My smule#2 Germaniyin Senthen Malare

My first song with PSG techmusic, brings back a lot of nice memories ☺ "germaniyin senthen mazhaye" on #Smule: http://www.smule.com/p/733650208_1350518601 #SingKaraoke

Have a good day!!!

My smule#1 Kannukku Mai Azhagu

A fantastic melody, tried this in smule today...  "Kannukku Mai Azhagu - Puthiya Mugam" on #Smule: http://www.smule.com/p/496113969_1357704988 #SingKaraoke

Have a good day!!!☺

Ram comes from the south

Hindi is spoken by majority of people in India, it is our national language, says one. Oh! don't be a fool, there is no national language in India and we have many official languages. You don't have any rights to force me to learn Hindi, says another. Amidst all the hot debates, I will share a funny anecdote here, very much from my own experience. 

I hail from Coimbatore, a city in Tamil Nadu. The story I am about to share happened in 2006. Until then, the farthest I had travelled north was Hyderabad. I got selected for PhD in Taiwan and the first thing I had to do was to get my visa from the embassy, located in Delhi (Now, they have one in Chennai). I can't speak a word in Hindi (albeit passing Rashtrabasha, a level 3 exam conducted by Hindi prachar sabha, an organization to spread Hindi learning). But, I had a cousin living in Delhi then and so I was a bit relaxed. 

After a 44 hour train journey through parts of the country I had never been to, I reached Delhi. My cousin picked me up from the train station and I stayed with his family throughout the trip. Before going to the embassy for visa, I had to get my degree certificates authenticated by the human resources department (HR) and then by the ministry of external affairs (MEA). My cousin took me to the HRD first and the process was pretty quick. Next, we went to the MEA, where we were welcomed by a long queue. They picked up my certificates first and asked me to wait. It took more than 3 hours and we were still waiting. 

I was worried if I can still get the task done. Since my cousin had his education in the north and was living in Delhi for a while, he is fluent in Hindi. He went to talk to one of the security guards, who after some discussion allowed me alone to go in and talk to the officer in-charge. I went in to find a large room filled with heaps of certificates over a large table and a guy sitting there and signing documents like a robot. Quite nervous about getting my certificates signed (and without any damage or loss from that big pile), I said in a feeble voice, "Excuse me sir".

He raised his head slowly and said "Jai Sriram" (Loosely translates to praise the lord). Not knowing that people in the north use this to greet each other and probably not hearing the Jai clearly, I quickly replied "Yes, I am Sriram" (thinking in my mind, how this guy knows my name). 

He gave me a perplexed look before continuing the conversation and giving the signed documents back. I am sure, he might not have even imagined (lord) Sriram as a South Indian ;) 

My story as a newbie in Sweden

It's been a while I posted something in my blog, here comes a short one, actually a link to my story (in Q&A format) published in thenewbieguide.se, a website aimed to help new comers in this beautiful country.

My story as a newbie in Sweden

Have a good day!!!

My memories from Suburban high school days

Group picture from 10th standard (1999). I am in the second row from top (7th from left).  

Educational institutions are increasing in number every year and only the best survive over decades. Not many are a century old and I am indeed proud that all the educational institutions I was and am affiliated to are nearly 100 years or older. Suburban Higher Secondary School (Located in Coimbatore, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India), where I did my junior and senior high school education is about to hold an alumni meet and celebrate 100 years of Suburban Higher Secondary School this week and I feel it is the apt time to register my memories from my school days here. 

I had no tough time until my 5th grade, thanks to a small school near my home. I had to move to a new school after that and got admission in a private matriculation school in the city (Avoiding mentioning the school's name here, as what I am registering here is from my experience and personal views and I have no intention to provide a negative view about the school). The first year was tough, for I studied until then in a school with very few students and the teachers could provide all their attention when I needed. This new school had around 40 students in my class and I felt rather difficult to fit in. It is indeed normal to feel that way, but things indeed got worse towards the second year. The school had very strict rules and regulations and tough punishments when I scored less in exams or failed to complete assignments on time. I felt lost in a way and couldn't get the support and attention from teachers, as I did in my primary school. I started scoring less and eventually lost interest in going to school and pretty much continued the routine mechanically. 

