My amma's take on the marathon

They do a pretty lousy job of updating my blog and now amma is taking up my blog space for her own ramblings!!!

Vijay and I are very different….for me mathematics ends with the ten fingers on my hand (my toes act as reserve) while being a pure mathematician his maths doesn’t even have numbers. I am a believer while anything to do with God or prayer is alien for him. Vijay loves to watch movies which is intellectually stimulating with minimum dialog. I did rather watch movies that lets me sit back and not think, laugh, maybe cry and go "aww choo sweet". As he often quotes, “There are two types of people in this world, those who run and those who should”. Vijay belongs to the first category and my aching joints and back is testimony to my being in the second category.

Anyhow, I got lured into going with Vijay for the Mangalore half marathon…as a spectator of course. And as I stood by at half past six in the morning, among this huge crowd of amazingly fit people, I found reassurance among the organisers who gave me company in the ‘should run’ group. I tried my best to get the sleep out of my eyes and act excited for Vijay. I looked at him and it wasn’t excitement that I saw in his face but something close to the pious calm one sees in devotees as they enter a temple.

Before long the marathon started and the runners headed off leaving the rest of us to try and comprehend what makes people travel huge distance so that they can run in a strange land. I gave up trying to figure the puzzle when I realised that the only way to solve it would be to run. Instead, I took Ravi, my two and half year old, for a dip in the beach. Vijay had told me he expected to finish between one and half and two hours. About an hour later Ravi and I headed back to the start point (which was also the finish point) just in time to see the first of the runners crossing the finish line. Then on in a more or less constant stream the runners came back. Standing there watching them cross the finish line, I think I got the feel of what is meant by “The spirit of the marathon”.

Every runner was there to challenge himself and only himself. How the others ran didn’t matter….even when they are neck to neck at the finish (I am not talking about the world champions here). In fact, it should not matter. If you focus on others and in beating them, you are beaten. The competition was with yourself, on pushing yourself. You have a very personal goal to achieve. Unlike in a sprint where the most thrilling part is the finish, which comes all too soon, here it was the run. In the former it is more of physical strength, here it is the mental endurance. For a half marathon the average time would be something like two hours and for a full marathon, four hours. These are lengthy times and I can only imagine the fight between the urge to stop and the desire to go on that every runner may have had time and again.

Possibly as a marathoner reaches the finish line he is truly himself, no space for pretence. Everyone started off more or less similarly; the difference showed up at the finish. Some possibly ran the fasted towards the end having saved that last bout of energy for it, some found energy from others cheering and the sight of the huge timer and speeded up, others were shyly jubilant, still others obviously ecstatic, some surprised, a few could just about manage to walk across. As I watched Vijay head towards the finish, I felt this perceptive has truth. In his usual calm demeanour he steadily reached for the finish line, completely oblivious to us cheering him on, thoroughly enjoying each step. And the first words he said to me on the other side, “I was told they have arranged refreshments…where is it?”

https://picasaweb.google.com/108653502270997583759/Mangalore12Marathon?authkey=Gv1sRgCOiTn4X4puOaag

The four S

Its been a great few days ... full of the 4S - Sea, Sand, Sun and Sivasagar restaurant. My achan was running the Mangalore Half Marathon and my amma and I went along. Had a great time at the very child friendly Panampur Beach.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108653502270997583759/SeaSandAndSun?authkey=Gv1sRgCLPPgYOW6YikpAE

Wack, Wack, Wack

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Track suits are God’s gift to mankind…..

According to me, “Track suit itta veezhoolla…Veenallo, mutte' pottulla….Pottiyallo, Chora verulla”.

