchanting, mesmerizing and grand. They are the highest and one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. The highest mountain peak outside Himalayas at around 7000m is in Andes. Himalayas have more than 100 peaks greater than that height. That’s the grandeur of Himalayas
A trek to Himalayas tests attitude, patience, stamina and most of all mental toughness. One needs to have the right amount of confidence and will. Though if you are over-confident and don’t respect the mountain, it can prove fatal.
Recently i went on an expedition to climb a peak in the Garhwal Himalayas called the Darwa Top , close to 14000 feet above see level. The journey took me through various villages, mountain peaks and forests along the banks of the Asi Ganga.
The first few days before the trek are essential. I spent the first 4 days in the base camp to acclimatize to the conditions and to prepare myself for the tough road ahead. My Journey started from the base camp in Uttarkashi at a height of around 4500 feet. We trekked to a village called Sangam Chetti and then to a village called Majhi.This portion of the trek gave me practical lessons on issues that are threatening our very existence today – Global Warming and Forest Fires .Observing the flora and fauna of the forest ravaged by fire and the streams that form the Ganga devoid of water was distressing. The forest fires many times are caused by human interference /negligence and global warming too can largely be attributed to human activities . Global warming is especially serious as it is leading to the melting of lot of glaciers including the glacier from which the Ganga originates. The haunting black forest presented a stark contrast with the lush green forests around.
Next day was a relatively easier trek of 5kms to a place called Dodi Tal . Although Lord Ganesha was born in this place it does not attract a lot of tourists because of the high altitude and inaccessibility by road.At around 10,000 feet the Lake /Tal provided a scintillating view of the flowers on its banks with the snow capped mountain peaks in the background. We attended the Aarti at the temple near the lake and devoured the aloo paranthas at the makeshift dhaba.This would be the last dhaba /eating joint on the way to the top.
It snowed that night and the himalyan weather showed its fury . The thunderstorms were so loud that we thought we were caught in the middle of a landslide. Hail fell onto our tents like stones .Luckily our tent did not fall / leak. A lot of other trekkers had to put up in the temple or the dhaba to protect themselves from the cold as their tents could not hold in the thunderstorm. In the middle of the night I woke up tucked inside an inner inside my sleeping bag .I saw lightening making our tent appear in different shades.Luckily the night went without more dramatics of nature
Up at 5 am and ready with our packed lunch we started to march towards the destination – Darwa Top – 13,550 feet. Walking uphill on ice was tough as the surface was very slippery. I saw flowers blossoming on the snow and small streams flowing along the trekking path. It was like another world. After 12,500 feet the vegetation started to disappear. The oxygen content in the air reduced and we felt some fatigue. Finally we reached the first checkpoint – Darwa Pass. There was enough snow there to slide on our rain sheets and enjoy and relax for a while. We ate our lunch, emptied our water bottles to get back the oxygen and prepared ourselves for the last few kms of the uphill climb. These last kms were very tricky. We had to walk on a small ridge . One small step astray and that’s it .We decided to let the slowest amongst us set the pace and formed a human chain.There are chances that due to the small pathways and great heights a person lose consciousness. Altitude sickness is also not uncommon at these heights. After an hour of walking in a human chain we reached Darwa peak#1. Happiness.............. Most of us thought that this was the end of our journey but the pathways did not end here.
We saw another peak that seemed far off. That was to be our final destination. The winds were blowing hard. Some of us did not have the physical stamina to proceed further. But it boiled down to mental toughness and will to go on. Mind over matter. Some of us decided that we will go further to conquer the last mile.What a great decision that proved to be!The last portion of the trek was actually rather straightforward and easier than the more arduous trek in the early morning.
30 minutes later we were staring at the greater Himalayas all around us. The winds were chilly. We could see a lot of great Himalayan peak atop the Darwa Top.The view was spectacular. After reaching the top, i went to the edge looked at the clouds under me and raised my hands and breathed. “I FELT LIKE A CLOUD”
3 days later i was sitting in the train coming back to Delhi and I had a single thought in my mind– I wanted to go on another trek right away – Base camp of Mt Everest ( Kala Pathar)

The Free Fall.......