I somehow managed to pass the school year and was stubborn to change to a new school. My parents felt the same I believe and decided to put me in Suburban Higher Secondary School. My dad was working in the Suburban primary school then, but still it wasn't an easy task to get a seat for me. Although I passed the 6th grade, my scores were very low (failed in few subjects in mid-term, quarterly and half-yearly exams) during that academic year. But, thanks to Mr. Prithvi, the correspondent of Suburban school and Mr. Ramachandran, Head Master of the school at that time, I joined in the 7th grade. I still remember the words from the head master, "You are now given admission because of your dad and the recommendation from the correspondent and I would like to see you work hard and prove yourself". 

Suburban school indeed had more students in each class compared to the previous school I studied (between 70 to even 90 sometimes), but there was one thing different here. FREEDOM. I wasn't constantly pushed or punished and that suit my personality. I don't mean that the teachers didn't give us assignments or didn't care what we do, but the atmosphere was more relaxed. I was able to participate in Science exhibitions and take part in boy scouts and National Cadet Corps, join drawing competitions etc. Fast forward a bit, I finished my 10th grade board exams, the first barrier to cross if one needs to study further. I scored a decent 87% and was able to prove that I am capable to do well in studies. The head master was very happy for me and ordered (in a friendly manner) that I should now pay the returns by continuing my senior high in the same school. I happily continued and scored 85% in my 12th grade. I went ahead to do a bachelor degree in Applied Science and a Masters in Materials Science in PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore (Also an institution from my home town) and did a PhD in Nanoscience and Technology in Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. I then worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in the same institution and currently working as a visiting research fellow in Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. 

Although my education in PSG College paved way for my interest in higher education, I will say that the initial seed of inspiration was already sowed during my high school days, thanks to the nice teachers I had. There is a wrong notion among many (in Tamil Nadu) that education standard in government run schools are poor whereas private institutions offer good education. I don't want to write anything here further on that subject, but I strongly believe that many government run institutions have great teachers with experience and provide us the best environment for studies. More initiatives from the governments to improve the quality and infrastructure of government educational institutions and belief from people on the system will do more good.  

Students come and go, teachers retire at some point, but the institution stays for a very long time. I haven't had a chance to go back to the school after I left. Many teachers who taught classes to me might have retired (heard through my dad that Mrs. Chitra who took Maths in 11th and 12th is now the head master of the school), but when I come to India next time, I will try to visit the school. 

I have just started my research career and still have a long way to go, but I will strive hard to achieve greater heights. If I can inspire and motivate a student to aim high and do well in their studies, I will feel happy that I have accomplished something. 

Have a good day!!!

My recordings

I have tried to record some songs with my android phone (voice recorder). I have tried to sing along with karaoke available from youtube and recorded music and my voice together, did some simple post-processing like noise reduction to make the quality better. The recording quality is not bad I guess (although I won't assure you the same with my singing ability), but its just a lot of fun to sing along with the tunes.

Here are the songs:

1. Vinmeen vidhayil from tamil movie Thegidi

     



2. Hey there delilah from Plain white T's

   



3. Nee ninaindhaal - Devotional (No BGM)

    





4. Taare zameen par title song (No BGM)

    
Hope you like it. Drop any comments/suggestions :)

 

என் கவிதைகள் - 1 (My poems - 1)

முகநூலில் நண்பர் பதித்த இப்புகைப்படதைப் பார்த்தவுடன் புதிதாக அமைக்கப்பட்ட இரும்பேணிகள் அச்சூழலுடன் ஒவ்வாமல் இருப்பதாகப் பட்டது. அதை நினைத்தவாறு எனக்குத் தோன்றிய வரிகளை எழுதினேன். இதோ இங்கே:



பலநூறு ஆண்டு முன்னர் ராசராசன் கட்டிவைத்த
அழகான கோவிலொன்று அழியாமல் நிற்கக் கண்டேன்.
 
வானுயர்ந்த கோபுரமும் நுட்பமான சிற்பங்களும்
காணப்பெற்ற களிப்பினிலே வாய்பிளந்து வியந்து நின்றேன்.
 
பால் வெள்ளைத் தாளொன்றில் கரும்புள்ளி இட்டதுபோல்
அமைந்திருந்த மாற்றங்கள் கண்டுமனம் வெதும்பி நின்றேன்.
 
