I have a DREAM

Everyone knows about the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. Almost everyone knows about the tough times people had to go through during those days of intense racism. Now situation has mellowed down a lot.

Still, as humans, we get flustered and confused, feel wronged and are angered at the slightest hints of racism - whether it be a snigger in the face or a gesture or the body language with which 'the other guy' uttered something in a completely foreign language. I did not realize or experience this until I started living in Singapore, a multi-racial, multi-ethnic nation where the so-called subtle racism is very prevalent. The media is frequently flooded with real-time stories of how silly racist remarks posted in social media, have cost people their career and life. There was an instance where a Singaporean lady finally immigrated to another country and had to change her name, to escape the bad publicity she bought upon herself with the racist remarks!

Earlier in August, when I was staying in a hostel in the Gili Islands, I came across these beautiful lines, painted on the bathroom walls. (Good idea there! everybody is forced to read it ;) )

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring! "

Back home I found that it was an extract from his courageous speech and was awed by it! 

Listen to the crowd agreeing with him and embracing his words for completely understanding their feelings. Listen and understand the way the hope of the entire crowd is lifted! Listen to how the people in the background hang on to each word he uttered. Listen to how he became a Legend!

 

Full text here - http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf

Even after 50 years, the speech is still so powerful and relevant in our world! It moves, motivates, conforts and gives hope to thousands of people across the globe. The crowd that gathered at Lincoln memorial on 08/28, the efforts by various media to stream the speech and enormous number of views in Youtube proves it true.

ST Run 2013 - so much for all the hype!

Disclaimer - I am not trying to be part of the complaining society, but spilling out the facts that need to be out there in the net. My intention of writing this post is not entirely to crib on how bad the event management was, but to direct pointers to the management, and to serve as a caution for ST runners next year.

I was thrilled when I read an advetorial about STRun in the park 2013. I saw it as a training run for the Standard chartered Run at the end of the year. When I called up a few of my friends who are into running, it eventually became an opportunity for us to spend some sporting time together and discover a new park route. We signed up as a bunch and started the prep. Some of us were running 10K and some were doing their first 5K.

#1 Alarm bells started ringing when the race pack collection was set for the National Day/ Hari Raya long weekend! Of all the days, the ST team chose these particular days when most people would be out of the island or busy visiting relatives! Luckily, Kanan and D were in town and they helped all of us with the race pack collection. After all the fuss, the L size marathon Tee resembles an XL and Manu was not able to use it for the run!

Possible solution - Be reasonable and relevant. After all, being the national daily, you should know the crowd behavior and expectations!

#2 When the 10K was gunned off at 7.15 on August 25th 2013, most runners didn't realize that it would be under the balzing sun all the way, with limited water supplies. There were only 3 water stations along the route and very ill prepared. Runners had to queue while the glasses were being filled! At one station, I skipped the hydration to avoid the long queue and it was a mistake which I couldn't foget because of the throbbing headache throughtout the day.

Possible solution - This route might be good for an evening run. But, for the next year, if the management plans to keep the park runs, choose another park with better sun protection OR consider alternate timing.

More resources should be allocated at water stations and increase the number of water points as well, so that runners would take staggered stops.

#3 Obviously, the management had conveniently overlooked the capacity of the punggol waterway and the serangoon reservoir park connector when they decided on the number of runners. I heard from the 5K runners that they were briskly walking or slightly pacing an obstacle course!

Possible solution -  Set the maximum cap on registration based on the park capacity, or if this intends to grow into a big event, find better routes for the event

#4 Unlike other marathons, there were no cheer persons to motivate us to keep going, One volunteer at the 8K mark was sitting there utterly bored and yawning! The only cheer we got from was from a park visitor who was quite happy to see the thousands of blue clad runners :)

Possible solution - Allocate more cheer leaders by the water stations and at kilometers marks. Motivate them enough with goodies or freebies so that they in turn pass on the cheer to participants.

#5 I hated the supposed-to-be motivating captions at the kilometer marks. There were some captions like - "Stop reading this and keep running", which I did not find humurous at the 9K/14K Mark!

The worst one was - "Smile, because you are still ahead of the people behind you!" I couldn't believe that organizers are unaware of the fact that apart for the top 1% of the runners, marathon is not about competing with the rest of the crowd. It is about fighting demons within, runner's block and most importantly achieving the incredible satisfaction at the finish line at the end of months of hard training !

Possible solution - Run a campagin similar to SCM and collect motiavtional quotes from runners and choose positive, relevant and most inspiring quotes.

#6 When the last water station at 10/15K mark ran out of water supplies , I thought that this was the worst part of the run. To get some water we had to walk long way to the carnival area in the still balzing sun, where each runner had to queue for the end-point drinks. Each was alloted only 1 small bottle and a can of 100 plus.

The goodie bags and medal collection were clubbed together. Manu rightly pointed out that, in a country full of queue loving people, this organizer has succesfully mis-managed a queuing system! They were even assembling the contents and magazines of the goodie bag while the finishers were queueing. D said that she spent more time queuing than running !

Possible solution - Find a better event management team who are ready to learn from present mistakes. Don't cut corners lah!

#7 The medal is stamped in big bold letters with Straits Times Appreciates Readers (STAR) branding and sponsors titles! I wonder how this could be a STAR event, when each runner paid 50$ for this terrible experience.

