Heartbreak

Yesterday, I was watching a program on TV about heartbreak and that got me thinking if I ever had one? I think most of the times, I may have had something like a heartbreak but I immediately moved away from it and saw the positives in my life. I really didn't analyse the negatives too deeply. Sometimes, I do feel that my life is a closed book even to myself and I need to say something to find that clarity or whatever that may be.

So, this is a view into what heartbreak is.

Heartbreak is....

- When you wholeheartedly support her higher study and she says that she actually went to study because she wanted to figure out if she wanted to live with you or not

- When you take your dad to her graduation because he is also family and she asks, "why did you bring him?"

- When you find out that someone else sends her red roses on her birthday

- When she tells you that she is doing office work and you leave her alone but she is Skype chatting with someone else about your life

- When you give up your ambitions for her success and she tells you that she doesn't want to live with you

- When you take time out to spend a one month holiday with her and attend her best friend's wedding; then she tells you that she doesn't want to live with you

- When she walks out of that door without even looking back and you come back to an empty house and feel shattered that you've failed

Obviously, this is only one side of the story. Whoever spoke loud and first is not right. For all you know, I could still be an ass.

The Pursuit of Happiness

What makes you happy? Money? Love? New Job? New shoes?

I tried asking that question to myself and I still don't have a definite answer. I mean this at a meta-level. 

At a more day to day level, I am reasonably content (still not sure if I can say happy) about certain things in life - like having a job, having a good day at work (although that doesn't happen more than once a week), an exhausting workout at the box and having access to food and water as a bare minimum for existence.

If I am happy or content at a micro level, can I extrapolate that to my life in general and say that its probably what defines my life and can I just get away with that? Or is it necessary to have larger buckets that you need to fill in and find your happiness there?

Is happiness influenced by knowing whether people around you are happy or not?

My parents are not exactly happy. Atleast that's how they put it. For them happiness is - me not being alone. You know, the usual rants. I need to have a partner, and then kid(s). That's what means happiness to them. But does it really stop there? I mean, then the kids have to grow up and they need to find their footing in this world. Its almost like a vicious circle! A circle into which you will get sucked into.

Is making sure that your lineage is established, a main purpose of your life? Okay let's not go into the purpose of one's life in a lot of detail as that would be like revisiting the whole Bhagavad Gita and discussing karma.

What I find more questionable and unacceptable is trying to put a framework around a person's life and this happens most often in societies from India. You need to get good education. Not just good education but good grades as well. Then you need a good job. At the right time and god only knows what that means - you need to find a partner and then make sure you have kids. Your parents are never happy until all this happens. Some stop there while the others actually go on until your children start their life cycle through the above mentioned route.

What I find hard to understand is why this framework is considered the foundation of happiness by a large faction of the country. Or is it just me? Has the society in general, moved on?

I've had enough trouble in my life that nowadays doing nothing seems to be the most ideal thing. Having no agenda is my agenda.

Nick

Nick Langmaid is my colleague from work at Australia Post. I worked with him last year for over 3 months in 2014. A pretty busy and challenging project - we managed to get it over the line. Of course, there were plenty others working on it. We were just doing our bit.

That was my first project with Post. Nick had been a long timer at Post. He was literally the knowledge bank of all things financial systems. Any questions people had about payments and accounting entries - he had the answer. He knew every system, literally off the back of his palm. While working with Nick, he made sure that I got a strong understanding of how it all connected together. During that time, we also got to discuss about our passion for staying healthy by cycling to work.

In late October 2014, I moved to another project, another office. A few months later, my previous project manager at Post met me in the office and mentioned to me that Nick had a minor heart attack and he was in surgery or something. A month before that another manager in our project had also gone on medical leave to have a bypass done. I was actually joking to my manager that it was because of the stress he created on our project that people were having heart trouble. I told myself that someday in the future, I should go and say hello to Nick and just check about his health. After all, we did work together.

I guess you know by now where this is going. Today, I received an email from my manager that Nick passed away on his way to work in the morning. I was completely shocked. I just blurted out so many abusive words at work that people around me were wondering what was happening. I couldn't take it. I was pissed off with myself that I never took time to go and meet him. At one side I was angry and on another, I was depressed. I was almost in tears and I couldn't speak. I told myself that you can never predict what could go wrong with the heart. I decided to go and meet my manager who gave me the news.

I reached the other office and met him. He and his colleagues were shocked too. In fact, it was all of us together in that one previous project. In that conversation, my manager mentioned to me that it was a cycling related accident and not a heart attack. I immediately realised that I had read about a similar event in the morning. A cyclist was  knocked down by a truck in a place called Keilor East. No name was provided but the cyclist did not live. Now, I was even more stressed. 

Honestly, I did not expect Nick to leave the world this way. I am at a loss of words but this is cruel. I told myself - Only if I had taken that extra effort to say hello and enquire about his health.... I didn't. 

Its such a mad world and in many instances, we are just doing things that have no meaning in our life. Be it work that provides us salary to pay our bills or the monotonous activities to keep our life going, we are caught up in that ever engulfing web that makes us forget and only repent.

Today, I repent that I didn't meet Nick. I just didn't take the time out of my life. I could have easily done it and I should have but I never did. What would stay with me now is my remembrance of a Sean Connery look that Nick had and a deep voice.

I am a victim of my crime called life.

2014

I happened to do some clean-up activities of my life and then realised that this blog post had been sitting around in Draft mode for a very long time. I have gone through it once more and at this point, I cannot add anything more. So pressing the publish button was the only way forward.

What an eventful year. That's how everyone would sum up their year I guess. I'd like to just go ahead and put out a few events that I clearly remember about 2014. 

1. I started 2014 at a very low note. My so-called partner decided to call it quits around Sep 2013 and she moved out Jan 2014. So literally a brand new life started this year. There was more freedom and peace of mind. I was definitely happy.

2. I had entered this country as a dependent and I knew that I'd get thrown out if things were going to go the way they were. I wanted to live here and I promised myself that I will get that residency application started. The process began and it went through March all the way till September when I finally got my PR.