ராசராசன் இருந்திருந்தால் கண்ணீர்விட் டழுதிருப்பான்
அறிவற்றோர் செயல்கண்டு கற்சிலைபோல் நின்றிருப்பான்.



 (இடம்: தாராசுரம் ஐராவதேஸ்வரர் கோவில், தஞ்சாவூர்; புகைப்படத்தை எடுத்தவர்: குழந்தைஆனந்த் கணேசன் )

Backup your data

One "not so fine" morning, my external hard drive decided not to function anymore. I tried few times to only see some constant error messages popping up. It was a 1.5 terabyte hard disc that I use for official purposes. My data are so huge that I need those high capacity hard drives to store them.

Luckily, I had all the important files backed up in another disc and thus avoided a catastrophe. There are a few things I learned when I discussed with others about trying to retrieve the data from the failed hard disc.

1. Normally, all these hard drives are encrypted to ensure protection of saved data. In case of some failure, this makes the process of retrieving the data from the hard drive very difficult.

2. The companies that sell these hard drives normally don't offer the service to retrieve the data. When I contacted them through mail, after few messages back and forth, describing the details and the current condition of the hard drive, they only offered to replace the hard drive.

3. But, there are some other sources which can be contacted to retrieve the data from the corrupted hard disc. Once we send the hard disc to them, they will check its condition and will ask if you would like to open the disc and retrieve the data. In some cases, even this process may not be possible, which means the data can never be retrieved. As the process of opening the hard disc will be done in clean-room environments, and requires sophisticated procedures, the cost to do this will be very high. It depends on the amount of data that is inside the drive. It will easily cost around US$ 1000 or more to retrieve data of say 1 tera byte.

4. When they retrieve the data, it will not be as it was saved (in folders and sub-folders). So, if one had a lot of data in the hard drive, it may need a herculean effort to put them back in order.

So, backing up the data will save a lot of time and money, and of course avoid a lot of tension.

Some tips I learnt when backing up the data:

1. Have more than one back-up. Don't have all the back-ups left in the same place as some fire accident or any such issues will make all the data lost.

2. Good way is to have the data backed up in a computer and also another copy in a hard disc. In this way, the computer back up can be used to retrieve in case of the hard drive failure and the hard drive back up used if the computer hard disc fails or other accidents happen. The hard disc can be stored in a safe place and can be used when necessary.

3. Even more safer options are to have something like an apple time machine or some similar back-up devices installed in the work place. This will be very helpful to have the data backed up easily from time to time.

4. Back up the data frequently. This can be once a week or longer, depends on the user.

Even large capacity hard discs (~1 tera byte) cost around US$ 100. This is just 1/10th or even less price compared to the money one may need to spend to retrieve the data from a corrupted hard drive.

So go ahead and back-up your data immediately :) 

Save paper - Printing project reports on two sides

We all know that printing less will help save some paper, which means some trees are saved.If you are/were a student, you know how much paper it takes for a project report. General rule in most universities is that you only print one side of the paper. We may submit 3-6 copies of project reports depending on the number of committee members involved. If you use approximately 100 pages for your report, that makes around 300-600 pages. Think about all the reports printed by each student from your university. That really is a big number. If you are interested to do something to help save some trees, here is a chance.

 A petition addressing the vice-chancellor of Anna University, Tamil Nadu, India has been created. The idea is to ask him to enforce "double side printing" for student project reports. You may think, "why not just avoid printing totally?". But, the idea here is to move one step at a time. Lets first start using LESS PAPER and then proceed towards PAPER LESS.

 Already 600+ people have shown their support. We need more hands to save trees. Join us to bring this change. Here is the link for the petition in change.org.

  USE BOTH SIDES OF EVERY PIECE OF PAPER

If you are not a student of Anna university, but still like the idea, why not create a similar petition to ask your university/work place to enforce a similar rule? Go ahead and create a new petition with change.org (see title "Start a petition" on the same link).

Pictures From The Sky...

