The First

For everything, there is a first. The first job, the first car, the first home, first child
There is one more first that very few of us remember but it truly is the most significant. The first birthday. There are two ways to go about it. The kid is not going to remember the first birthday celebration anyway so why to bother. It quickly dawned on us it is not for the child but for yourself. A child getting through the first yea

r of life is a significant achievement in biological terms.
We were far from family and relatives so the celebration had to be just between us and friends.
In Dublin or outside was the next question. But the answer to that was easy since my wife and I always wanted to visit an island resort since the last couple fo years. Leverage this opportunity to hit two birds, one stone.
Fota Island Resort in Cork is a place many of our friends have been and had only good things to say about it.It was one of the top destination places to be at in Ireland as well. We booked a self-catering lodge at the resort for three night four days right away.
The countdown to the day had begun, train tickets booked lodge booked for the weekend of April the twenty-fourth 2016. With the remaining few weekends were spent in shopping for dresses and shoes for the birthday girl and ourselves.
The lodge was a three bedroom accommodation and we were thinking we might feel lonely just the three of us there. We decided to invite a friend of mine and his good wife to join us for the celebration. A very simple celebration that is.
Packed our bags and took off on Friday morning at the morning train to Kent train station, Cork.
The journey was extremely comfortable. At cork, we went to the nearest M&S and shopped for some food, snacks, cakes and sweets enough to keep us happy over the weekend.

A short taxi to the Island was all it took for us to be wowed by this amazing island. I still can't figure out how this is an island since we did not cross any bridges. I am not complaining. as we entered the gates where were plenty of wooded areas and pristine green golf courses spread all over. We drove up to the main hotel and picked up the keys to the lodge. There were two such blocks of lodges space by half a kilometer.  We were put up in a corner lodge with the children's play area right behind it.
The lodge was a duplex in mint condition. Everything we could think of was available and the bedrooms looked so cozy. We unpacked quickly had some quick lunch and stepped out for a walk.
We were given maps of the four different routes within the resort. we decided to explore the short one. It lead us to a beautiful meandering path within the woods. Everything looked so lush and green. The sound of water, the breeze flowing through the leaves of very tall trees, the birds chirping and squirrels scampering across the foliage felt like we had reached a magical place.  Almost forgot that we still are in the middle of civilization. Just beyond the woods, we could see the golf course.
The routes were a bit confusing but we were not completely lost. We care around to the back of the Main hotel. There was beautiful gazebo placed down the hill. A small bridge to get to it. To our complete surprise as we walked up the bridge water fountains sprouted all over. There even was an orchestrated water jet going over and above us while on the bridge. Impressive display.  Spend few minutes there while we let Gayathri try out her walking skills. She had just barely learned to walk a couple of weeks ago and was honing in on her skills.
Back at the lodge , watched some telly and cooked food. Our friends from Dublin arrived the next day morning (Saturday). It was great having them over and share our joy. Gayathri got her birthday gift which she loves.

 We all decided to walk around the island to the Fota wildlife sanctuary on the other end. On the map, there was a yellow route that was supposed to take us there. We tried to follow the route to the best of our abilities but we ended up getting lost. SO big was the island that we had to ask someone to get back. Exploration was fun and the cloudy weather did not help us with GPS being useless.
We somehow followed the edge of the golf course and got back to the main hotel. To our surprise , the staff forgot to mention that the yellow path no longer exists though it's clearly marked on the map. We were offered a free shuttle to the sanctuary which was nice. So we decided to head over on Sunday. Back at the lodge, we spent time chatting away, cooking dinner together and having a good time.
Sunday morning , I started decorating the living room with the little supplies we had brought over. The cake and the sweets laid out, the little princess dressed in her fancy new dress and it was time. George and Teena joined us in singing Gayathri's first birthday song. She looked clueless and amused that all of them were singing the same song. We enjoyed the cake and sweets.


It was time for the free shuttle and we got to the Fota wildlife sanctuary. it was a massive place now compared to what it was seven years ago. That is when I visited last. There was a new jungle section with Tigers. The spider monkeys were the most entertaining. The dexterity of these creatures and how flawlessly the navigate through the tree tops jumping and swinging away from one branch to the next. They even use their tails as hooks to hang upside down to grab on to the next tree. All of this at a striking pace that totally took me by surprise. The other top entertainment of the park were the peacocks. These birds had to show off and it was absolutely worth it. the pictures speak better than I can describe.
We had five hours for the return shuttle to arrive  and we could not reach few of the exhibits. It was time well spent. Back at the lodge, we had some time to walk around in the garden and let the little one play in the play area. George and Teena had the return train that evening . We stayed over that night had a photo shoot of our own. finished up the food that we had brought for the weekend.
 Monday morning we had the first train out of Cork back to Dublin . A weekend to remember for few of the "firsts". The first visit to Fota resort and the First birthday celebrated there. The history book of Gayathri now will always have Fota, Cork as the place where she celebrated her First year of arriving into our life, arriving into this world.