I tied my shades with a rubber thread. They were Tommy Hilfiger and expensive.

My legs were tied so tight that I had to hop to reach the small enclosure attached to the hulk of the crane.

Suddenly with a jerk I started gaining height.

At the top I checked my harness again. As I turned around I could see the eagles flying in pure harmony. It was as if they were waiting for me to showcase my flying prowess. I spread my hands like an eagle and leaned forward into thin air. 3, 2, 1...........

Time stood still, the wind gushed around my face. I will never forget that feeling. I started enjoying the fall. It was pure bliss. Soon the bungee rope recoiled and I started moving up. I was catapulted up and I lost the sense of direction, the sky turned upside down. I was going up and then down again. The eelastic energy finally got converted into heat and I stopped oscillating like a YO –YO.

My first free fall made me feel strong yet weak, carefree yet concerned, but most of all it gave me an amazing rush that I had never experienced. The thrill came as much from the free-fall as from the rebounds

Bungee Jumping though is a sport that involves risks and people have died beacuse of inadequate precautions / faulty equipments . One should inspect the harness, the rope and undertake all other safety procedures before attempting a jump.

The Foodie’s escapades............

Apart from exploring different parts of Delhi for food, I make it a point to explore the by lanes of all my destinations for the best of food. This post is dedicated to two of the best places to have food across the world.

Lahore
If I have to single out a street / place that I would want to have food at if I knew that it would be the last day of my life it would be the food street in Lahore. Situated in Gawalmandi, Lahore this street is the centre of traditional food. Open to traffic in the day time the street starts to metamorphose as the darkness begins to fall. Out come the tables, and the street-side pots and pans, and on go the flames. The good thing about this street is no matter where you are sitting ,you can order food from any of the 20 odd shops that line the street .Coming to the food - The mutton chop,seekh kebab, chicken tikka and Sardar di Macchi are a must have for starters. In the main course you should not miss the, nihari siri pai and biryani .The lassi (buttermilk) goes well with the food and is served in a huge (and I mean huge) glass and should not be missed at any cost. To end the meal there are deserts like gulab jamuns, gajjar halwas, cold milk with pistachio, kulfi faluda and ice creams to chose from. Whatever you order you will be left craving for more even if your stomach has already raised the white flag. And to top it all off there is the famous Lahore pan. The downside to this place however is the fact that there is not much that caters to the vegetarians. For most locals vegetarianism is something that is inconceivable…Pakistani's are devout carnivores. A gentleman I met on my trip had been on a diet in which he ate only red meat for 40 days to reduce weight J

Amritsar/Ambarsar
If there is one place in the world where vegetarians should flock to for the best North Indian food it is Amritsar. The dhabas here are out of the world. I haven’t had a better dal makhani ,shahi panner , sarson da saag , rajma chawal or a bhindi masala elsewhere. My strong recommendations are Bhrawan dhaba situated in the town hall and Kesar da dhaba at Chowk Passian.
But the buck does not stop here; Amritsar serves the best Kulcha chola in the world. You would never have had anything better in breakfast. They are fantabulous .One of the best places to have this delicious snack is at the Chungi Maqbool Road. You would think that Amritsar has a lot to offer , but wait I have not yet talked about the Jalebis and the Lassis.Just by mentioning them my mouth starts watering. The jalebis at Khubi Halwaai Katra Ahluwalia near Golden Temple are the best I have ever had( some people would say that the Jalebis at chandni chowk near Sheeshganj Gurudwara in Delhi are better but frankly nothing beats the Jalebis at Amritsar ). I can say the same for the Lassi at Gian Halwaai opp. Regent Cinema, Hall Gate. The size of the lassi glass in both Lahore and Amritsar can be daunting for a foreigner (Punjabis like me though are used to drinking a litre of lassi with their meal J)
If you are a non-vegetarian and thinking that Amritsar does not offer much to you, you are mistaken. No trip to Amritsar can be complete without a visit to Makhan's Fish at Lawrence Road. It serves the world famous Amritsari fish at its best. I went to this shop on each day of my stay in this city. Occasionally I used to be disappointed because the stock of fish would finish before I reached (and I used to reach the shop pretty early). If you like mutton chops then Amritsar is the place for you to be. A small shop near Adarsh Cinema serves Mutton chops and tikkas with hot kulchas.The only issue though is that the place is a bit shady and goes even more shadier in the night( with the sight of huge sardars drinking neat alcohol from their bottles while devouring the mutton chops).