3. That epic trip to the USA in March. I spent a lot of time with my sister's kids. My parents were also there. It was one month of bliss. I also managed to meet a few of my engineering batch mates. A memory that would last for decades.

4. My deep dive into Crossfit began this year. I weighed my lowest and I looked sick during the first 3 months of the year. I swore after my US trip that I would focus on adding muscle weight. I trained harder, lifted heavier and went to the box 5-6 days a week for 6 months. I added almost 8kgs. Most of it was muscle. I felt fantastic.

5. Eventually, I reached my Crossfit goal. Well, not completely. At the beginning of the year, my coach asked me to write my goal. At that point I sucked at pull-ups and I did thrusters using just the barbell. I wrote that I would like to not use a resistance band to do pull ups and I would like to get 42.5kg barbell thrusters. Its almost the end of the year. I can easily do 7-10 pull ups at one go, with no requirement for bands. I can thrust 42.5kgs but I am not strong enough to use that in a workout.

6. My job sucked big time. I desperately wanted a change but there were too many things happening in my life that I could not concentrate on my job change. My company had some cash flow issues and was desperately looking to make money through third party contracts. Then came a 6 month contract in June. This was the door to what would become a new career in this country. I am extremely thankful to my boss who decided to put me on this contract. At the end of the contract, I was qualified enough to wade my way through this painful recruitment consultant based market and find myself a brand new opportunity.

7. The only year since 2007 that went by without a lot of frisbee. I played with my club for their open nationals campaign during the first few months of the year. After that I took a break. Over the years, frisbee had contributed to the problems I had with my life. Or you could also say that I used frisbee to hide under those problems that I never wanted to face. Either ways, I wasn't too happy with the outcome. The break only did good to me.

Haram

How would it be if certain moments from your life were captured and shown to you in a movie? In a way, I feel a lot more connected with the screenplay and the characters. Alternatively, this also makes me think - are these moments so mainstream that people want to make films about?

In two words, Haram is a Malayalam movie about Irreconcilable Differences. Isha is slightly devastated, or maybe that's a strong word, let's say disturbed. From a previous relationship that didn't go well. She works with a BPO in Bangalore. There is Balu as well, in the same office - not the hot guy who every girl in the office wants to go home with, but a slightly traditional, chilled out, peace-loving, and no-frills guy. Isha comes across as a fun-loving and bubbly personality on the outside; but eventually a mysterious character who has many deep layers that cannot be dissected.

The story revolves around Isha and Balu and other characters that happen to be around them or connected to them in some way. They meet, Isha finds in Balu a good friend, date a bit and get married. They move from Bangalore to Kerala and then soon after, Isha decides to file for divorce. Balu is puzzled as her reasons are - irreconcilable differences.

Balu doesn't want to quit and he wants to reason, even live, but there seems to be no hope and no specific answer. Balu is me. Perhaps, Balu is just like many other men out there? I don't have too many questions in my life. I face life as it comes to me. I don't go out of my way to seek any answers. I like the way I am - simple, grounded, happy and sometimes lucky! And Isha is a person who at times does not know what she wants. She is opportunistic when she finds comfort in Balu. She is friendly and warm but she is also weird. I am not too bothered to make deeper reflections.

A number of deep thoughts keep running through the reels of this movie.

• Promises are like babies, easy to make but very painful to deliver
• If you are happy where you are, why would you try and bring another person into your life and complicate your life

Haram definitely didn't do well at the box office. The film doesn't come with an entertainment formula. It is a figment of my life. It is a celebration of life. Of a life that is real and not reel. Of a life that says to me - if you sense emotional baggage, then run away from it!

 

The best friend

In the 70s my dad worked for a British company (name not important). He was friends with another person who worked there. They had the same first name - Krishnan. Much later, I come to realise that this friend of my dad is also his best friend.

My dad used to go to Sabarimala every year. It ran in the family. Even now he tries to make a trip, time and health permitting. My grandfather led a group of almost 100 people to the hills in Kerala every year. From the time that I became aware of these trips, my dad and his best friend used to embark on a 2 week journey with a group of like-minded individuals. This was an every year ritual. I still remember going to those pre-journey rituals. It used to be a day long affair with Vedic chants and song recitals. Mr.Krishnan used to be the spiritual leader of the group. He always worked hard towards making sure that every trip was managed well.

Over the years of knowing each other and making so many journeys, they have become best friends. Our families also become very close. Of course, during that time, my interaction was quite limited.

As I grew up, I started understanding how amazing friends they were. My dad used to share everything with Mr.Krishnan - about family, sisters, brothers, personal problems, things about business etc. Pretty much everything under the sun I could say. He would be the go-to person for my dad - friend, philosopher, guide. Every time Mr.Krishnan called our house, he would enquire about me and my sister. They have been friends for more than 40 years I think. Mr.Krishnan is extremely spiritual and has a special aura surrounding him. Its perhaps his countless trips to Sabarimala that makes him glow like that. He has the blessings of god, an ever smiling person. He has been present for every family function of ours - big or small, doesn't matter. He is present. And all of my dad's brothers and sisters know him very well.

Mr.Krishnan is no more. It happened all of a sudden - no warnings whatsoever. I accidentally called my parents mid-week and my mom shivered on the phone while sharing the sad news. My dad was not around at home. I did not know what to say. Obviously, my dad was terribly shaken. His only friend with whom he spoke almost every week is not around any more. In that place, there is literally nothing now. I just cannot believe it. Its been a couple of days but I cannot come to terms with this. I don't know when I will.

That's when I realised that I don't have a best friend. I am almost 35 - yes literally half way or past half way. Only downhill from here and there is not a single person who knows everything about me or who wants to know everything about me. At one point, I thought I had a best friend but she sort of got married and things started drifting. No one is to blame but a large part of this problem is also me being such a closed book. I tend to bottle up things. And now, my life is just filled with a bunch of electronically active people who like and comment on what I choose to tell them. 

