Nankuru Arusa

Okinawa Marathon 2013

This was my first full marathon. I wanted to do my full marathon debut in Tokyo Marathon - 2013 this year. But I was not lucky enough to get selected in the lottery draw. In those days of feeling dejected due to rejection, I started looking for other races as my urge for running 42.195 at age 42 was stronger than feeling dejected by anybody. Logged into runnet.jp and found 2013 Okinawa Marathon on left-top of the page and luckily entries had started an hour ago. I thought this is not mere a coincidence. Next moment I put my entry successfully as there was no lottery system. First come first serve. Fair and straight.

How did I do the training for marathon?

Physical Training

Till this point of time, I had ran 6 half marathons in an year and half. My longest running at training was 21km and I had developed stamina for this distance though my time was still never sub 2 hrs for any of the half marathons I had participated. Under the guidance of internet AND a senior runner Padraig, a fellow Nambanner, I created a training plan. Total 4 long runs were designed to be more than 30km. Padraig's suggested training plan was more aggressive for me (850kms) but from his standpoint it was the minimum. I settled on plan for total running distance 570km in a little over 3 months. As we live virtually on the banks of Arakawa river in Tokyo most of my training was on Arakawa, especially 90% of Saturday long runs. My total running distance during this training period eventually was 475km. But I had done all my 4 long runs of 30km, 32km.

Mental Training

Couple of weeks before the race, I also started mentally getting ready for the various possibilities of my race result. One website I came across was also suggesting to do it. I envisaged three scenarios for myself.
-- Best Case Scenario : Time 04:50 minutes
    break-up
        01km to 10km in 01:05,
        11km to 20km in 02:15,
        21km to 30km in 03:30,
        31km to 42km in 04:50

-- Don't mind Scenario : Time 05:20 minutes
    break-up
       01km to 10km in 01:10,
       11km to 20km in 02:30,
       21km to 30km in 03:50,
       31km to 42km in 05:20

-- Do mind Scenario : Time 05:50 minutes
    break-up
       01km to 10km in 01:15,
       11km to 20km in 02:30,
       21km to 30km in 04:10,
       31km to 42km in 05:50

As I had done Arakawa 30k in 02:57 just three weeks before the marathon, I was hopeful for Best Case Scenario. But as it was advised by experts of the running world, I thought it might be wise to have couple of more scenarios to avoid too much of frustration.

Know as much as possible about the marathon course

I studied the course of the marathon on the website. It was going to be up and down for some distance with maximum 110m elevation. A friend of mine had done Naha marathon in Dec 2012. When he saw the animation movie of course of Okinawa marathon he told me the course is same as Naha marathon and most of it is rather flat. I believed him and was relived to hear it as I am not very good at running lots of ups and downs.

One last minute advise I got from Padraig was to reach for breakfast at least 15 mins early in hotel than its start time. Otherwise, if I am late or even on time, many other runners will already be there lined up and it may take some time to get inside forget about actually having the breakfast. I made a mental note of it.

As it is never too early to start packing, a week still to go, I started packing my stuff that I wanted to take with me. As a result I only missed on buying wet-tissue which I did on the airport. How it went on the race day?


On Race Day

I was part of thousands of other runners waiting for gun shot. An elderly runner (I want to be like him when I am his age) behind me asked how many calories I gain with each gel of sachets I had stuck to my running waist belt? I had no answer. I had never thought about it. I had started using it blindly per advise from my senpai runner Padriag. As I believe in honesty being best policy I told that I do not know. But I offered him other information how I am going to use it. A sachets after every 10km is how I was going to use it and I told him. Then in return be told me he is from Naha and have ran Naha marathon and few more other marathons. Ummm, he too was senpai, no doubt!

As race started it took me to 9 minutes to reach start line. Many runners, as it was apparent from their running and demeanor had joined to be part of the moment, for that one clip on TV, you know!

First 10kms went as per script. I finished it in 01:02. In fact three minutes better than my best case scenario time. This 10km part was total flat. Same as Arakawa course. I was drinking more water than what I would have done on Arakawa, due to fear of getting dehydrated because of 23 degree temperature.