Lahore and Amritsar are two places that one can visit just because of the quality of food served there. But the fact is that both places boast of great cultural heritage , monuments and religious temples that add to the charm of the places. The golden temple at Amritsar is one my favourite places in the world. The calmness and the serenity of the place takes one to another plane altogether. Lahore on the other hand boasts of forts/mosques that have amazing architecture and history attached to them.

All in all both Lahore and Amritsar are places that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime

The foodie’s hometown….

When I am travelling to different parts of the world, my foodie instincts are at their peak. Right from my childhood I have been fascinated by food. I like experimenting with my food. From the Thukpa of Ladakh to the Gatte ki sabzi of Jaisalmer.From the Kulchas of Amritsar to the Kebabs of Lahore and the list goes on …..

But today I will limit myself to my foodie escapades in Delhi. Being born and brought up in Delhi, my connection with the food here is at another level. I have explored each and every by lane of Delhi for good food. Today I am sharing with you my personal favorites -

1. Karims – If you like mutton then Karim’s is the place to be .The mutton lovers swear by this eating joint situated near Jama Masjid. My personal favorites – Burra Kebab , Keema Nan and Phirni .The vegetarian fare is avoidable though

2. Khan Chacha – Situated in a small by lane of Khan Market, Khan Chacha dishes out the best Chicken and Mutton Rolls in Delhi. The paneer rolls are good too.

3. Chicken Planet –If you are looking for having a great chicken curry, then Chicken Planet situated at Filmistan serves is the place to be. The curry (a gravy dish prepared in a huge utensil) has optimum amount of spices and leaves you asking for more. The service is poor though

4. Big chill –Italian food never tasted better. Though the place dishes out a spicier version of Italian cusine, but that does not mean that the dishes are not lip smacking. Must Haves – “Arabiatta sauce Pastas” , “Oreo shakes” and “Mud Pie”

5. Bukhara – From Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, all the big guns of the world swear by the Kebabs and the Dal Bukhara served at arguably the best restaurant in Delhi( situated in the Maurya Sheraton hotel). Bukhara simply deserves 5 out of 5. Downside – Meal for 2 can leave a big hole in your pocket and the reservation is difficult to get on weekends

6. Dum Pukht – The less known cousin of Bukhara, serves Hyderabad cuisine prepared in a very unique style(It’s called “DUM” style of cooking) .I have been to this place countless number of times but I still yearn for the food served here. It serves arguably the best biryani in Delhi.

7. Paramjit Machhi Waala – Winters is the season to have fish in Delhi. During winters huge crowds assemble at a small shop in Moti Nagar ( West Delhi ).The Fish tikka at this place is out of the world. The downside – everything gets over by 10PM J

8. Dakshin – The best south Indian restaurant in Delhi (situated at the ITC hotel in Saket). The uppams are so fresh and hot that I loose count of them when relishing them with a Mangalorian Fish curry.The vegetarian fare is amazing too.The Dosas are great too.A must visit for any South Indian food lover

9. Nirula’s –If you feel like having an ice cream to the beat the hot summer in Delhi then nothing beats the Hot Chocolate Fudge at Nirula’s.The other ice cream flavors are great too.

10. Haldiram’s – If you are a hardcore vegetarian and you crave for chaats and poori sabzi , then don’t look further.Haldiram’s is the place for you to be in . The Raj Kachori is my personal favourite.