Mr.Krishnan's voice always echoes in my mind. His religious songs were my favourite. Even though he had so many problems in his life, he was always smiling. 

Today when I put myself in my dad's shoes, I understand how much my life sucks. I now know what it feels like when that one person to talk to is not around, what it means when you don't have someone in your life whose house you can walk into any time and just spend a few hours reflecting. I never ever had someone in my life who was like that to me. I guess, I never will. I am still chasing and perhaps living the wrong dream. 

Gone Girl - The Movie

It was late 2012, I still remember seeing a book in the hands of a lady on the tram. That was the first time and then I saw it again with another lady. It made me curious but I am not that much into books. The author Gillian Flynn didn't strike a chord either. But I was quite fascinated that there were so many people who were reading the same story. I bought the book in 2013. Didn't even unwrap it. I completely forgot about it.

A few weeks back, I saw the trailer of a movie titled Gone Girl. That single line - "I did not kill my wife" struck me so hard that I got a sudden urge to pick up the book and know what happened. I knew that I was definitely going to see this movie but I was curious and fascinated by just the trailer that I wanted to know every f**king detail. What the hell was this all about? I finally read the book and I was thrilled beyond expectations. Blown-away you could say too.

If courtship is a movie, marriage is a job that can become a grinding routine, an Ever After without the Happily - courtesy Time Magazine

David Fincher's Gone Girl is simply a masterpiece. Its electrifying, powerful and sends you laughing certainly at the right moments. The movie shows what a usual America is - doubting the husband to have killed his wife, some pretty dumb neighbours who could believe what you'd say, sympathising with the husband when he comes out as a cheater. Its all in there within a capsule of 150 minutes.

From the beginning of the movie, when we hear Nick's monologue about his desire to unspool his wife's brains from her pretty head, we realise that this movie is going to be kick-ass. This missing wife drama is full of mystery and its really nasty. I must give credit to the author Flynn who has also been instrumental in the screenplay. When you read the book, it doesn't hit you that hard. The diary entries, the fights and the blood stains - when you see all that on the screen, it is quite shocking.

Gone Girl's biggest plus point is the casting. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as Nick and Amy are so perfect for each other. Pike's mysterious smiles and mannerisms are so Amy on every frame - the ice-blooded psychopath who shouldn't seem like that until you know that she is that! And Affleck being the glib and sort of unhappy husband is right on the dot.

The movie is structurally quite sound and follows the book Scenes shift from Nick to Amy as they do in the book. I do agree that the devil is in the detail but they had to cut it down to keep the audience glued to the seat. Which worked. The montage of how Amy does stuff has been shot incredibly well. The one last scene with Neil Patrick Harris (he wasn't a great choice for the part), is somewhat traumatizing and that's why this movie is rated Extreme Violence.

Amazing Amy

She is mysterious in her own weird ways, very complex and extremely manipulative. She is the Cool Girl and then a harpy wife. She ultimately becomes the Psycho B****. But this is not what she is. She is actually full of contradictions and weaknesses. She does not like to accept that. She makes sure that she is always right and constructs the situation to her advantage.

Every marriage has its own story, most often the husband and the wife expect each other to keep up the lie of who they've pretended to be. It’s when their “true” selves begin to bleed through that their marriage starts falling apart. “I suppose these questions storm-cloud over every marriage,” says Nick. “What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?”

Amy gives him riddles about their life together, which he’s hardly ever able to figure out, and the hunts always end in a fight. Amy sees it as a testament to how much he loves her — she hopes it will show that he has paid attention to her thoughts and feelings and remembers (what she thinks of as) important moments from their time together. He sees it as a test he will inevitably fail. 

Its five years and Nick has failed her. She wants to get back at him. Amy is somewhat like a psychopath, an emotional freak when Nick is just a skillful manipulator. What follows from thereon is a psychological warfare and a power battle. Gone Girl is a fantastic book about the extremes of masculinity and femininity.

What intrigued me even more is the how I could relate  myself to what Nick felt at many instances in the book. Of course, there is/was no Andie in my life. So I am not stuffed with any sort of guilt. But in general, what Nick thought of his life echoed so much with what I was going through.

Yes the Amy in my life is gone too. She's been gone for so long that now life is just business as usual. In the book, she comes back because she senses a threat to her freedom. She chooses to be smart and live with Nick against seeking revenge for his actions. But I don't see that happening with me.

Are you still drinking low-fat milk?

And if you are, then I must say that you are making a big mistake.

Full cream milk contains a number of fats that promote human health. These include artery friendly omega-3's and conjugated linoleic acid (read cancer prevention), improving bone strength and encouraging fat metabolism. Low-fat diary does not have any of this scientific sh** that helps you. Also, the trans-fat that is present in milk actually reduces your risk of diabetes.

An Australian study (I don't know but I read about this in a magazine) has determined that full-fat diary actually lowers the risk of heart disease as well. Its the other processed stuff that we eat which causes problems - not milk!!!

Vitamins A and D which are present in milk are fat-soluble - which means that you need fat in order for those to absorbed into your body. You take the fat from the milk, how do you think the vitamins will get absorbed? What's more, the vitamin K found naturally in butterfat gets left behind altogether.

Skim and low-fat milk contain powdered milk, which is made with oxidised cholesterol, a carcinogen. Oxidised cholesterol can contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries. On the other hand, untreated cholesterol in whole milk is an antioxidant. Skim can leave you feeling unsatisfied, which leads many people to fill up on less-healthy "non-fat" foods.

Full fat or full cream milk is not going to stop your weight loss or get-fit process. Its only going to help. What is going to hinder is that extra sugar, chocolate, processed food, fried food, coke etc. Get that out of your way and don't bother about milk again in your life.

The real deal

This post is not about what you can do to gain or lose weight. Its just a brief summary of what happened in my life over the last 3 years or so. There is some history which you can read or not. Now let's move on to the time where I started doing a lot of experiments with health and fitness.

