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Last Sunday I took part in the Adidas Womens' 5K Challenge at Hyde Park, London. What a thrill. The atmosphere was great.  Lots of people lining the race path cheering you on.

I finished the race in about 34 minutes. Which I have heard is "not bad" considering it was my first time ever!!!

Now, I am hooked. I want to run more of these now. I want to do it in under 30 minutes next year. So I have registered on http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/ and will begin training again next week(I hope).

For photos of me in action(Don't get too excited, there are only 2 photos), you can go to www.marathonfoto.com. Select race "Adidas Womens 5k chlg London 2008", Last Name:Rao, Bib number: 1470

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I have been a bit jaded and tired about my role at work for the last year or so, because it is not much of a challenge and I can do this sort of thing quite easily since I have been doing it for 2 years now.

However, this week was has been exceptionally busy with lots of running from meetings, delegating tasks, planning work for the next week and so on, I have actually enjoyed myself.

I should have more busy weeks, less time to worry about how boring the work really is!

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On a whim, as I was listening to this song, I have decided to count all* of my actions towards steps up or down the stairway to heaven.

Since I am only starting today, I will count  the following
1) Supporting my partner when he is feeling unwell and not giving up on him
2) Restoring someones faith in life and humanity. If I were to be absolutely honest, that should count as 2 steps, but that would make me greedy and send me back a step, leaving me with no progress. Hence I settle for 1 step up.)
3) Helping someone I don't know at all(only spoken on the phone) find accomodation in London

I would have been on step 3, but on the bus into work today, I was greedy and grabbed the first available chance to sit down instead of offering it to someone else first.

Current status: STEP 2


* - most of my actions.

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It has been a terrible 3 weeks weather wise in England. Floods! in England...Mosoon level floods in England.

350,000 people without drinking water.

I reckon the reason people here find it difficult to cope, is because they are used to having all these things. 24 hours drinking water, 24 hours electricty, luxuries that are unheard of in the poorer parts of the world.

Places like India and Bangaldesh which get flooded annually face these problems, but cope. 

I am not talking about the government or government body coping, but people. They are used to the hardship, they expect it and are prepared for it emotionally and mentally. But here, living in realtive ease, even the slightest change in their comfort, pushes people over the edge.

So, I think hardship is good; makes you stronger, much like measles, once you get it, you are immune to it because your body has built the necessary resistence.

Heres to difficulties and discomfort! Bring it on!

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I go to classes at work twice a week and try and practice as often as I get a chance(read when I manage to wake up early) at home.

A 2000 year old tradition that has been shared with the whole world. And I love the fact that it originated in India. In fact I am rather proud of it, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with when it was created.

This is not a blog about yoga, rather this one man who has the audacity to copyright it! and make millions!

I am appalled. Who the hell granted him the copyright in the first place?


AAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

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I don't do this kind of thing very often. But with "despise authority" as my weakness, I could not resist!!!! Although I don't get power month??? July...Dont know the significance of that... What the hell does that mean???

Your Birthdate: April 7

You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy. And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you. Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights. You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice! Your strength: Your self sufficiency Your weakness: You despise authority Your power color: Maroon Your power symbol: Hammer Your power month: July

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I read this article the other day that began with the phrase "I am typing this as I am sipping a cup of green tea", I decided that I will put that to test today. Right here! Right now!!

I have made by cup of tea (chai really). I try to type as I sip. I have only one hand to type, so it take ages to type this sentence. And, I find that not sipping tea, even though I am typing, as I have to concentrate to find the letters with one hand. When I do try and do both at the same time, the damn steam from my hot cup of chai, steams up my glasses! 

I have put down the cup of chai before I scald my hand or spill it over the keyboard. As I was saying, this person who said the earlier sentence, must wear contact lens and has someone standing over their shoulder with the cup of tea, ready to let them sip it. Or is not sipping tea as they type at all, but merely said so; to make us think about the "setting" in which the article was written.

How often does that happen? We read or something that gives us a mental picture of it. How much does it add to our enjoyment of it.

Surely, that mental picture of me with my steamed up glasses was amusing.

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I  choose not to make excuses for bad and callous behaviour on the part of my friends. I do not believe that it should be something that should be easily forgiven. 

Not having the curtesy to say thank you, should not be forgiven in anyone, least of all those people who are your friends.

