The Joy of cycling

I invested in a second hand cycle for around 2.5 k. The cycle is a Hercules TurboDrive. I initially thought of using the cycle to commute from my home to St. Thomas Mount Railway Station which is just 3 Km. But I had to drop it for 2 reasons.

1.       You will sweat profusely

2.       The Road is dominated by motor vehicle its getting very intimidating and risky

So I decided to use cycle only for exercise and for some light travelling.

It was very challenging to start cycling after almost a decade gap and it was very exhausting. But the joy of cycling is very exhilarating.  

After traveling in scooty all these years, travelling in cycle looks very less noisy and there is a sense of proud that I’m reducing my carbon foot print and also improving my fitness.

I have started a project called ‘know your neighborhood’. I have been in this place since childhood but had never explored all the pathways and also never registered the street name. So I have taken it upon myself to memorize the street name and also to explore some of the streets which I had never gone before.

The Ring road is nearby and  people go for walking and jogging early morning. I used to go to that place using scooty but now using my cycle. So my exercise is starting the time I leave home.

Exercise Literature

The one that I’d referred time and again is “Fusion Fitness”. In one of Hanselminutes, Hansleman interviewed a fitness guy, who suggested three main strength training. I read it again here (thanks to a link from Hanselminutes)

Here is my notes

Lift a weight so heavy you can lift it only once, you're building strength (and, oddly, not much mass); lift a weight you can move six to 12 times, you're building mass (and, oddly, a little less pure strength); ease up to a weight you can lift 50 times, and you're working muscular endurance (which is great for endurance sports but tends to undermine the first three, shrinking your strength, power, and muscle size).

Dead lift, Bench Press, Squat - These are the best exercise

Taken from here

Should I invest in Barbell? Do I need a bench or can I Start with Floor Press

The Interpretation of Murder – Review

I read this book because it had Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as one of the several characters. Yes there are just so many characters and Freud is not really central, but I’m happy with what little space this novel had kept for these 2 characters. The Dialogues especially of Freud are beautiful.

I read a book to understand culture and to understand a person’s feelings. I’m not good in visualizing scenes and I don’t really read a murder mystery. So even though the author had painstakingly painted a historical picture of New York, I was just indifferent towards it.

This is a historical psychological thriller with several characters and after you completed the book, even though you knew that you dint guess the ending, you will realize that it was good that you dint guess.

There are various twists and you know rationally that all these things are plain impossible, even though the author tries hard to give reason for everything. It’s too complicated and so very artificial. After two-thirds of the novel, the story becomes a plain thriller and you lose interest.

After the novel ended the author explains where he used his imagination and where he used the facts. Now that’s interesting, the author had painstaking researched a lot and that’s a lot of hard work. It’s a good commercial historical thriller worth reading.

Good bye Gym

Historically I had time and again enroll to gym, assuming that it was a good investment for health. And I try to go to gym regularly since I had paid a lot of money. I did not have good experience in gym, there are some tough guys showing off and you being a meek try to keep a low profile. Also the Gym instructor wants you to recruit him as a persontrainer and doesn’t care about you until you go in for a trainer package.

Enough is enough… I want to simplify life. I think we knew reasonably well about what is needed to be in shape and healthy. Fitness is important and the basic fitness can be achieved by any individual. Gym is just one of the many ways. I wanted to explore other ways.

1.  Martial Arts – I did research on this too. Good instructor is very hard and the training cost is becoming very high. I decided to shelve this plan for now
2. Sports – I would love to play, but with IT life and no vacant space and unavailability of people I will shelve this also for the time being
3. Your own exercise regime

I’m going to try option #3. This will be the cheapest but requires a tremendous will.

The first step towards developing the will, using the public medium blog. Announcing the start of Fitness Diary.

I hope I see this blog several years later and feel happy on what I have achieved.

Wish me good luck!

Aim: My Pant Size is 34 I want to make it 32 by May (3 months timeframe)

Exercise Regime to start with

If in home – Push up, yoga exercise with focus on tummay reduction, Squats, Cobra Push up and some free kicks.

If outside its cycling and jogging

The greatest Pain

When you love someone, you will be happy when they reciprocate it. Do you feel sad when they hate you? Or is there another act which that person can do for you, which will inflict pain.

Lets take an example, say you show your report card to your father. If he is happy for you - good, if he gets sad and worried about you then it’s kind of ok. What if he doesn’t even care he just signs it and gives it back to you.

Indifference is the greatest pain! It’s the huge insult which can be given by a person to another. We can all talk about doing an act which will make you happy.  Even if you are doing an act socially you are doing it to make yourself happy. So we may say that it doesn’t matter if someone is indifferent.