1. The company of like-minded people

The most important aspect of any active lifestyle is surrounding yourself with people who think on similar lines. As Frisbee started becoming popular and competitive, I had to build skill and strength. That led to many conversations among friends about what next. One of those was about whey protein and how its important for muscle development. 

2. The first supplement

Whey protein when consumed in excess or not used by the body properly can end up as kidney stone. Its also important to buy the right whey protein. Many brands have additives, sugar and carbs. They are all just bad. So I started with whey protein only on gym days or after a good/tiring session of Frisbee. The quantity was still lesser than what my body needed. So, in effect, I was burning a few extra calories without realising that. This cycle of 1 or 2 days in the gym and a weekend of Frisbee continued for a few years until I hit that wall for the first time in 2011.

3. P90x

We were going to play a Frisbee tournament in Italy. The World 

Championships. Every single day would be a test of our survival skills on the beach and not just game skills. Again, it was one of my friends who suggested P90X. A 90 day program with something to do everyday. Rest days had yoga and stretching as well. My goal was to lose weight. To be honest, the 90 day program was really hard. I was doing it all by myself. Just me inside my room and the video instructions. I did not let isolation play into my mind. What made me go through that was the sheer rush of adrenalin and high energy levels after the workout. I was not getting tired. Every week, I was only getting more active. I noticed that I was able to shave off a few seconds from every workout every week. During this time, I was strictly off direct sugar and fried stuff. It also helped me that my parents were in the US for sometime during those 90 days. At the end of 90 days, I had lost almost 6 kilos. My fitness was at the highest level since 1980. After that first P90X session in 2011, I ended up doing a few more 90 day sessions.

4. Going gluten-free

After I moved to Australia in 2012, I decided that I should try something different. For atleast three months, I followed a gluten-free diet. No bread, no pizza, no pasta.. anything and everything containing gluten was out of the house. I don't have health problems with gluten but those 3 months were amazing. My body felt a lot lighter and general well-being was at a high. Very soon it was time to get over the gluten-free phase.

5. Adding weight

After the gluten free phase, I decided that I should gain some muscle weight. So I tried Kris Gethin's DTP. It was an amazing program. I was super excited to do it everyday in the gym. The other personal trainers who were at the gym used to wonder what I was doing because they thought it didn't make sense to what they were taught in the classroom. But I did not care. I took the 4 week challenge. I did add muscle but not a lot though.

5. The worst one week

Then in end-March 2013, the worst thing happened. I started taking krill oil supplements for the usual EPA/DHA stuff. What I didn't realise that I could be allergic to shellfish. My body started reacting with rashes. Even the doctors could not find out what was happening. The shellfish reason was only understood through an elimination process that I did at home. Many visits to the hospital and extreme stress made me lose 6 kilos in about one week. It was the worst way to lose weight. From that situation, it took me atleast three months to just get my life and weight back to normal. Around August 2013, I started going back to the gym again but by late Sep, I was tired of just doing stuff at the gym by myself.

6. Moving on to Crossfit

Crossfit was always on the back of my mind ever since I moved to Oz. On first look, it was quite expensive compared to my gym membership. It took more than 1.5 yrs to convince myself that I could spend money on Crossfit. I took a 10 class pass. On the first day, I was the last in class. For the next 9 classes, I was the last in class. But the experience was just first class. For the first time, I was not doing any isolated movements and more than that, I was having a lot of fun. Intense Crossfit over a period of few months without any change in current diet made me lose weight again. In early 2014, when I visited the US, I was back to 61.5kgs - the lowest I had been.

7. The last 3 months

During the last three months, I tried a paleo diet as well. Didn't get through that for more than a few weeks because I don't eat any meat. Vegetarian paleo is just being mean to yourself. With good food, supplements and a lot of Crossfit, I managed to gain about 8 kilos. A lot of it is actually muscle. My waistline has not changed from when it dropped to 29. Upper body is phenomenally strong compared to the same time last year.

So what are the things that went right for me?

a. I told myself that I will remain active and stuck to that regimen all the time. Frisbee, Crossfit, Cycling etc. I kept doing something or the other. I even cycle to office here. Some days I am really bored and didn't do anything but in the last three months, I have been to 5 Crossfit sessions every week. Add to that some yoga, stretching and mobility as well.

b. I made it a point to reduce the carb intake as much as possible. I am not a farmer who works on the field or a factory worker who does a lot of manual labour. I am a knowledge worker sitting at a desk all day. I don't need a lot of rice and wheat for that. I supplemented my diet with whey but only on workout days.

c. Its okay to cheat. Once in a while, I do eat a muffin or a brownie. Everyone has cravings. It doesn't matter as long as you have an exercise routine that helps you get over that guilty feeling.

d. I keep it very simple - work hard. Just like how you had to work hard to get that admission into a top college, you will need to put in a lot of effort to get that weight loss or gain.
e. Set sight on something in fitness. At work, you want to get promoted every 2 years or you want a higher salary every year. You improve your performance based on what you want. I did that with Crossfit. When I started, I could hardly get a few strict pull-ups. Now I am super comfortable with pull-ups. My next goal is handstand push-ups.

Lose that body fat - The history

Well, we know that's not going to happen for sure. I am no doctor or nutritionist or dietician. This story is about me, about what I did for almost a decade - a period where I went through the highs and lows of body weight and in that process, figured out myself a little better. 

1. Fear is always good

Rewinding back to 2004 - London. Fortunately, I was not that fat. I was hovering around the 70s. Waist line was 33 or so. Exercise was not on my mind. The only sport I had played was volleyball and I was not good. My family had a history of people suffering from high cholesterol, sugar and the usual stuff that ends up giving someone a heart attack. I told myself one thing - I may not be able to eliminate all that from coming to me but I can definitely delay it. The simple fear got me going.

