Year 2011 - Fun Continues

The fun and travel legacy carried forward from 2010 has been taken care of well by 2011, and is being forwarded to its successor in a much better shape.

As usual, the year started with a fantastic run at Mumbai Marathon, where I could clock my personal best. And, the year ended with 3 more Marathons in 3 Months in 3 different Continents (Berlin/Europe, Niagara Falls/North America, Singapore/Asia). Though I couldn't improve much in terms of pace, I could sustain higher frequency.

As far as travel is concerned, this year is the best so far. Spent a month in California and planned every weekend in advance and executed the plan perfectly. Drove 5000 KM in 4 weekends, which include drives to Yosemite, Tahoe/Reno, Pacific Coast and Las Vegas. Visit to the Grand Canyons during the Las Vegas visit left me wanting, and Grand Canyons got added to the to-do list. Late in the year, traveled to Germany for Berlin Marathon. After the run, spent a week visiting Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels. Just a couple of weeks after that, work took me to Canada and I spent a month there. I could manage to do a very long drive to New York, besides the Marathon at Niagara Falls, during that month. Another coupe of weeks later, spent a few days in Singapore. Last quarter of the year has been hectic with lots of travel and runs.

This year has been better with Bike too. No, not cycle, its about the Bullet. Riding started with a trip to Pondicherry in February and ended only on 31st December with a 5 day long ride to west coast covering Gokarna, Murudeshwar and Jog Falls. With a great gang of friends, did a couple of memorable rides to Coorg and Chikmagalur. Besides those, did a solo ride to Ooty with just Bullet and Kindle.

Cycling took a hit this year with absolutely no cycling outside cycle-to-work, which will also be ending right from the first day of 2012, as I am shifting to a house which is around 200 meters away from office, and I will be doing walk-to-work. But, that gives me a lot of time and I can renew my pleasure rides. BTW, I just finished 4 years of cycle-to-work and people at work refer to me as Cycle-Srini :)


Lastly, about work... I am at a kind of cross roads in my career. Nothing significant happened by the end of this year and am looking forward to next year for something interesting. Nevertheless, I achieved something. When they had a chance to say something about me, my team said, "Whatever the quirks, we all love our Cycle-Srini". And, that indeed is significant.

My Epitaph - by My-Team@Work

Epitaph. I am no Yeats to compose a beautiful epitaph to be engraved on my own tomb stone. But, despite being a fan of Richard Feynman and one of his many amazing books, What Do You Care, What Others Think?, I would definitely be curious to know what would people around me write on my epitaph, given a chance.

Yes, that's a bit too philosophical and far fetched. The context here is much lighter. My team had a chance to write something about me in the last month's news letter at work, and this is what they wrote:


For people in Bangalore office, Srinivas don't need any kind of introduction. For those across the oceans, Srinivas is the star of the XYZ team. He is as cool as a cucumber and never gets agitated (non-sober modes - see K for Kabini and S for Serai - are excluded here :) ). He is always very passionate about anything he does - be it book reading or doing tech talk or bug fixing or running marathons or going on long road trips. Some people believe that his skills as image consultant or PR person is very under utilized! Introduction on Srinivas won't be complete if there was no mention of his strong atheist belief and his hatred for God Men (or God). He also presents this dual personality wherein he is fully vegetarian within India and stays away from vegetables when he is abroad. He could be afraid of our 'holy cows' or maybe it is the synthetic vegetables in the West that scares him to eat non-veg. Whatever the quirks, we all love our "Cycle Sini" :)

Kabini & Serai were two places, where our office took us for over-night outings in the last one year. Naturally, there was a big opportunity to commit some chemical sins and a chance to put up some show after that.

