Marathon Training - Day Three

12 Dec 2006
Ran with AV at the Oval. Much better, because the pacing was better. Ran much slower - maybe aound the 8 km/h mark rather than the 12 km/h mark that I did on Day One.

AV had already begun when I was stretching, so did 1.5 rounds of the Oval with him at the slower pace, before he stopped . Then felt like pushing myself and did another round slightly quicker - closer to Day One pace, though not quite there.

Concern - Inside of left thigh was really aching during the walk to the Oval and stretching. Right knee gave a bit of trouble while running initially and inside of left ankle coming upwards towards the shin was also giving me grief. Everything stopped once I started striding. Probably too much weight landing on the legs too hard.

Track is harder than the Race Course, but still softer than gravel. AV and I are planning to do one session on Marine Drive before the week is out.

Only really ran out of breath on the last round of striding and had to push hard to finish the round.

No idea how long the Oval track is. I would estimate at least 1.5 km.

Also did floor exercises.

Marathon Training - Day Two

10 Dec 2006
No running or exercise - rest day.

Stretching done along with floor exercises.

Concern: Hamstrings are ok, but thighs have tightened up and right shin's muscle to the right of the shin bone is giving me grief.

Room Cleaning

Ok - simply haven't had the time to blog...doubt I will this week either. So am uploading the photos of my room pre and post-cleaning. If you don't know which is which - go jump out your window - blogger has completely jumbled the order...

Time taken: 5 hours
Trash Collected: Enough to fill a 3 foot tall and approx 1 foot in diameter 'trash bucket'.
Status 3 days on: I can still see the floor!

Marathon Training - Day One

Venue: Race Course
10 minutes stretching and warm-up, walk to the '2' Marker.
Breathing through mouth: began at '6' marker
Tightening of chest and oncoming of a stitch: '10' marker
Stitch: between '14' and '16' marker
Stitch gone: '18' marker
Stopped running: '2' marker
Walked the round...tiredness felt at the '18' marker
Concern: hamstrings feel a bit tight

Of Aid

This post was typed in on 6 Dec. But blogger doesn't seem to endorse blogging by email anymore..so here it is.

Had an interesting chat with SF, who was down from B'lore last evening about future plans in general. Some interesting ideas popping up...lets see.

Am extremely annoyed with myself for not remembering the ratio in the Naulilaa case. How? How? HOW? IL paper was ok...literally with good chunks and not so good chunks...will pass.

Did something I usually never do. Gave money to a kid who came up to me outside College to go get himself a Vadapav. I never do that..on the principle that I haven't earned it and that I can do what I want with money that I've worked for. Don't know why I did today. Perhaps because I was in a slightly ponderous mood after my chat with SF and looking at the world from a larger perspective despite the fact that I'm getting screwed doing CPC...and this is the one subject I've actually finished a first reading in!

Was on my way back from grub shopping and had buns and bread in my hand..yet I chose to give him 5 bucks after asking him if he was definitely going to eat with the money. Can't explain why. I suppose one way or the other - the money will help him out. If he eats - good. If he has to hand it over to somebody else - well, it'll help him get up to his required quota and maybe save him a slap or two.

Can't understand certain things in life...need more time to think. Then the doing can start....

Of distractions and forgetfulness

So I was, as always, strumming on my guitar in bed just before going off to sleep and I come up with an pretty enterprising riff and a chord combo to go with it. All of today has been about making a conscious effort to stick to the books. 3 days between exams is awful...

The other day I was making to PS an observation about the amount of 'knowledge' I gather about a subject in the 24 hours preceding a paper and the equally amazing 1 hour after the exam, after which I'd be lucky to be able to spell the subject name.

I was also unwisely trying to do some cross-subject thinking and memorising before the IOS paper and my abject ignorance of so much (or at least inability to remember, if not ignorance always) really hit me.

"In 6/8 months time, I'll be a lawyer. If someone comes to me with a problem, then what?"

Scary thought....really is...god save my clients.

"Close my eyes, close my doors
You'll never find me out cold
Broken mind, broken body
That's alright - its just for me"

What on earth?

Just read the news before sleeping...much torching of trains etc happening on account of an Ambedkar statue being defaced in Kanpur. Bizarre... one would think of all people, nothing would happen when an Ambedkar statue was defaced...its like people burning trains when a Gandhi statue is defaced. Dcubed has an interesting conversation... see here.

I had no idea what was happening...happy in the security of my hostel and books. And it seems what I initially dismissed as stress-invoked insanity in the girls hostel re: rumours that today's paper might be postponed seems to have had some basis.

Can't really comment on it...its just absurd. As the guy in Dcubed's conversation says...that's why we're third rate.

In other news, the Bengal assembly has been trashed, the Davis Cup final between Russia and Argentina is eagerly being followed on radio, Ganguly is back in the side to play the likes of Ntini, Pollock, Nel and Kallis on fast wickets in test matches (I wonder why selectors are paid at all...), the-cricketer-formerly-known-as Yousuf Youhanna has completed an incredible year and an ever-resurgent WI team has lost the test series to them 2-0. Watch out for the Windies...when Lara's head is screwed on straight, there's something about that team - at least over 100 overs, if not 450.

