Chota Jumbo

            Biscuit, my six year old Labrador, has never had a steady playmate. He specialized in knocking the stuffing out of stuffed toys from a very young age. My daughter’s Teddy bear of nearly two decades had to be rescued from his bear hugs and love bites. His fascination for toys resurfaced recently when he got attracted to rubber toys which make a squeaky sound on squeezing. He regularly raided my helper’s house whenever he found them lax in leaving their daughter’s playthings outside. The last casualty was a blue dolphin which lasted just a few hours. This attempt at getting him a new toy was not with much hope of its longevity, but, just a momentary weakness on my wife’s part when she went shopping for making good my helper’s daughters’ playthings.

            Thus arrived Chota Jumbo a bright yellow coloured elephant with a red cap. Biscuit’s initial treatment of the Jumbo did not show any difference in his approach to toys and did not portend well for Jumbo’s survival for long. As they say in cricket the trick is to survive the initial overs before the shine comes off the ball and the atmosphere dries up. Jumbo not only survived the first day, but, seemed to evoke something maternal in Biscuit’s bosom. They are now an inseparable pair with Jumbo even going to sleep with Biscuit. In fact he fought off sleep till it became impossible to do so for fear of losing Jumbo. When he goes for a walk he insists on carrying Jumbo and when stopped from doing so, rushes back to find Jumbo the first thing after returning home.

            He has learnt to gently hold Jumbo in his mouth without hurting it much like how a cat carries her kitten. He even licks Jumbo off any dirt on his surface. I am reminded of the friendship between the Dog and Jerry in one of the Tom and Jerry cartoons where the Dog tells Jerry to ‘just whistle’ in case of any distress from Tom. We now find that to attract Biscuit to any part of the house just requires sounds to be made off Jumbo and he comes running to rescue his friend. He has accepted the name given to his friend by us and responds to our asking him to fetch Jumbo.

            We seem to have finally succeeded in winning Biscuit’s confidence in that he gives Jumbo to us and seems to finally understand the game of fetch. It’s a tender and heart warming sight to see Biscuit using his jaws with bone crushing abilities to carry Jumbo delicately wherever he goes.

            Long live the friendship of Chota Jumbo and Biscuit!