I always struggle to fill 'about me' that shows up in social networking or blogging accounts. It was nice to get it written by others. Thanks team, particularly for the last few words. :)

My Recent Marathons: Berlin & Niagara Falls

Berlin Marathon

I registered for Berlin Marathon-2011 in Nov 2010, around 10 months in advance, but, still missed the early bird discount. That explains the popularity of the event. Berlin is one of the BIG-5 Marathons, the other 4 being, London, Boston, Chicago and New York, in no particular order. Boston stands out as the Marathon with the toughest entry criteria (one needs to have finished a recognized Marathon under 3 hr 30 min to be considered for Boston). If I ever become eligible for Boston, and if I ever have grand children, they and even their grand children can brag about that :)

Having run Athens and San Francisco last year, I was eager to see what makes a run so popular and keeps it apart from others. Though, I read news articles about last year run in Berlin claiming that there were 1 million spectators and innumerable bands to cheer the runners, it was hard to imagine. But, once the run started, it was quickly evident, why it is so popular. There were 40000 runners. Still, no scaling issues. The arrangements were just perfect. There was not even a 100 meter stretch that I can recall now, which doesn't have crowd to cheer or which doesn't have live-music. Slow runners like me also received the same warm reception as the winners would have received, which is, of course, typical to most distance runs.

Niagara Falls Marathon

Just 2 weeks after finishing Berlin, I got to know that I would be in Waterloo, Canada for a week (which later got extended to a month) on a business trip. As usual, I just searched for Marathons near-by. Luckily, it was the season for Marathons and there were two, on consecutive weekends, which are just 100 KM away from the place that I was going to visit. One in Toronto and another in Niagara. A quick search revealed the uniqueness of Niagara, as the only Marathon in the world that starts in one country(US) and ends in another(Canada). And, I happened to have Visas for both the countries, and the registration for the run was still open. I got the tickets booked to accommodate the Niagara one, and registered for it.

The run was not popular outside the US and Canada. As these are friendly nations with each other, apparently, their citizens in border areas routinely drive across the border. I am one of the very few registered runners who needs a Visa and an I-94 (Arrival/Departure record maintained by the US) to enter into the US. So, before even giving me my running number, organizers needed an I-94. Again luckily, I had a car, and I just drove into the US and got the document and drove back into Canada, in time to collect the running number. All this took less than 45 minutes. Impressive.

On the big day, we were asked to report 3 hours before the start of the run (to keep some time for document verification while crossing the border), and were transported to the start line in buses, which is in Buffalo, New York. The run started at 10 AM. Albright-Knox Art Gallery allowed us to wait inside and keep ourselves warm till the start of the run. Temperature was in single digits through out, but, it was at least sunny. So, I could venture out in my regular shorts and tees. First 7-8 KM of the course was in the US. We entered Canada through Peace Bridge. In the middle of the bridge, a small line with flags of the US and Canada on either side depicts international border. After entering Canada, till we reached Niagara Falls, the course was right next to a river (the same water that reaches the falls). Unlike Berlin, there were absolutely no crowds or music to cheer. But, the organizers made sure that there was a support station with water and electrolytes at every KM with out fail, till the last runner(I swear!, it's not me :) ) was out of the course.

The finish line was right next to the falls. As the number of runners was very less (less than 2000, I guess), they were reading out the details of each runner touching the finish line. While I approached the finish, I could hear "Mr.Guntupalli from Bangalore, India. Wow! India !". I could see only one more Indian among the runners (who appeared to be a seasoned runner and an NRI). So, India must have been announced only for me. Not sure, whether I did any good (Indians also participated in Niagara Falls Marathon) or bad (Indians run so slow !, as there was a big clock showing my finish time :) ).

Book Review: The Secret of the Nagas

The Secret of the Nagas
--- Amish Tripathi

I rarely look forward to sequels, be it films or books. But, The Secret of the Nagas (Book TWO of the Shiva Trilogy) is an exception. When I reluctantly picked up The Immortals of Meluha (Book ONE) from a colleague, little did I know that I was about to discover a brilliant story teller in Amish Tripathi. It is not an exaggeration to say that I forgot many times whether I was reading a book or watching a movie. An ardent fan of Indian Mythology in me (of course, when it is limited to admiring the masterminds behind such never ending, well intertwined stories) might also be one reason behind this appreciation. I hardly read 2-3 books per month and am not of the sort who finishes books in a couple of sittings (definitely not after buying this smart-phone, which pricks me to pick it up and check those all-important Facebook/Google+ updates, every few minutes). This book is an exception there too.

