कहे य बन्दा खुदा से....

कहे ज़र्रा कायनात से, एक ही हम दोंनो।

 अकेला तो ज़र्रा, समा जाएं तो कायनात॥

कहे बूंद समन्दर से, एक ही हम दोंनो।

 आज मैं बूंद तू समन्दर, कल तू बूंद मैं समन्दर॥

कहे य बन्दा खुदा से....

We get old too soon and smart too late. Part 1

Few decades back, when I was a kid, I was voraciously into reading fiction, My Granddad quoted Francis Bacon -  "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention", he advised me not to be reckless and indiscriminate in my book selection.

I was an idiot and young, I ignored this great piece of advise, something I deeply regret today.

A Swedish Proverb nails it - “We get old too soon and smart too late."

Now, Facebook has an section wherein one enters the number of books one has read. (also the movies, TV shows.. but that is for a lament another day). I entered the names ended up with a huge list- Enid Blyton, Franklin W Dixon, Alistair McLean, Edgar R Burroughs, Ken Follett, ........

Today I feel nah, I know  - There is so many better books to spend time and effort on. I know I should have read less fiction and read fewer but better books (Primarily Non-fiction). The books I regret not reading thoroughly are my school & college Text books. The one book I regret not being able to implement is on speed reading (Monkey mind?).

Today I am proud owner of many wonderful Physics, Chemistry & Maths books; But my foundations being weak, I can barely appreciate the beauty let alone understand Quantum mechanics, Relativity or String theory. It's so painful, like listening to a refrain and not being able to remember the haunting melody.

Though I try to read regularly today, I realise the are so many books worth reading and so little time to learn and implement the knowledge gained. Worse, my monkey mind allows me to hoard, skim but rarely analyse or assimilate. 

Your God - My God

We see God in our own image,
There is 'One True God'.
Your God is as different to mine as your image is different from mine.

Hence you may worship Allah and you are right.

...........you may worship Yehua and you are right.
...........you may worship Krishna and you are right.
You may not believe in God and you are right.
When you squabble over- 'my God is better than your God you are actually battling for your own image.'
When you claim yours is the only true God, you are actually am saying I am the only true & righteous one all, while others are charlatans.
If you believe that your God demands absolute obedience or blood,  it is actually you who demand it and that is why are doing it.

Diplomacy vs Ego : Lessons, I learnt too Late

Simple task, simple approach?
 
I was tasked to establish a Construction Material Lab in a far flung area.
The aim of lab was to improve the quality of materials being used by construction wing of the firm. Now I was technically supposed to be reporting to the head office,  but all assistance required to set up the lab was to be rendered by Construction arm in location. Unsurprisingly the cooperation and the assistance obtained from the lab was negligible.
 
I requested, pleaded, only to be rebuffed or ignored. My ego kicked in, I established the lab with minimal assistance and naturally lots of pain.

Now hindsight gives me the luxury to check out what I did wrong and what I could do right. I was talking to an ex-employee who had faced a similar situation. this is what he told - "I went to the boss of local office and told him that I will be dependent on him for my living, in as so much though I was from different section he needed to adopt me as his own. I went to him regularly, boosted his ego and got his backing for all my endeavours "

My hindsight says, if I had done the same gone to the boss with desperate plea and boosted his ego wherein he rendered assistance just keep up with his inflated ego, my life would have been simpler.

No coffee after 6 PM ie 1800 h

It f....up the sleep.
Have been sleeping @ 0300 H whenever I do so.
Am addicted to 💻 /Internet... (it encompasses - watching 🎥, 📺, 📖, articles, 📰, email, gaming and social media) This adds to the pain.

Why do we go on Holidays?

Just realised -
We fill our homes 🏡 & hearths with junk.
The junk suffocates us.... To take a break we rush to holiday spots, while the spots are crowded, what actually gives us solace is the stay in uncluttered environment. We carry what we actually need, the hotel 🏩 rooms have only things we require.
Wouldn't it better and more economical if we simply uncluttered our homes 🏡 - bought only what is really required
discarded what is not.

ख़ता

न जाने किस ने कहा है कि -

लम्हों ने ख़ता की थी
सदियों ने सज़ा पाई।

मुक्क़मल कौन?

मुक्क़मल कौन इस जहाँ में, ए काफिर,
यहां के तो ख़ुदा भी कातिल हैं।

Talk...

Talking to the right people will
- clarify doubts
- give solutions
- open up possibilities, new and old
- ease life

The Triple Filter

In ancient India, One day a person met Chanakya, and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on," Chanakya said. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Chanakya continued."Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test.

The first filter is Truth.
Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."
"All right," said Chankya."So you don't know if it's true or not.

Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness.
Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Chankaya continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true.

You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left, the filter of Usefulness.
Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Chankya, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor useful, why tell it to me at all?"
____________________________
Disclosure - I received the message on Whatsapp, am saving it on blog as I clear my phone . The Triple filter has rightly or wrongly been attributed to Chankya. That does not retract is validity. Please Use this triple filter each time you hear gossip...

Lifestyle corrections

Walk ~10k steps is a fair aim
Early to bed 10 PM 🕙
Early to rise 5 AM 🕔
Take a nap 2 PM 🕑
Avoid Channel surfing 🏄 - limit TV 📺 to ~5 hours per week.
Train /workout -
Walk
Mobility exercises
Squat, Lift, Press, Swing-
Crawl, Roll
Foam Roll 🍥
Eat healthy ~2600 calories
Proteins > 200g
Fats ~ 100g
Carbs < 225g
Drink Water 💦 - 2 litre (urine should be near clear not yellow)
No Cannabis (remember the week after Holi)
No tobacco
Avoid promiscuity
Stay calm, Count to 10 of angry, especially when interacting with kids & folks
Be alert (mindful) -
aware of surroundings
Aware of area
Aware of animals
Aware of vehicles
Aware of blind spots /ambush points
Aware of potential predators
Do it now - avoid procrastination
Pause - Mull before retorting

Life simple!

Wake up
Drink water 💦
Freshen up
Walk
Bath
Eat
Move
Work
Eat, wait
Lift / Play
Stretch /Roll 🍥
Eat
Contemplate
Sleep

How heavy is 32kg? (and I am a sissy... )

Few years ago I wrote How heavy is 20 kg, last few months I have been trying to tackle a 32kg kettlebell and I can tell you this one is damn lot heavier.
There are many benefits of a heavy bell -
1. It teaches humility, hubris disappears faster than... Ice
❄ on equator
2. Auto corrects tendency to use shoulders while swinging.
3. Teaches Mindfulness, Makes you cautious
4. Goblet squats are far more challenging.
That apart, though I can clean & Jerk them, I still have to muster courage for Snatches & Get ups.

Currently I am following a Strongfirst routine called Lazy Endurance. 

It basically is -
5 Swings on top of the minute for times varying from 10 minutes to 50 minutes. 5 swings take about 10 seconds, balance 50 seconds are supposed to be active rest - I basically walk and shake the muscle groups which are tired.
Yesterday was 50 minutes /250 swings workout.
Did that comfortably - primarily because my technique & grip have improved a bit. Did use lifting chalk too.

Realised- am a sissy (am a show-off too but that is something I always knew)
Tore calluses of my palm and am handling things gingerly, also contemplating giving today's training a skip...

Conflict is good

Completion of a task peacefully is Utopian, while it may give transient comfort - in the long run a bit of effort, struggle & conflict go a long way in giving lasting results & peace. It is as applicable to individuals as to communities and nations. Example in contrast - Americans threw out British, conquered the west, fought a bloody civil war and ended up as a Superpower. India bid adieu to the British in the most peaceful and friendly fashion, we are a struggling nation...

Papa again

This Feb, on 5 th Feb,

Resolutions 2014

Probably, For the first time I have decided to pen down blog my New Year resolutions. I intend to adhere to them this time so what better way than to make them public and face ridicule if I failed ignored these.

1. Learn Rope Skipping.
   
   No, I do not know this basic kindergarten fun-activity - it is supposed to be great for coordination and cardiovascular fitness, and being a klutz I hope the benefits will carry over to other activities as well.
2. Learn to Punch.
   
   Practiced Goju Ryu for some time, but didn't quite learn to punch correctly, At best my punches were heavy push punches. This year I will learn to punch correctly - in the correct explosive fashion.
3. Learn Olympic Lifts - Clean & Jerk and Snatch.
   
4. I have been above average in push strength but when it comes to power - rapid strength deployment (a recurring theme), I have been sub- par so I hope to change this too.
5. Get my Resting Heart Rate (RHR) to below 70 60 . I always wanted to be fit , while there are several ways of measuring fitness, I feel RHR is the unequivocal measure, I initially set met RHR goal at 70 but I realised that I was already in that range (67-68) so if I  made some improvements it would have to be in sub-60 range .
6. Get my Body Fat Percentage (BFP) to below 20 %. If I succeed in number 4, this will be an automatic but I have not seen this BFP for years now so am eagerly looking fwd to it.
7. Learn Suryanamaskar (sun salutation).
   

Seems a simple movement but currently in my stasis I have been unable to learn it, Aim being to complete 18 cycles in good form without cursing the...
Nothing else comes to mind right now and these seem to be handful.