Given the fact that I run more than walk, I should be in a track suit always. But, my parents make such a fuss when I insist that I should be allowed to wear my track suit all the time. Furthermore, they are amused when I preach about the goodness of track suits to my chitta and cousins. On the new year day I advised my Chitta to go and get a pair of track suits for herself and she told me that she is taking my suggestion very seriously. I even preached about it in my day care today but I got the feeling that they had no idea what I was talking about. When my amma came to pick me up in the evening the aunty there asked her what this ‘ta chute’ is for which I was pinning away the whole of morning. I was shocked when my amma, after explaining what a ‘ta chute’ is, said that she will not be sending it to school. I am still in shock …..

Getting wiser!!!

Ravi is playing with his muthachan in the bedroom when he remembers that one toy is in the drawing room and this is the conversation that followed…

Ravi: Ende kalipattam avide undu…nee eduthonde vaa.

Muthachan: Njan old alle enike padhukke povane kazhiyu. Ravi big and strong alle appo vegum poyi edukallo.

Ravi: Nee padhuke poyi edutha madhi!!!

Ravi is troubling his vel valliyamma while she is talking on the telephone. So his ammamma tries to distract him by taking a damaged mobile and acting as if she is talking to Rajeev maman. Ravi hears the talk for sometime and then says; “Adhu Rajeev maman ella”. His ammamma insists that it is Rajeev. Ravi then says;”ella. Adhu oru polinja phone annu. Adhilil samsarikan pattulla”!

Ravi’s health tip, “Thanutha vallathe kulicha enikke jaldhosham varulla. Njan karanjal annu enike jaldhosham varuva!”

Ravi throws his toys on the ground in a tantrum. His amma insists that he picks them up. Ravi says “ Njan tired aayi poyi.”

What does he know how (happily?) tired his amma is!!!

Updates

Over the past 2 months apart from the usual excitement, two major incidents happened. First was my ‘ezhuthe’. On the auspicious day of vidhyarambam, I was initiated into the world of letters by my achan with the help of my Valliyachan. My Chittappan bought me a nice ‘kasavu mundu’ and I wore that. I touched my achammas, ammas and achans feet, got their blessing and then sat on my achans lap in front of Gruvayoorappan where my achamma had lit the lamp. First achan wrote something on my tongue with a gold ring dipped in honey….yummm. Then on a plate full of raw rice achan and I wrote what valliyachan told us to. I think achan and I did well and got every thing right. I was very solemn through out…..everyone kept saying so. It was more of shock – my achan sitting in front of Guruvayoorappan and the lamp …. never seen that in my 2 plus years of life!!!

A month or so after that, amma and I made a sudden trip to Trivandrum. When we reached there Rajeev mamman was also there. I found out later that my muthachan had to be in this place called hospital for some reason. So, every afternoon amma and I would drive to the hospital and visit muthachan. Then suddenly he disappeared from his hospital room. We still went there and had cake. Then suddenly one day he was back in the room just like that and soon back home. I really don’t think it was a good idea to put him in this hospital place. He was perfectly okay before he went into the hospital. When he came back he had pipes and tubes and someone had cut into his ‘kumba’ which was then bandaged and so he couldn’t play with me. I hope he learned a lesson and will stay away from that place….of course we could always go there and have cake.

Break at Kochi!

Just when I was thinking that the world consists of only Calicut, Pandrum and Thigel....Bangalore was added. And now there is Kochi. Last weekend we went to Kochi to see ammama's exhibition and I had my first experience of a hotel - Bharat Tourist Home. Ofcourse I have stayed at ISI B'lore guest house but that is not a proper hotel!!!

I like travelling....and amma and achan were very pleased with my behaviour on our long car journey. It was nice talking away in the car and occassionally looking out. Sometimes I hummed and sang. I slept a bit too. I also liked wandering around the park and marine drive in Kochi, taking in the sights, and going down to the restaurant to eat. I also saw how fish is caught.

It was nice to see muthachan and ammamma. Just when my parents were tired of my 'blah-vlah' I got two new listeners. They are much better listeners than my parents and I think they are getting better at understanding my talk!!!

I was not too keen on getting back to Calicut were I have to go to school. But amma said that Kochi was a break and now we are back to the 'regular world'!!!