The First Marathon @ TATA Mumbai Marathon 2025

What it takes to run a marathon?

First and foremost your family support. You just don’t run a marathon you prepare for it and the preparation runs in for months and for that preparation period you need support from your family so you can run/workout for 10-12 hours every week . Thankfully I had my parents with me whose presence at home insured I could run and go to gym without worrying about kids.

Secondly. During those preparation you need friends who are more committed then you are, who would push you to go extra mile and wait for you at the finishing line week after week. I had Vikas and Arvind with me both of them always ready for a long run at time what is called as 5 AM club.

Then comes training your body to take the beating for close to 5 hours on the road without rest. For this I have to thank Naveen who showed me the importance of strength training and Gaurav who pushed me during the gym workouts. There suggestions went a long way in ensuring that I didn’t have bad after effect of a long run.

Last comes the support from your fellow participants and the crowd cheering you in. At 30km when you think you had had enough at that time looking at the people around you who are also going through same struggles and still continuing. And the crowd is on the streets leaving behind comfort of their home on a hot and humid sunday morning cheering every runner supplying essential requirement of fruits, salt, biscuits , water and what not.

All these things come together to make a feeling of “HAPPY RUNNING ”

P.S. To have a playlist is very important it brings much needed comfort and certain rush to compete.

Meghnad The Original Anti Hero

राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे
सहस्त्रनाम ततुलं राम नाम वरानने।

It's Dusshera time again, again it's time to rejoice victory of Good or Evil. It's time to burn effigies again. And for me it's time to have a relook at the whole scene.

Let's burn Ravan he deserved it, he was the evil personified. Let's burn Kumbhkaran also he was a glutton and did no good to his existence and deserved this fate. Buy why Meghnad?

Meghnad (मेघनाद), the name means 'The Lord of Skies'. He was one character from the epic who came close to that of Purushottam Lord Ram in every sense.

In the age when polygamy was a normal practice he had only one wife much more before Rama took the oath of monogamy and made it famous. For his father's wish to see him as an invincible warrior, just after his marriage he left his wife and went for penance and that too for twelve years isn't it similar to what Rama went on to do.

He was warrior without match, in his one to one battle with Ram and Lakshman he came out victorious twice and has conqured the mighty Hanuman also. Not only this he single handedly finished half of Sugriv's vanarsena in a single day of battle.

Another name for Meghnad was Indrajeet which literally means conquerer of Indira the king of devalok. But if you ponder over the word from view of Shrimadbhagavat Geeta it also means conquerer of senses. After all he didn't slept of 12 years and continued his tapasya.

Even after all these qualities we choose to vilify this character who was better then most. And I wouldn't have any problem with that also except for our double standards in creating heros.

There is one more mythological character from a different epic and a different era and we all love him despite the fact that he sided with adharm. I am referring to  Karna. His character was so glorified in Mahabharata that if you will search present day literature after Krishna, Karna is the hero of most books even surpassing the original hero Arjun.

Further if you compare qualities of Meghnad and Karna they are same so much same as 'cut copy edit and paste'. Both of them can't be conquered if they had weapons in hand. Both of them were of very high pride and dignity. Both of them choose to fight till death despite knowing they can't win. But still kept on fighting because they knew in ideal battle conditions they can't be defeated either. And we all know how both met there end simple cold blooded  (or as we say prabhu ki leela).

Now here comes our double standards to fore. The only reason Karn is glorified is because he was elder brother of Conquerers. As Meghnad has no blood relation with Ram so no matter how close there characters and personalities are we will keep on vilify Meghnad. And we talk about removing nepotism.

Ram came to vanvas because his father said so, He obeyed his father despite knowing King Dasrath was not doing the right thing. Meghnad fought the war for his father, knowing his father was wrong still he stood by his command.

Meghnad is the one who comes closest to following Rama in Ramayana. So by burning his efigy we are sending a signal O Lord Rama we will prostrate in front of you, we will shout Jai Shri Ram, but we don't have time to sit and think what Ram was all about and what was Ram's vision we don't want to know.

The Joker n The Two Face

I am the joker she is the two face

In creating havoc and leaving people disturbed we are same

The things which we love or hate are same

But it is his conspiracy that we would never be mate.

We got our styles mine the weird smile

She got a twinkle in her eyes

I believe I can change the world to be like me

For her nothing is right or wrong flip of coin is only key.

We both are prodigy by accidents

No one knows what caused those incidents

The difference from our famous namesake is thus

Its me who leaves nothing to chance and make his own luck

And she plans to perfection and shows her hard work

I love to announce my plans and damages are shown

She proceeds quietly and only end results are known

We are person of our words

Thus it is better to not cross our roads.

We are going on and on for time immemorial

without reaching at our destination

I am the Joker She is the Two Face we keep on going

As giving up is not an option.