London Olympics 2012

Has been nearly a month since i wrote this blog. Been quite busy over the last few weekends. Had the privilege to see the Australian Olympics team and touch an Olympic medal. Boy, they are heavy.

Photo taken during the Olympic Parade in Melbourne on Aug 2012.

My favourite memories from the London Olympics.

Swimming: I started following swimming closely after the last Beijing Olympics when Stephanie Rice ruled the pool and won three gold medals. Even though he put a brave show it was sad to see her not win any medals this Olympics. However she still got the attention of the media along with Kobe Bryant. Michael Phelps gave us a golden farewell but my favourite Olympic swimming moment is associated with James Magnussen, the Missile after his trials in the 4X100 m relay he spoke to the media suggesting it was an easy swim for him and something like he was not feeling the pressure. At that time, the entire media was praising how confident he was. However, after the finals when the aussie team came fourth due to him he was termed as over confident, arrogant and cocky. Such is life, the world judges you by your achievements. Felt sorry for him again when he missed the gold medal by 1/100 of a second.

Tennis: It was nice to see Federer pulling back his semi final match against Del Potro. However was happy for Andy winning the gold in front of his home crowd especially after the emotional Wimbledon final. He thoroughly deserved this one.

 

Hockey: There were very high expectations from the Indian Hockey team but they were winless in this Olympics. The most irritating part was the blue turf with a pink border, not sure of the players but it was not a good experience watching it over the T.V.

Basket Ball: Have always been a big fan of Basketball and the timings of the matches suited me perfectly, I was able to watch the matches early in the morning before I start for work. The game was Aus vs Russia was good where Patty mills pulled off a blinder in the last few seconds. However, the best game was Aus vs the dream team of USA, the Australians showed the world that the team USA is beatable. Though the dream team pulled it off in the 4^th quarter, the final score line doesn’t suggest how close the game was.

Athletics: I will start with the blade runner, Oscar Pistorius. The first time I read about him I thought what Oscar to do with Olympics. It is a truly inspirational story and hats off to the country and the IAAF who has supported him to this level. It was heart breaking to see him not run the 4X400 metres relay heats but it was nice to see the decision to allow them to participate in the final. Looking forward to see him run on the big stage. My best moment of Olympics 2012 is associated with Usain Bolt, not only did he prove the world he is a living legend, he is cool and down to earth. It was nice to see him stop the interview when the American anthem was being played in the background, Respect. Looking forward to his visit down under next month, hope I get the opportunity to meet the legend.

Missing Satyameva Jayate

Satyameva Jayate will be truly missed after last week aired the final episode of Season 1. I always thought why corruption was not brought up as an issue. It could be one of two reasons, either it is something aamir and his team dont have the courage to showcase or an hour's slot was not sufficient to talk about this and they might need an entire season to talk about this.

However, Aamir had a different perspective. He dedicated the last episode to people who deserve to be recognised for their selfless acts and who never got the limelight they deserved. We often criticise people, who have done anything wrong more than encourage people doing the right things. I guess the media has a major role in shaping the way we think. Today people of India know Amarjyoti Kalita, the pig who molested a teenage girl in Guwahati but how many of us know about Sunita Krishanan, the iron lady who has rescued several thousands of women and children from sex trafficking and slavery. Even if the media had used 5% of the time they spent on Amarjyoti for a reasonable cause or on people like Sunita, they would have changed our perceptions.

Obtained from the internet. A truly inspiring show

Could nt have asked for a better finish to a touching finale of Satyameva Jayate. My favourite section was none other than the section by Sunita. Just when i thought what an amazing women she is, i was moved by her talk on Ted. Another person who belongs to the same league is Narayanan Krishnan. Seeing all these, i feel privileged and thank god for all that he has given me. Satyendra Dubey, was another great story, his voice against corruption brought him a lot of laurels and sadly his death. I always thought one man cannot make a difference but i was proven wrong by both Aamir and Satyendra Dubey.

Looking forward to the next season of Satyameva Jayate and sincerely hope the fire started by the first season doesnt slow down.

The Dark Knight Rises & London Olympics 2012

Last week had the privilege to watch the "The Dark Knight Rises" in IMAX, Melbourne. Stuck on to the seat for the entire movie and it was an amazing experience. Mr. Nolan you rock and Christian Bale you were awesome. Can't wait for the next sequel. Felt sorry for the shootings in US and the stories of how three men died using their bodies as shields to save their loved ones.

On the personal front, I had bought my first ferrari and lamborghini a couple of weeks back. They are a 1:10 replica and boy am having fun with the remote. My parents are behind me to create my portfolio shoot for the bride hunting, i feel like a commodity which is up for sale. I know in today's world presentation is as important as content but in my case i am very clear, i am "Not for Sale". So might end up asking my friend to take a couple of snaps to keep them happy.

Difference between boys & men is the price of their toys - My Ferrari & Lamborghini  

I was nervous initially how i would handle the added responsibilities but having a good time at work, settling down in my new role. On the fitness front, kicked off my marathon training, last week  had a couple of good runs and registered for the Melbourne marathon 10k event. Hope to complete this time within an hour, guess the half marathon will have to wait for another year. 

The London Olympics kicked off yesterday morning with a bang, awesome display by Danny Boyle mixed with rock and English Humour. The Queen skydiving to the venue, Mr bean on show was a nice touch. My top picks will be tennis, swimming and athletics. Hope, the olympics motivate me to run that extra yards in my marathon training.