Out of remaining 32kms, 25 kilometer course was up and down. Running on this type of course was not part of my training as I mentioned at the beginning, still I reached 20km mark three minutes more than my best case scenario that is in 02:18. No problem. I was happy with the progress so far. Had consumed two energy gels I was carrying in my waist belt. So far I had not touched the goodies being given by local supporters along the course who had turned out in large number to cheer the runners. Cut lemons, Oranges, Banana, Okinawa speciality sweets were being offered.

Up-down was still going on and I started sensing problem at 29km. We were about enter Kadena base of US navy. This stretch was of base was 3km with gentle slope. Soldiers and their families living on base had come out to cheer the runners. Their style of cheering was distinctly different. A woman was cheering us loud with a board with large letters "You look crap! But it feels good to see you!" :-)

Something was not right. It had become difficult for me to even run on this gentle slope. Both of my thighs started hurting. With every step I felt I may have to give up! I was still running with the support of cheering plain clothed American soldiers and their families but I had slowed down badly. Had this stretch of course been at the beginning of the race, I would have ran less than 6 minute a km but now it was 8 minute a km :-( I saw few runners stepping out of course on the lawn and doing stretching. I thought of doing it myself. As I side stepped and started to sit down, sudden pain surged straight into my thighs and I froze right there. So stretching was not an option left for me to be of any sort of remedy. I had no other option left for me but to continue running.

We left Kadena base and entered more familiar world of Yamato the Japan. Luckily I found toilet right after the gate. Anyway making it to finish line per my best case scenario was out of question. So what difference does it make if I spend few minutes for toilet! These were my thoughts at that moment. Another luck. There were only couple of other runners waiting for toilet before me, making me spend less time in the queue. But making it to finish line at least as per my "Don't mind" scenario was still weighing on my mind. I saw one toilet door was showing available for use. I asked runner waiting in the front why don't he use it! He listened to me and went ahead and tried pulling door and there came a scream of a woman/girl from inside! Oops!! I had no place to hide (luckily other two toilets doors opened one after another and that guy and me slipped in to get relief from ??? Do I have to say anything else? Toilet break made it ample clear to me that my thighs have given up on me (or other way round) and are hurting badly enough for me to think of running my usual run.

Gentle or stiff, uphill or downhill, 34km onwards my sole aim was to reach finish line in one piece, injury free. So slow but steady I kept going with an average 8.5minutes a km. Exception was only last couple of kilometers where we had again reached plane course. These 2kms saw me recharged a bit where I could cut down 1 minute to make it 7 and half minute a kilometer. Touch wood, but so far in all the running event I took part, I have always reached finish line in a style with a dash passing at least a dozen runners. Okinawa marathon wasn't an exception.

Epilogue
Post marathon, my recovery was like this. Marathon night - Could'nt sleep well as any tiny movement was causing pain.
Post M day 1 - climbing down stairs was just impossible.
Post M day 2 - climbing down stairs is still difficult n painful
Post M day 3 - climbing down stairs is now doable with bearable pain
Post M day 4 - started thinking how many kilometers I should run on this Saturday :-)

In Okinawa dialect I think "Nankuru Naisa" means "No worries" and reflects the easy going culture of Okinawans. Going by tough time I had on up down course of Okinawa marathon, I thought using this title in opposite way, "Do worry!" that is "Nankuru Arusa!".

In general, running events in Okinawa are infamous for poor completion rate. 2013 Okinawa marathon saw 76% runners completing the race in stipulated time of 6:15 hours. Compare this with Tokyo Marathon where 96% runners completed it in given time. One can argue Tokyo Marathon completion time is 7 hours, course is mostly flat etc, etc. But stats are stats and numbers do not lie.

Rice Farmer

It was dream golden week (GW) this year. Other wise, every year, come April-May golden week holidays, we go through a phase of "what do we do in this Golden Week?". This year was exception. Couple of months in advance, my colleague had offered me and my family to join them for rice plantation. So we decided to become a farmer, no matter if it is only for few hours. Had no prior knowledge, experience about it except seeing it in movies. Neither had any idea how exactly we are going to spend 2 days with totally unknown people (except I knowing my colleague professionally).

