A fervent plea

Dear Mother Earth,
When I was a child I loved Cadbury Dairy milk chocolates.  So much that I wanted to marry into the family that made the chocolates, hence ensuring a regular and infinite supply of my faves. My little head did not know it was easier to ask for just a  regular and infinite supply and  the means are irrelevant.
Now that I am an adult, my wish is fulfilled (regular and infinite supply bit, not the marrying Cadbury Jr bit). But freak of nature, I have turned into this fitness loving adult. Now Even before the chocolate has melted down my throat, Guilt raises its ugly hydra head from within . I  make mental calculations of the meals I have to skip or the longer I have to run to burn the dreaded silken sinful calories.
Moral of the story- Not all we wish for ,comes true....and even if it does, it is not always good for us.

Dear Ma 
You wished to reset yourself 
So you unleash this virus on us. 
Apparently you are shut down for repairs.
Let me explain why this is not the best for you

so I am 0.00000000013 th of the people who inhabit you. Why would my plea move you?
it is because it is an earnest one.
Agreed we people had no regard for you and we rampantly abused you and your resources. 
It has been 3 weeks in my 0.00000000013 part of the world. We have cleaned our homes...corners that were never visited have been sanitised...ditto the food, clothes, roads. Have learned to work without maids. A Japanese perpendicular bow respect for them. Our families have become "Maid for each other" Sick of snacking, hate all those dumb indoor workouts. Even insta feeds of our Bollywooders is in pajamas and night suits. 
even the meme makers are done with this
Clapped and lit lamps for the cops, sanitary workers... I will come to the health care workers in a bit. 
You are so beautiful . You need to be appreciated and that can be done only outdoors.
Internet has bailed everyone from a child to the stuck indoors grans . Reconnected with high school friends ,checked up on old and forgotten aunts and uncles.Tech challenged oldies now can make video calls and digital payments. You taught an old dog new tricks. We also are no 1 trick ponies. Talent permitting we have tried baking, sewing, learning foreign language.
Got out the bard, singer, dancer etc in us
You have sucked the joy out of binge watching, bunking work, making up dumb excuses to shirk that annoying bit ....Social distancing has made it all legal....how does that even work
humans are social beings....this is the anti thesis of our existence
we have done it all 
now lets us just get back to work
you r a mom 
you can take some bit of pollution, here n there
such pure air does no good to anyone
n it is a long time to heal yourself...after wolfing up so many of our bretheren …overwhelming our health care and pride.....inspite of our best efforts
and a virus is your weapon...seriously … a real low or small should I say
  

 For my bit I have always switched off every fan and light when I left the room. Took public transport even when inconvenient so as to decrease my carbon foot print Carried cloth bags and avoided plastics, compost my waste,always supported local produce.....All so that you don't get chocked that 0.00000000013 bit. I am a right leaning environmentalist....I occasionally indulge in air travel, a tub bath, eat Austrian cold cuts in Goa, retail therapy etc

As a Doctor I can speak for myself. I have trained for 11.5 years to prevent, diagnose and treat ailments. It is my job. I can live without the bouquets or the brickbats. Much like the chocolate soldier of George Bernard Shaw play. I want to carry chocolates.......Cadbury Dairy Milk ones
Spare us
Get rid of this virus.... he is no friend
let us be.... a little carefree....and breathe free

Feb moon filleth my cup over

Fun facts of the February 2020 full moon
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, February's full moon is called the "Snow Moon" because in midnorthern latitudes, that's when the weather tends to be coldest and snowiest. 

 The Cree called it the Kisipisim, or the Great Moon or The Hunting Moon, describing it as a time when "animals do not move around much, and trappers have little chance of catching them."

  OK ....so this is all available on the net and why should it matter to me
Apparently a lot.... 

I became a proud owner of a girl physiology roadie(yes...feminism insists on reinventing the wheel too) Polygon Divine.The single reason I bought it, in spite of being advised against it by well wishing expert cyclists is the name Divine....Divya means Divine....The cycle was a match made in cycling Valhalla for me
I lovingly named her Moga- my loved one in Konkani
Now the ground reality...the wheels feel very unstable, the drop down position has my neck crying out in pain and what my little tush feels on that narrow seat is a different hell altogether-- 
Some cupids kill with arrows mine kills with the saddle....

I signed up for the Xaxti Full moon ride - The same Feb moon- The Snow Moon-The  Great Moon....you get the drift
Besides the moon being full,  my life also was crazy full this weekend...I had a National Cardiac Anesthesia Conference, A Funfair stall organising child, A recuperating mother in law all happening at the same time....my cup was just filleth over. Amol held it all in for me and also volunteered to partake in the full lunatic ride.....
Saturday evening ....I arrived at the jungle lodge in stilettos and conference look .... Thankfully I transformed to the 'I am crazy cyclist' mode quickly, much to all other cyclists relief...I can imagine their horror ....one look at me and the cycling enthusiasts could see their ride fall apart

The ride started with a quick briefing , on time (even joy rides are so professionally conducted),  warnings about the wild animals, speeding motor vehicle bound homo sapiens, ways of the jungle were all noted....A support vehicle...supporting veteran cyclist looking out for newbies like us....had us cycle over a 60 km into the thick of the Netravali forests, in the thick of the night with only the moon shining over us......