Meet Jeetu and Mahesh

 Biscuit woke me fifteen minutes before my alarm time. He was adamant for a walk straight away, and as a result I was back at 2:30 AM. Spent half an hour on the facebook over a cup of green tea. I developed a slight niggle in the calf and Kakinada express had excused himself citing late night engagements. Given the situation that Chennai express is already in holiday mood, I was looking at a prospect of a solo run. Situation was quite tempting for bunking the run and getting into the bed. Biscuit was aware of the opportunity and was lying in wait on the sofa in the hall. I am due for babysitting Biscuit tomorrow and would have to bunk the run, two days of run deprivation was unthinkable, so off I went much to the disappointment of Biscuit.
 I was at the gates at 4:07AM and must confess that I did look around in the faint hope of finding Sundar Purush pacing the pavement. Even though there was the likelihood that Chennai express may have gone ahead of the Hubli Passenger, due to the agreement yesterday that neither would wait for the other and we could meet at the beach road even if we start at different times, I did look for him at every turn. By the time I had wished Balu after negotiating the bridge and I had now reconciled to running alone. Today the water spout outside AVM Kalyana mantapam looked like a good competitor to the Saravana Bhawan. I would try and popularise it among runners returning from their workouts as opposed to their patronizing the Saravana Bhawan.
 Reached Light house at 4:49 AM, 42 minutes have become the par for this leg, however slow I run. The speeds on different stretches seem to average out. Met Srinivasan, of the elaborate Namaste fame, after a gap of few days. Crowds on the pavement were back to full house and I didn’t mind weaving through them as I now see lot of familiar faces and greet and get greeted. I tried remembering the first few days when I was literally on slippery ground and figuratively conscious of my attire. Now I seem to have a firm grip of the soles and the even the traditional Chennai walker has come to accept me. The last four months have got me introduced to the cows which frequent Marina and I now recognize the ones who like Banana peels. Today the white one with dark patches was the favoured one.
 The skaters were warming up and the early army men and a lone couple gave a hint of a lively time by the time I would be doing my second loop. Time to meet the first of my new friends;
 As I was turning into the Flag Staff road, a bunch of kids carrying bat and ball passed me shouting and laughing. As I crossed them, a few laughed, and I gave them a smile back. Two of the boys broke from the group and tagged on with me. After some time, I started to make conversation with them. One of them is called Jeetu (I didn’t get his partners name!). He is twelve years old and is from a village near Calcutta. He along with thirty other kids works for a jewellery unit. They are paid Rs. 6000 a month with boarding and lodging free. They come to play on the Beach road on days when they don’t have work. They seemed a happy bunch. I am dead against child labour and believe that there place is in school and not the workplace however benevolent the employer may be, but, do we need to find a golden mean considering the crushing poverty. Can they be given evening classes along with vocational training which they are getting in their job? Kailash Satyarthiji, are you listening?
 I met Manish Suri twice during the run, must be their groups training day at Marina today! I completed the loop at 5:51 AM, not bad considering the freewheeling discussion with Jeetu!
 The second loop was even more relaxed as I didn’t mind getting home a little later (Chennai Express has a tighter pre-office schedule!). The pandals set up for the road safety week near the Labour statue was deserted today and the dogs were using the red carpets for their after meal siesta. Met two platoons of the army running contingent and the Good morning/hello from my side was uniformly replied with a running salute (stiffening of the back/arms!) or a Jai Hind. The skaters livened up the Sivananda salai and Mount road.
 I was not done with making new friends for today and the place interestingly was the entrance to the Flag Staff house road. A young man quietly started to run alongside me. His steady pace and even breathing indicated that he was a Pro. We got talking. He is Mahesh from Pilibhit in Uttarakhand and presently posted in Tiruchy. He is on a temporary duty to Chennai since last month and would be here for another two months. He is from the Green team (must find out how high it ranks!) of Boxing in the Army and has represented it for five years till he turned thirty (he is 32 now, Sundar’s age!). He told me that he had a major fracture of the hand when he was a young child. All his friends used to tease him. He learnt yoga and strengthened his arm and learnt boxing by observing his teacher from a distance (who wouldn’t take him as he was weak!), your Eklavya! He has two kids aged five and one and a half and he plans to get his family after he gets back to Tiruchy. His wife is educated (B.Ed.) and he plan to encourage her to study further so that she can teach once the kids grow up a bit. Before we knew we were near the Gandhi statue. He got my family details as also my service connection and promised to run when he got time. He plans to teach kids who train near Marina the nuances of boxing as he loves the sport and teaching.
 It was a very fruitful two loops today. I reached home at 7:26 AM, a 3:19, 32K. Must complete my weekend run blog later in the day!

Marathon at last(11.1.2015)

After laying to rest the ghosts of the injured foot and the infected tooth, I was looking forward to a full marathon to feel complete again. Sundar Purush had sworn in a text message that he would join me. Was at the gates at 4:02 AM, the usually punctual Chennai express was not to be seen. I know he does not carry a mobile and I did not want to wake up his wife by messaging on his mobile. I gathered courage and walked up to the police guarding the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission opposite our colony. I asked him to look out for a tall and handsome runner and if he waits outside the colony gates, he was to be given the message, ‘Hubli Passenger has left’. The policeman about a month back used to look at me suspiciously due to my strange attire and ungodly timings had grown to trust me and gave me a conspiring look signaling acquiescence to our plan! I left at 4:05AM.

Prospect of a solo run due to the absent Chennai express and Kakinada express (who had informed of his plans to go cycling on Sunday!) was staring me in the face. In fact I seemed to welcome it, some me time after a long time. Have never been able to switch off completely into self even if the partner is very silent and there is virtually no traffic. How I miss my NH-218 runs of Hubli!

I maintained a slightly lesser effort level to keep some reserves to go the full distance. As if to help me get rid of the extra baggage of the banana peels, I found a cow standing under the usually busy Gemini flyover. She must have heard about the Hubli Passenger and his treats from her friends, as she accepted the offering gratefully and proceeded to look confused in the busy junction. I could understand her confusion, as I have only just now mastered one route of the busy metro. These city bred cows and buffaloes are however smart as I have seen them comfortably negotiate the traffic on Beach road with the owner sometimes only a small boy following them at a safe distance.