Day 1, left home early morning. Under normal circumstances, time to reach Kamogawa by car is 2 hours. But as this is GW, reached our first destination "Minami Bousou" near Tateyama in 6 hours. Nakajima-san family had already reached there and was waiting to receive us. Being localite and experienced driver that he is, it helped him to save almost 2 hours during peak traffic. One more family, friends of Nakajima family had more head start, so they were hunting good restaurant for all of us. Soon we all joined them and our first lunch together was in a local eatery. Our choice of food was, by all means, fresh seasonal fish caught in near by seas. Namero Gohan, Tenpura was mouth watering. Only complain about food is, it took a bit longer to come out of kitchen :-)

Post lunch, troupe headed for seashore. It was sunny day and kids and all of us adults were in great spirit of enjoyment. All the while on rocky sea shore, kids were singing a song,

La la la la, la la la la
Tonari no Kobuta ga
Bu bu bu bu

When I too joined them in chorus singing "la la la la la", ... wow! their excitement and joy was immeasurable. In this spirit, led by excited kids, all of us climbed mini tower. Had a birds eye view of seashore from the observatory. It is no way anywhere closer to view of Queens Town (NZ) gondola we had seen few years back, but did enjoy this one also. In kid's spirit!

Evening too was eventful. Get-Together arranged by Tanada club (trustees) was unique. Specially prepared food was in abundance. However, it was party atmosphere that stole the show. Anchor started the ball rolling by pulling legs of fellow trust members, warning them not to speak long, do not drink too much as some of them had done last year :-) Mike used by him was nothing but a bottle of beer. Once beers started taking control of us, anchor commanded club members to speak a word. It was applicable to new club joiners, but, eventually everybody were pulled to speak for this or that reason. Those who spoke were also in right "spirit" of sharing and enjoyment. We too contributed by introducing our self. We had a question from one member.

"Where are we from in India?"
"Mumbai... and in fact..."
I couldn't complete the sentence due to roaring applause. But I had to complete it cause we are not exactly from Mumbai.
"Mumbai... in fact a city called PUNE near Mumbai"
(and this needs to be said in this sequence cause chances of they knowing Pune were very low)

It was really feel good factor to know you are welcome in the group of natives.

Next day, day 2, I had additional plan apart from rice plantation, for which we had come to Kamogawa. Photography! Provided weather is good. Woke up at 4:30am. Bit early considering we were off to bed around 23:30pm previous night :-) Got up and slightly opened the curtain of the room, and I almost screamed out of excitement. Entire east sky was painted with shiny orange color by messenger of Sun God announcing the arrival of his master. Changed myself to top gear, quickly got up, Nakajima-san joined me and we rushed to paddies. It was worth the efforts and pure joy to be in nature in wee hours when the world is still asleep. Have a look at my best shot taken that morning.





First touch of muddy paddy. Sowing rice might be routine job for many farmers around the world, But it was my first experience despite having farmers family background. Rice is not what we grew in our farm back when I was child. Spent 2.5 hours in a group of other people like me in a paddy sowing rice and many thought kept splashing mind, despite of ache in knees due to less leg movement in sticky mud. The thought most impressive, however, was not mine that I want to share here. It came from Mrs. Nakajima. We liked her POV. It goes as ...

"We keep telling our kids about not wasting food because. We are also taught by our parents about it. But after spending time sowing rice in paddy for few hours, teaches us how much efforts are required to put in by so many hands to bring a bowl of rice to your dinner table."

Hopefully, my daughter understands it on her own as she too was in a sticky, muddy, paddy with us.

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SSY - Lessons Learned

Siddha Samadhi Yog (SSY)

I heard about SSY when I was in college way back in 1990. It was sort of SSY boom in Pune. In those days, my younger brother was not doing good in studies. On top of that, the kind of illiterate surroundings we used to live in by then, for any person it was quiet normal to get distracted and worst, inflict permanent damage by doing some nasty thing and end up miserably going off-track in life. Here came SSY. The buzz was, it helps people understand how to control ones life etc. Worried we were for my brother and his future, my folks as well as me asked him to go see if SSY is of any help. He obliged. We saw some change in him and we forgot about SSY.