My only complaint about the Book ONE was, that's not very eventful, as the author had to spend a good part of the book in setting up the stage, that is India in 1900 BC with Suryavamshis (the conservatives following Lord Ram's principles in letter and spirit) and Chandravamshis (liberals) ruling the northern part of India, and south of the Vindhyas left to Nagas, the cursed and dreaded ones, each of them with their own value systems, life styles, apprehensions and perspectives about others. The only thing that is common among them is the belief in the legend of Neelkanth, the savior. Now, as the stage is set, Book TWO gave a perfect platform for the performance.

Hero of the story, The Lord Neelkanth, discovers at the end of the first episode, how wrong could one's perspectives get, when one doesn't attempt to get into the shoes of the other party. But, that knowledge comes with a cost, a full fledged war between two kingdoms. Neelkanth continues his exploration of India and search for finding the ultimate evil, that he believes is the root cause of all the disturbance. Neelkanth gets wiser and wiser during this exploration, as every new discovery blows away his prejudice. Every step he takes to get a closer look at the evil only reveals that it is the prejudice that made him see that as evil. And, he goes on and on to find the ultimate one.

Author introduced a few more characters in this part, all from Indian Mythology, while keeping their original nature from Mythology and tweaking them here and there to fit in his grand story. There are enough twists and turns and suspense of a typical thriller, unlike the first book. It is good to notice that the author delivered a better book in second part, though he must be under pressure, after the success of the first book. I am eagerly waiting for Book III: The Oath of the Vayuputras.

Why I Support Jan-Lokpal, despite the criticizm

There are discussions everywhere about the anti-corruption movement. Media, office, water-coolers, coffee-shops, mailing lists, blogs, social networks etc., There is a good sized crowd (mostly educated) that is against the movement. I tried to collect some of the questions that I faced when I said that I was a supporter. I will try to answer them here.

Bills are made in parliament through debate, not by arm-twisting and blackmailing.

What is this civil society ? Who appointed them as representatives ? Is there a place for them in democracy ? In a democratic setup parliament is supreme when it comes to making laws, and there is constitution to guide. How can someone draft a law and try to arm-twist the Govt. to pass it in parliament with a suicide threat ?

Apparently, there are several examples of civil society participating in drafting and making laws. N.Ram of Hindu sites 'labor laws' and 'laws related to dowry and women's rights' as examples, where unelected members participated. So, there is nothing new here. Moreover, Govt. itself invited them for participation after the initial protest, and when acceptance of the recommendations of civil society seemed suicidal, they started playing undemocratic, anti-parliamentary cards. No one is questioning the supremacy of parliament. What is being asked is inclusion of certain things in the bill, that would be placed for discussion. If it doesn't get through the houses, or if a group of parliamentarians turn against it, that would be a different issue.

Supporters don't know what all these pals are about. So, the whole movement is stupid.

All these mindless supporters don't know a thing about lokpal or jan-lokpal. They themselves are corrupt. Many of them would have paid bribe at some point of time. Giving bribes is equally wrong, if not more. So, they don't have any moral right to shout in public after paying bribes for years and getting things done for them.

Knowledge of supporters: Is that an issue at all for one to either support or not support a movement ? Does that mean one either supports or doesn't support a movement, based on the clarity of a subset of the current supporters (even if the subset is, say 90%) ? All the information needed to make a decision one-way or the other is out there. There are enough number of forums to post any query and there are enough number of people to interact directly to get any kind of clarification needed. Second question is about supporters being corrupt (by paying bribes). Why a person, who paid bribe, is automatically disqualified to fight against corruption ? Doesn't paying bribe sound like getting victimized !!! For example, if one doesn't pay bribe, one may not get a certain license. And, without that license, one's life would be different. There are no clean and simple systems to fight against that, and still get license without loosing lot of time,money and life in some cases. So, one paid. Now, how does that disqualify one to fight against corruption ? Some would argue, If there are no givers, there wouldn't be any takers. But, if one starts this at individual level, one can't lead a normal life. Hence, the support for such mass a movement.