So, when it comes to keeping and making friends, I choose disappointment over compromise. I choose having no friends to having ones who don't care enough. If this means, I am unforgiving and demanding, then I make no excuses for it.

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What little I got to see of Helsinki I loved.  Here are a few things I learned on the trip.

- Finnish women are very quick learners.
- The Finns eat Rudolf the red nose raindeer...yes, they eat reindeer. 
- Nokia is a Finnish company. For all of those who thought it was Japanese, its Finnish!
- They do not decorate sad old plastic fir trees, they decorate the real ones!!! even on the streets!!!!
- Learnt a word or two in Finnish(swear words of course)
- 2 two hour time difference is more stressful than an 8 hour one!

It is not often that I work with women. I work in IT and it is a very male dominated industry at least here in the UK. So it was a pleasant surprise to be dealing with women. They took me out for dinner and it was a riot!!!! Good food and great company. We were all laughing so hard!!! I think I really needed that companionship. It did my spirits a whole lot of good.

Also there was the sauna and swimming pool at the Hilton which was good. 

I will not go into the nightmare of travelling there, suffice to say, I made it 5 minutes before closing time on my way out, inspite of getting to Heathrow 3 hours before and had a 3 hours jouney back extended to 5 and half!!!!!

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I am excited about travelling to Helsinki for work!!!

For all the menial things I have done this year as part of "work"...this is a payoff. 

Helsinki here I come...

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Going to school between the ages of 3 and 9 was an adventure - there was the all essential human powered cycle rickshaw.  Sometimes when my Grandpa was visiting, he would stand and wave at us till we made the turn at the end of the road. He would be there when we returned back to pick me right out of the rickshaw, in an arch. For a moment, I flew!

I was 4 years old and while fighting over a bottle of water on the way back from school, my brother accidently spilt it on the wheels of the rickshaw. The driver was very angry and hit my brother on the back and scolded him and eveyone in the rickshaw. We were only a few minutes from home and the minute I saw my grandpa, I said "Tata! Tata! rickshaw avaanu dada na hodidha bitta"(Grandpa, The richshaw fellow hit  my brother). My kind, gentle and always patient Grandpa was just furious. I don't think I had ever seen him that angry in my entire 4 year life. The rickshaw driver did not stand a chance.  Let me just say, we never saw him ever again.

While my enterprising mom sorted out another rickshaw, my Grandpa volunteered to walk us the 4 kms to school everyday. 

That was the most fun my brother and I ever had going to school.  My Grandpa taught us how to cross the road and there were Cadbury's eclairs to be eaten (the one I am sure my mom never knew about.). We always walked through the park and I was allowed to pick all the fallen bright pink bougenvilla flowers that my tiny hands could carry and my brother would jump on/off every park bench in sight!!!

I read on someone's blog here about hoping that the time that we now spend will one day been looked back as fond memories. The thing with memories from childhood are that they are pure; our memories as adults,however are often tinged with bitterness and disappointment. 

Here hoping for some good old fashion nostalgia moments 10 years from about what I have been doing over the last few years here in England.

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On one of the many free London Underground newspapers last night, a guest columnist who was Swedish made the observation that she does not have any English friends of the female gender. She is a student and all her female friends are fellow students- all non-English.

That got me thinking, I do not have any English female friends either. No one. I have been here nearly 4 years now, working in the same place. I have not been shopping with a female in all that time.   I suppoese it could be because they grew up in this country and already have their own friends circle into which you are not welcome. period.

No one ever said,

"Oh, you so are new, here, I will tell you where you should go shopping."

or

"Would you like to join my friends and I for a drink, perhaps you will meet people you like"

Perhaps it just me, the un-social one. I don't know, I must find a way of asking my English female colleagues what they think  about this, without offending them or implying that they are un-friendly.

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To hear someone say "Its me" as the first phrase over the telephone is rather endearing.

OK, in today's world of caller ID and mobile phone screens,  it does not make any practical sense, you usually know who the person is.

However, the thought behind that simple phrase is that the person at the end of the line believes that you will know who it is., without having to tell you thier name.
They now believe that you know them enough to recognise their voice.  It is a step forward - you have moved on from colleagues to being friends.

Gone are the days when your friendship with someone was sealed by the fact that you sat next to them at lunch one day. As you get older, people and friendships get harder to understand. You have to find subtle ways of defining it.

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