I'm just blogging news because I feel like Rip Van Winkle.

And another bites the dust...

1st ten questions for 10 marks in today's IOS objectives:
Define the following under the General Clauses Act:

1. Will
2. Union Territory
3. Rule
4. Registered
5. Swear
6. Son
7. Oath
8. Person
9. Local Authority
10. Official Gazette

Are you serious??? There go 10 marks..

Other wonderful questions include fill in the blanks such as:
Reddendo Singula _______ (with 4 options)
Expressio unius _________ alterius (with 4 options)

Topics to be studies according to the Syllabus include:
Reddendo Singula Singulis
Expressio unius expressio alterius

Really...this is a new low in paper setting laziness, even for the Mumbai University. So much for making us analytical machines geared up for a career in law. If I can mug 62 definitions under the G.Clauses Act and read the syllabus, I've got 12 marks in a final year law paper.

My resolve is only stronger now.

The paper was easy otherwise and went better than CrPC did. Things I must do now which I did today:
1. Don't have a bath
2. Wear my Khakis, not my jeans
3. Eat Bun-Amul and drink Cold Coffee before leaving
4. Try not to curse the cabbies during the bike ride
5. Wear non-collared shirts
6. Carry iPod in bag

That and some studying ought to do it.

Off to get some sleep. Only managed about 2.5 hrs last night - 3:30-6:00. Not ideal...need to advance it.

The hush before the roar

There's a little over 10 hours to go for my IOS exam. So I'm sitting on my bed with a mug of coffee and decided to blog. All is calm. I can't remember a word of what I read 20 mins ago. And yet, all is calm. Tried sleeping an hour or so ago...tossed and turned and ended up not sleeping. And yet, all is calm.

Usually the panic hits at about 6 in the morning for a 10:30 paper. I expect the same today. Wondering how to time my sleep today. Need at least a couple of hours. Day before yesterday, I slept about 3 hours in installments and woke up for the third and final time at 5:30. Wasn't a good idea. Think I'll try a 2-4 snooze today. At least there'll still be noise in the hostel to let me wake up.

Am wondering how to rearrange my room for 3 reasons:
1. Clean it...oh, how it needs cleaning!
2. Get some more visual space.
3. Make future cleaning (that once in 3 month irritation) easier.

Ok - off now...delegatus non potest delegare beckons...

29 down, 7 to go

That's the count for purging myself of the Bombay Univ. Then I'm outta here!

Had a horrendous paper today Think I'll pass. Asked a couple of people the answers to a couple of questions...pretty sure they were wrong too. Didn't like the feeling...don't think I'll be doing that again. Having said that, it means I need to study harder!

What AM I doing?

A critical question that I keep asking myself. In a sense, where is it all going? What is the desired end result and is there any movement towards it or is it the proverbial journey that life is and the incredible laxity that we display, happy in the knowledge that it doesn't really matter - after all, its all a journey, isn't it?

Call this pre-exam (very close pre-exam) stress venting if you must....

So this is state of studies:
CPC - 1st reading nearly done...bit of execution left, and caveat.
CrPC - 1st reading over, revision 1 tonight, revision 2 tomorrow, exam day-after...or tomorrow in an hour
IOS - the worrisome one...lets leave it at that, shall we?
IL - 3 days...nothing done...3 days!

Horrible state of preparation this time round...never been so poor, except perhaps Sem II - discovered I had to read an entire book that I hadn't read as yet the night before the exam!

What an amazing 5 years. I think above all else, its been a phase of development. If you ask me what Section 77-A of the Companies Act says, I'm unlikely to answer (its buyback of shares if I recall), but then it doesn't matter. I'll take these 5 years with a cherry on top without any education. And yet, I'm only a tenth of the way there. The question is where? The way things are going...I couldn't be moving further away from the promised land, however blurry it is. But then again, its been done before - if they can do it, why not me?

Wondering about how I'm going to be able to crack these exams, I've decided I can't, so I'm cutting my losses. As SDP once told me about his roommate the night before his Anatomy exam, the guy had basically given up on passing and started playing games on his computer. I'm tempted, but not suicidal...not yet anyhow, not to mention that I don't really have games that are worth spending any time on. Give me a couple of exams' time - to get suicidal ie.

The Rhodes interview debacle has been confirmed today. Considering current stress levels, its effect hasn't really shown up much on the graph. Looking forward to the next couple of months in my life. My schedule as it stands today:

7th Dec - Last exam...am going to get drunk with fellow hostel'ites...that's the plan though. Will probably end up in my room sleeping.
8th Dec - Back to work. Need to be a good boy so that I can take the next month off.
15th Dec - End of work (if I'm let off). Depart for Giridih..can't remember the last time I used a train.
24th/25th Dec - Depart Giridih for Delhi.
31st Dec - Depart Delhi for Bom (New Year's on the Rajdhani...oh Joy!).
8th Jan - Court re-opening. Need to take another week off.
14th Jan - Jessup memorials submission deadline. The reason I need the week off.
15th Jan - Back to work
26th - 28th Jan - Jessup national rounds in Madras. More days off...Boss is going to be mighty pissed off.

