Team Asha 8K - Independence day run!

Team Asha Team 8K
( http://www.ashanet.org/bangalore/teamasha8k/ )

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake." - Henry David Thoreau

The “Team Asha Team 8K, 2009″ is a running event organized by Team Asha. The second edition of the event will focus on healthy living in a holistic sense. We will strive to create awareness about the need for sensitivity towards the environment around us. The event will create awareness about many efforts supported by Asha and Team Asha that promote healthy and environmentally sensitive choices. The event will also bring together children and adults from varying class, cultural, religious, caste or any other diverse background in promoting the cause of health and well being in the true sense. On India's 63rd Independence day, we hope to sensitize the future and current generations to the possibility of an event and a life that is truly sensitive to the environment and people from all backgrounds.

Location: Prakriya School, # 70, Chikkanayakanahalli Road, off Doddakannelli, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore-35
Map: http://www.prakriyaschool.org/campus.htm#Roadmap
Time: 8:30 A.M (Independence day celebration), 9:00 A.M Race start.
Date: Aug 15, Saturday

Terrain and location:
It will be a flat course on beaten up road / mud trail. It is in a scenic location with a lot of tree cover, off Sarjapur road. Vehicular traffic would be a minimum.

Who can run?:
Anyone above the age of 10 can participate in the run. We will have children from multiple Asha supported efforts, Prakriya School and possibly other schools running along with us on August 15th.

Prizes:
The event’s objective is to go beyond the usual ‘need for speed’ and make this a wholesome event. The event is about bringing together adults and children from varying backgrounds with running as a unifying factor. Every participant will get a T-shirt as memorabilia. As a matter of principle, there will be NO specific prizes to promote any one skill over the other.

Registration
Please do register online by clicking here - http://www.ashanet.org/bangalore/teamasha8k/register.html

A nominal registration fee of Rs.150 (per runner) would be collected at the venue to cover the cost. Prakriya School Administration is providing FREE breakfast for everyone and the registration fee also covers the cost of the T-shirt. We would strive to organize this 'no profit' event at the minimum cost and impact to the environment. If there are any proceeds from the event, it will directly go to Asha Bangalore’s efforts.

We look forward to having you run with us on August 15th for a fun-filled independence day event! Please do help us spread the word and come as friends, families or just runners :)

Go Team Asha!

If it were to be my wedding ?

Nice watch:



Just dance your way through !

Maayandi Kudumbathaar - Tamil

There is this sudden burst of Tamil movies that I've been watching a lot these days and the one that makes me cry is "Maayandi Kudumbathaar".

Watch the trailer below:


The movie revolves around four brothers who are the sons of "Maayandi" and each one them of respect and admire each other. In days where brothers and sisters have so much friction this movie hits upon you to think and ponder. What we really miss today is this big combined family concept where life is full of activity. Property, prejudice and other matters makes it more complicated as well.

On the property front, I strongly believe one is not supposed to leave any property to its generation. This leads to the who dirty thing of hoarding money for its coming generations to survive. Neither take in any property nor leave anything for the next ones (that's my take) !

Being eldest in family is sometimes a boon and bane. The movie emphasizes on education as well wherein the one who is pursuing education is supported my the entire family.

The characters are well scripted and do their job perfectly. Nice folk song and dances and village fares can be seen. Very good movie and must see from my side !

This is England

"This is England" is a British movie that revolves around the early 80's when race and ethnic related crimes were beginning to seethe in the UK.

(Trailer below)



The backdrop of the movie features the Falkan Island war between the Argentinians and the British.

The pink heads (aka skin heads) headed the crime against the brown. Something similar to dot busters who targeted Indian women who sported dot (bindi) in the US. The movie can be drawn parallel to what we are seeing down under (Australia).


The point I'm trying to drive is, what irks a local community in its microplasam is that they want their rights and needs to fulfilled. Any particular immigrating group which tried to establish its own identity or way of living is not accepted. We can see these things even within our country when people from different states start mingling with the local communities. This is where the "ghetto" kind of living spurts in where people of a particular community all live together as a group and sometimes their living conditions are not socially acceptable w.r.t its local community.


May be that's the way we all humans are. We just cannot withstand it ! More to ponder than preach !

Roomies - Al Vida !

As two my of close roommates relocate, here is Ram's take on all of us.



All of them is related to running and that is one thing common to all of us.

It has been great living with you Biswa for three years. And yeah Ram we will miss your coffee and "ching on" fundas !

“A memory lasts forever, Never does it die. True friends stay together And never said goodbye”

Miss you all ! That's 305 tranquility for you !

-- Millet-Runner !

DK Pattammal - Obituray

(Pic Courtesy: The Hindu)

I hardly listen to Tamil songs and specially when it comes to carnatic and devotional songs there are only few who I listen to.