Came 2010. My brother and I both have moved on in life. Settled in our respective spheres. Meanwhile, here and there I'm still hearing about SSY. Very recently (March 2010 to be more precise) my colleague and a friend wrote recommendation email for SSY and asked everybody on the list to give it a try as it helped him immensely. 2 different circumstances. Former in 1990 with all troubles of life in Pune and the later 2010 life with comforts of living in advanced country like Japan. I tried to extract the benefits of doing SSY from this friend of mine. But all I was told, it is something to experience and cannot be explained. Now I had no choice but to do it myself, if I want to know more. I made up my mind and decided to undergo this course my self.

This post is about SSY and my first hand experience about it. The way I understand it as it happens. Will be writing about it when it is still fresh on my mind.

Please note, this is all about my personal experience of SSY which I'm currently undertaking. It might and it will differ with some one else's experience. In fact, in totality, my own final opinion about SSY is not known to me as of today (24 Apr 2010). We will have to wait till 23rd May 2010 which is a month away from today.

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Day 1 (17 Apr 2010):
On this day we are given free introduction and first session. My first impression, it is not big deal. History of SSY. Who created this course and how it got created, what were the reasons, circumstances and people involved. As I had made up my mind anyway to complete the course I decided to continue and paid 15,000JPY.

FYI - It is supposed to be run on basis of NPO. Still you are required to pay this amount as expenses of teacher. As a matter of fact, the place where this course is being conducted is also an office of the company which is run by same teacher.

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Day 2 (18 Apr 2010):
This day we are told about the days, time of the course. Per request from couple of participants, one day got changed, however, it was okayed by all other participants including me and teacher made sure it is done that way. Though, I knew Vajrasan and sit in Vajrasan once in a while, first time I'm being told correct way of sitting in Vajrasan. This was major learning from today.

Below are few SSY concepts taught on this day.

Science of non being (nobody):
Okay... wait. Listen, this is not really something to get worried about. In Simple terms, it is about keeping low profile. Keep doing your work but do not ever think that it is you who are making things happen. You should consider yourself as nobody even if you are personality of many colors/skills. This is about humility. One person I know, who is famous for this in India, is non other than Amitabh Bachchan. It is about him in short. When you are living your life like this, it is called Samadhi state.

Samyukta State:
Samyukta state is something great saints like Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar. Teacher did not explain much about this on day 2 at least but it must be like being a saint. Which perhaps I would not wanting for myself.

Today we are asked 3 questions.
a] What did you learn from today's class?
b] What is an impact on you from today's class?
c] Write at least 200 words on topic "My Ideal World".


I think, above I have covered answers to "a" and "b". As for "c", here you go...

My Ideal World

I'm living a happy and peaceful life with my wife, daughter, parents and friends and colleagues. We all love and respect each other. Mutual Respect is the foundation of everything in our world.

I live in small town which is part of a cluster of 21 such towns. Our hilly province is made up of many such clusters. Name of our cluster is Samika. All towns has a number in cluster. For example our town is "Samika-7" or "Sami7" for short. There is very good road, air, pod train network in our province. Special roads exist for vehicles as well as bi-cycles. Very safe for driving/cycling/walking. In the middle of Samika is our mountain, Mt.Zoya. He stands tall but it is neither very high nor very small. Oops, but do not underestimate it. Only seasoned trekker can climb it from north side in the winters as snow makes north impossible to climb for mortals like me.

Our cluster society is very disciplined, eco-friendly and nature loving. As I said earlier, our lives are based on foundation of respect and love for every human beings. We respect and follow rules created by our elders.

My family finds time to go out for hiking, cycling or jogging/walking. When we go out we try to live as much as possible in close contact with nature. We love to touch trees, leaves, breath fresh air, watch flowers, whisper and sing with birds. When we are cycling, birds often are flying right over us. And it is a pure joy to watch them. I'm sure, birds are also enjoying the scene below them where 3 idiots are riding funny objects and trying to fly with them :-)

Something about our another eco facility, PoD Train! Have you ever boarded the rope way car? Well, Pod train is similar to that except the former is used to reach the top of mountains and later is used on plains or small slopes, instead of normal long trains. PoD is a train with only one compartment. Only 12 to 20 people can fit in it. As population in our cluster society is not huge, PoD is just perfect for us. It runs on solar energy. Pod is our life line and also a life line for our environment as it helps reducing CO2 emission.