Welcome to VR

Generally I do not write blogs about gadgets or stuffs I have bought. I do make an un-boxing video. Even if that was the rage five years ago, I am still fascinated by un-boxing video.
With this new gadget I bought, I sure did make an un-boxing video but what amazed me so much with it was, the possibilities. This is truly one of the most affordable , mass market gadget that's going to push the technology to the next level. Its Virtual Reality. It has its ups and down. The Downs' coming up first..
In this day and age we see almost every one scratching away at a mobile device in their hands like as if there is no tomorrow. If not a rare moment occurring in front of them is being viewed on a small screen rather that soaking it all up in fullness on the spot.  No one wants to speak to the person sitting next to them in a train or a bus, they are more than happy to stay in their own world staring at a five inch screen. Thankfully there are few sane pubs that offer no Wi-fi and encourage people to socialise in reality, but not on Facebook. I still don't understand, what it means "accepting Friend Request" on face book. In real life, has anyone ever come over and asked, "Will you please accept my request to be friends with you?" Obviously not, then why does it seem so normal doing it electronically. Are we really "Friends" : "Friends" in the virtual world, or is everyone being too nosy about others lives, because theirs own is too boring to be lived. People are zoning out of reality and me having a eleven month old daughter am concerned about the world my little girl is growing up into. This little gadget that I have bought it taking this zoning out to the next level. Seriously to the next level. A good pair of headsets and this VR headset is all you need to take two out of the five essential senses away from this world. Sight and hearing. The person sitting right next might be having a stroke and the one wearing the VR is living or is enthralled in another world.
Now that the downs have been served up in Dollops, On the plus side. This VR world can take you places where ever you want to, or at least limited to all the media that is available to you . You want to be in the middle of the thick Amzonian jungle, and hear the sounds, yes you can do that with few clicks. Inside the space station, touring all the modules ( my all time, personal favourite) Yes you can!
The possibilities are awesome. My wife normally gives out about me letting the boy in me getting the better of me and I indulge myself in such gadgets. But this one, she has nothing to say one she tried on the set. It was just WOW! after WOW! . I did take the device to work to give a demo. A mate of mine who generally despises me at the tech stuff I buy was instantly sold within few seconds of trying it on. Other younger friends of mine were more than surprised. All of them walk away after trying this headset with just one thought. "Unbelievable".
 The response time of the image that one sees every time one moves the head is very quick. You look one way and the cross hairs that lets one select is right there. Movies can be played in true cinema style. A large screen in front and empty seats all around. The exit signs and the stairs leading to it all clearly visible. If you were in a couch , I sure do not find a reason why not believe that you in an empty cinema hall. A great pair of head sets sure does add to the complete experience.
This new platform has a great future of being an educational tool. Google has already capitalised on that potential at classroom level with its Google cardboard. Students can virtual be at places to look at the wonders of the world, bottom of the ice caves or be right next to a great white shark. Visual aids that are memorable and powerful  which no blackboard or projectors can replicate.
I am not that much into gaming, but I tried a couple and immersive it sure is. You get to sit right next to the characters while looking up at a gunship that has just been shot down. Gamers paradise!
Samsung has also got an app in there to just browse the internet, so YouTube galore. Every video clip can not be in cinematic mode. The true advantage of this application is that one can lie down and reorient the screen to be where ever you want it to be. So I generally have it on the ceiling while I lay down and watch with supreme comfort . I cannot think of any other place where the such a large screen is at that position for all that visual experience.
Occulus who pioneered the VR concept, has a tie up with Samsung and hence such top quality technology is made available on every Samsung S6 and beyond phones. The Occulus app store allows you to shop for movies and games. This does mean a natural product line extension to
apps that are sold in millions. 360 degree videos, photographs, movies, games is going to become main stream in a couple of years. Go Pro the market leader in action cameras have a 360 degree camera lined up for release this year which means the action footage is going to be complete. This will change the whole market for VR. Nokia, Samsung, HTC and many others have go such 360 degrees camera's lined up. Now it has just become a matter of time, when VR will be a part of normal day to day life, just like how scratching on a screen all day long to stay engaged, or a "Friend Request" on a website is normal. The truth is , it horrifies me and amazes me wondering about the future at the same time.
Mixed feelings really

Here is a video clip of the up-boxing of VR headset.

"Grand Fun Do" - Cycling at Granfundo Westport

The past year, I have taken up a new sport along with my running. Cycling, has struck a chord with me. After my Dublin to Sligo charity cycle on a borrowed bike, I bought a good pair of wheels for myself at a dear price. In the past year and a four months I have put in more than one thousand four hundred kilometres on it and counting.

Few other mates joined me for the early morning spins. Really early morning, half four. We regularly did fifty kilometres every week. I would additionally do another fifty on weekends by myself. This kept going on for few months, until the day one of them suggested we take part in a sportive event. All of us agreed and quickly signed up. That also meant, training up. It was 122 km route along the scenic routes on Connemara, Co Mayo, West coast of Ireland. The excitement was building up, so much so that I bought a go pro camera to capture the event. I had a few practice spins with the camera beforehand. Editing the footage with metadata overlay and colour correcting was all new skills I had to learn.

