Fear of loss

I was writing in my log(zimlog, as I call it) about what I would like to do during some of the weekends(or perhaps, weekdays). Traveling, maybe watch movies and definitely read books.
Traveling sounds very cliche because people keep talking about this. But yes, if given a choice between a nice big dinner treat and a weekend away, a weekend away would be the obvious choice. I think so. Now, I hope so. (Dinner sounds yum!)
And movies? I have seen very few movies. Wait before you conclude anything. I saw a lot of TV series and some of them, a lot of times. My friends tell me I am lucky! There are a lot of good movies out there. And we even have a list of movies with ratings and comments. So that is settled.
I am craving to buy a nice bookshelf. Probably, I might make one on my own. That sounds very exciting! I haven't read much either. But I have done some decent amount of reading these last two years.  I also bought some books. That reminds me- I need to be a bit more careful about not losing books. I fear losing my books. My collection of things, in general (I think I would rather use the word "misplacing"). But fine, wherever they are, someone would read them. That seems comforting.
Books, movies, conversations with friends(near and far), traveling. Some lonely time away in the company of people. Solidarity in a crowded place.

Classical evening and TGoST

Paluke bangaramayana and jo achyutananda and TMKrishna and what not. Carnatic music is bliss. So is reading.

I got two amazing books as my birthday gifts, one of which I have been carrying with me, everywhere. So to be guilt free, I will just read the novel. I will ignore the 20+tabs open with all sorts of research papers which talk of, you know, my "research" topic.  The God of Small Things. Yep, as others work on their DDPs, or maybe not.

Work in progress?

Barefoot

Simplicity. Minimalism. Barefeet.
I am trying to run with minimalist running gear. No music at times. Barefoot running is awesome.
One needs to be careful though. Injuries, gravel, glass pieces and those red insects(yes, they are back!). It connects you to the earth and the way the feet react is so different. Some zen state. Some days, time just flies. But well, I do have those days when the road seems never ending.

Photo credits- Sarthak

The moment my foot strikes the tar road, it just feels so right. The breeze gives me a gentle push as I lose myself on the roads. I am aware of the surroundings, the tiny gravel poking into my feet, my ponytail swaying, other runners overtaking me, the synchronised breathe, the occasional neon light in my watch, bright white lights of vehicles complementing the dim yellow street lights, trees arching to create some tunnel like feel.. It is just beautiful and in a way, perfect.

One last sem in insti. Just 4 months. As many mid night runs as possible. Campus is awesome in the morning, they say. I intend to run early in the mornings too. Start before sunrise and end with some nice hot breakfast in mess.

2013 Running stats and milestones

I clocked ~390 kms. My target was what, some 500ish kms. But then, one needs to listen to the body. It was a fun year!

March 3- 10k, Contours run for women, Bangalore
March10- 10k, Run for Women, Chennai
May 19- 10k, TCS, Bangalore
June 2-10K, Anandayana, Bangalore
June 9- 10k, Ajmera Thump, Bangalore

July 7- 21k, Dream Runners Half Marathon, Chennai
August 25- 21k, Airtel Hyderabad Half Marathon, Hyderabad

Goal for 2014- Run injury free. Raise funds for an NGO. Mileage for the year- 700-800km.
Auroville on Feb 9th. Bring it on.

2013 told me..

 2013 told me.. 
1. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
2. Why are you doing what you are doing?
3. What do you care what other people think?

The year in a snapshot-

• 6 awesome months with Embrace Innovations
• 2 Half marathons(21.1k) and 5 10k races- Including the Hyderabad Half!
• Training sessions with Forest Gumps and being featured on TWCM FB page 
• The hectic 9th sem- Placements, internships and BC work- Yayy!
• Goodreads Reading Challenge- 12/15 done 
• Movie screenings
• Egg factory, paratha express, chocomans

Waiting for 2014 with bigger dreams! I will come back stronger.

Getting things done- follow up

 Some things that have worked really well for me, in 2013-

• www.feedly.com - Being a newbie, I took time to customize it and stuff. But now I can spend so much time seeing(and reading) articles, photos and interesting stuff.
• Google calendar- Reminders for placements and stuff,for future events and birthday plans, sign in the dept, classes to attend and so on. 
• Things to do- excel sheet and a to do list on phone- Long term, short term, BC work, personal, office stuff. Everything went there. And so much relief! Pulled off an entire(hectic) year with just this. The system needs more systematic rules and guidelines, but nevertheless, I got started. Here is a book which really helped me - Getting things done by David Allen . 
• Labels- for GMail. It looks so much colourful now. 
• Zim- Haven't used it much but seems as a good place to write stuff. http://zim-wiki.org/

Thanks to multiple people who have introduced me to these things. Hope they work well for you. Any suggestions? How do you stay on track and get things done? 

The one in which the four meet

 I miss those school days where we would sit three in a bench and solve those maths problems. How I would always get close to the solution but never to the final answer..
Those trips to "Urs bakers" and the day when Arun's burger was delivered in a frozen state.

To all those memories and much more..

The year that was! 2013.

An year ago, before I left for Bangalore, I wrote down goals for 2013. I had no idea what was in store for me.
I accomplished around half of those goals. And a lot more which were not on the list. So much this year taught me. What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.