Was mentioning to PS on one of our evening walks that I'm dying for a month to myself. She wasn't being particularly dishonest that evening - "No chance", was the general gist of the response. Was wondering whether doing Jessup was such a good idea, when I could have had some time on my hands if I wasn't doing it. Don't know if I've still got it in me to put in a month of 18 hours (certainly didn't have it for the exams!) for a moot. Time will tell. Motivation doesn't seem to be a problem, though.

And so in the end, where does it leave me? Don't know...can't care at the moment. Ride the wave when you can, because you never know when the authorities might install wave-breakers.

"Bitter mouth swollen at last,
A diary not read out loud, a blast
from behind but a face no more,
I pick up pieces of my shattered doors.

And I don't want reality"

-That's mine

RIP anti-distraction measures

To try and focus on this horrible man-invented activity called studying...I de-tuned the guitar. After suffering unbelievable withdrawal symptoms, I gave in on Day 6. Life is a lot better now after a half hour session last evening. And the guitar doesn't eat in on study time (although other things do).

Moral of the story: Give in, give in always - will power is a farce!

"People making fun of me
For no reason but jealousy
I fantasise about my death
I kill myself from holding my breath"

Suicidal Dreams by Silverchair

Too much - Too late

Since its been a ridicuously chaotic 6 months since my last blog....I doubt I can actually capture everything...so I wont try. Suffice to say - things will continue to be chaotic for the next 6 odd months, though hopefully geographically a little less disorienting!

Its exam time and so blog updates will recommence.... till then....

"Don't let the days go by,
Could have been easier on you, I coudn't change though I wanted to
Could have been easier by three - our old friend fear and you and me
Glycerine"

Glycerine - by Bush

Crash Tested Dummy

Overcoming my newly acquired claustrophobia and general urge not be confined to a seat, I just felt like watching a movie. After luring A (the larger one) into coming home with some promises of food and a lift, I mooted the idea of a movie. It's a Sunday evening, so I figured that there would be absolutely no problem in procuring a couple of tickets for a 10:30 show. While Capote or Memoirs of a Geisha would have been first preferences, I had to be content with heading for Crash - the only accessible movie.

 

So, as always a review - particularly since I hear that Crash has won the Best Picture statuette.

 

The first half of the movie is incredible. You think it's a bold movie which addresses racism when few have dared to tread there post 9/11. It's a nicely built up storyline, sufficiently wide and probably very accurate too.

 

Then comes the intermission - it takes a filling of some pretty good caramel popcorn and PC with an old school-mate to get back to thinking about the movie...and then it happens. The trailer for Basic Instinct 2 starts running...there seem to be some very scenic views of London, not to mention a corny aspect -the office where everything seems to happen is the Erotic Gherkin at Bishopsgate. Sharon Stone looks - to put it mildly - old. You'll find few people (except the die-harders) who would want to watch even the trailer twice - leave alone the whole movie! But wait -this blog is about Crash..so back I go...

 

The 2nd half of the movie is, in a word, disappointing. Where you thought the movie was going to be bold and politically incorrect giving you no answer to the question at hand, every wrong is undone with a good and vice-versa. Every seemingly racist person commits an act which sheds the tag (and vice-versa)...and ironically (I suppose that was the intention - irony), the two ostensibly liberal people are the only ones who end up in a stand-off.

 

The almost mindless underuse or total throwing away of a fantastic idea reminded me of What Women Want, where you're thoroughly enjoying the movie for the first bit, before it meanders into a crappy 100 odd minutes of reel. Now, Crash isn't that bad...but the concept is simply lost.

 

Another problem with the movie is that everything is loose - I found the scriptwriting in Love Actually far better when everything is nicely tied up at the end. Crash has this bizarre five minutes towards the end when you're suddenly taken back to the start...and your temporal frames are just all over the place. After a while I just gave up trying to fit the jigsaw puzzle. (It was nearly 1 a.m. at this point)

 

Despite my insistence that WR runs trains till 2, they refused to do so and as a consequence A and I had to walk back. By Chowpatty A was ready to fall off to sleep while standing..not a pretty picture when you're crossing a road where even Santro's are zooming around at 100 and over. Got back home at 2:45 or so after dropping A off on the bike...a bit of Mr. Verne's underwater exploits (for the 10th time???) later - I crash!!

Oh Me

A little update on my life for posterity

• have started working - with Iqbal Chagla. Great fun - love the place and the work(???)
• mooted in DMH as the GLC dummy team - one day prep. Ranked 5th in the speaker lists!! Loved it.
• didn't rank in the top 3 (out of 7) in some lousy elocution comp...man, even I couldn't be that bad...I want to see the marksheets!!!
• re-organised my music and the iPod.
• set up a wireless thing at home during the time that anna was here. still can't make optimum use of it - anyone with any ideas on how to position the router so as to gain best coverage -please to inform.

That's about it...can't think of anything else. Anna back in Ox, although I've barely spoken/mailed him.

"I can't see the end of me
my whole expanse, I cannot see.
I formulate infinity
and store it deep inside of me."

- Oh Me by Nirvana