I reached Lighthouse at 4:45 AM. I wanted to be back after completing the first loop by 5:45 AM in case Chennai Express decides to show up then. First loop was done in darkness and I took it easy particularly the stretch near the speed breaker where some speeding truck with jelly had strewn lot of pebbles. Some patch work of filling up small patches of damaged road on the Flag Staff road with carelessly dropped jelly with tar was a deadly combination for the feet. I hoped it would all be better in the next loop with daylight. It cuts both way, Sun will bring light, but, can the heat be far behind!

When I was finishing my first loop, I saw @sriku with two of his friends running in the opposite direction near the Gandhi statue. No Chennai express meant I was on my own. I decided to do both the loops of the island ground together so that it can be completed before the traffic picks up. Met Srikumar and company on both the loops. After completing the two rounds around the island ground, I reached Light house by 7:11 AM. Three hours and nine minutes for 30K, not bad!
The last stretch to Napier bridge and back was sapping with the Sun taking its toll and the monotony of same length being done made me mentally tired. The return trip home had two incidents worth mentioning, first was an Auto drawing by my side and as I was bracing for advice to run on the side of the road, I was pleasantly surprised to see the driver telling his passenger that I run 20K every day. I think I must update my current daily mileage to the Auto drivers association, but, it felt good! The next was a scooterist who passed me by mumbling something and as he crossed, he raised his hand over his hand making gestures. Again fearing the worst, I flagged him to have a discussion on which side of the road is barefoot friendly. He gave me a wide smile and said ‘Seven Pack Surya’.
I deserved a treat after this, it is then I spied the water spout outside AVM hall. In taking a water break I let go off another young runner who I have been tailing from Gandhi statue. I could barely catch him when he turned on Gopalapuram cross after the flyover. He did turn back to see me passing him and his smile of respect made my day. Reached home at 8:26 AM, hobbling on my left leg, the thigh seems to have taken the brunt. But, a 4:25 marathon was worth all the pain and anyway a full day of rest and wife’s delicious cooking awaited the warrior!

Getting over the weekly rest day

Sixth day on the trot and that time of the week when one is tempted to bunk, Got up at the usual hour of 2 AM in the morning and browsed around on facebook. Biscuit claimed his walk and out of habit spent an hour on the spinning wheel over hot cups of green tea. It was seven minutes past four AM when I thought of the punctual and regular DrAvk Mohan, the Kakinada express who would be pacing the Light house terminus at the appointed hour of 4:45 AM. Quickly put on my running clothes and had a late start at 4:14AM.

Sundar Purush, a.k.a Chennai Express has been uncharacteristically irregular and I did not want to put pressure so did not text him, his absence on Sunday is a mystery and was dying to find out the reason. How I had co-opted the services of the guardians of the law posted to guard the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission opposite my colony to act as a go-between between the Chennai express and me will be revealed if and when I get down to punching the weekend exploits!

A young man sticking posters was using the cover of darkness to advertise the permanence of IT by pasting this part of the city with NIIT posters, ‘Make In India’ can go and take a walk! An auto driver with his charge of a middle aged lady with lot of luggage decided to test my knowledge of local geography and I am glad to inform that I came trumps ( a cyclist who seemed a veteran waited patiently to hear my diagnosis and confirmed my prescription), my good deed done for the day, I soldiered on avoiding the pebble ridden stretch which tests my soles before they have even warmed up to the road.

The first acquaintance (Balu who operates in the morning on the flyover!) who, unlike the Parle G lady, is a morning person and believes in cheery greetings met me on flyover. Just as I came off the flyover relaxed in having negotiated the bad stretches for the time being, I was pleasantly surprised by the Chennai Express out flanking the Hubli Passenger. The mystery of the bunk on Sunday turned out to his losing the battle with the bed, but, he confessed that he had a miserable Sunday after waking up late. He was sent out by his wife on compassionate grounds today to recoup his endorphin deficiency. What started as a listless run for me caught pace and even though we did not talk much, we had a good run and before we knew we hit the Beach road.

