Sistine Chapel

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in my case I had seen thousands of pictures and I wanted to see the real thing, I knew about it since the age of 10-11 when I used to turn the pages of an encyclopedia and the brilliant colors of the painting used to fascinate me and the name Michelangelo had a ring to it. I remember trying to figure out who was a greater painter Leonardo or Michelangelo and reading up and comparing paintings of both of these artists when I was in my teens and venerating them. For me, the entire renaissance era was epitomized by these two names. It was far easier to get information once I had access to internet and have spent countless hours reading up and admiring the works of these two painters. Of all the works I truly dreamed of seeing the 'Sistine Chapel'. The iconic image of 'God creating man' and the hand of god giving life to man which was highlighted in the movie Benhur as part of the overture,a movie which I have seen many times was something which captivated my mind since I was a kid.

So when I planned my Italy trip I knew what was on top of my 'Must see'. The Vatican museum opens at 9 am to the general public,but if you shell some extra money you get a 8 AM entry directly into the Sistine chapel with no crowds.For me it was a no-brainer to go for this.We met our guide at 7:30 am who gave a brief history of the sistine chapel and explained about the paintings by giving us a pamphlet most of it which I already knew before.The sistine chapel is the last exhibit as part of the Vatican museum tour,basically saving the best for the last. So we had to walk through a lot of rooms which we would see later but first the 'Sistine Chapel'. My pulse was racing, my adrenaline pumping, I knew I was finally going to see and feel with my own senses one of the greatest creations of art in the history of mankind. We went down a stair case and there was a very inconscpicous door to the left which we entered, I was thinking the chapel was still further away,the door led into a huge hall and I looked up and my heart leaped, I WAS IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL. Its amazing that one of the greatest art creations of man has such an unremarkable entry. The thing is, we enter through a small door which is to the bottom right of the wall on which the last judgement is painted. The minute I entered I looked up and was just stuck with the realization that I was in the sistine chapel and then I slowly turn to my right and see the entire wall of 'last judgement' and my heart stops for a few milliseconds seconds, I never imagined it to be so huge. I cannot contain my emotions and my eyes just get moist, for me the realization that I am finally seeing something which I had dreamt of seeing all my life finally strikes home. That immediately changes to ecstasy and i want to just leap and shout with joy,but there is strict silence enforced in the sistine chapel and that too only with about 25 people in the entire hall and security around,not a good thing to do. Once my emotions stabilize I start focusing on the paintings which I have seen all my life only in photos.I first admire the last judgement,take in each of the figures,its brilliant! Then i turn my focus to the roof and the first thing i want to see is the creation of adam and i spot it, I immediately get underneath it and crane my neck painfully upward to see it, after admiring it to my satisfaction then i focus on the other paintings. We get a total of close to 1 hour within the chapel with very limited people after which we move on to see the other rooms in the vatican museum. Towards the end of the day I force my wife to come back once more to have one last look at the sistine chapel and this time its jam packed with people with no space to move around and was I glad that I took the cadillac morning tour.

I think I will never forget the moment I entered the sistine chapel and realized it was 'the sistine chapel'.

The entire sistine chapel was much bigger than I imagined. The photos really dont give a feeling for how large this place is.

Stoked about Stok

25 days to go for first himalayan climb! Climbing Stok Kangri which stands at 6153 meters and the 10 day trip starts from July 12th .Getting goose bumps just thinking about it. Not really a technical climb,supposedly the highest trekkable mountain in the world similar to Kilimanjaro, but its as high as Denali and I know the altitude and breathing problems faced. Excited and nervous at same time.

Stok is the highest peak in the pic.

Exercising my democratic rights.My first vote!

Earth to earth,dust to dust,ashes to ashes

Departed comrade! Thou, redeemed from pain
Shall sleep the sleep that kings desire in vain
Not thine the sense of loss
But lo, for us the void
That never shall be filled again.
Not thine but ours the grief.
All pain is fled from thee.
And we are weeping in thy stead;
Tears for the mourners who are left behind
Peace everlasting for the quiet dead.
Lucretius, Roman epic poet and philosopher (ca 94 - 55BC)

With Gary Mims at stone mountain,the climbing legend of north carolina who pioneered most of the rock routes in that state.

