Jet Lag Mornings

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 5/20/2013 5:12:00 AM

'As you may have noticed, I returned to base last week. About 8 days ago, to be precise. The Sunday morning we arrived, the child & I thought we would sleep in (we were due to arrive at 4 am at home, it ended up being close to 5:30). Go to the store for milk etc. when we woke up. Slowly get ready for the week ahead. Well, we got in late, showered and immediately felt hungry. So we ate rice, like'

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Miles of Fun

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 5/13/2013 11:24:00 AM

'We drove some 3000+ kms all over the mighty USA over the past few weeks. By we, I mean he. I sat in lotus position in the passenger seat with my right index and thumb on google maps. "Want to add on an additional driver for free?" asked the friendly guy at the car rental. "NO" my husband said - a little too loudly and firmly in my opinion. Not that I wanted to drive or anything. We rented'

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Another one!

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 4/8/2013 4:01:00 AM

'I had another birthday. Yes. Relentless these things are, following year after year with no letting up. In the days leading up to it, I felt like this was a momentous one. Conventionally, the next one would be the 'important' one as I hit forty. But technically, my fortieth year is now running, as of yesterday, so I was gulping a lot and feeling a bit excited, a bit worried. So, 39 years old.'

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Mum's the word

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 4/2/2013 9:02:00 AM

'I was away this past weekend, attending a wedding, somehow feeling super tired, and catching up with family. I go months without talking to my aunts & uncles, and I only very rarely meet the relatives next removed. Life is busy and I don't get too down thinking about this, but when I see them it feels so good. Plus there is my grandmum, who is pretty awesome. I am reading the Murakami (1Q84),'

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That motherhood gig

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 3/15/2013 6:42:00 AM

'It has been a while since I talked about this whole being a mommy deal. I think the last time I complained about how the child liked all things pink (and purple). Well, we have come a long way from there. Now, she calls these two colours 'vile' and 'hurting to the eye' and says they must be avoided at all costs. Her favourite colours are, apparently, blue, and green. Not that I am not'

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Have you searched your soul lately?

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 3/14/2013 9:34:00 AM

'I love soul-searching. I try to do it as often as I can. In fact, my leading complaint lately is that I don't have quiet, alone time in which I can think. Or jot down ideas. Or soul search. "I don't worry about it. I will find time to think if I want to" dismisses my husband when I ask him if he goes through the same deal. I had a quick, business-like chat with my mum, my only surviving parent,'

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A stitch in time...

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 2/28/2013 7:15:00 AM

'I loved to think about all these idioms and sayings in my now long forgotten youth. I distinctly recall thinking 'A stitch in time saves nine...' and prrrrr.. tearing the hem off a skirt of mine. Of course my skirts were all hemmed up with giant bits of cloth in the bottom, so they could be lengthened if I grew (which I never did, so, such a waste). I ran that slightly hard race in Auroville.'

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The party at Auroville 2013

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 2/18/2013 6:01:00 AM

'Around here people run marathons as often as...they occur. Who knows? I might do this next year. But this year, I ran the Mumbai Marathon in January, and intended to run only the Auroville Half Marathon in February. This was a smart choice as I took a (forced) week of rest after SCMM 2013; and felt in no shape for a full on Feb 10th. My husband was also running his first Auroville half. We had'

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No one buys me omelets anymore

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 2/8/2013 2:51:00 PM

'I make friends easily. I like talking. I can talk to walls. And trees. And stones. I can talk to people of all ages. I am full of small conversation. It does tire me sometimes when I talk for hours with people I don’t know very well so I have to use my head to think up topics. But I do it. And then the next few times it is not as difficult. But I don’t have someone I talk to every day. I'

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Another life, lemons post

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/31/2013 4:27:00 AM

'So it has come to pass that I am on kitchen duty for the past couple of days. My cook has reported an unidentified back issue. The rest of the household is all up in arms (except my husband & I, who believe her) about this, as she does a fair bit of the cleaning as well. And her absence means the lackadaisical approach to cleaning my maid adopts is evident to all. Among other things. But y'all'