We reached Lighthouse at 4:55AM, and no surprise, Kakinada express was stretching to conquer. The morning attendance on the beach was very sparse and looked like the case of the Monday blues! Sundar sighted the bunch of cows which had settled around and were dozing while chewing their cud. They surely could not be tempted to break their kitty party for a few banana peels. A lone cow still on his last course of the morning meal was wooed by the Chennai and Hubli duo, It looked at the mating calls and the offering in my hand and went back to grazing. The observant Doctor diagnosed the problem being that it was a bull and not a cow. I need not have bothered, few steps later in the run, my trusted friend the one horned beauty made short work of my offering and gave me a sweet smile to boot in return.

I have generally been waving to each beggar on the stretch and always fascinated by the blind beggar who sits patiently with a walking stick with a cycle bell at its end. Today he seemed to be agitated and was trying to attract attention by stretching out his hand at the sound of passing feet. Hope all is well and he is not running low on his finances!

I am thinking of joining a group of runners planning to run from Chennai to Tirupati during the extended weekend of the Republic Day. Sundar did a rain check of my preparedness and gave very practical suggestions. I only hope that the patriotic fervor does not dictate forced attendance, fingers and toes crossed! As we crossed the Vivekananda house, I sounded that today was his birthday, but, there was a muted celebration if there was one at all! Met Parle G lady after a long time as she was walking down the pavement supervising the feeding dogs, must be quite fulfilling to be given such a rousing reception by so many canine friends every morning. It’s like a 21 gun salute for her every day.

The festooned pandals of the road safety week celebrations started the previous day wore a deserted look with a few policemen manning them more out of duty than conviction. The skaters were missing, maybe, taking the weekly off. Lesser army men crossed us on our run, the Sivananda Salai stretch was shrouded in darkness making the progress difficult for my bare feet. A bad pebble strewn stretch near the speed breaker was really bad on my foot.

         When we were about a kilometer off from Lighthouse, Kakinada express zoomed off without warning and finished at the terminus with a sizeable margin, The Boss showed who is the boss! We reached the Lighthouse at 5:56 AM, was telling Sundar we were at our pace, something must have gotten into the Kakinada Express today!

        Chennai express and Hubli Pass’r took leave of Kakinada express as Kakinada express wanted to do a relaxed cool down run for the second loop. We reached the Gandhi statue after the second loop at 6:57 AM.

On the return trip from Lighthouse, I showed Sundar the Chilled RO water taps with chained eversilver tumblers on the walls of AVM hall. This was my hydration break on my Sunday run. The aged couple met us on the flyover, these people meet me regularly. The lady prompts the husband if he is looking elsewhere, reminding me of one of the Mobile operator Advt. which had the lady telling her husband, ‘Aapka Phone’! Reached home at 7:31 AM, a 3:17 32K, not bad for the sixth day in a row!
I do get petty at various times during the day in thought at least if not in deed. Like the Kakinada express beating the Hubli Pass’r today or more seriously many other perceived slights or triumphs. I have to stop near the Hindu crematorium on my way to the railway station every day. It is a sobering thought and a constant reminder of how ephemeral life is and to rise above the pettiness in life. More than places of worship, these would a better idea to sober people.