I was on my way from Taipei to Frankfurt. For the first time, I had a long flight during the day. I was afraid that it could be a boring and tiring flight, but in the end, it turned out to be pretty awesome. First of all, there were not many people in the flight (off season) and so I had all the 3 seats in the row for myself that I could even lie down and sleep. But the most amazing part was that the sky was pretty clear and I could get a wonderful view of some breathtaking scenery from my window. The route covered the desserts of Xinjiang, China, Plateau of Tibet, Tajikistan and Caspian sea.

I decided to take some pictures of some of them. These pictures here are nowhere close to the real stuff I saw through my eyes. Also that I am no professional and used a simple canon Ixus 75 pocket camera to take these pictures.

Its a HOAX!!! Please Don't Spread It...

This morning, when I opened my Facebook account, I found this message shared by some of my friends. The picture was really horrible and had the following message below it. "DO NOT LIKE IT. COMMENT. AND PLEASE SHARE IT OR JUST UPLOAD YOUR OWN...BUT SOMEHOW SPREAD IT IF YOU'RE EVEN 1% HUMANITY — ITS STILL NOT OVER YET... CHRISTIANS BURNT ALIVE BY JIHADS IN NIGERIA.."



There were a lot of heated discussions beneath and I was just curious to know when and how the incident took place. So I started browsing a little to know more information about it. In a short while, I came to know that the information spread along the shocking image is a complete HOAX. The image seem to be real but has no association with the Christian-Muslim problems in Nigeria. It is a tragic result of a tanker explosion that happened in Congo, another African nation.The real incident is here.

This is just one example of such hoax messages that keep spreading and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter make it even more easier to spread these information like wild fire.

One other such HOAX I came across recently is about the contact lenses melting in the eye of a guy who attended a barbecue party who finally lost his eye sight forever. Such information creates immediate attention and we think that it will help some of our friends and try to spread the information immediately. But, what we don't think is whether the piece of information we are trying to spread has any truth behind it. My intention is not to blame anyone who spreads these information as they do it out of good heart (or whatever possible reason it can be). But, what I want to convey here is that we should try to spend couple more minutes to see whether the information is from an authentic source and carries the right information.



Most HOAX messages come with one of the following ideas:
(1) Scientific details/medical science related issues that we are not completely aware of.
(2) Religious issues.
(3) Technology related issues.

Most of them try to create sympathy or use our unawareness and thus makes us spread the information. But, as an educated lot, it is better if we spread the right information and avoid passing these HOAX messages. If we are not sure about the message, it is better not to pass it on rather than passing a false information.

My dad - My Hero !!!

Today is Father's day. And in another 10 days, my dad is stepping into a new phase in his life, yes, he will be turning 60. So, I think there is no other apt time to write a few words about my hero here. I know that whatever words I write here won't do good to give a complete picture of him and our relationship, but I will try my best.

My dad, A primary school teacher with a very simple life,I remember my childhood days when he takes me and my sister to his school in his bicycle singing some songs from the 60's and 70's all the way. When I was in school, just like any kid, I always make trouble to wake up and get ready. He is a man with lot of patience, he will try to wake me up with lots of love and affection, with ma brush in hand, will get the hot water ready for my shower, have my uniforms ready and shoes polished.



I don't remember a single incident where he raised his voice against us when we do mistakes. All he does is to give us a piece of advice with the same soft tone. When I was young, I always hate keeping things in order (well, even now I do have that bad habit to some extent) and he always was there to get them back to order. If at all I have developed some good habits in life, all credits goes to him.

Though he was a school teacher, he never tried to interfere in things related to our education and gave us all freedom to choose what we wanted. Whatever he says will always just come as a suggestion and not an order, leaving the final decision to ourselves. He planted the habits of decision making and saving money from the very young age, which I think is very much helpful when I started managing my own life.

He always stands with us to fulfill our dreams and he sacrifices a lot for that. Even during tough times, he always tried to make sure we get what we need in terms of our education and other things. I know how much he struggled to get me my first motor-bike just because I loved to have one and also he didn't want me to suffer traveling the hard way to my college.When I decided not to take a job but to pursue with my higher education, again, he extended his support wholeheartedly.

I am not sure whether I am playing my part right, but, one day when I become a dad, I know what I should do. And if I am going to play that part right, all credits goes to my dad...My Hero!!!



I know that I can't be there close to him when he turns 60 but we are always connected.

