I clocked the last 2 runs at an incredible pace ( by my standards )

10Kms in 1 Hour 2 minutes.

If you are a pro I can hear your chuckle. But this is a 37 year old who had not run or worked out till 35 years of his life – and was never those athletic types.

And here I am – clocking better and better timings.

July 2012 I did 10K in 1 Hour 8 minutes

May 2012 I did 10K in 1 Hour 18 minutes

Nov 2011 I did 10K in 1 Hour 35 minutes

Feels as if my pace is increasing. The real reason for better timings is nowadays I don’t take any breaks while running – not even slowing down for a walk. I am getting efficient in running. My pace seems to be the same.

I am growing well when it comes to running!

And this makes me happier.

But this happiness will not last long. I will be gloating over this 10k timings for another 2 or 3 runs and my happiness will wane. Then I will be setting a new target – either 10k under 1 hour or 12.5k.

Why I am doing this? Why am I not satisfied with my new timings? Am I greedy?

This running-growth-happiness is – I believe – is human evolution in a nut-shell. We always keep looking for faster, stronger and higher records.

Recently I heard an Oxford University lecture on brain – “Dopamine” floods the brain when the records get broken and makes the brain happy. And the brain wants more and more records to get broken because of this. This is a positive feedback cycle – which in turns lifts mankind as a whole.

Marathon ( 42 Kms )  was once the ultimate test for human endurance. But the last few years runners are pushing 100Kms and more.

Take any other field – we have invented Flights and can travel to anywhere around the globe quickly – but why aren’t we resting on our laurels – why are we exploring Space Travel – why do we rejoice when records get broken – be it the Olympics or the world record for maximum hot dogs eaten?

Because in Growth lies our Happiness.

And in Growth lies our evolution to a better species.

Sorry if I have disappointed you since i did not touch on the negative aspects of growth that leads to  global warming, amassing illegal wealth, corruption etc. in this post – I am on a runners high now 🙂

Few weeks back I was reunited with Starbucks. And here is the story.

Way back in 2001, I was a FOB ( Fresh out of the Boat ), in Louisiana State University ( LSU ), Baton Rouge. While roaming around the campus I came across this Coffee shop in the campus Bookshop which was serving coffee at 4$. And it had a funny name – Starbucks.

Right opposite it was McDonalds – and for 4.5$ I could get a good filling burger, french fries and a large coke drink – enough for that day’s hunger needs. ( it was 2001 – I was still young and was burning Bank of India loan money and was in the midst of an economic downturn in my life. ). I added a mental note to check this coffee shop someday.

I don’t remember when I had my first cuppa – would be after I got an assistantship most probably – but for a coffee addict the taste and caffeine kick was out of the world. I remember I had a Caramel Frappuccino and it had stayed from that day since as my favourite.

Much later, in 2006 when I started work at ThoughtWorks, Chicago, when I stepped out of the train station there was a Starbucks. It became my daily ritual to pick up a Grande Non-Fat Cappuccino – yes I became health conscious and reserved Frappuccino for those special occasions. After a few days (  or weeks ), the Barristas knew my pattern and the moment they saw me enter the door, they will immediately place an order. I will join the queue and by the time I reached the cash register, the drink will be ready and I will get it in my hand immediately ( other muggles had to wait for their drink after paying!).

Forgot to mention – everywhere I went they will have problem calling out my name or writing it on the cup – Venkat was so difficult for Americans to pronounce!

Then in mid 2006 we moved back to India ( http://kvrlogs.blogspot.in/2006/06/moving-back-to-india.html ). Starbucks was #10 in the list of things I missed the most. Perhaps I can strike it out now.

Every time when I got into a CCD or a Barista – I would wonder – when will Starbucks come to India. Sometime in December 2011 I read a news item that Starbucks in Partnership with Tata is coming to India.

Later I read the first Starbucks is to open in Mumbai in October 2012. I was even more excited – as I am in Mumbai now.

I could not go to the first day opening show – but went on the 2nd week. Took a train from Kandivali to Churchgate ( 1+ hours ), was a nice 20minutes walk from Churchgate to Fort, stood in line and ordered – you can guess it – a Caramel Frappuccino. Waited for the drink to arrive – the Barristas this time had no problem calling out my name.

Sangeeta found a table and chair in the mezzannine floor. Settled down and took the first sip after so many years.

Bliss!

Yesterday morning I woke up to see the news of the passing away of Moorthy Uncle in our Apartment Complex. He was an enthusiastic retired Bank Manager – full of knowledge and vision – and it’s a big loss to our community.  He was an initiator of eco-projects and also kept a reality check on us in our Association dealings.

I was sad initially but then started thinking – every year some 10% of the people I know are bound to pass away. When Steve Jobs passed away I got sad. Some day the other people I “worship” are all going to pass away.

Wouldn’t life be too depressing? – to wake up every day to mourn.

Perhaps it’s time I take a second look at death and look in its eyes. The souls who are here are done with this adventure – Jobs created the PC industry, Tablet industry, Phone industry, Moorthy Uncle in his stint as a Bank Official must have made a difference to many lives who I will never know – but I know that he started eco projects in our Apartment Complex.  Now they are all off to their next adventure.

This brings us to the 2 different philosophies on death.

Eastern Philosophy

It’s about re-incarnation and the soul moves on from one set of experiences to the other. The soul experiences all it can in this lifetime, and learns new things – and this does not go waste. These experiences/learnings get carried over to the next life time. That’s why some people can always do certain unbelievable things that makes us wonder and say “he just did it as if he was born knowing it”.

This teaches us to treat nature with care. I better save this earth, as next lifetime when I come here I need to breathe.

Western Philosophy

For a long time I believed this side of the story. This life is one shot, it’s one opportunity that we have got – so we better make good use of it and not squander it away.

Try as much as possible to “experience” and “live” life. Make the most of this one opportunity to experience life. After this there is going to be none. zilch.

Love this thought – and in fact have been living my life based on this. I got bored after a couple of years in my salaried life ( TCS 2 years, LSU 2 years, Compuware 1 year, Thoughtworks 2.5 years ) and got an urge/itch to move on to a new adventure.  Exception being 3Five8 – my startup – this is my fifth year – and each day is still an adventure.

There are some down sides to this western philosophy – shining example is the Obama land – they live life like there is no tomorrow – over consumption, destroying hectares of land for a Sunday morning coupon newspaper, gas guzzlers… and in spite of the Katrinas and Sandys they are still debating – is the globe really warming?

The good thing about this is – when Steve Jobs got to know he had little time left of this life – he did more of the living. He was so focussed he pulled out an iPhone and iPad – and set the entire human civilisation on a different path. ( Ok thats a little too hyperbolic but one cannot deny that he made a huge dent ). Had he just given up and sat depressed and prayed for a longer and healthier stint next time – what a bummer our life would have been. We will all still have the horrible touch screens of Nokia phones and twitter/facebook might not even have taken off.

What is the takeaway for me?

When someone passes away – instead of feeling sad and depressed – I will try to know more about the adventure they had in this lifetime. The difference they made to others.  Talk to their closest friends and relatives – about the moments they had together. Appreciate and remember their adventure.

Try to find areas of inspiration. There is a reason why everyone is here and try to find out the reason this soul was here. We are all here to keep pushing mankind to the next level – one step at a time – getting inspired and inspiring others.

So death is a lot more than mourning and depression..