Meeting a school friend

Biscuit (my six year old Labrador for those who haven’t had the honour of knowing him yet!) has recently been complaining of lack of footage in my daily dispatches. While I have been struggling to settle into the big city, He has beautifully adapted to living in a flat and that too on the fifth floor. He looks forward to the ride in the lift and has adjusted to the smaller empire for him to inspect. He has learnt to negotiate the cattle trap at the colony gates. He is slowly trying to get over his fears of the trucks. He finds the smaller house easier to chase squirrels (he was unequal to the squirrels pace and agility in the wide open grounds at our Hubli house!). He has made friends with the crows who get to share one of his rotis. He seems to be getting more exercise in the smaller house chasing squirrels than in the house with a big lawn. He seems to be giving a bigger lesson to us that happiness is not related to the size or location of the house!
Woke up to the alarm and Biscuit’s prodding at 2 AM. Had a banana and a few dates. Kept green tea for brewing, set up the charkha and called Biscuit for his walk. Today was a quiet and contemplative walk. Biscuit did not react to his friends who must have been sleeping after a late night (curse the traffic which roars on till 11 PM). Even the friend’s heavily chained Rottweiler who usually barks and tears at the chain as if he would jump down to have a ‘Mukalat’ with Biscuit seemed to be having a peaceful sleep. Biscuit reclaimed his territory and the flora quickly and was ready to get back home for his second innings of sleep.
After little more than an hour of spinning over hot cups of green tea, I got into my running clothes. Biscuit was warming up on the sofa in the hall through my spinning and only went to bed after I left for the run. He did not protest my leaving today. A little bit of stretching, pocketing the banana peels for the cow and tucking in the spent green tea leaves in the mouth for chewing during the run, I reached the gates at 4:02 AM. Sundar Purush again excused himself from the early start and promised to meet DrAvk Mohan and me at Lighthouse at 5:45 AM.
I ran at a leisurely pace knowing that I could reach Lighthouse terminus in time for the scheduled arrival of the Kakinada express. The sanitary workers, tea shop owners, guards and regulars who wait for the first bus at the bus stops exchanged glances and at best waved. They very constituency which started out with cat calls and now accepted me and taken me for their own. Even the policemen on their patrol cars and manning check posts have switched to friendly waves rather than converting me to running on the left side of the road. Mr. Balu, my friend of the bridge continues to greet me by calling me by my name to show that he remembers it. Venky (the ATM guard of IOB near the Royapettah flyover for those who don’t know him yet!) was in his dreams (a man of healthy habits like cycling does have his perks!).
I saw the clock near Gandhi statue show a little past 4:35 AM and I relaxed. As I turned into the Beach road, Kakinada Express steamed in on the pavement towards the Lighthouse. It was like two trains entering a major terminal at the same time. The first question I asked him was as to whether he was able to stay alive in office after the killer run and sleep deprived night before. He seemed to have coped well and was back for more. If my passion for running is bordering on madness (not mine, my wife’s quote!), then he can be my witness to plead sanity by comparison!
We left at 4:41 AM keeping a cushion for the 5:45 AM schedule of Chennai express later. Today the Doctor was a little slow and I kept taunting him keeping just a step ahead of him, but, kept the pace slower. The black cow has now become my regular for receiving banana peels. So fond is she of the stuff that I today feared that she could take the thing with the polythene bag in which I brought the peels. I have now overcome my fear of the cows and am able to address them fondly as I do Biscuit, and, I think they understand!

The first topic of discussion was my defense of why I suggested his cutting short his run the previous day. I was fresh from reading the case of a young CEO who was a regular runner and had died of a heart attack. The reason attributed was lack of sleep. He digested it quietly. Lot of army guys were out for a run today and the Doctor said that it was partly due to his regular running every day. The skaters were just arriving and setting up shop.

I had a surprise waiting for me when I was on the way back to Lighthouse, a man stopped me and asked ‘Pehchaan Kaun’?  At that time of the day and the place I was in the usual suspects are runner friends, but, this is not their way of addressing me. I ventured a guess Kumar Janardhanan as the person resembled him. I really felt ashamed after Sridhar Ak identified himself. He is my school friend and we were neighbours to boot, but, in my defense a gap of nearly three and a half decades and me not wearing my specs were the extenuating circumstances. We had a ‘Bharat Milaap’ scene much to the amusement of the fellow walkers. Must catch up with him soon!
My eyes were now skinned for the expected anytime Chennai express! We reached Lighthouse and turned back for the second loop at 5:41 AM. I knew Sundar could catch us quickly if he comes later. Just before we reached the Gandhi statue, the Doctor asked me to go at my comfortable pace and that he would complete his run at a relaxed pace. I needed no second invitation and pressed on the gas. I was surprised to meet Sridhar running towards me from the opposite side and we exchanged a high five.
The second loop was done at a fairly steady clip. A heavy footed runner joined me soon after and asked me if I run marathons. Having accepted my word for it, but, showing disappointment at the fact that I did not run the Chennai marathon and do not plan to run the Mumbai also. He turned into the inner road probably having me declared a ‘Ranchod’. I was faced with the questioning glances from the army friends who were searching for the Doctor next to me. The skaters crossing me multiple times in a beautiful formation was a good diversion during the run. I crossed many cyclists today, but, am not able to recognize them individually because of the headgear and speed at which they whizz past. I reached the Gandhi statue at 6:38 AM and went on till Lighthouse, after a short break, I started back at 6:40 AM. The quick pace of this loop was quite exhilarating. The Chennai express seems to have had a late night again and must have conserved for the weekend.
I have been crossing a girl who comes running from the opposite direction dressed in salwar kameez with a bottle in one hand. This happens just before the Kalyani hospital and I thought she must be carrying some medicine for some near and dear one. The next day I thought she was trying to catch a bus. Today I observed her closely as thrice could not be a coincidence. I found that she was running with a small water bottle in one hand and a phone in the other. I found this she was only running with her les and the entire upper body, particularly, the arms were stiff. I stopped and gave her unsolicited advice to get a dress with pockets if she has to carry something and run with free swing of arms and shoulders. She took it quite sportingly. I reached home at 7:20 AM and felt good about the pacy run today.
Look what the eldest member of the group has done to us. A bunch of slow and steady runners have starting pursuing speed, but, I think it’s all for the good. It goes with the current theme of loose federalism and not imposing from the center. Will I get the elusive Full tomorrow?