My Advance Birthday Wishes to U... Luv U Dad... :))

Go Green... Go Cycling!!!

Last Sunday(March 20th), TOUR DE TAIWAN road bicycle racing event (20 international teams representing 15 countries covering 1137.65Kms around the island)started successfully. Along with that, HSBC also arranged a leisure 10Km leisure cycling excursion for amateur bikers. GREEN was the theme with bikers meandering along the wide and shady Ren'ai road towards Zhongshan north road lined with Chinese sweet-gum trees.

My legs were a bit stiff from a 25Km cycling on Friday and 10Km running on Saturday, but I was very interested to join this event that I pushed myself to wake up around 5AM so that I can reach the venue by 6:30AM. The event started around 6:45AM. Weather was really perfect with warm sunlight sprinkling down through seams in the thickets of leaves above.

I could see thousands of interested bikers participating in the event. It was really nice to see the whole area filled with nothing but bicycles.



Bikers of different age groups, from the very old to very young were seen all around.Even some cute little buddies joined the excursion to show their support for the GREEN movement.



Cycling is a wonderful exercise to keep ourselves fit and it also helps us to be eco-friendly. I am sure that everyone who participated in the event might have enjoyed it and also passed the message to others to go GREEN .




You might also be interested in:
Pedestrian power for a greener future.
"Thirukkural" about vegetarianism.
Five reasons to be vegetarian.

My Drawings...

When I went home for a short vacation this time, I could find one of my old drawing book. Huh, it was nice to see all those stuff and took me back down the memory lane. I thought that it will be better if I can digitize them so that they can be preserved for a longer time. These were done some 12-15 years ago and the drawing book already started loosing their texture. Well, some pictures which I thought are worth sharing in my blog.





When I was young, cartoons like Mickey mouse, Tom and Jerry etc were more popular and I think Mickey is one interesting but easy figure to draw. I remember sketching Mickey in different ways and colors. I like this one because it portrays a runner.



I think this one is from the fairy tale, "Puss in Boots". The gleeful face of the cat brings in some joy. I have used some oil paint and sketch pens in this drawing.






My favorite character, "CHARLIE CHAPLIN". May be looks a bit "EVIL" here, huh, didn't come out very well, but not bad I believe.



I have used some water color and sketch pens to do this one.



This one represent the traditional marriage ceremony in India. I found it in a wedding invitation and tried to replicate it. I used oil paint for this drawing. I remember drawing it again in a big canvas and it was decorating(???) our living room for some years.



Its a very simple pencil sketch. I like this one very much. Other than some mistakes, I has come out quite well.









I like the simplicity with pencil sketching. Just with few pencils in hand, we can bring in a lot of shades. I learnt a bit from my friend Narendran to use pencils and charcoals in different ways to draw.



Lord Ganesh. One other figure which I love drawing. Very much like Mickey, I have tried drawing him many times in many different ways. We can use his figure to draw very simple drawings to very complex ones that we can imagine. Also, brings in a lot of happiness. This one is a very simple outline sketch in pencil.

I had one other drawing book with few more interesting stuff. But, I could't find it. I should search for it when I go home next time. This is one hobby which I liked the most at some point of time in my life, but pretty much lost touch right now.

Pencil Sketching

Secret of success: Get the mind-set of an ant!

Sometimes the biggest lessons in life come from the smallest folks around us.


All of us tend to look up to big people for lessons on how to get better. We are keen to learn the secrets of their success. But we forget that sometimes the biggest lessons in life come from the smallest folks around us. Now that’s a good lesson to remember!

Take ants for instance. Would you believe those small creatures can teach us how to live a better life? Jim Rohn - the great motivational guru – developed what he called the ‘Ants Philosophy’.

He identified four key lessons from the behaviour of ants that can help us lead better lives. Jim Rohn is no more – but his messages continue to inspire. Here then, are the four lessons from Rohn’s ‘Ants Philosophy’.

1. Ants never quit. Have you noticed how ants always look for a way around an obstacle? Put your finger in an ant’s path and it will try and go around it, or over it. It will keep looking for a way out. It won’t just stand there and stare. It won’t give up and go back.
We should all learn to be like that. There will always be obstacles in our lives. The challenge is to keep trying, keep looking for alternative routes to get to our goals. Winston Churchill probably paraphrased the ant’s mindset when he offered this priceless advice: “Never give up. Never, never give up!”