But it’s not really practical! We may be happy doing the act but when we learn about the indifference of the consumer of the act are we still happy?

But doesn’t a loving mother do a lot of selfless acts for her child, even if that child is indifferent.

Yes, but its an exception because the mother is seeing the child ‘as a part of’ her.

Act of love doesn’t really mean your act towards someone. Act of love also means doing something that you love. It can even be a piece of art; it can be your everyday job. Whatever you do, you touch other’s life and if you put your heart into it and still you get indifference from the other side. Then?

You end up doing nothing at all. If you open your heart into something (or someone), there is a chance that it will be broken, broken by an act of indifference.

How do we handle this?

 First things first, we should not stop our acts. Because if you stop doing what you love, then you don’t exist. Second, we should accept that external things will not change- people may continue to be indifferent. Third, become a karma yogi.

Karma Yogi could be a high concept. But nothing wrong in working towards that if it guarantees less pain.

We should dedicate our work to God, believing that He loves and cares for us. He takes time to see what we have been doing.

 But how could He have time?

 Because He is timeless.

But how can I dedicate an act of love to somebody to God?

It’s basically still karma, still some action. Even if you are thinking about someone now, it’s technically an act, a mental act

It still doesn’t make sense I do something for someone or on something. This is totally unrelated to God?

Everything is God. Both you and that someone and that something ‘is part of’ Him. If you take out God nothing remains.

Does God really exist?

That’s out of topic, we are talking about belief which doesn’t require proof.

If a belief makes you happy, it’s good enough. If you can continue your act of love and can still smile on the face of indifference, then it’s good.

And one more thing act like God.

Be sensitive. When you suspect someone doing something: an act of love, a piece of act, a mundane work which he thinks he has done well. Acknowledge it, tell him.

Now take a moment and reflect on this. God has created this wonderful universe, this is a piece of art from him. It’s so magnificent that we may never able to fathom it. But we are indifferent! Isn’t it? 

Actors Physical suffering - The Sorry state of Tamil Cinema

Wow Suryva developed Six Pack for '7am Arivu'

Vishal displays squint eyes in 'Avan Ivan'

My name is Shaam and I did not sleep for 6 days so that I get a puffy eyes, why 6 days. Hey the movies name is 6!

My name is Arya I did not comb my hair for 6 months. I did the Sirasasanam, which a yoga instructor said that it will take 2 years, but I did in 3 months.

"I mean look how dedicated I'm", the actors shout at you, "See how I suffer and how much I am committed"

It seems Bala had said, "See Arya suffered a lot. I think he needs to be awarded"

This is defeatism., you have technology in place to do a lot of things for you.Why you suffer, is it really justified that a person should go through a hell lot of physical suffering to do the act? All these sufferings are market gimmicks.

Did Shivaji Ganesan took any physical suffering. Did he said that I will do a six pack for Raja Raja Cholan?
Shivaji is considered a master actor, he put his heart and soul into acting.
He would have done his home work on the characters that he need to portray  But I dont think he altered himself physically.
Inspite of him not physically representing the character, he still made us feel that he is the Character. Thats acting!


You can always buy some accessories in those days and can use technology now to get the physical appearance of that character but please don't focus on the physical strain of the actor as the selling  point! This is outright silly!

If A.R Murugadoss made some effort in putting a decent story in 7am Arivu instead of asking Surya to develop six pack. It would have been good for Tamil Cinema.
7am Arivu ended as an one dimensional Tamil Patriotic movie. I am a Tamilian and I was not at all proud watching this movie. I was worried if Chinese sees this movie and declare a war on us!



Focus on the content and on acting and don't make people alter their physique, ask them to work on their diction, mannerism that's acting.

If you want a person with some physique go and look for him,don't ask an actor to alter himself.
If you want a person to play handicap in a movie, will you make him handicap!

It seemed Vikram worked hard for the Blind character in Kasi, but unfortunately it boomed in the Box office.
What was more unfortunate was Vikram's eyes became weak and he had to wear spectacles!

The Actor's life is extremely fragile. Cinema is an extremely unreliable field. He can be a star today and then he is part of several movies which becomes flop and then no one gives him even a guest role and he need to maintain his status. He cannot just come back to the streets.

Lets use the Actors wisely and lets put content first and do meaningful movie. Let the movie speak for itself don't promote it on an actors suffering. Use technology and accessories wisely.

The Passion of Christ is considered to be an authentic portrait of the last days of Jesus Christ. The Lead actor who played Jesus was not asked to grow a beard!
The makeup man did the job!