2. Take a small step
I decided to give a shot at spinning classes. One of my colleagues was killing it at 32yrs whereas I was gasping for breath. I told myself to just be regular at it. I signed up for a Nike 10K run for the first time. I looked up some training schedules for running. My instructor told me that I should try and finish under an hour. I trained for about 2 months and I ended up at 57. I was pumped. The result was visible. Over the next 2 years until I joined ISB, I managed a few more 10Ks. From spinning, I graduated to Spinning & Abs, Extreme Spinning, Body-Pump. Essentially, I didn't stop myself from getting bored from the same routine. The other incentive was I get to see some hot British women in active wear. All this time, I was not too bothered about what I was eating. Didn't even have whey protein. I would only strive to get to the level where my t-shirt is cold and dripping with sweat.

3. Get passionate

April 2006 and afterwards. I was introduced to Ultimate Frisbee. I was kicked about the fact that I could learn a totally new sport. In school, all my friends played basketball and football. I was not very tall to play basketball and not that great at football either to make the cut. In college, everyone played cricket and I hated that game. So, Frisbee was like a boon. Obviously running was an important part so I spent a good time during the week running on the treadmill. Still no fancy supplements.

4. Rolling stone gathers no moss

So, in effect, I was just doing some activity all the time but only since 2004 April. First it was gym classes and a bit of running. And then it was just Frisbee. If you are reading this and you are thinking about losing weight, the first thing you need to do is get a bit more of an active lifestyle. That doesn't mean that you should immediately hit the gym and go all out or run a marathon. 

Take a step by step approach. You will find thousands of websites and forums giving you plans. Not all will work for you but some will. I guarantee that. It may take you some time to find that right one but over a few experiments you will get there. Don't experiment with food yet. Get out of the bed or the house first. One thing at a time.

Chennai Heat 2013 Feedback

Click image to see larger version

Welcome to the feedback post. Before you proceed, let me warn you that this post is going to be extremely long. Read only if you have time, patience and a sense of responsibility to make India Ultimate better.

Before I begin my criticism, I would like to take a moment to thank every person who was involved in the preparation and execution of Chennai Heat 2013. Its not just the tournament directors, committee members, party organisers or the list of volunteers but everyone else who whose names we did not hear in the “thank you list”. Being close to the organizers of the event, I know that they ran into many problems with sponsorship, especially in the 11^th hour. They had to make some decisions which did give them a bit of headache. Nevertheless, they rolled up their sleeves and worked harder to make the event successful.

Feedback begins. The next few paragraphs are my thoughts. After that, the consolidated feedback follows.

Every tournament in India should have a dedicated team to organize the event. The TD or TD’s, other members and volunteers should not be working for the tournament and playing for a team. It just doesn’t work that way. There have been many instances in the past and also in CH13 where people did not know who the volunteers were or who was keeping time or any damn thing for that matter. This is mainly because players want to run the event and play for their team. Consider this idea – going forward, give the tournament organization to a club. Let them organize the event. They don’t get to play but they get to keep a good percentage of the profits from the tournament. If this is not an option, then you HAVE to create a team that will not play.

We need to have a place called GAME CENTRAL during the tournament. This should be the official desk for all matters related to the tournament. This desk should be manned by volunteers throughout the duration of the tournament. All communications should go from here and every query should be answered from here.

Okay, we divided the tournament feedback into many sections and this is what we have.

Communications

By and large, all communication was done through Facebook which according to many is not the preferred option. The tournament website was hardly used for any form of communication.

Schedule and changes were all communicated within a span of less than 1 week to the tournament. This is totally unacceptable and should be taken seriously by all tournament directors. Going forward, schedules and pools should be released atleast 2 weeks before the tournament.

For urgent and important updates, a smarter form of communication such as SMS or phone calls should be used. The idea is to ensure that players or captains get the message.

Registrations

Registration details should be communicated well in advance. Teams should be instructed to pay to an account number before arriving for the tournament. Only registered teams (read paid money) should be considered for scheduling.

Competition

Every player is attending the tournament for a great experience on the field and I think that the competition format affected many teams.

Seeding and groupings were not effective at all. Sometimes looked very biased and beneficial to some teams. Its not UPAI’s responsibility to manage the seeding but the organizers of Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi (these are the biggest tournaments in India right now), should sit together and come up with a standard ranking system which works for all tournaments.

The number of teams should have been restricted considering that it gets too hot after 9.30am. Many teams did not have games at 9.30am or 3.30pm and some teams had many games at these times. This may not be a bias but the scheduling is sometimes insensitive. By reducing the number of teams, the game time per team could have been significantly increased. Having 3 pick-up teams and not counting scores against them is just ridiculous. Period.

Playing a kid because you don’t have women or you have lesser number of women IS NOT ACCEPTABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I thought the rules had clearly mentioned this and hence I don’t understand why this issue came up in the feedback. Whichever team did this, I am sorry guys, you are not fit to play a tournament. This is such a dispirited act. I cannot accept any BS explanation in this regard.

Everywhere I have played, the teams have 2 time-outs during the entire game and generally time-outs are not given during the last 5 mins or so. And what was this floating time-out I heard about? Who comes up with these ridiculous rules? Apparently time-outs ran for 2-3 minutes. This is why we need assigned volunteers for every game. These volunteers should be responsible to conduct the game, keep time and manage other administrative tasks. We cannot ask someone on the sideline to manage time because no one else did.

Spirit captain and WFDF accreditation was a great move and has been well appreciated by all teams but the organizers should also consider having observers for certain games. People standing in the sidelines have no authority to give opinions. Also the playing teams should ask them to please shut up.

Fields

The fields were not in the best form. Many teams had complaints about glass pieces and stones. Organisers should look to allocate some money to run the sand sifters before the tournament.

Many spectators were very close to the sidelines. Going forward, it may be good to have two lines at a 3 meter separation just to keep the crowd away.

Facilities

All teams were happy with the availability of water, ice, physio and first aid although some teams did not know that the physio was around. Portable toilets would have been a boon for the women.

Merchandise reaching the fields on the last day was such a bad idea. Efforts should have been made to get it on the first day. This all ties up to ensuring that registration is done atleast 2 weeks before the tournament so that the organizers can get everything sorted out much earlier.