Dear Gary Mims,
I am at a loss for words,death always has this effect on me. The thought that I will not have another climb with you is crushing. You were an inspiration to me, I absolutely loved your attitude and the confidence you instilled in the people surrounding you,I for one always felt safe knowing you were there and have tried to emulate you in climbing. I will cherish both my trips with you in North carolina and Ouray and was indeed very blessed and privileged to have met you and climbed with you.I simply cannot comprehend in my mind that our paths will never cross again,there is still a deep knot in the bottom of my gut as I write this.

12.24 miles in 1 hour 56 mins 48 secs.Banana, milk and noodles diet last night and two rest days seems to have done the trick.Feels great, tired but fun.

Another day of running.6 miles in around 56 mins. Running was hard today.Looks like I had not fully recovered from my sunday run in the sun. Interesting how my body is reacting and struggling to adapt.

The local dogs have got used to me.I encounter around 5-6 packs on my route, yes packs , they are rarely alone.I still remember the first day ,when the sense of a new smell,that too running at around 5:30 am  alerted them from their sleep and few woke up and stood up ready to react, few warning barks and growls,some followed me for a meter or two, thankfully no standoffs occurred.Now ,after months ,they don't even care.They know who I am, some just rely on their smell to figure me out and stick to their cozy sleeping positions, a few more active ones who dont want to rely just on one sense just half open one of their eye, get visual confirmation and happily go back to sleep. Local guards of posh houses who earlier used to look at me in suspicion or curiousity no longer bother, I am now like one of those regular vegetable vendors who keep frequenting those roads who gives an aesthetic appeal to the road but do not matter as a whole. Early in the day motorists do stop to let you cross, yes, just like in US, but later on as the traffic increases all those civilities go for a toss, its every man for himself.

Running in bangalore has been fun and very Interesting.I only wish there were more parks, grounds and trails to run around instead of the roads.Its a pity that land is such a profitable commodity that there is no or very less scope for such free spaces.

Butt kicking 8:64 miles run today in the heat;totally sapped!

Yiannis Kouros

YIANNIS KOUROS! The most incredible runner,a greek,called the 'running god' or 'Pheidippiddes successor'.In case you dont know Pheidippides,he is the central figure in a story that was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon. Yiannis Kouros holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days. See the below video,he calls it a spiritual experience to run such long distances in which you leave the body and the body kind of no longer matters. Deep stuff!

My running playlist

I thought let me put my current fav running playlist on my blog, it maybe fun to look back after years to see what kind of songs I loved when I ran. I love racy/catchy/heavy songs as they power me forward when I want to quit.

1.Aloe Blacc - The man (Thanks to prani for this song, Recent fav,Colin Kaepernick ad hooked me to this)

2.Danza Kuduro(remix) - Don Omar (Thanks to Jasmin Zumba classes)

3. Six Days(Remix) - DJ shadow Ft Mos Def (Big fan of this song since the first time I heard it on movie Phone booth)

4. Be yourself - Audio Slave (Niranjan Narayan my former manager in Infy who introduced me to Audio Slave)

5.Iron Man - Black Sabbath (Long time favourite since my college days when listening to metal music was cool)

6. For whom the bell tolls - Metallica (Fav metallica song which was sealed as all time fav when i heard them play live this song with James hetfield right in front of me and high fiving trujillo,most memorable concert moment)

7.Call me - Blondi (Spinning classes LA fitness Edina)

8.Runaway - Bon Jovi (Again spinning classes LA fitness Edina,this song is like an adrenaline shot)

9.Archangel - Two steps from Hell (What an inspiring song,what a band,I imagine as if I am going to war)

10. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (Great song,heard on the radio's of Minnesota for the first time)

11.Extreme ways - Moby ( Bourne mania)

12.I will survive - Gloria gaynor (Rocky,Rocky,rocky)

13. TO glory - Two steps from hell (You cannot have just one song in your play list from this group)

14.Pacific Rim - Ramin Djawadi (Jaegers vs Kaiju's,what a movie!)

15. Heart of courage - Two steps from hell (Hell yeah,that's song number 3 from TSFH)

16. Its my life - Bon Jovi (This song needs no intro)

17. One way street - MLTR (Santu introduced me to this group)

18. One of these nights - Eagles (Kinda slow for a run,but changes the tempo,Heard this on the radio for the first time in the night while driving through Arizona from Phoenix to grand canyon and was hooked to it from the first time I heard it)

19. Papercut - Linkin Park (For some reason I love this song a lot from Linkin Park than their other famous ones)

20. Phantom of the opera - Iron maiden (Oh god,what a song!I have never got bored of this)

To continue..

