November Fitness Goals Update and December Goals

I had set an ambitious target of 300 miles in November and ultimately it turned out to be too ambitious. I ended up with 120 odd miles with only about 20 miles of biking in the 2nd half of the month. Failure teaches some important lessons and i realized that i needed to strengthen my muscles in order to push my body more. Hence, i am joining a gym close by to focus on strengthening my core. Will set incremental biking goals month on month till i reach a point where i can go after big targets.

Aftermath of Paris - What can i do?

When i heard about the Paris attacks, i was outraged. It reminded me of the painful memory of the mumbai attacks in 2008. I remembered how i felt a lot of rage when i saw the visuals on TV and how utterly helpless and powerless i felt. It has been 7 years and the world feels no safer than it did back then.

I put aside this feeling of helplessness and started reflecting on what is it that i can do, no matter how little it is. The one thing that i felt i could do immediately was pray - pray for the victim's families, pray that this does not scar them for life and pray that they get the strength to heal themselves, with time. I truly believe that prayers are powerful, especially collective prayers. The universe will figure out a way to transfer those prayers to the people who are in need of healing. And so i prayed.

But there is something else happening as well. Whenever any such terrorist incident happens, there is a lot of debate and a lot of discussions. There are tons of viewpoints exchanged, about religious terrorism, about religious beliefs, about politics and its impact, and so on. I have been part of these discussions earlier and i have observed many such discussions, and from my experience, these discussions have not played any role to help resolve the problem. On the contrary, the discussion often used to end up as an argument with the parties on either side claiming that they were right and the other party was wrong. Very often, this led to bitter fights, in person and in social media and generally ended up raising the overall temperature, for the parties involved.

How then does that ever help in making this world a better place? How does that end up help create a better future for our generation and for the generations after us? I have come to the conclusion that if at all there is a solution, that needs to come from the heart and not from the mind/intellect. In my heart, i can feel that there can be only one solution, and that too, a long term one. And that is to treat every single person in this world with true respect and compassion and to be tolerant of their beliefs and opinions. 

How would the world be, if every person in this world respects the other's viewpoint on religion - either the other person's belief in their god(s) or their lack of belief? How would the world be, if every child in school is taught about respecting and honoring the other person's belief? How much better would the world be, if instead of arguments and fights, there is a respectful discussion? 

I strongly feel, that governments around the world should come together and imbibe a common education methodology that is rooted in human values of love, compassion and tolerance for multiple sets of beliefs. The notion of 'I am right' and 'you are wrong' needs to give way to 'I may disagree but i respect your viewpoint'. Violence arises from the individual feeling emptiness, depression and lack of compassion, trust and respect from the world around them. And when every individual feels respected, would not the levels of violence come down? 

From a personal standpoint, what i can do? I am making a promise to myself, that no matter how much i disagree with any other views, i will respect the other person's viewpoints and beliefs. I will be compassionate with people who may hold completely opposing views from mine and rather than argue, i will look for the 2% chance that from their perspective, they may be right. This to me, feels so much more empowering than to hold on to the feeling of rage, helplessness and powerlessness. And hopefully, some day, the world will figure out a solution to its problems, through its heart.

Toastmaster Speech: CC04: How to Say It: Rishikesh Memories

Rishikesh – Rishikesh is the name of a small city in a state called Uttarakand in India. Most people know that as the Yoga capital of the world. It is known for its ashrams and by the famous visitors such as Prince Charles, John Lennon and more recently, Julia Roberts. My experience with Rishikesh, however has nothing to do with Yoga. It is different.

Dear Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and guests, today I am going to share some of my beautiful memories in Rishikesh. I am going to transport you to the paradise that is Rishikesh.

When I was in delhi, my friend told me that Rishikesh is a great destination for river rafting. It sounded really exciting and I quickly signed up for the trip with close friends. When I landed in Rishikesh, I had no idea what to except. At Rishikesh, we came down the hill close to the river where a boatman arrived. He transported us across the river to the other side. On the other side, I was stunned to see huge tracts of sparkling white sand. It was soft, it was beautiful and it was incredibly scenic. The highlight of that place was that there was no mobile connectivity and no electricity. All night long, we listened to the soothing sound of flowing river.

In the morning, we headed for the rafting. It was a level 4 rafting with some seriously exciting rapids. The rapids had these rocks in different shapes and sizes jutting out. The waves were violent and we had an amazing time controlling the boat. The beauty however was in between the rapids. We had two large mountains on either side of the river and a clear blue sky on top. It was almost completely silent and the atmosphere was serene. It remains till date one of the most beautiful memories, rafting in Rishikesh.

Apart from rafting, we decided to walk up a trail. A trail in India is different from a trail in US. There are no maps. There is no name. And nobody knows where the trail leads into. As we started the trail, I remember the lush greenery. There were a variety of birds chirping. I could even smell the fresh mud on the trail. Once we reached the top of the trail, a spectacular sight greeted us. It was the sight of two waterfalls, one large and the other small. One was 30 feet tall and the other was 6 feet and both were separated by about 10 feet. We scrambled up the rocks and managed to climb the 6 feet falls. Even as the flowing current pushed us strongly, we resisted and absorbed the full beauty of the larger waterfall.

The other place that stands out in my memory is a place called Devprayag. It is a confluence of 2 rives – Alaknanda river and Bhagirathi river. Once they meet and join, they go on and merge into Ganges. Alaknanda river was muddy and looked brownish in color. Bhagirathi on the other hand was crystal blue similar to the pacific ocean. The huge waves colliding into each other was a sight to behold. It is just one of the few spectacular sights in Rishikesh.

Most people who visit Rishikesh tend to miss out on the other aspects apart from the Yoga centers. My wish is that each one of you who plan to visit Rishikesh take the time to explore the other aspects of Rishikesh. The natural grandeur of river ganga and the adjoining mountains. The scenic beauty of the waterfalls and the lush trails. The epic meeting of the hugely dissimilar rivers.  All these are a sight to behold and I hope that you will explore Rishikesh to its fullest. Thank you!