Train race at Marina

Chennai express has been erratic of late. Claiming her daughter’s nightly antics, Sundar Purush rescheduled his arrival by an hour to reach Lighthouse at 5:45 AM. Hubli Passenger started from Sterling Road station at 4:04 AM to meet the Kakinada Express at the Lighthouse at 4:45 AM.
It was a humid starlit morning and I had worked up a decent sweat by the time I reached the intersection of Haddows Road and Uttamar Gandhi Salai, my usual strip tease point!, I am sure Gandhi must be smiling in his grave!
Today Balu, my friend of the flyover was conspicuous by his absence. The couple (The RK, Nargis kinda pair which walk together in their running dress) have not been coming for quite some time now, hope All is Well with them. I seemed to have woken up my friend Venky from his night dreaming.  The chukka coffee vendor called out his ware a bit too loudly when he crossed me outside Saravana Bhavan, more I think to make conversation than with any hope of getting any business from me.
Reached Lighthouse at 4:44 AM by my mobile. Not finding Kakinada Express at the terminal, I took a minute off to catch my breath. At 4:45 AM, I started to slowly run towards Napier bridge with the hope of intercepting DrAvk Mohan.  A visibly hurt Kakinada express met me a well before the Gandhi statue, as if the Shatabdi has been blamed for lack of punctuality. The clock opposite Gandhi statue chimed 4:45 to confirm his punctuality. After I had fed the cow, I initiated today’s Run pe charcha seeking to know the Doctor’s diet (i had obliged him with my dietary secrets the previous day, we old people are boring!). I had also been surprised by how little he ate when he had come home or dinner the other day. His Spartan diet combined with the amount of exercise he does is a medical mystery for the AMC to investigate.
He complained of late night calls and of having slept after 11:30 the previous night. He was also quite labored in his run today, I am sure the strenuous ride to find Pulicat lake in the heat must also be affecting him. I tried to hustle him so that we could be back at Lighthouse by 5:45 AM to be in time to receive the Chennai Express.
As if to disprove the Doctor’s complaint about lack of physical fitness among the uniformed men, today a large number of them were out to mark attendance with him. As usual the children of all ages ranging from six to sixteen were whirring past us on their skates to egg us on. Despite of my trying to press on the pedal, we were no match for Sundar who hungry after a day’s bunk had reached opposite the Queen Mary’s by the time we reached there. We made him turn around to retrace the path to Lighthouse with us.
The Doctor was seriously struggling and added to that his comment about having been late to office the previous day gave me the temerity to suggest that he break near Munroe statue so as to give him some time for a power nap before office. From my own experience I have realized that we become increasingly adamant with age particularly about the length of the run planned for the day. This we do all the while constantly mouthing the adage that we should listen to our body, he was one step ahead and would brook no cut in his run ration planned for the day.
Seeing the enthusiasm of us oldies, Sundar became conscious of his small portion of the run and informed us that he would run a bit faster and cover the added distance from War memorial to RBI and get back to catch us in time at Lighthouse. This set off a race between within the three trains. I wanted to not let Sundar catch me before the Gandhi statue and Dr. Mohan wanted to complete the planned run.
I reached Gandhi statue at 6:46 AM a full four minutes before Kakinada express steamed in and well before the Chennai express. Taking a quick leave of the good Doctor, I tried putting in as much distance as possible with the Chennai express. Sundar caught up with me after the Saravana Bhavan a little before the flyover. He again set off for the diversion via the Poes garden promising to catch me before I reached the colony gate.
Amidst all this chasing, I found it liberating today as I always felt that by making Sundar run with us we are seriously cramping him for his need for speed. He caught me at the strip tease point. We ran together from there till I reached the colony gates at 7:31 AM. Sundar has promised to run with a weight jacket from next time on when he plans a curtailed run. All in all an entertaining day of run today!