For CH2014, we definitely need to provide sunscreen.

Food

This is where the organizers scored a lot. Bananas were good. The next step is hydration fluids. The tie-up with CFG for discount food coupons was an awesome idea. We need more!

Social

No concerns about the party as well. Everyone loved the party for the atmosphere and food. Although a few think that the price was slightly on the higher side, I still think it was a fab effort from the party organizers.

Travel and Acco

Apart from parking problems which are strictly not in our hands there was nothing much.

Overall

Chennai Heat 2013 gets an overall score of 7.8 on 10 which is very good. Can we say that people have been very generous with their scores? Haha. I am not undermining the efforts taken by the organizers but we have a long way to go.

Why do we still have to play 7 on 7 when the international standard for beach ultimate is 5 on 5 with a 3-2 ratio? Choosing this option would give us more fields and shorter games. The number of games per team would increase as well. Sooner, we will be able to have Open and Mixed divisions if we choose 5 on 5. On the other side, with soaring temperatures in the south, next year’s Heat may definitely need a supply of sand socks.

Chennai Heat 2013 - Predictions

The cat is out of the bag now. You should get a better version of the above picture on the tournament facebook page.

First look comments - I am not sure what even distribution of seeding means. Also, there needs to be a mention of what benchmarks have been used to come up with the seeding. In my opinion, every team needs a ranking before the tournament and after the tournament. The criteria for allocating teams is sensible but can be contested for logic.

When you look at the pools, the results of pool-play just stand out in front of you without any reason for a second look.

All the teams against A1-F1 respectively are going to top their pools comfortably. The only pool games that would be worth a watch for the spectators are Flywild vs DoD and Spinergy vs Falcons. I must mention that the games between 3 and 4 numbered teams in all pools would be interesting in a way that you can never predict the outcome.

If we have 3 pools at the end of pool-play, then Gold pool will have Stall7, Flywild, L2F, Spinergy, Blitz, Airborne. Now that's 6 done with 2 more slots remaining. DoD has a very good chance of making the 7th spot. The last spot will be a fight between Chakraa and Falcons. I would give that last spot to Chakraa because of the home advantage they have but still be doubtful about the points difference they can make with the other teams in their pool. Which gives Falcons a good chance to make it to Gold. Fringe Flickers are capable of throwing a surprise but they have never done that yet so I wouldn't place my bets on them.

With a minimum of 4 Chennai teams in Gold pool, there will be enough pressure on the other teams to even get to semi-finals. L2F has not been very successful on beach for a very long time. Spinergy has reached semis but crumpled as well. L2F and Spinergy have a good chance to move up in Gold if they play teams like Airborne, DoD, Chakraa and Falcons. Blitz, Flywild and Stall7 are going to give a menacing blow to anyone playing against them. I am not sure if Blitz still has a problem with their women ratio but if that's sorted out, then there is no stopping them at all. This also means that if neither of these three teams meet in the first round of Gold, then there is only spot left in the semis between 5 other teams.

In the end, the finals of Chennai Heat 2013 will be a repeat of the last year. With no doubt, Stall7 will win this edition of the Heat making it three in a row - a record that any other team can only dream of achieving on beach.

Flywild and Blitz are great teams as well and deserve credit for being fantastic teams, but they have a panic / choke button hidden somewhere. When they see their opponents score, they switch on automatically and its only downhill from there.

Like it or not, its going to be a Chennai domination all through.

Chennai Heat 2013 - Pools teaser

Excessive hullabaloo from my side over the last few days and many facebook posts by others did give a wake up call to the organizers of Chennai Heat 2013 to bring out that piece of classified information - The Seedings. I was so irritated that at some point I was even thinking of getting someone from WikiLeaks to help me break into the TD's mailbox.

UPAI - this one is for you guys to address in upcoming tournaments. 23 teams had registered for Chennai Heat by 12th Sep or something. Why does it take TD's such a long time to release information about pools? Pools for tournaments are definitely independent of schedules. I understand that it may take time to fix the fields and the slots but the pools can come out within 10 days of registration. We definitely need a booklet called Tournament Guidelines and I will author that. Mind it.

So, here are the pools. Well, not really. I am not supposed to reveal anything until the TD announces the same. I had a sneak peak into what is going to come out and here is what I have to say.

It looks like there will be 6 pools with 4 teams in each. In effect, three games before you step onto the next stage. I would have preferred a bigger pool which also means that you get to face-off against many more competitive teams but in this case, you will be moved to your comfort zone on day 2. From then on, it becomes a smart play for many teams, especially the ones that just missed the bus for the gold pool - to keep their head above the water and maintain the lead against the smaller teams.

Anyways, the predictions are still to come by. Ciao until then.

Germany - Part 5

Now this is when it starts to get slightly boring for me as I have already written 4 parts to this vacation and it just doesn't seem to end! I do have to complete what I started.. So literally, the next HALF of our vacation is going to be compressed in one single post.

From Berlin, we took an early morning train to Dresden. Walked around the city for like 30 mins and then took a bus from there to Praha - back to small towns with cobbled streets. Prague was extremely crowded. Tourists all over the place. We did the usual old town and clock tower on day one and castle the next day. Took some photos around Charles Bridge and then boarded the night bus to Vienna.

The bus company - Student Agency, was awesome. They had in-bus entertainment with movies and TV shows. The staff also offered hot chocolate / coffee. But in exchange, dropped us at a random place in Vienna at 4.30am. So we checked into a hotel for like half a day, got some sleep and walked around the city. It was all the same now - city center, palaces, museums and cathedrals. We changed our objectives - Sachertorte and Viennese coffee! We planned our tour in the city around these.

Quite bored with Vienna, we decided to head to Bratislava the next day. This city was a huge surprise for us. It was a dead city. We could literally count the number of people on a Saturday mid-day! In less than 2 hours, we decided to head back. We reached Schonbrunn palace that afternoon, had a look around and then it was time to catch the bus to Munich.