My first 10 miler in India

Woohoo! My first 10 miler in India, took some time getting to it. Finished 10.23 miles in 1:40:53 at a pace of 9 min,52 sec per mile. Need lot of work on fitness.

Nandi hills with Appa Amma

Had a wonderful time with Appa and Amma on their anniversary day.Had gone to Nandi hills and was really amazed as to how well they have maintained it. Had a picnic lunch and then went to the Bhoganandeeshwara temple at the base,its a 9th century temple constructed under regimes of Banas and Rashtrakutas and then maintained by Cholas,Chalukyas and Vijayanagar empire. Its an incredible temple,sadly we went there in the night time and the light was not good for photography.Plan to re-visit it during daytime sometime soon just for photographing the place.

Had a wonderful time with Appa/Amma.I have realized that the older I grow the more better I understand their relationship and my relationship with them.Now being myself married for an year and a half I appreciate their 34 years of togetherness so much better and it is indeed very special. Their bantering's like small kids/their affection for each other/their dependency on each other/the way they understand each other/the way they cant stand each other and at the same time cannot be away from each other/how their entire world and thoughts and fights revolve around each other,each would be lost without the other.

I am very lucky to be back in India and spending all this time with them physically and getting to know them better,more as friends now. Love you the most Appa and Amma.

Tried capturing a few photos from this day trip.

---

History buff Amma admiring Tipu Sultan summer palace,willing to bet that she has teleported her self into that era within her mind.

---

Another shot of her admiring things in her own silent way.

---

Monkeys wreaking havoc and making hay off an open window in a car.

---

The famous Tippu drop,the story every kid is fascinated with. Overheard a dad sayingto his 7-8 year old son - 'People who made big mistakes were pushed off here by Tippu as punishment',son asks very innocently -'If they made small mistakes then what punishment would they get?', Dad - 'Check with your mom'. I chuckled,dad heard me and gave me a grin. Life!

---

Stopped at a vineyard near nandi.

---

Jasmine admiring the grapes.

---

Million dollar smiles! On top of Nandi hills.

---

Were lashed with very heavy rains on the way back,a record of sorts for the year is what I read in the newspaper today.

Infy 10 K

Ran the Infy 10 K today. Personal best of 54 min 30 seconds. Me and my team mate Birbal posing with our finisher's certificate. The first place guy finished the race in 39 mins.Yikes!And the world record is 26 mins 44 sec.Double Yikes!

Ramtek

Ramtek, literally meaning 'Ram's vow' ,we visited this wonderful Ram temple on a day trip from Nagpur. Its about 70 kms from Nagpur and like thousands of temples on hills in India,this is another temple on a hill with the town of Ramtek at its base. A look up on wikipedia gives the following facts, Ramtek has got Historic temple of lord Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. Legend has it that the aashram of great Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed a great number of holy men. Lord Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons. 'Tek' means vow in local language, hence the word Ramtek comes from 'Vow of Ram'. Thus it is believed locally that whoever takes a vow at Ramtek is blessed by the gods for its fulfillment. The 'padukas' of Lord Ram are believed to have been worshipped here for centuries The present temple is believed to have been built by the King of Nagpur Raghuji Bhonsale,after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara. This place is also famous for its relation with Great poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa has written Meghdootum in hills of Ramtek The place is more popular for Kalidasa writing Meghdooth here and there is a Kalidasa smarak built here. Also,the fun part are the 'Rama doothas' who have appropriately taken residence in this temple - black faced Langur's. They are a rowdy lot and are notorious at snatching things from people,but when shouted at and instructed to take things in a disciplined way they surprisingly listen,sit on their haunches and decently take the 'channa' from your hands. If Kalidasa really stayed here and wrote his meghadoot then that puts this place atleast at 1500 years old as Kalidasa was from the 4-5th century Ad. But wiki mentions that the latest temple was built by Raghuji Bhonsale who died in 1755 which puts the current temple at atleast at 300 years. But it is a very nice place,calm and serene.

Bagali

My country is such an amazing place and there is so much to discover and there is so much history in every town and village. During dussera we visited a place called Bagali enroute to Hampi which is about 50 Kms from Harihar.This is a hidden historical gem. Thanks to Ramachandra mama for pointing this place out. This place is so obscure and the village is so small I would have never thought there was such a beautiful temple dating back a 1000 years. The temple is called Kallesvara swamy temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.It was constructed during the reign of the western chalukyan king Ahavamalla in 987 AD and constructed by Duggimayya.The main diety is known as Kalideva. There is a sabha mantapa with 54 ornate pillars. Its a very beautiful temple.There are some erotic sculptures which is a testament to the open mindedness of our ancient people and gives some insight to the sexual practices a thousand years ago.