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More Marathon Mania

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/28/2013 5:26:00 AM

'Short distances races can be run impatiently, like someone set fire to your ass. But for marathons - this middle aged mommy has to dig deep from her store of patience. At least that is definitely a lesson I learnt in the recent past. I know patience hardly sounds like a virtue in a race. It is a race, for heaven's sake. Not to be confused with a 'run' - which is what you do when you train for a'

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Mumbai Marathon 2013

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/24/2013 4:16:00 AM

'Yes, that is me. It was that hot and dusty Azad Maidan. That green stuff was dusty too. But then I was beyond the point of caring. My third full marathon. Technically fourth time running that monster distance. The sun was blazing - the kind that can tan even a brown person...  The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is a race I don't like to miss. I signed up within the first 8'

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Airport Tales

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/22/2013 5:41:00 PM

'I was in the Mumbai. Yes. It was annual pilgrimage time for the marathon. But more on that later! Usually I travel all by my own lonesome self. To and fro. I don't mind. I pick reasonable times of day to travel; these are familiar places; rusty though my hindi might be, I can get around. I carry a phone, I call friends, I keep my eyes open. This time, on the way in, we were four of us from'

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The problem with feminists...

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/10/2013 5:02:00 AM

'The “real problem” in those years, he says, “was Rosy. The thought could not be avoided that the best place for a feminist is in another’s lab.” He being James Watson. Yes. The same one. Precocious American with the messy hair who built the double helix model of DNA. The model that rocked our world - the one he says looked "So pretty it had to be correct" Rosalind Franklin was the feminist'

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Yearly Updates

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/7/2013 2:55:00 AM

'I know the time for this has probably passed, but I consider strongly making a small summary of the past year's activities - of our family - 'the year that went by'. There is surely much to be thankful for, proud of, and as always, plenty of mistakes to learn from (and hopefully, not repeat in 2013). Some mixture of inertia, shyness, laziness and lack of time ensure that I don't indulge this.'

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Terrace Tales

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/4/2013 10:34:00 AM

'We moved into our new place many months ago now. I used to do some type of Shaun T or Tony Horton workout in the space just outside our bedroom in the old place. We had a TV and appleTV set up there and it was convenient. In the new place, everything was super messy till recently, and I lost this space. The child & I used to 'celebrate terrace time' in the initial days of moving here. We used'

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Minimalism; Hypocrisy

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/3/2013 8:47:00 AM

'I own up to my hypocrisy - most times. I do a bunch of things that I don't believe in. I don't practice all that I preach - and preach I do constantly. Count the number of 'I's in that sentence alone and you get the idea; I am a selfish bum who does stuff for herself and her own pleasure and whatever is convenient for her and rest of the world be damned. There is a larger life philosophy type'

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The Ultra Experience

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 1/1/2013 7:22:00 AM

'I didn't even describe in gory detail my Hyderabad Full Marathon experience this year..oops..last year. So I guess I am allowed to go on a bit about the latest thing I ran. Just in time to welcome the new year & bid goodbye to the old one, on 30th December, 2012. Try not to tell my mum about this. I ran a 50km Ultra from Alwarpet to Mahabalipuram. Yes. Thats 8km more than a full marathon. 8km'

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Slip Sliding

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 12/17/2012 4:33:00 PM

'The thing is, this year has been really very strange. I feel like nothing has gone to plan and this is very difficult for me. One of my friends jokes that I am very resistant to changes in plans, and she can see on my face that it upsets me. I guess its true (also my face is very transparent like that - don't ever make me play poker!), though I have gotten much better about it. Perhaps too much'

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In which I resurface

Author : Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm      Blog : the blog formerly known as musings from mumbai      Date : 12/14/2012 3:00:00 AM

'In December, I really try very hard to slow down and think about things. Of course, also train for the Mumbai Marathon, and go through whatever evaluations need to be gone through for work. Some years, I end up traveling - at least in the early part of the month - and sometimes that works out well and sometimes it doesn't. This time, December crept up on me, I didn't even realise it. I was so'

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