Dangerous trend. Remember Ramdev episode ?

This is not a good trend. Even if Hazare is a saint, what if someone misuses it ? Ramdev had already tried it with a ridiculous set of demands and there was a huge crowd there as well.

Democratic protests didn't start with Anna and neither would stop with Anna. If the demands are ridiculous, protesters will not get enough support. I did fast along with Anna a few months back. I was against Ramdev. Ramdev's list was not practical, though sounded good. There was no clarity on why he was doing. One can't do fast-unto-death with a demand: 'I want Rama Rajya'. But, Anna's fight is for a law drafted by well known people whose lives are up there for public scrutiny. So, there was no trend. Even if something comes up, that will die a peaceful death, as happened in Ramdev's case.

There are more important issues. Why waste all energy on corruption which can't be eradicated ?

Supporters are not really serious about society and its ailments. While there are so many serious evils in the society, how come corruption has suddenly become such a big problem ?

Corruption has been a problem all the time. There is no specific order among evils. All are evils. But, there is a movement now. There is a solution proposed, which has been scrutinized by many. The next step is to fight for its acceptance. So, why not fight for it ? There is a bill to work against corruption in front of the parliament for the last 40 years, which is not even being discussed, despite several scams in the last couple of years with astronomical figures. So, why not now ?

The sought after bill is not great and doesn't eradicate corruption

What is the guarantee that this bill will eradicate corruption ? We already have so many laws. Do we really need one more ? Will a stronger law really work wonders ?

Jan-lokpal is not a panacea against corruption. As it was mentioned time and again by the group that drafted the bill, it will not eradicate corruption. And, no one has any illusions about it. But, it will bring a strong law with which several corrupt would get caught, and that works as a deterrent for many. The current laws are not enough. That's why the lokpal bill in the first place (40+ years back, but never made it to a law).

Govt. is actually doing a good job. See all those big shots in Tihar. Has it ever happened ?

Why fight against the Govt. that is already taking serious measures ? A bunch of big shots are in jail. Has it ever happened in the history of independent India ?

Yes. That's really encouraging. But, how did those arrests happen ? Did Govt. do anything on its own ? Senior ministers gave clean chit to their colleagues. Even after those scams were open to public scrutiny, those big-shots were stuck to their posts for some years.

That's enough for me to get convinced and support the movement.

Book Review: Outliers

--- Malcolm Gladwell

In author's words, Outliers is The Story of Success. The story of what typically makes outliers outliers. The story of what makes a person, a society, an organization, a genre of people more successful than others. Rather, it is to emphasize the point that IQ and talent, though necessary (but not sufficient), may not always create outliers, historically. It brings out very interesting patterns from and analysis of otherwise innocuous methods and processes, which typically we take for granted as fair.

The book comprises of success stories from a bunch of independent areas researched by the author (and of course, references from works of several others), with a common theme i.e, to understand outliers.

Is there any relation between one's birth month and one's chances of making it to the national soccer team in a South American country (where people believe that national soccer team comes out of pure meritocracy) ? Yes, there is. No, it is not the work of stars. It is us. The answer is simple. The same dilemma many parents would have faced, while sending their kids to school. This year or next year ! A few months early for this year. But, a few months late for next year (After all, one doesn't plan the month of birth of one's kids, in accordance with the admission criteria of local schools). The decision made at that point may be making or marring a kid's chances to be an outlier right from there, as he would be competing with a bunch of kids either younger to or older to him (mind you, the advantage for an older kid at that age could be 25-30 %, due to the probable one year age difference among kids at that age, and the outlier there will get the best training in class and never need to look back). The author has all the statistics to put forward this theory.