Possible solution - Set the event goal clear! Is it to really to appreciate the readers ? Or just another ad campaign ?

Overall, a very diasppointining event management and a marathon not be attended next year.

Still, I must say thanks to my buddy finishers who remained motivated against all odds and successfully

finished the trails :)

Proud finishers

D (Divya), Kanan, Kapil, Priyanka, Manu and Me!

(Background - Goodie bag collection)

THE MOST INTELLIGENT HEADSETS ON THE PLANET

Now, That is a catchy headline!

Last week, Creative Technology Ltd announced the Creative Sound Blaster® EVO™ ZxR and Sound Blaster® EVO™ Zx – the world’s first wireless headsets that utilise a built-in multi-core Sound Blaster SB-Axx1™ processor for enhancement and customisation of audio quality for playback of music, movies and games and for voice communications.

My SoundBlaster Evo Zx

It is as awesome as a headset can be!
This series of headsets enhances audio in real-time.With their integrated SB-Axx1 processors and SBX Pro Studio™ technology, the Sound Blaster EVO headsets deliver immpresive audio that was previously only available with the Creative Sound Blaster PC sound card.  BT connectivity gets it wireless and the android app rocks the red theme! I will to get the gaming modes evaluated by Manu pretty soon.
The headsets are also awesome for phone calls, especially when you want to pull a prank on your friends or family. My favourite feature is the microphone effects ;) I just talked to Manu in a male voice and irritated him to a good measure! I can't wait to try the 'Munchkin' effect on the next call :-() 

  

 

 

Lift your skirt , save your life ?

Do you agree ?

If you are following the latest media activities in India, you would think this is another stupendous solution provided by another 'famous' figure head to prevent rape.
I am sure some swami or neta or guru'ji' wouldn't hesitate to suggest it as a way to prevent getting raped.
If someone is coming on full power at you, just comply to his needs so your life could be saved !!

But, I came across this statement in Singapore, on a full sized poster ad with a lady's skirt flying up.

.

Part ll - The end !  ;) 

Somebody knowingly or unknowingly put a second poster adjacent to it.

The caption is so powerful and 'innovative' that I had to stop on the tracks and walk towards the poster so I could understand the divine purpose.

There it goes, zoomed into the content, below the distracting picture.And the campaign is in fact launched by Singapore Cancer Society, as an awareness campaign to detect cervical cancer. 

According to a survey result released last year by Ministry of Health (MOH) Singapore, cancer is the #1 killer in this nation. Among the cancer victims, 4% of females were battling against cancer of the cervix. The most hope giving factor is that Cervical cancer found in early stages can be successfully treated.
The Health Promotion Board (HPB) of Singapore is an establishment run by the government. They have come up with an amazing initiative, to provide subsidized PAP smear tests for early detection of cervical cancer. 


Pap smear helps to detect abnormal cell changes in the cervix early and allow for more effective treatment against cervical cancer. The chances of cervical cancer can also be reduced by vaccination against Human Papillomavirus (HPV). 

More informationhere : http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/health-article/3342 

With the subsidies in place, Singaporeans get to do the screening @ S$ 15 while Permanent Residents would get it for a marginally higher S$ 22.5. 
Earlier this year, when I went for a PAP smear test, I paid around S$ 80. 

I am pretty impressed with the programs, except for the tag line ! 
The weird caption serves the purpose, people would definitely take a second look ;) 
Kudos to HPB!

Happy Mother's day

When you are away from home, what reminds you of your home the most ? What makes you miss your home the most ? Would a sudden wiff of that heavenly food your mom cooks, take you home in a matter of seconds ?

The beautiful assortment of everyday smell in my mother's kitchen was the best smell of my home. And I have been missing that for more than 10 years. That is how long it has been since my mom passed away.
After a decade, during this mother's day, I celebrated it in the best way I could. I have finally come into terms with her being away and I have decided to let her go. This doesn't mean that I would not be crying over the precious memories of her or I would stop wishing a zillion times if she were here with me, or would not be spilling silly billy tears over videos or reads on mom's love. I will always miss my mother. But, now I recognize that she cannot and will not come back to me.

Like everyone's mom, my mother knew what I loved, what made me happy and what my favourite dishes were. A usual curry in a brahmin house is sambhar or rasam. But my mom knew that I detested them both (If she sees the way I slurp over sambhar now, she would say "this is not my daughter!"). My favourite meal was a simple fried coconut gravy with kerala brown rice and pappadam. No one, not even my grand mother or chithi makes it the way mum used to cook. And it stopped being part of my cuisine, when my mom left me. So did many other important things.
I had been so disconnected from how those days used to be. I even forgot about my favourite meal. This fact hit me only a few months back when my dear friend Tisy sent me the recipes of a bunch of brahmin dishes.

Today I decided to bring back the happy memories of my mom back to life, one at a time. I came home from work and dedicated the evening to make that simply curry. When that nostalgic old smell filled my kitchen, memories of happy moments flooded my heart. By the end of the cooking session, I felt like having spent the whole evening with my lovely mother.

I feel, I am finally at peace, after a long long time. I know having Manu's family is my greatest strength now. After being together for more than two years, I am finally feeling secure enough that I will not be deprived of mother's love any more.

You lucky ones out there, who have your mom by your side, did you tell how much you love her and you know how much more she loves you back?