Every sinew aches.Being punished by the body for being lazy.Long ways to go.

Long and winding road playing in my head.

14 km run.Taking some time to get back to kms from miles.

Just love flipping through the yellow stained pages of a good book - puppet on a chain, Alistair Mclean.

Muskina jola or bhutta

Aah! Nothing beats eating Muskina Jola or Bhutta on the streets.Ended up eating two in a row at Nagpur with 'zyada' lime and butter.

First run around Sankey

Today went for a run for the first time after nearly 2 months and it felt really great. I went to run around sankey tank and was truly surprised at how well they have maintained the area around the lake. There were hundreds of people either running or walking or exercising and i was truly inspired looking at them.I did 2 laps which is about 7 kms(about 4.3 miles) and was totally exhausted at the end of the run.My physical fitness has dropped like an anchor and have to make a conscious effort to regularly work on it. After the run while coming back I could not resist the temptation to eat at Raghavendra stores and ended up thoroughly enjoying a plate of idly vada and coffee.Hey! I just ran 7 kms and deserve it! This is the best part about Bangalore - Eating!!

Dakota rail trail

Did the dakota rail trail yesterday and totally botched it up. Its a 25 mile trail one way,very beautiful route for the first half, it weaves around a lot of lakes with stunning views.My plan was simple - do a 50 miler, reach the end and turn back. The start of the trail is about 15 miles from my house,so i had to lug the bike on the back of my car to that point. I came home from office at 5:30,got a quick bite and started off at 5:45. I got lost on the way and reached my point at 6:20. I did not know where to park my car so just pulled it over on the side of the road which was pretty deserted.I started my ride and it was beautiful,the temperature was in the 60s,beautiful lakes and homes,people in their boats,crossing wooden bridges and i was doing good time which i always do in the beginning when my energy levels are full.By 7:30 i had covered around 17 miles in about 60-65 mins of riding time.Thats when i started getting worried as i felt that i had grossly over estimated the duration till when the sunlight would be there.I thought there would be enough light till about 9 PM for me to get back to my car. But at 7:30 PM i see that the light is rapidly diminishing. I still persist riding onward as i want to reach my 25 mile marker but at the back of mind i am doing the calculation.I rode for another 15-20 mins and reached the 22 mile marker then hit the panic button.I had done close to 90 mins of riding and had got to the 22 mile mark and it was around 7:50 PM and if i turned back now i will reach back to my car at 9:20 PM.I put my brakes,turned around my bike, gulped down half a bottle of water and shoved a fist of trail mix in my mouth and started heading back. I started cycling furiously,very furious with myself for mis-calculating the time. The anger gave that additional bit of adrenalin and i kept a steady 18-19 mph(normally i do a 15-16 mph).The light rapidly diminished and by 8:30 it had grown dark with very little light. Mr.Mayur does not have a front head light on his bike,he just has a back side red blinker.Also Mr.Mayur is just in a half short and half sleeve cycle jersey and once the sun went down the temperature plummets to high 40s and low 50s as the lakes around cool the temperature a lot. By 8:45 PM I am riding blind. I can make out the edges of the path and cycling like crazy,very tired,cold to the bone,blind as a bat and just a 5 min rest break at the 22 mile marker.I have no clue how i rode from 8:45 to 9:15 ,the last 3 miles is beside a highway and the lights from the passing cars really helped me get a better view of the route. Then i finally see my car at around 9:15 PM and i give out a loud whoop,that feeling of relief is very hard to describe. Thouroughly exhausted i reach the car,just throw the bike on the side and get into the car and switch on the heater.That was the most amazing feeling ever- thats when i realized the priority of my needs - Warmth first,food next,rest after that. After 5 mins i get out of the car,put the bike rack on,load the bike and start heading back home promising myself to never to repeat this mistake again. When i reached home i looked at my cat-o-meter. I had done 44 miles in 2 hours 47 mins at an average speed of 15.7 mph reaching a max of 22.5 mph on a flat land and i rode faster from mile 23- 44 than i did from 1 -22. Fear does give you wings. :) http://www.traillink.com/trail-maps/dakota-rail-regional-trail-.aspx