Day one - we did the free tour. It was awesome. Our tour guide, Blake, was a quarter-back with the Munich Cowboys. He did a fantastic job. After the tour, I headed towards the BMW Museum. Came back in the evening and then met Blake for a Beer Tour! That finished around 11pm. The next morning we had the Disney Castle tour with Blake again. Rain played spoilsport but overall it was still good. The next day we spent a few hours at the Deutsches Museum - one of the best technical museums in the world. Sadly, due to lack of funds, most of their exhibits are in German. After a point we got bored and walked out.

Next stop was Freiburg - capital of the Black Forest. We got there by night and decided to head to Triberg the next day. Spent the day hiking up the waterfall - wasn't any great at all but apparently this place is a big attraction. Then tried the original black forest cake.

The next day, our stop was Heidelberg - the most beautiful place after Berlin. This university town is famous for its one mile long shopping road. Whatever time was left between walking out of shoe shops was used to see parts of the old town.

With Heidelberg done, our tour was coming to a close. We took the train to Frankfurt, spent the next day walking around the city and boarded the flight back. I could have detailed this post a bit more but its just taking a lot of time. Hopefully the photos will have a better story!

Germany - Part 4

We reached Berlin by later afternoon. Finding the hotel with the maps and directions I had, was slightly tough but we managed and checked into Meininger at Senefelderplatz.

Almost a month back, I had booked for a free guided tour of the German Parliament - Reichstag scheduled at 8.30pm for about 90 mins. We put our bags, showered and quickly left. We took a bus numbered 100, apparently the only bus which takes you through all major attractions (other than the hop-on-hop-off). We did one round on that bus and then got off at Reichstag. The tour was well organized and the guide gave us very deep insights and stories about the building, its architecture, and impact from the war.

The next day we had a huge debate rather a fight about whether we should do a free walking tour or not. We decided to do a walking tour. We were told that there would be a pickup at 10am from our hotel. We were ready by 9.30 but apparently that 10am pickup was to just collect people from different hotels and make bring them to the Brandenburg gate. The tour was going to start only at 11am. I realized it was an utter waste of time and we wanted to cover a lot in a single day. The walking tour was just going to be Berlin highlights. So we ditched the tour and started off on our own. We took the train to the Berlin Ostbahnof to see the section of the wall that was still intact. From there we reached the Judisches Museum. This museum had everything about Jews right from history, evolution whatever to concentration camps until 1945. We spent many hours at the Museum and then walked towards Checkpoint Charlie - the crossing between east and west. There was an exhibition about the wall very close to the checkpoint. More about that in the photos. Next destination was the Topography of Terror. This place was a treasure trove of information about the book burning, arrests, holocaust, hatred and the cold war. The day almost got over and we managed to make a quick visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial.

The next day was the highlight of our vacation. The tour of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp was a model camp. SS officers got training in this camp before being deputed elsewhere. The location of the camp was at the end of one of the train lines and the camp was very close to residential areas which meant that everyone living there could see camp prisoners being walked to the camp. If you don't plan to visit Dachau near Munich or Auschwitz near Krakow, then this place is a must. I have enough photos that divulge the details of the camp. On our way back we were talking to our guide on the train about various things - India, culture, yoga, travel etc and then our conversation was interrupted by a lady who was sitting on the other side. We started talking to her and realized that she was very much around when the wall was built. Her family later moved to the US and she started working with the UN. She is now retired and lives in Berlin. Towards the end, she told us that her mother was in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. We were speechless after that.

The rest of the evening was spent repenting not continuing on the train with the lady. But then, there was also this thought that we should not be triggering such sensitive conversations with someone we just met on the train.

There was so much to see and learn in Berlin that just 3 days was absolutely not enough. We vowed to come back here.

Germany - Part 3

I realized that I didn't talk much about the Rhine river cruise. KD is one of the many companies that organizes the river cruise and with these guys you can use the German rail pass as well. They may not have the best of the facilities but its still good. The rive cruise goes through many small yet beautiful cities like Rudesheim, Bacharach, St Goar etc. You can also get off at any town in between and catch the local train to the next station if you wish. The trains also run along the river side. By being on the train you don't miss a lot. You definitely save a lot of time. And it does make a lot of sense to get off and take a train because after the first hour, the cruise does get boring.

With Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Cologne, and Bonn done, it was time to head towards the town where the wedding was happening. The wedding was the primary reason for our Germany visit. Let me warn you ahead of time that this section may not be of great interest to many of you as its not about travel and sightseeing.

Bad Driburg was the town we had to reach. We left Cologne on 9th mid-day, made at least 2 changes on the train and then took a bus to reach the town. We were the only non-germans in many of those sections we traveled. I am sure a lot of locals would have been surprised or even suspicious seeing us backpacking through some truly German locations.

Bad Driburg is a recovery town (popular for thermal spas) for old aged people. From my first line you can see where this would go. The moment we got off the railway station, the first sign I noticed was about a hospital. And the hospital was actually next door to the railway station, which sort of gave us a peek into what we could expect here. Nevertheless, we were here just for the wedding.

We checked-in to our hotel and walked to the other side of town (about 1km) to where the church was. Had a quick look around the area and also met the bride, groom and their family for a few minutes while they were in rehearsal. The same day evening, we had a small dinner with family and friends. The next day was the wedding. It was a Protestant-Catholic wedding and pretty much every word of it was in German. Altogether a different experience - my first church wedding outside India. Very different from our kind of weddings. There were only about 100 guests in all, including family. Every minute of the wedding was carefully planned by the bride and the groom. The after wedding party was at a spa-hotel that was right opposite the church. We just walked, clicked a few pictures and had some wine/juice.

The bride's family had something for us next. They gave us postcards for us to write wishes for the couple. These postcards were then tied to a gas balloon and let off into the air. A balloon would land someday in the garden of someone's house. The recipient if enthusiastic enough, would post the card back to the couple. The couple gets to know how far the balloons traveled. We got to know that in one such wedding, the balloons went as far as Denmark!