Ten thousand hour rule. What is the difference among a world famous guitarist, a popular guitarist in a live music band in your favorite down-town restaurant and a guitar instructor of a school in the next block. Ten Thousand Hour rule answers several similar questions. This rule states that after a certain point, more than inherent talent, what makes a true outlier is practice. Not just some practice, but Ten Thousand Hours of practice. Author has statistics and proofs from fields as diverse as music (Mozart), software programming (Bill Joy) etc.,

Then comes one of the most hyped up things, particularly when one is still in school. IQ. Analytical Intelligence and Success. How are they related and how are they not related. The question whether IQ helps in success or not is, of course, a no-brainer. The question here is whether is that necessary or necessary and sufficient. Author discusses an elaborate study called Termites done by Lewis Terman which has several interesting things from the field of Analytical Intelligence Vs Practical Intelligence as take away.

Concerted Cultivation is another interesting theory that is discussed with examples from lives of a couple of personalities (accepted as outliers). It is generally accepted that opportunities are everywhere and one just has to look around and grab. Concerted Cultivation is about, what parents and their parenting style has to do with the emergence of outliers, and how it is not nature, but nurture, that results in outliers.

Finally, the book is not only about successes but failures as well. In this already flat world, we are getting more and more exposed to the role of cultural differences in getting things done at work. A sneak peak at how far these differences go, by doing analysis of why a particular airlines had very high number of crashes compared to any other airlines, reveals something called Power-Distance Index(PDI) and how is it different in western and eastern countries. Simply put, PDI is about hierarchical culture, where subordinates are very submissive to authority. How did it lead to more plane crashes in a particular country makes an interesting read. Apart from that, there is transmitter oriented and receiver oriented communication, again tied to countries and cultures, that too aids in making or breaking things. It seems, in some cultures the onus of communicating a point lies with the transmitter and in some, it lies with the receiver. If receiver has no clarity about the culture of transmitter (or vice-versa), the communication can never be as intended.

One important thing to note at the end is, this effort is not to undermine or downplay the impressive (unimpressive) role played by the discussed outliers at several stages of their life, by attributing their success (failure) to unfair practices (though hitherto unknown) or opportunities provided by their parents or some social and cultural differences. This is to expose the path that lead to these outliers, which may help many to act better when faced with similar or even not so similar situations.

Book Review: Many Lives Many Masters

Many Lives Many Masters
--- Brian L Weiss

Though it is ironical to drop "God is not great - How religion poisons everything --- Christopher Hitchens" to read this book, I couldn't sustain pressure from a couple of friends to check out this supposedly very convincing true story of a prominent psychiatrist's past life therapeutic experiences with one of his young patients.

If I have to describe this book in one line, it goes like this. It is about a person experiencing and recollecting most of the things (from several past lives) that Lord Krishna had tough time explaining to Arjuna just before that great Kurukshetra war, which forms The Bhagavatgita.

Catherine, a psychic patient, walks into the clinic of Dr. Brian, an Yale Medical School educated psychiatrist, allegedly a firm believer in intense scientific methods, and seeks his help in getting rid of her anxiety. And they both claim that what followed had changed their lives for ever. How ? Catherine recollects several of her last lives spread across 1000s of years and narrates them, as if doing live commentary of a cricket match, during her hypnotic sessions. Masters, who govern the world, used her as a medium to talk to the author and answer several important questions that humanity has been breaking its heads to get answers to, for several centuries.

Summary of the universe demystification attempt:

• There is something called soul, which never dies. It just moves from one body to another
• Your brain stocks all memories across lives, but, you may not be able to recollect all of them at a time of your choice
• You will end up reincarnating with a certain set of people close to you through some or other relation
• There are some masters who govern the world
• There are some planes which are hierarchical and one ascends/descends them as per one's learning and good/bad deeds in a life
• People, who met with near death experiences, have a lot to say about soul leaving the body, seeing some blinding flash of light, talking to some monks before deciding whether to leave the body or not, and somehow soul coming back to the body
  
• etc., etc.,

Sounds familiar ? Yes, the Hindu philosophy. No wonder this book is even referred at Hinduism.about.com. So, at the end, there is nothing new in the book. This psychiatrist just claims to have a living proof to theorize several hypothesis used by current day religions. I must say, a pretty bold claim.

But, he proved one thing. Humans are darn gullible. Nothing else can explain my friends' recommending me this book, and actually believing in everything that the author wrote.