Pods are used by us when we want to go to other far away clusters. We try to make maximum utilization of one pod when we go out. It is shared with neighbors or even with unknown fellow town member (this way you also get to know about each other). In every town there is a pod station. We make reservation for PoD and it comes automatically to our station exactly at specified time (Just in time you know :-) Destination station is also already fed so it starts when we press start button and we are off to our destination. Non-Stop.

Our Roads are also Green as trees are lined up on both sides plus safety fence. We use Eco-Cars running on batteries. Again... no CO2 emission.

We are a festival loving people. Our biggest festival is Zoya Din. Every 1st May we celebrate it with all everybody in our cluster. In the morning it starts with a mass prayer followed by various sports for children, adults and elders too. It inculcates strong team spirit amongst participants. Preparation for Zoya din takes place many weeks in advance. All (young, old) people happily take part in preparing sport grounds, cleaning roads etc. It is all done with a sense of togetherness.

Our food habits are healthy.This can be briefly described in 2 phrases "Eat breakfast like a king and dinner like a pauper" and "You are What You Eat." In our country, administration is decentralized. Cluster offices are empowered to take decisions and enforcement for the well being of cluster society. However, what makes this enforcement successful is people participation. Entire focus is on well being of society. All options are weighed on this factor and then only translated into decisions. This becomes possible only due to proactive people participation in decision making process.

In this healthy, honest and lovely world, we are happily living in present enjoying every moment of it and doing our bit to spread positive thoughts of sharing and living for the well being of humanity and nature on mother earth.

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Day 3 (24 Apr 2010):
From beginning of the class, I'm on time or before time, as I do it in my everyday life. Today's class, at least 3/4 of it, at least for me, was a waste. We spent time discussing below 6 rules of SSY class.

1] 100% attendance

[ This is to get complete benefits from class. Bunking a class or two lessons the amount of benefits also.]

2] Be present 10 minutes before time for all SSY class (*)

[ As all attendees are Indians, making such rule is understandable.]

3] Practicing whatever is taught in the class @home also

4] Will make use of what is learned in class for personal purpose only

[In other words, you should not start teaching SSY only after completing this beginners course. Undergo teachers training course, become eligible and then teach if you like. Since Pranayama is taught in SSY, it profound important not to play with others lives. Hence, learning properly to teach others is mandatory.]


5] No notes taking in the class

[Some participants had done this before explanation of these rules. You are supposed to listen and understand what teacher is saying.]

6] Attending class while u r still hungry stomach
[if you have done any kind of exercises ever, you would understand this as Pranayam is also type of exercises.]

To me this was either common sense or already known stuff. Hence, spending 2 hours and 20 minutes talking only about these 6 rules was a total waste. You have paid your own money to join this course. Why would you not be coming on time! But let us take a step back. Consider about other participants. They might not be like me. It might be necessary for them. So I decided again to go along. Wait till end. And then give verdict (though nobody is asking or waiting for it :-)

Today's questions for HOME PLAY are ...
a] What did you learn from today's class?
b] What is an impact on you from today's class?
c] Why do we create an illusion of trying?

Question "a" and "b" are common and would be there for remaing classes also. "a" and "b" are sufficiently answered above. As for question 3, humans, in general, tend to avoid responsibility or ownership. Hence, we keep creating illusion of trying. It is something, either you do it or don't do. As per SSY, there is no concept called TRYING.

Learned also about sectional pranayam today. It has 3 types...
a] Kanishtha Pranayam
b] Maddhyam Pranayam
c] Not taught today

Kanishtha Pranayam: In this you use lower part of lungs and is effective for body below your abdomen. Hence, name Kanishtha (lower).

Maddhyam Pranayam: In this you use middle part of lungs and is effective for middle part of body (from waist up to shoulders). Hence, name Maddhyam (middle).