It was time for dinner. We got seated in a particular table. Seating was all pre-decided. Dinner was served with a series of presentations/wishes in between. This was exactly where the family and friends put enormous effort to make the event hilarious and interesting. Both families worked extremely hard in their own capacities to put up pictures and events from the past to tell us many stories about couple and their journey until the wedding. Just like the Hollywood movies! They also had small games and quizzes for the couple through which everyone got to know the couple better. Friends groups from work and university also had similar presentations. There was a photo booth to take pictures and these pictures would go into a scrap book. You also had the opportunity to write wishes for the couple on that book. There was a live band and a DJ. When all of this got over, it was roughly 5am in the morning. I didn't stay that long. I took off around three.

Got up that Sunday (the 11th), packed our bags and took the train towards what was going to be the best city of our trip - Berlin!

Germany - Part 2

Like most of Western Europe, Germany is quite easy to get around and people do speak English and don't take offense like the French.

Frankfurt was our first stop. Our hotel was in Sachsenhausen, which was part of the city's old town (by the way, almost every city in Germany has an old town which is called Aldstadt). It was a very vibrant location with many beer gardens and noisy people.

Germans know a few things better than most of their European friends, besides automobiles and engineering I mean - and that's potatoes and beer. We had some of the best potato based food and beers all through the trip.

Textorstrasse in the same part of town has a few restaurants that serve some of the best apple wine (apfelwein). These restaurants are more popular with the locals and hence not many tourists are there, which was good in a way too. Summer festivals were happening all over town and we got a chance to mingle with the locals. We spent a few hours in a suburb called Bornheim (this place survived the war). This side of the city is famous for small cafes and restaurants along the streets with hardly any space for cars to get around.

We did a day trip to Stuttgart - the home of Porsche and Mercedes Benz. We managed to see the Porsche Museum and understand Bernoulli's principle, also walked around the town center a bit.

Our next stop was Mainz. Trains are amazing in Germany - very efficient. All stations have a full timetable printed and made available in every platform indicating all arrivals and departures for the day. Many intercity trains also have the train route printed as a catalogue for the passengers to view. This also lists the connections available at every station the train stopped.

We had to walk a lot from the Mainz Hbf (Hbf is short for Hauptbahnof i.e Main train station) to the departure point for the Rhine river cruise. We walked the wrong way for quite a bit and hence ended up missing the first boat. The next boat was in an hour. We got in and found a nice spot. As the cruise began I noticed that there were hardly any young couples around. Everyone was 60 plus. Looks like river cruises are not popular among the active. Well, who would want to sit in a boat and see castles from the water! We got off at the last stop Boppard and took a train to Koblenz. Then another train to Cologne.

We spent 3 nights in Cologne. The cruise to Cologne almost took a full day. The next day was spent in Bonn visiting the Arithmeum, University, and the House of Beethoven. On the last day, we visited the most famous cathedral, chocolate museum, some of the 12 other cathedrals, the padlock bridge and spent the evening at a local brew house. Cologne is famous for Kolsch beer.

Germany - Part 1

So our 3 week holiday (rather exploration) of Germany started in the first week of August, 2nd to be more precise.

Since our decision to travel was made quite late, the cheapest tickets we could get was around 1550 AUD return with Air China.

So we boarded the flight in Melbourne. The first surprise came when we checked in and they told us that we had to collect our bags in Shanghai (that was our stop-over) and then re-check the bags in for the next leg. That was understandable as we had a stop-over of more than 12 hrs.

Shanghai Pudong was quite an experience. We got there and we got no instructions from the airline staff about what we needed to do. We ended up straight at immigration. My wife decided to request for a transit visa so that we could explore the possibility of getting to the city for the night rather than being stuck at the airport hotel. After some struggle with a limited English speaking officer, we got an authorization. We collected our bags and then walked out.

One tourist agent on the way out offered to help us with hotel accommodation. After looking at a few hotels, we decided to get one for around 50 USD for one night, including airport transfers. We paid the guy and then got out of the airport and were waiting for the cab. One of the guys walked us out and was waiting for the cab with us.

Shanghai is full of smokers. Everyone around us was smoking non-stop. The air around us was horrible and it was a very hot evening. We were just waiting there. We tried speaking to the guy who came with us about the cab. Obviously he spoke only Mandarin and we were still clueless. Finally, a vehicle arrived. It was worse than the Maruti Omni but a larger version.

We got in and the guy drove for about 10 mins. Around the Pudong airport, the roads are all four lane and I noticed a few highways as well. Our van driver was not following any traffic regulations. He was driving in the middle of two lanes and did not stop at many traffic lights. Now that's something I have prior experience for sure.

Just off these massive roadways are small ghettoes, a perfect example of income distribution, and that was where our hotel was. The lane was deserted and no street lights in many sections. It was slightly scary. We checked into the hotel and decided to get some food.

The nearest place was a cross-section with a few street shops. Not a single word of English. There was a lady making stir-fried noodles. Our pictionary and dumb-c skills helped us a bit and we got ourselves a good and cheap dinner for like 30 RMB. Not bad. We walked back, slept well and got back to the airport on time the next day.

On the return is when we decided that we should never fly through China again. Thankfully, our bags were checked-in directly to Melbourne. We got off at Beijing and we had only a 4 hour transit. We had to do a proper immigration  and security check because our next flight to Melbourne was a local flight going through Shanghai. It took a lot of trouble and queuing up. Then in Shanghai, we were asked to leave the aircraft and do another round of security checks and what not. We finally got back on the same aircraft. I was reminded of my super easy connections and efficient transfers in Singapore and KL. So much trouble for deciding to fly low-cost. And let's not even talk about the food. Asian Hindu Vegetarian gets stir fried veggies and rice! Their in-flight food options are so inflexible that even getting an extra piece of bread roll takes atleast 30 minutes. And one of the flight attendants told me that they don't have extra butter!

That's part 1 for you and there is more to come during this week.