11. Momo’s point – If you are shopping in rajouri garden , a great place to have a snack is Momo’s point in the main market.The Momo’s are served hot and with an extremely chilly sauce ( and the stress is on extremely J) and go best with a good old Thumbs Up

12. Moti Mahal – The butter chicken originated from this restaurant situated in Daryaganj in Old Delhi. I have not had better butter chicken elsewhere. The downside – The rest of dishes can be a bit disappointing

13. Annapurna Sweets in Chandni Chowk –The Sondesh and Roshogullas here leave you asking for more even when you are conscious of that bulging belly J

14. Paranthe Waali Gali – Have you ever had Banana Parantha or a Rabri parantha? The combination sounds strange .but it won’t when you visit this small by lane in Chandni Chowk . The lassi and the aloo sabzi that they serve go well with the lip smacking paranthas.Arguably, the best paranthas in Delhi are served here.

15. Bhalle Papri at Bharat Nagar near Ashok Vihar Naala – This small shop serves arguably the best bhala papri in Delhi.

16.Shwarma corner in New Friends Colony - My four years of college were spent gorging on this delicious lebanese snack.No other snack comes close.My personal favorite.Downside - Do not order any other dish.Just stick to the good old Shwarma

Just limiting myself to the 16 places was difficult, but i did'nt want to flood everyone with the different foods of Delhi in one go.I will cover some of the rest in a future post. Till then make it a point to visit all of the places that I mentioned and you will not be disappointed.

Also i ill try to capture a similar list of my favorite food items from across the world. Till then happy fooding J……………

PS: Do mention your favorite food hangouts in Delhi too :)

The fire burns....

As a child when I used to go to the railway station in winters I used to see very old people, the age of my grandparents lying on the platform without a blanket, their body shivering

In my school I used to see a scantily clad kid of my age working in a tea stall, washing utensils all day. Why was he being deprived of participating in the sports day, the annual picnic or the visit to the zoo? Why was that kid not studying with us in the school?

I used to ask my parents as to why there was inequality between us and the others. Even as a child I knew that the answers that I got were not convincing. My civic books said otherwise .The constitution of India has given everyone the right to equality

I used to get so overwhelmed with the feeling of helplessness of not being able to do anything about the prevalent poverty, lack of education and basic amenities a lot of times. There were occasions when a tear used to roll down my eye.

Our society measures success with the money that one earns and the designation that one holds. As long as we can get a well paying job everything is fine. Social responsibilities and duties do not count for much."Why should I do something for people who are not even related to me?", "Why should I care about these underprivileged people?", "I would rather earn more money than toil in a village in summers to teach the underprivileged the importance of hygiene". These have been some of the reactions that I have got from people when discussions about our social responsibilities have ensued.

Don’t we have any social responsibility towards others?

Sparsh-Ek Prayatna was formed almost 5 years back when some of my friends and I were trying to answer the same question. If I look back at the last 5 years , we have come a long way – fully operational schools at construction sites in Gurgaon and Bangalore, a team of street play theatre artists , candle making vocational programs , legal aid camps , clothes distribution drives and donation drives for Kashmiri migrants. But is that enough? The answer is pretty simple – By no means.

I feel on the top of the moon when I play with the kids of Prayas / Garv. There is no baggage. I don’t think about anything. Complete Bliss!!! I somehow feel complete.

I can’t forget my last 2 birthdays. 2 years ago my friends had planned a surprise birthday party for me .They had taught the children of construction workers to sing songs, arranged a cake and chocolates . I got the best ever gift that day when i saw happiness on those children's faces .

My last birthday was very special too. I was woken up in the morning at 8 AM (i hate my friends for that), taken to a construction site . When I reached there I saw a huge banner outside a school. The banner read – "Garv – A child education programme centre of Sparsh – Ek prayatna started on 23rd April". My eyes were moist. I was speechless. Incidentally Garv happens to be the name of my nephew.

Through Sparsh I have met some very special people in my life. These people are responsible for whatever little Sparsh has been able to contribute to the society. I have never said this to them before, but it’s just because of them that Sparsh has given happiness and joy to so many underprivileged people.

The enthusiasm of the volunteers of Sparsh has not died down over the years and all of us keep striving to do more for the society .I hope this fire to do sometrhing constructive for society as a whole burns forever........

PS: You can visit http://www.sparsh-ekprayatna.org/ to know more about Sparsh / to contribute in your own way to the society