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Day 4 (25 Apr 2010):

Pranayam taught in today's class is...

Jeshtha
(this is the 3rd one amongst sectional pranayam)


Dhauti, Sheetali and Sheet-Karee are the heat exhaler exercises (note they are not pranayam).

What I'm expecting and looking forward to learn from SSY is this. Unfortunately, this was taught for 30 minutes in a class of 180 minutes. Rest of the time was spent on discussion on various topics on responsibilities of humans in daily life amd how one should fulfil them (sorry, but it was waste of time for me). But still producing it here for record.

SSY has a concept called "Leader" and "Follower". Do not get misled with the meaning of these words in English. It has nothing to do with how SSY has defined them.

Leader

In SSY's lexicon, Leader is the one who does his job with utmost dedication and responsibility, enjoys while doing it, strives for perfection. Decision whether you are a Leader is left to you to make it. It is like being honest with self. You can cheat entire world but you cannot cheat yourself.

Follower

People in this type does not do their job with complete dedication. They will not go extra mile to study their profession. Work in silos and they are "it is not my job" type. Holds others responsible for their failure. Complete opposite of Leader type.

For example, Mr Ravi is chief engineer on a dam project and has 2 assistants. One assistant is Leader type and other is Follower. L type would consider dam project as her/his own. Will deliver on time and will be doing everything that is possible for making dam project a success. F type assistant would do what is told & nothing more. Will be doing it because someone has told to do it. Not from an understanding that it is his/her job.

Teacher gave more such examples and also asked us to explain it in What If scenarios. In Day 3 also it was discussed with example of 2 goods manufactures and a quality inspector.

In today's class, teacher asked all participants, "Do you think I'm (teacher himself) a leader or follower?". Some answered leader some answered follower. I raised my hand and answered, "we will let you know our answer after 12 days of this course". Of course, this was not expected by teacher so he ignored me.

Another point of discussion was food. No meat eating because it stays in your system for 72 hrs, net net taking that much time for digestion. Eat vegetables, fruits, sprouts cause it is easy to digest them. One more point is eat them raw. That way chewing it 32 times happens automatically as you cannot swallow them like other cooked food easily. This way even tooth brushing is not necessary. Imagine animals. Have you ever seen an animal with a tooth brush? They eat raw food :-)

Again, honestly speaking, if most of the class time is spent in discussing things like these, then SSY is not for me. I have learned all this in my life so far and practicing it daily. So I better spend my time on something worth while applicable to me.

Made up my mind, I'm not continuing with SSY beyond class 4. Sorry but I would not pass any verdict on the effectiveness of SSY in someone else's life. But in my life, SSY has came, perhaps, 20 years late. So nothing more beyond Day 4 on SSY. However, if anybody is unable to decide whether to do SSY or not, check your answers to below questions. If 3 or more answers are coming as "YES", then SSY is for you, please do join it. It would do miracle for you.

A] Are you diabetic patient?
B] Do you take dinner after 21:00?
C] Do you skip breakfast often?
D] You do exercise only once in a while?
E] You strictly follow office hours (e.g. 0900-1800)?
F] You drink coffee/tea daily for more than 5 times?
G] You hate eating raw vegetables?
H] You are often late to an appointment?
I] You do not wake up fresh in morning?
J] Are you waiting for ABC to happen so that you will be happy?
K] Do you think other person was responsible for your ABC failure?
L] Are you suffering from migraine?
M] Are you suffering from obesity?
N] Are you feeling lethargic very often?


Cheers



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Appaku Mensetsu

Have you ever taken an abuse during interview from your interviewer? Well, if not abuse then at least insulting questions or reaction to what you said during the course of an interview? Well, my friend did. Want to know more? Keep reading...!
[ By the way, when abuse/insult is done deliberately as a part of company culture/practices, then in Japan that category of interview is called "Appaku Mensetsu" (圧迫面接).

Last week this friend of mine (let us call him "Takeshi") was in for an Appak Mensetsu. It was an 1:1 with senior manager of his company. He was told to sell himself to this manager. Oops! sorry, senior manager. But let us use short "mgr" for the sake of less typing efforts. So it was an interview within the company. He prepared nice, slick power-point presentation about Self-PR. Education, certificates, key deliverables of 14 long years career.