Kakinada Express tangos with Hubli Passenger

Have once again fallen behind in my daily missives, now the dates and incidents in the runs over the last few days are sufficiently jumbled up in my head. Now any of those have to do something special to become a supplement in a daily narrative and have lost the relevance to a post by itself.
To build up consistency, mileage will follow, I have started starting for my daily run at 4 AM since last two days. The idea was to do two loops and get to 32K quota of daily run! Yesterday, I did it behind Sundar Purush’s back and today Sundar himself requested me to carry on with the promise to meet me in my second loop at Light house at 5:45 AM. DrAvk Mohan (he is being nicknamed Kakinada express from now on!) with his child like enthusiasm was very keen to start early. We fixed the meeting place at Light house at 4:45 AM (each doing about 6K to reach there!)
Ashwin Govindasamy had called me yesterday asking me if he could run with us for his easy paced running, the speed merchant wanted the stability of middle overs of Mohinder Amarnath from us oldies for teaching him patience for the full marathon. For the benefit of readers, it is relevant to mention here that he runs HM at 1:28. I was feeling conscious when I started for the run at 4:07 AM today, I felt like a Maruti Alto going to go and get hitched to a Ferrari. I had asked him to meet us at Lighthouse at 4:45 AM.
I have seen this phase in Hubli when regular passersby stop asking you the questions about why you run, etc. They instead knowledgeably tell something to the effect that ‘this old man runs every day’ to the tune of ‘What do we do with a problem like Maria’ to their partner. With this kind of incident happening increasingly, it seems, I have been finally accepted in Chennai. A gentle wave of hand, a smile has replaced elaborate verbal greetings. My friend Venky was holding forth with his gang of followers outside the ATM (almost on the road!) when I crossed him. After my wave to him, I could hear the old story being upstaged by my exploit (he has the older version of my route which was to RBI and back!).
As I turned into the Beach road, the clock opposite Gandhi statue chimed the time, 4:45 AM. Hubli passenger was almost on time to Lighthouse. Kakinada Express was stretching itself in preparation for the run. We started at a leisurely pace after he was informed that Chennai Express has promised to meet us at Lighthouse station at 5:45 AM. Implicit in this was the exhortation that we should complete the 10K loop in an hour. There was no sign of Ashwin and I thought of calling him, but, the struggle in the darkness with my mobile dissuaded me.
I stopped to feed the first cow I met, she was the same one which was the receiver of my affection of the previous day. Now, this lady is quite aggressive and believes in going straight for the cover. I carefully removed the banana peel and after safely putting the cover back in pocket, fed her and petted her.
We both were missing the enthusiasm of the young Sundar and conversation hung in the air many times between us. As a result we ran quietly to the accompaniment of the thuds of the feet and the sounds of breathing. We runners can judge the partners comfort from the breathing rhythms while running together. The good Doctor got lot of attention from Army colleagues who seem to have come out in large numbers today. I like the way they exchange greetings by the subtle stiffening of the back and arms. We also got charged by seeing the smiling faces of young skaters whizzing past us in their slithering snaky formation. The familiar parental escorts have now started recognizing me and we exchange smiles.
The clock chimed when we crossed the Gandhi statue meaning that we have done the loop in a little over an hour. I was expecting to meet the Chennai Express as we did the previous day well before hitting the Gandhi statue, but, seeing no sign of him at Lighthouse, I knew that he must have chosen the warmth of the bed to the solo run.
The second loop was in better light and the Doctor was pleased to have seen the GOC crossing us on the Mount Road. I hoped that he would have seen the Doctor on the run. More socialization with the Army runners and walkers and we were back on home stretch. We reached the Gandhi statue at 6:45 AM completing a pacy double loop. We parted on the other side of the road promising to meet ‘at the same time at the same place’ as today the next day also.
The return run was comfortable and my left foot was now getting used to the road without the protective tape. I finished the run at 7:29 AM, a 3:22, 32K run. I hope the quartet performs on the Beach road tomorrow!