Happenstance!

A fortnight ago, I called up my friend to talk about the travel arrangements to our common friend's wedding. As we live in the same city, I expected to travel together. But to my disappointment, I was told that she has already booked the tickets - well, onward and return as well. She tried to convince me over her decision saying that she is actually traveling to a different city and then to the city where the wedding is arranged. But what about the return journey? huh.. Yes, she was kind of ignorant about this fact.

So I attended the wedding traveling all alone(most of you guys agree, its quite boring!). In the function, she was one among those very few known faces. I was glad to spend time with her and got to know few of her friends. And later while talking about the return journey, we found that we both were traveling in the same train. Quite a relief, at least we can sit together for sometime even if we have our seats in different bogies.

Later that evening, I reached the station and went straight to the computer to check my ticket's status as it was not yet confirmed. Its always a good feeling to have our tickets confirmed at the last minute:). Just few minutes before the departure I found my friend, out in the crowd, boarding the train. And to my surprise, she was boarding in the bogie in which my ticket got confirmed. I went straight to the list of passengers to check whether she is actually placed in the same bogie. Well, there it was - shock of the day, she is placed just opposite to my just-got-confirmed seat. Not just the same bogie but the same compartment too. That's a nice co-incidence I should say.

I saw her father passing on the luggage to her and just followed her till we reached our seats. When she turned back after placing her luggage, she saw me and immediately enquired about my seat. When I told her I am sitting at 54, just opposite to hers i.e. 51, she didn't believe me, thinking its a joke. She returned to her father for few minutes and in the meantime checked the passenger's list only to find my full name at 54. She too was very much surprised about this co-incidence. Later we did talk about this incidence for a while and continued our talks happily till late night. Return journey was indeed satisfying!

I am sure everyone would have come across many of these kind of co-incidences. I would be more than happy to hear from you too.

Hyderabad 10K run!

"RUN FOR... YOUR FRIENDS, RUN FOR YOUR CHILDREN, RUN FOR THE POLAR BEAR, RUN FOR YOUR RIGHTS, RUN FOR YOUR HEALTH, RUN FOR YOUR FITNESS, RUN FOR THE WOMEN'S CAUSE, RUN FOR THE FORT, RUN FOR THE LAKE, RUN FOR A BETTER LIFESTYLE, DON'T STOP, RUN FOR SPORTS, RUN FOR THE FUTURE, RUN FOR THE GOOD TIMES, RUN FOR THE NOT-SO-GOOD TIMES, RUN FOR SOMEONE, RUN FOR HYDERABAD, RUN FOR YOURSELF, JUST RUN, CELEBRATE THE SPIRIT OF HYDERABAD"

I got an opportunity to participate in a marathon event conducted in Hyderabad on 30th Nov. I had this idea of running in a marathon since many days. I remember missing out on couple of occasions before in Chicago and Bangalore. But this time, the timing was right and I got few days to prepare for the long run. Considering the fact that I didn't have any previous experience in these long runs, I set my target to 10kms and not the half-marathon amongst the 2 options available in the event.

Well, the day started off early as all the participants were requested to assemble at 6am at People's plaza which is situated next to the Hussain sagar lake in Hyderabad. The route fixed for the 10kms run: People's Plaza, Necklace Road ->Sanjeevaiah Park -> Sailing Club -> Tank Bund -> Ambedkar Statue -> Secretariat and back to People's Plaza, Necklace Road. This is the best route one can come up with in this city as this forms the circumference of Hussain sagar lake. The weather was perfect for the run - cloudy and breezy. Huge crowd turned up on this event, an overwhelming response to be appreciated. You could see children, senior citizens, people on wheelchairs - quite a scene to witness!

The start was delayed by few mins, thanks to the VIP's been invited and the related activities planned for them. Nonetheless, that didn't dampen the spirit a bit :). I noted 7:35am as the start tick and begun my run along with my couple of friends to whom I had told 'We are going to complete the run at any cost' - many a times! I ran the first 4 - 5 kms at a nice pace of 10 - 11 kph but had to slow down later as I hadn't run more than 5kms in one stretch before. My legs felt some kind of numbness after few more kms, but was determined to continue my jog. Running along with ever enthusiastic children, athletes and other determined people is a nice feeling. During the last 4kms phase, my friend who had lost some speed, returned and we encouraged each other and finally reached the finish line with a timing of 63 mins. Frankly speaking, sighting the finish line was such a satisfying feeling. We later stood near the finish line relaxing to see others finish the race. All congratulated, applauded each other for completing the race, for the effort and for the spirit!

Today when I checked the official site for the results and timings, I noticed that I stand at 207th position with a timing of 1:12:38(which I really doubt;-))! Quite a satisfying event.

Peninsula state park, Wisconsin

Door county was our destination this weekend for a nice fun n activity filled outing. Door county in Wisconsin is about 5 hours drive from my present abode in Arlington Heights, Illinois. We were 15 of us and started off in the early hours with the intension of reaching at around 11am and have sufficient time for our activities. On this cold day with temperature between 3 - 10 C, we planned to hike in the dazzling fall colors of nature, a round of kayaking and biking in the woods. Due to some delay in reaching the county, we had to settle for just kayaking. But let me tell you, it was one of the nicest activity and everyone were happy at the end with just one :)

Nicolet bay in Peninsula state park was the starting point. And one good thing about this place is that we have a small island about a Km from the shore. All 15 of us started off the bay in double and single kayaks heading towards this small island. I actually didn't have any plans of reaching this island considering the distance to be covered, but the group had already decided to! Well, I started off slowly posing for the cameras ;-) and then looked around only to witness one of the beautiful places I have been to. Then began the race to reach the island, uff.. it was tiring. The only problem with the boat was, it didn't move straight :-D rather we didn't row it straight! But its quite an effort to actually control the pace and at the same time, give proper direction to the boat. After about half an hour later we reached the island huffing and puffing. The group with jubilant feeling and sense of accomplishment stood there posing for snaps:) Our group was the only one to be on the island during that time, otherwise we would have been welcomed by a round of applause for sure!

We headed back immediately just to make sure we reach the shore back within the allotted time of an hour and hence avoid the fine;-) The return journey was more fun-filled, well, thanks to my partner and friends who started off splashing the cold water using double-bladed paddles. That one hour of kayaking was simply great!

After sometime, we reached the 'Eagle towers' which stands tall to provide the best view of the Peninsula state park. This view is undoubtedly one of the best gifts you can give to your eyes!! I can simply say, the most beautiful scene of nature I have ever seen so far. The tower gives us the view of the small island, the long stretch of the shoreline, dense woods with the initial fall colors and never-ending view of green bay in front!

Indeed a colorful weekend to end with for this fall'08 in US.