 Amol and me cycled stretches by ourselves under the starlit skies, 
" A family that cycles together always stays together"( for all the reluctant spouses, a reason to pedal away)
 We finished the ride strong inspite of the biting cold winds of the Western Ghats and were treated to a sumptuous dinner , a warm hearth and hospitality of Johnny , our cycling Host.  
Sameer and his team (I know them by their cycles and jerseys but not by name)  have a definite berth in the cycling Valhalla. To look out for weaklings and to care for others more than self restores faith in humanity
If cycling is the food of the soul, pedal on......

Just while the moon had me mooning over, I had a presentation at the Cardiac Conference in the the next 8 hours.....As usual Amol rose to the occasion, had me in the next few hours in the Saving Lives Doctor mode on....Overwhelmingly I won a prize at the National level for my Poster.....The joy indescribable ...my moment of glory.....my moment under the sun.....

I was not really done gushing over my sweet victory , my son had a stall at the evening Funfair and the mother in me took over for the next 8 hours...
Aditya's string the ring, but don't ring it was a major hit among kids and adults alike.....
He envisioned it, paid for the expenses with his pocket money, got it executed by his handy man, had me market his product at the stall......First few lessons in entrepreneurship were well executed.... He even won a Best Stall prize for it. I was so proud of him.
When a parent gives to the son,both laugh
When a son gives back to a parent, both cry....tears of joy


All these major wins happened from one moon rise to the other....The full moon indeed filleth my cup over.
 
PS- Also this is my leap year full moon....my birthday year..... my wish fulfilling moon....my Feb moon

I run to write and I write to run

Ok that time of the year when all lace up for a race ... in Vasco, the GOa River Marathon
This time around it was the 10th edition... as good as their reputation goes in organising such a large scale event in a small town, is their sheer love for running. Their attention to details about the requirements of so many kinds of runners is so unique. Let me illustrate this with an example
Running is an easy sport but a lot of variables can alter our finish times. And naturally as humans we have unrealistic expectations too. ( Else why would anyone sign up a second time to run a full marathon) So we curse the route, seasons, humidity, work stresses, shoes,socks,morning blues, dogs barking at a distance etc for the poor show on the race day .But all runners without an exception will exhalt about the well organised race. Like the loving mother who fusses over all her children we were given the best
Ok now my running story .... my 42.2 kms... the whole story
Reference to this for a quick recall. .http://triviadivya.blogspot.com/2018/12/i-lived-to-tell-tale.html .. I wanted to do the same thing again... why
Like the lady in labor pains who vows never to have another child but returns back promptly for the next edition.... like the student who promises to study better the next time if the exams are cleared this time.....
The  first 42.2 kms hurt just as much and I somehow forgot how I barely got out alive to tell the tale
I was just as unprepared ... the mind body mismatch was just as much .... in my mind a marathon is easy peasy for me but my legs screamed something else the whole time
My 2 cents worth ....
The tough thing about running a marathon is waking up at an unearthly hour in the name of practice....
Tougher than that is trying to move ones bowels before the race.... the lighter one is, the faster one is on the feet , right
Toughest part is wearing the correct shoes  .... I walked out with both right leg shoes in the wee hours of the morning ... I managed such an impossible thing how difficult a second full marathon could be

17 November 2019
2:00 am - I am going to have the best race of my live
4:30 am - I will finish this race in 5 hours
4:45 am - As the 5 hours pacer ran past me , Mind says the 5:30 guys are still way behind
5:08 am - 5:30 bus is closing in rapidly,  Mind says Cmon I can keep up
6:20 am - I am struggling to keep up with 5:30 bus..but like the reassuring sounds of a cardiac monitor about the patient being alive ; the flapping 5:30 bus flag kept me hoping n running
n Amit has the repute of being on time, always.. Indigo must have picked up their tag line from him..
7:00 am- I need to get out of this alive... I have a family, dogs , menagerie to care for after all
From this point onwards I went into a running coma... mind gives up.... legs keep moving because they have done so from the first year of life
Seriously what was I thinking
If I have run a marathon before I am prepared for another one
Like the exam paper where the questions are out but I still don’t know the answers
I did not blame the route or the weather.... just myself .... as if that helps
No one said it was easy.... except my Mind of course

When all is bleak God sends angels , seriously I saw the wings and the works in the running delirium
A fellow runner , Chandra who talked me to the turn around point

A fellow cyclist, Sunil, egged me to the finish line ... the last 7.5 kms I was the ICU patient and S was the ventilatior that breathed life into me, breath after breath, unfailingly

I ran and ran real hard on the finish line timing mat.....joined by a fellow doctor Siddhesh  who didn’t let me stop running in the last 100 metres also
I FINISHED @ 5hour 52minutes ....way off what I set out for...but 4 minutes shaved off my previous timing .....so I am proud of that.....way tougher than I expected ... but I have forgotten that

The joy of stepping on the mat.. to loud cheers from friends .... to a warm embrace of Amol (who supports this madness inspite of not subscribing to it)... to wobbly knees that is going to hurt for the next few days ... I am reborn.... and that is why we run marathons.   .... Year after year..
( A veteran once told me he had run 5 full marathons and each one was differently difficult)
one wants to feel life breathed in to you again , after it has been sucked out..... fills a runner up to the brim.... overflowing with the joys  unexplainable
   Thanks people..... all who have made me see another sunset....