The Trigger
24 August 2025, 1 PM
I was chit chatting with friends at a book club meet in Saket and one of the guys was introduced as a poetic individual. He was egged on to recite poetry by the host.
He obliged and recited “mujhse pahli si mohabbat meri mahbub na mang” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz from his memory. It was quite impressive.
I didn’t pay much attention to it yesterday. Because I didn’t understand the language. However, I knew it was a very famous poem.
So, this morning I did a bit of reading about this.
I read the meaning of each line and it felt as if the poet had choked me with a maniacal grip. The poem reflects human emotion in a raw and unapologetic manner.
Original verses by Faiz
तू जो मिल जाए तो तक़दीर निगूँ हो जाए
यूँ न था मैं ने फ़क़त चाहा था यूँ हो जाए
और भी दुख हैं ज़माने में मोहब्बत के सिवा
राहतें और भी हैं वस्ल की राहत के सिवा
Transliteration
Tu jo mil jaaye to taqdeer nigoon ho jaaye
Yoon na tha, maine faqat chaaha tha yoon ho jaaye
Aur bhi dukh hain zamaane mein mohabbat ke siwa
Rahatein aur bhi hain wasl ki rahat ke siwa
Translation
I though having you in my life would turn my fate around,
It was not meant to be, yet I wished for it to happen
There are other sorrows in the world, apart from the anguish of love,
There are other comforts in this world apart from the comfort of our union
The One Who Focussed
23 August 2025, 7 PM
I was watching the movie Bhag Milkha Bhag before running a half marathon on Sunday. Especially, the brilliant scenes. It is kinda inspirational. But these bouts of inspiration barely last longer than an hour.
One thing struck me while re-watching the movie. This is one of the few Bollywood movies where the hero doesn’t get the girl but succeeds in life in spite of the setback. He doesn’t get a participation certificate for being a nice guy. He BECOMES something substantial in the larger scheme of things.
Of course, I am not saying Milkha’s sole aim in life was to get the girl. My random research also suggests that the character Biro in the movie is a partly fictional addition. My larger point is about the deviation from the feel good romantic plots that most Bollywood movies have.
One can see how Milkha veers off from his mission in Australia, feels frustrated and slaps himself in front of the mirror. But then we see him get back to the grind, work on himself and refuse to yield to distractions when they do present themselves in front of him.
Beyond this random thought, I am in awe of Milkha’s body in the movie. I dunno if I can get that some day. It would require athlete level training, nutrition and focus. Let’s say I could try to get somewhere close.
Meditation and Movement
24 August 2025, 8 AM
Running reels have flooded my Instagram feed. There was one reel concerning a person who runs without music. He is deemed to be some sort of psycho.
But then the accused person says that he has “enough voices in his head to give him company”. Seemed like a plausible thought.
I have run with music and without music in my previous practice/official runs. But then, I completely stopped using wired or wireless earphones this month. I felt that adjusting it and changing music kinda distracted me and brought down the pace.
Anyway, this was my third official half marathon and I was running without earphones. I thought my head would be full of thoughts and I’d be thinking about several things messing with my head.
But as I moved ahead, all my focus was on my watch and my body. Even the people running around me didn’t matter as much.
I cooked up a hydration strategy midway as it was a very humid day. I decided to take three sips of water after every 500 meters. That would ensure that I don’t slow down or tire out. I executed this impromptu plan with great precision.
Sometime around the 15 km mark, I noticed I was slowing down and if that continued I would have no improvement over past run stats. All the efforts invested on weight loss and practice runs would have gone to shit if I ended up with no improvement in finish time.
At this point my focus became even more sharper as I took some brief walks while using my sipper. BTW, it was a great idea to carry the sipper in spite of the water stations provided by organisers.
Anyway, the idea was to not end up with a pace slower than 7 min 30 sec per kilometre.
But my final pace was 7 min 35 sec per kilometre. Close enough.
I had inadvertently performed a form of meditation that I had only heard about so far. I didn’t plan to try running/walking meditation. It just happened because there was only one thing on my mind during those 162 minutes and 14 seconds.
There is no point in comparing the regular meditation I do with a run. But I must say that I have another option to pick from.
An option that can add some elements of Milkha and Faiz into my persona.