DK Pattamal left for heavenly abode yesterday.

I remember her unique voice that stands out during one of the Jana Gana Mana song renditions by Rahman and Bharat Bala.

Below is the video that I was talking about:




You can listen to her voice at time: 33-37 seconds.


Long live her legacy !

Pasanga - Tamil

Pasanaga (Kids) is a neat Tamil movie that has captured idiosyncrasies in a subtle manner.

The movie is a must see for all the kids who know Tamil and must be played across all schools across Tamil Nadu, especially in the Govt. schools. If it can be dubbed in other regional languages it would be wonderful.


Trailer below:



The movie has some wonderful characters and the mobile phone ring tones are aptly used to describe certain moods and characters as the movie progresses.


A situation where the kids drive an imaginary scooter and car took me back to my childhod.. Brrrrrrrrrr......



A nice movie and must see !

24th Main

24th Main is a veg restaurant located on 24th main, JP Nagar.

After the Asha 8K run, around half a dozen of us crash landed here. Guess during weekdays they have a buffet priced around 129 buks (+taxes). But as it was a Saturday we tried their ala carte and is a pretty decent place to have food, especially if you want to have a leisure lunch or dinner.



The interiors are pretty neat, appealing and soothing to the eyes.



Pretty much like the European cafes.


Nice place to try out !

Mumbai Marathon 2010

There you go !

More at their homepage, register online now:

http://mumbaimarathon.indiatimes.com/index1.html

Good Luck !

Beat It - Dr K Chaudhry

Respect !! Dr Chow ! Respect !!




This is really sucks man ! Summer of 69 below :-)



Courtesy: Rampee

The Yellow Belt Saga

Once upon a time in China, some believe around the year one double-ought three, head priest of the White Lotus Clan, Pai Mei, was walking down the road, contemplating whatever it is that a man of Pai Mei's infinite power contemplates – which is another way of saying "who knows?" – when a Shaolin monk appeared on the road, traveling in the opposite direction. As the monk and the priest crossed paths, Pai Mei, in a practically unfathomable display of generosity, gave the monk the slightest of nods. The nod was not returned.

Now, was it the intention of the Shaolin monk to insult Pai Mei? Or did he just fail to see the generous social gesture? The motives of the monk remain unknown. What is known were the consequences.

The next morning Pai Mei appeared at the Shaolin Temple and demanded of the Temple's head abbot that he offer Pai Mei his neck to repay the insult. The Abbot at first tried to console Pai Mei, only to find Pai Mei was inconsolable.

So began the massacre of the Shaolin Temple and all sixty of the monks inside at the fists of the White Lotus. And so began the legend of Pai Mei's five-point-palm-exploding-heart technique.

-- Bill, Kill Bill 2

This may sound trivial for some but then this was more than a saga for all of us. This quote is just to give an introduction, but read on below !

"The ultimate aim of the art of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the characters of its participants."
- Gichin Funakoshi

Two months ago when we met our master, we had no idea that she would be our bellwether guiding us using her "empty hands". Karate as a form of personal strength and to gain extra control over oneself was one of the sole motivation.



It all began at our "Dojo" (school) at Ananya this summer when we were training with kids for the Sunfeast 10K and during one of our breakfast discussions the idea of "Karate" cropped in as a cross training from a photographer who was capturing us at the volleyball matches with the kids. Who knew that she would become our Sensei who would lead all of us into this odyssey which seems like a journey in progress now.

We asked her, "onegaishimasu Sensei", Please teach me/us and that is how it all began. Tuesdays and Saturdays after the run we all diligently went through classes and practiced extensively during the last two weeks.

Today as America celebrated its independence we headed towards the first step, the Yellow Belt and all of us came out in flying colors.

What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.
--Morpheus, The Matrix

This is what was that was going through during the endurance tests. Our Morpheous was Sensei Manjula under whom we've trained for the last two months. I could hear her chip in when I was about to give up during the endurance training and she occurred to me like Morpheous.

Though I just about reached the end, it was one heck of an endurance. Though I've been running all this while but I guess on the endurance aspect I've got a long long way to go and I'm sure as I graduate through these early days we all will come out much stronger.

Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it. LEARN, MASTER AND ACHIEVE!!!

-- Bruce Lee

This just a baby step that we all have taken and I'm sure there is a long way to go.

Aregato to Sensei Manjula, Sensei Rani and my training mates Vinodh, Narmada and Banna !
Thanks to George, Suman and Shivamma for a wonderful breakfast and lunch. Ananya is more than a home to all of us.

I'll finally end it with an anonymous quote below:

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”

(Pic Courtesy: Sensei Manjula)

TR - English Lessons

This is really Sucks man ! English at its best in a trial room. Must See !




TR Rocks !