2. Ants think winter all summer. Remember the old story of the ant and the grasshopper? One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.

“What!” cried the Ants in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?”

“I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the Grasshopper; “I was so busy making music that before I knew it, the summer was gone.”

Ants know that summer - the good times – won’t last forever. Winters will come. That’s a good lesson to remember. When the going is good, don’t be so arrogant as to believe that a crisis or a setback cannot happen to you. Be good to other people. Save for a rainy day. Look ahead. And remember, good times may not last, but good people do.

3. Ants think summer all winter. As they suffer through the unbearable cold of the winter, ants keep reminding themselves that it won’t last forever, and that summer will soon be here. And with the first rays of the summer sun, the ants come out – ready to work, ready to play. When we are down and seemingly out, when we go through what looks like a never-ending crisis, it’s good to remind ourselves that this too shall pass. Good times will come. It’s important to retain a positive attitude, an attitude that says things will get better. As the old saying goes, tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

4. Ants do all they possibly can. How much food does an ant gather in summer? All that it possibly can! Now that’s a great work ethic to have. Do all you can! One ant doesn’t worry about how much food another ant is collecting. It does not sit back and wonder why it should have to work so hard. Nor does it complain about the poor pay! Ants just do their bit. They gather all the food they can. Success and happiness are usually the result of giving 100% - doing all you possibly can. If you look around you, you’ll find that successful people are those who just do all they possibly can.

Follow the four simple steps of Jim Rohn’s ‘Ant Philosophy’ – and you’ll see the difference. Don’t quit. Look ahead. Stay positive. And do all you can.
And there’s just one more lesson to learn from ants. Did you know that an ant can carry objects up to 20 times their own weight? Maybe we are like that too. We can carry burdens on our shoulders and manage workloads that are far, far heavier than we’d imagine. Next time something’s bothering you and weighing you down, and you feel you just can’t carry on, don’t fret. Think of the little ant. And remember, you too can carry a lot more on your shoulders!


Note: I took this out from the internet, a very inspiring piece of writing. I did some small changes to it and added a couple of pics that fit the column. The original author of this piece of work is Prakash Iyer, MD, Kimberly-Clark and Executive Coach.

My Name Is.....

Many Indian names are long… long enough to compete with the Great Wall of China.

There is even a joke around in the internet.
On a flight James bond was sitting next to an Indian guy.

Indian Guy: "Hello, May I know your name please?"
James Bond: "My name is Bond" Continuing in his inimitable style,
"......James Bond."

Then Bond asks: "And you?"
Indian Guy: " My name is Rao...
Siva Rao...
Samba Siva Rao...
Venkata Samba Siva Rao...
Yarlagadda Venkata Samba Siva Rao...
Rajasekhara Yarlagadda Venkata Samba Siva Rao...
Sitaramanjaneyula Rajasekhara Yarlagadda Venkata Samba Siva Rao...
Vijayawada Sitaramanjaneyula Rajasekhara Yarlagadda Venkata Samba Siva
Rao..."
James Bond faints…



Well, my dad has a long name (Kalyanavenkatramanan) and he always have trouble signing his name in cheques, documents etc. Keeping this in mind, he gave me a short name, Sriram. “All izz well” till I decided to get my passport. Generally, I write my surname abbreviated as K.K. (Stands for Kesarimangalam Kalyanavenkatramanan, Kesarimangalam is my native place) and this holds good for any purpose inside India. But, when I went to get my passport, they asked me to write my name completely.

I had my first problem when I went to New Delhi to get my Visa to Taiwan. The Taiwan Embassy officials printed my name wrongly (They printed “Kesarimangalam Kalyanavenkatraman Sriram” instead of “Kesarimangalam Kalyanavenkatramanan Sriram” – Can you make out the difference???). Be it my mistake or fate, I missed to find the mistake, I even came back home traveling 44 hours from New Delhi and had to return back all the way again and finally got it corrected. This cost me 88 additional hours of train travel, some money and brought in a lot of tension.