Interview started. Greetings exchanged, objective of interview discussed, political correctness taken care of and he got permission to walk his boss through Self-PR. He used his 14 years of experience and gave nice presentation in 10 minutes summarizing his achievements. When Takeshi thought he has done his best and have impressed Mr. Mgr, position in new team is in his pocket, here began an ordeal of Appak Mensetsu.

First, his certifications in different area got ridiculed. "I don't care what certificates you have!" mgr said. Well, it was just warm up. What followed later was total humiliation for him as Mr. Mgr went on describing what kind of members are required in his new team. It had all skills except the one that this friend of mine has. In the end, with a smiling face mgr asked him, "so would you like to join this team?". If you failed to read between the lines, obvious answer would be "Sorry I do not think you need person with my skills!". But, when you are confronted with an offer "Take it or leave it", you would answer "Yes I can't wait to start my work in this new team!", with a smile on face.

Takeshi just did that and left the room leaving final decision to mgr. Nobody knows what is stored in future. One can only live in present. Bit by bit, a day at a time. With a smile on face.

Note:
Practice of Appaku Mensetsu is, if not banned, stopped by many companies these days. Today's candidate can be your tomorrow's customer and you certainly do not want him to have bitter experience about you.

More about Appaku Experience can also be found on Wiki.

Rajgad again

I was back in Pune for vacation last year (2009) end. When in Pune few rituals are mandatory. Like visiting friends, relatives and shopping at Agraj to take food items back to Tokyo. We know Agraj's founder and an owner since I was in my late teens. That might be 20 strong years. Thatte kaka (uncle), Vaishali Taai (his wife), their two sons Pradyumna, Abhishek and Mr. Karandikar (Thatte kaka's father in law). So I was at Agraj and was hearing Pradyumna, who is high schooler, speaking over his cell with someone. What I overheard, their conversation was about doing a trek with some group. For an instance, thought of joining him on their trek flashed my mind. It was my 3rd last day in Pune before heading back to Tokyo. But it was damn tempting too to join him for trek. If I could do it would be trekking on those mountains nearly after 20 years. Pradyumna, when he heard I want to join him, got really excited. To his consternation, unfortunately that group cancelled the trek. I was more surprised with the reason of cancellation. The group had got okay only from two participants as a response to their advertisement in local news paper. These two participants were Pradyumna and his elder brother Abhishek. I told Abhishek and Pradyumna "Next time when I plan to be in Pune, we will do some trek."

And I did just that when we decided to visit family-friends in summer of 2010. Abhishek took charge of finalizing details. Pradyumna, avid trekker that he is, made his parents to give him permission to take off from school and rather join this trek. Atul Aslekar, my long time buddy, was part of the plan from beginning. Akash, my jr. colleger cousin brother couldn't make it as he was down with cold. Finally, four of us left Pune early morning around 5:30am by Atul's car.

Rajgad is a bit difficult mountain fort to climb. If you are Indian and that too from Marathi background, it is also an emotional journey. The wonderful history associated with it has power to take you back in that period when King Shivaji was ruling western part of India from this fort. As we started our climb, synopsis of Rajgad's history was written at the foot of the mountain. Height around 4500 meters from sea level, 24 years King Shivaji ruled from Rajgad, one can keep watch on 16 other mountain forts in the vicinity. With pride of belonging to this country, four of us headed to the top to taste our own history in a rain soaked morning. Trekking in rain has added advantage. You can enjoy the fauna of nature which is not possible in other seasons. Have a look at this picture.





Upon reaching top, as it happens on any other Shivaji's fort, we get transported to Shivaji's time. What I was doing as a trek, a pass time hobby, this person, this King of people and their mind, was doing it everyday in his time. His people were doing it everyday. It was not 9-18 job. They were fighting hostile enemy from this very place all their life. On top of Rajgad you can sense that, and get zapped with the scale of their legacy. Climbing Rajgad and its Balay Killa is not just a journey into my memory lane, it is a journey back into my history, my own people's proud history.