Oil pulling

Today I tried oil pulling for the first time,

It involves swirling a little coconut oil in the mouth for 20-30 min (and then spitting it out).

Felt anything? Maybe, Don’t know about impurities from the rest of the body but my mouth feels a bit cleaner.

Hoping it works, I have had to visit dental hygienist and the amount of tartar was no joke (he asked whether it was some kind of dental filling).

Though I am brushing a wee bit more sincerely, I can see it creeping back after just few months, hence the effort towards cleanliness.

Oil pulling is supposed to aid dental hygiene at the least and what not at the max. Worth Googling or looking up on Wikipedia and probably worth trying it too.

Lifestyle Corrections

Early to bed
Early to rise
No TV in bedroom
Sound sleep - 8 hrs
Walk - 10k steps (yeah it is a magic figure... Abracadabra)
Sunshine - 20 min bare exposure in the morning.
Drink water - u.... should be clear.
Eat real food, vegetables, eggs, lentils, meats, fruits, nuts, milk & milk products.
Consume sugar in extreme moderation, (ok binge on Jalebis once in a while )
Siesta - 40 min.
Wine in moderation
No drugs (that includes tobacco & cannabis)
Be aware - surroundings.
Do not hoard - junk, fat,
Trim your waist, lifestyle, home, workspace

Aim for the moon..... Really? 10000

Aim for the moon...
Good quote, universal rule - absolutely not

On I decided to do 5000 kettlebell Swing challenge in 20 days, a fair aim I thought.
Started logging, food intake first, but before I could start swinging I read about Dan John's 10000 swing Challenge.

Decided to accept the bigger (harder) challenge. But before I could start I came across an article about Bud Jeffrey doing 10000 swings in 10 days without any overtraining or recovery related issues.
Aim for the moon.... thodi aur pyaas badhao....
1000 swings a day...
F... I didn't even start, the task was so daunting; found excuses to shy away from the kettlebell, in fact from exercise itself. Right now as I blog I have time for a short workout but instead of swinging I am typing.

Lesson learnt.
Better idea - Aim for where you want to go... correction - need to go
Keep the goals realistic,
Don't bite more than you can chew. Take small bites
Downgraded my challenge to 3000 even as I type, let us see where I end up.

Bodyweight exercises Suck... or is it me...

Last year I took to lifting weights with a vengeance... Okay That was hyperbole, I lifted, adhering to 5x5 type plans and ended up in the intermediate level in my weight category as per Strength standards on exrx.com.

Felt nice, I was big at about 105 kg, my shirt sleeves were now too small for my arms, unfortunately so were my pants for my waist.

I read strength books, internet articles and decided this was the real deal.

Lifting weights - I loved the smug feeling when I first squated 110 kg for reps (after having failed and killed myself in the last attempt with a near face-plant). Each time I got under the bar I was scared and I felt alive. I loved it when I overcame the weights. (My 5 rep max was 117.5 kg, after which I cut back - yes, I love to gloat over my achievements however small they might be)
Time passed (had to take a break from lifting, bloated up to a weak 111kg, changed my dietary habits and came down to 95).
I started with a simple routine,

Front Squat - Romanian Deadlift superset - 3 x 10 reps @ 50 kg.
Push Press - Bent-Over row superset -  5 x 5 reps @ 50 kg.
Bench Press - Lats pulldown superset - 2 x 10 reps @ 50 kg.

In the morning I alternated with
Kettlebell Swing - 8 x 20 rep @ 20 kg
(yes these are the Only weights available here)

I thought I was doing great , when at a whim I joined a group of boxers doing a Bodyweight circuit - seemed easy-
Pushups,
Crabwalk,
Pumps
.....
These are the few I remember.....
Wow.... F... S.... Ouch... and that's just the warmup...

I activated muscles which I did not know I had, for a guy who could Bench 105 for reps failing to do 5 Pushups after calisthenics was humbling if not downright humiliating (it wasn't humiliating because I have d... thick skin or in simple words - I am pretty shameless).
........

Hey fellow wannabe strongmen, lesson learnt was -
Before you start struggling with iron weights you have to conquer your own. Done correctly even this would be a Herculean task...and one that would take your fitness to the next level.
I hear Purists, power lifters, and few internet warriors scoff - try it out, see not only the body turn to jelly and your heart leap out of your chest. It will change your perception of Fitness once and for all. Conditioning or Strength - Endurance is real....

Will I return to Iron - heck, I never gave it up, I am sticking to my alternating barbell - kettlebell routines 3 to 5 times a week (the weights are light) . But god-willing I will supplement iron with my own body and tie my shoe laces without choking......