Every time I book my air ticket, the ticket booking agents in Taiwan get confused on how to put my name in the ticket. Once, an agent abbreviated my surname in such a way that the person issuing the boarding passes refused to issue one saying that my name looks different in my passport. After some phone calls to the agent and some waiting, I could get my boarding pass.

When I traveled back to India this time for a short vacation, I was asked to fill the immigration form. The funny thing is that, in our country with many people having long names, the column under “name” had only 30 boxes and I was asked to fill my name with one space between every part of the name. How can 40 letters be filled in 30 boxes? I had to write the remaining letters in a small space under the boxes. It would be better if they print a single bigger box instead of separating the space into 30 smaller squares. In that way, one can write his/her name in smaller fonts that can fit into the given space.



I wonder how Mr. Vijayawada Sitaramanjaneyula Rajasekhara Yarlagadda Venkata Samba SivaRao will fill his name in this immigration form...

Taipei Marathon 2010

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”



It’s my second half-marathon and third international running event (The first one was Tainan marathon 2009, in which I ran a 10K) in these two years. If someone might have asked me two years ago whether I will run a half-marathon, I might have laughed out loud and passed it on as a joke. But, somehow, an activity that just started as a way out to shed few extra pounds grew up to this level.

Each of these three events is quite unique. The first one, a 10K in Tainan came out as a test to see whether I can push myself to do something which I never tried before. It also helped me to boost my confidence and interest in keeping myself fit. It took me 1 hour and 6 minutes to finish the 10.4 Kilometers.

My next step was to increase the distance slowly while maintaining an average pace of 6minute/K. At the end of the year 2009, I signed up for the Taipei half- marathon (21.097 K). I did quite well and could finish the race distance in 2 hours and 3 minutes. I suffered a bit in the last 5K but felt very much satisfied that I could complete the race well within the cut-off time to get the finisher’s medal.



This year, I couldn’t participate in the Tainan marathon. I did run once a week (atleast most of the time) in a nice cycling path nearby my home where there is no hindrance. It’s really a very nice place to work out and also to relax. It’s also good that this route has distance markers every 0.5K so that I can keep track of the distance and time.

I signed up for the Taipei marathon again this year. The race day was on 19th of December. I woke up around 4:30 AM to get ready and had some breakfast to fuel up. I went to the race venue around 5:45 AM. Weather was around 15 degrees, much higher than last year (It was like 9 degrees last time). There were thousands of runners from 17 to 70+ getting ready for the challenge.



The race started exactly by 7 AM. Since I have run the same route last year, I pretty much know how it will be. The first kilometer mark came very fast and I was just running at a slower pace to warm up. There was not much difficulty till the 5K mark. It was less than 30 minutes when I reached the 5K mark, at a comfortable pace of ~6minute/K. But, somewhere around 6K, I felt some discomfort in my abdomen. I haven’t had this kind of problem during my practice runs. I tried to slow down a bit to see whether I can ease the pain. I couldn’t get rid of it and when I tried to run fast, it became worse.

The pain was not very severe but I had to move slowly to avoid it from becoming worse. I somehow reached the 10K mark and it was like 1 hour and 05 minutes (Last year, I was really doing well in the first half reaching my 10K in around 50 minutes). There was still 11K to go and I felt that I was getting drained both physically and mentally. At the 13K mark, I even thought that I can stop running and go back home. But, I also thought that even if I can’t run like last year, I should try to complete the race atleast.

I tried to focus and thought that there is only 7 more kilometers to run to finish the race. Also, the weather was not so good. Just by 8AM, the sun was on the head and scorching, humidity being an additional factor to aid dehydration. I had some water and sport drink to help me stay hydrated. But, around 17K, I started getting some cramps in my calf muscles. By then, the abdominal cramp eased out a bit. I saw the time and it was above 2 hours. I finally reached the “finish point” in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

I felt a bit upset that I couldn’t do better than last year. I wanted to finish before 2 hours but with the abdominal cramp, it was hard to push myself faster. On the other hand, I was quite happy that I could still complete the race even with all the difficulties.I still could get the completion medal this year as my finishing time was well within the cut-off time. I remember the quote,

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

I think that the abdominal cramp and dehydration were due to some wrong food choices the previous night and before the race because even the week before the race, I could run really well without any difficulty. There are more races to come next year. I will surely try again and I am sure I can do better.







"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."
- Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