Top 5 regrets of dying people

Came across this blog and found it to be a very good read. In summary this is a blog that has been published now as a book by a Australian palliative care nurse and here are the top 5 regrets of the dying people she has had to nurse over the years. Ironically, a lot of us will not even have the time to read this now but will experience this at some point of time. More details can be found here

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

Sunset years 

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

Mt Buller revisited 5.0

Started writing this a few weeks ago but could not add much beyond the title, am happy finally am able to pen my thoughts down. Completed by fifth trip to Mt Buller on the first week of July. It not only was it an good break to transition myself from one project to another but it was one of my best weekend getaways.

It started on Friday afternoon, i told my boss that i need to leave around 2pm for my Mt Buller trip. He asked me to leave @ 12pm, may him and his tribe live long. I was the only person with a valid licence or you could say i was the only guy who was keen on driving so picked up a Kia Carnival and started our trip. I was a bit tired but was able to drive to Mansfield with a single break, the drive was nice and i kind of liked the car, it was new, spacious and powerful.After having pizza there, and picking up some of the rental snow gears we started our journey to Mt Buller Village. As usual we picked up the snow chains which we knew we will never use.We reached the village around 8 pm, parked the car and then picked up a taxi for our apartment.

Entrance of our apartment, nice and cosy

The taxi driver welcomed us to Mt Buller and started sharing the details of his trip to India and finally told something which broke our hearts. He said that we had come at a good time, tomorrow will be a nice warm sunny day. We were like we have driven 4 hrs, planned overnight stays and were so hopeful to come to snow with the expectation of snow fall. He suggested it is better to ski in a sunny clear day and he was correct. Our apartment was beautiful 3 bedroom apartment which could sleep 8 people. We quickly picked up our beds, i got the preference as i was the official driver.While my friends were enjoying Chivas, I was a bit tired so took a paracetamol drink and slept off.


Day 1, Saturday was fun as our group woke up late and got ready just in time when the restaurants stop taking orders for breakfast. However, a bunch of us decided to ski and take some lesson in the 1:30 pm slot. Though this was my fifth trip to Mt Buller, this is the only trip where i had some time, 3 of them were day trips and one of them was a day trip which turned into a weekend trip. So after some brunch option we went to the ski hire shop to hire the skis. The ski gear was cool and my ski was called rambo but the fun began when they got my ski shoes, it was a size smaller and  i begged them for a size bigger but they would not listen. The guy told me ski shoes are not for fashion they should be uncomfortable as they prevent foot injuries. I didnt have a choice so wore those shoes and picked up rambo and my skis and ski poles. I could not forget those ski boots, it felt like i was a prisoner and i had a heavy metal ball tied to my leg.I had bargained with the ski hire person that we would ski during the night and return the equipment the next morning. I now started feeling that is not going to be the case.


Finally, after a lot of struggle picked myself up and reached the area where the class was supposed to begin. The instructor was a cool guy, he taught the basics very well and within no time i was enjoying to ski. The only problem i had was to slow down or stop, which i would most often end up on the ground. I fell around 10 times during the class then i would not say i became an expert, i just stopped counting. I fell in all directions but somehow finished the two hour class, i finally gave up and removed my ski's and started my descend to the hire shop. One of the toughest journey's my ski shoes were killing me and finally i felt like a free bird when my ski shoes were removed.

Nice warm sunny day @ Mt Buller

For dinner while my friends were cooking chicken for dinner, my veg friend cooked veg stew which was wonderful and then had a glass of Chivas. Then sat down to watch the Wimbledon ladies final, was tough to see Serena winning but Radwanska gave some fight before Serena finished it off.

Sunday woke up a bit late checked out the apartment and after loading our luggages came back to the village after which we had our brunch and started for the sightseeing tour in the chair lifts and finally we went for tobogganing, i have a good experience in this sport. So finally after enjoying 2-3 hours in the toboggan, we started our return journey. The drive was again pretty good and we made it in a little over 3 hours.

Tobogganing - awesome fun 

To summarise, a great weekend trip will definitely try snow boarding and may be skiing next time as well, a lovely drive and i was a dead man on monday unable to walk straight.

Super excited

                              This is how i feel like today, no words can describe this feeling. So nothing more

Week 7 & 8 - It is over

I would be lying if i said i was busy not to update my blog for the last 15 days, i was lazy. The 8 week deadline is over, cant believe how fast time goes by. 

The good news, professional has been a couple of good weeks, i have taken up a role which is more exciting than my previous role. A lot of challenges ahead but should be fun. Even though i was looking to settle down and have a permanent job, this was something i could not resist. So professionally i have it covered for at least 9 -12 more months. On one side i have a close friend who had to rush back home to take care of his mother, on the other side i  have a boss who has spent 25 years with the same company and got quite a lot of annual leaves up his sleeve. I also have a friend who just returned from a 10 week road trip who now wants to go an year long road trip in the next couple of years. The last 8 weeks has been an exciting period, however i still don't know what i want from my professional life. I guess the best thing is to go with the flow as of now.

On the personal front, the house is shaping up good. Once the approvals are done this week, it should move out of the paper world into the real world. i still need to clean up my room and catch up with a lot of family and friends. The king Fedex is back to his best after quite some time, no comments on Serena's performance. Felt bad for the way Boucher had to leave the cricket arena. He is truly the bradman of wicket keeping. Also, had a relaxing weekend trip to Mt Buller which i will keep it aside for my next post. For now a preview of the wonderful Mt Buller.

Mt Buller Village, Victoria

On the fitness front, i am still unable to lift myself and get this sorted. I am getting pretty frustrated on this front will have to take this up seriously and i guess this will have to be taken up as a separate challenge.