Alan and I had a few serious spins to get to the 100 km mark, just so to check if we really had it in us. I noticed that I was depleted by the seventy kilometre mark and I needed food to top up. Bought some extra gear like overshoes and full length trousers just to be prepared for the worst of the weather.

It was March the 11th and the logistics were all sorted. We rented one car to throw in two bicycles and booked a B&B at Westport. Alan drove his car with two bicycles in it. So the four of us set off on a busy Friday evening. It took us over four hours to get there. The first port of call was the Castle court hotel where we had to register and pick up our race packs. First aid kit and reflective blanket was mandatory along with the usual extra bits and bob one needs for a sportive like this.

We checked in at the B&B, we had requested for an early breakfast since the race starts at eight. Three of us went to grab a bite and a pint. Now that the energy levels are all topped up a good night’s sleep is all that was required.

Race Day:

Water bottles topped up, and the tyres pumped to 110 psi, cycling gear on, Jersey pockets filled with energy gels and finally the race number pinned to the back of the Jersey we were all set. Had porridge and cereal for breakfast and off we went to the briefing area at castle court. Seven hundred cyclists out of which 277 for the the longer route.

The entrants for the longer route had an early start at eight AM. The event manager was clear and concise about the course. The weather was mild at thirteen degrees and less than 25 kmph winds. Just what we wanted. We started with a rolling start off from Castle court. Few camera poses and three kilometres down the line was the official start line.

Everyone were trying to find the pace they are comfortable in.

Alan and I stuck together for most of the route. Our pace matched and we kept it steady. Meanwhile we kept jumping groups until we found a bunch of cyclists who matched our pace. Never have I taken part in a sportive such as these and I was not sure how things would fall in pace. I was well aware that cycling in a group is the most efficient way of cycling. A cyclists third behind the lead cyclists spends thirty percent lesser energy to propel forward. On the course it felt natural that such groups kept forming. Cyclists who could not keep up, dropped behind, but those who could maintain stayed in such tight groups, often just six inches behind the wheel of another. I sure does sound we are drafting on some ones hard work as the lead. For over ninety kilometres Alan and I was part of such a group. Couple of times, I did shoot to the front and took the lead for over ten kilometres, just to show that I am contributing to the group as well. It turned out not to be a good idea, since I drained lot quicker and soon I was looking for energy.  Alan kept telling me, "don't go to the front of the group Badri, stay behind" . 

There is some level of grossness to cycling in such groups. Every often one needs to spit or clear the nose, no one had time to stop, so it all has to be on the go. Some just spit on their own jerseys some try their best to avoid the ones behind. But nothing much can be done. Second, is on a wet section, the tyre wash is in your face. The dirt and grime from the tarmac is on your face into your mouth if open. Yuck!! In Spite of all this, there is no time to even think about it. Just keep pedalling ahead, keep up the pace. 

The event was well organized. We had clear markings along the route to watch out for deviations. At corners where caution had to be exercised, race marshals were present with red flags, with clear verbal warnings as what laid ahead.  There were markings on the road as to the road condition and bends that came up. There was a camera crew in an Audi, and couple of motor cycles zipping by two and fro to keeping a good vigil on the cyclists. 

Close to the ninety kilometre mark where I had already passed two food station, i was craving for food. My water was low, so that is the point where Alan went by with the group. I topped up the bottle and had a banana costing me seven minutes. From that point onwards I was by myself most of the way. I did meet a fellow veteran racer on a steel bike. He must be sixty plus and he was keeping up the pace on his heavy bike. That is when you find new respect for the sport and the commitment of the participants. The route was simply too scenic to be missed. I did take some time to not worry about pace, but lift my head up and absorb the beautiful hills of the west coast. The road alongside the Kellymoore abbey was smooth as chess board. The lake on the left, the Abbey by the right with the backdrop of the gorgeous hills with the smooth tarmac ahead was bliss. It was a great feeling, to be putting out the watts with other fellow cyclists at that moment. 

My wife and I had been to these places on the same route before on a day trip. But at that point, I was not in a position to refresh all those memories.  We cycled around the lake where we once went on a two hour cruise. And we were on the return leg that is when the last challenge was waiting for us. It was a steep climb for three kilometres. That was the point when I was at the largest cog on the gears and willing to be as slow as I can to keep the balance. It was tough and standing up to cycle did no good. My heart rate only climbed as the elevation did. I could go as low as seven kmph which is slower than even my running speed. All I had was to get to the top of the hill. Really SLOW and steady was the mode. 

Once past the hill, the best part of the hill, the downhill; that's what I thought. I was wrong, the other side had really bad patches of roads with some acute corners. The Marshals had warned us to be extremely cautious. I could not get gravity to take at me at full speed there. Every Time I braked, tears almost rolled off my eyes (exaggerating). All that momentum lost.

At the hundred kilometre mark was the final food stop. Here there were tents set up and hot beverages served. I had to fight the temptation and make a flying pass at the stop just stopping for a mere thirty seconds to grab few Jaffa cakes from the volunteer. 

Energy levels were low and I had run out of the last gel at the climb of that nasty hill kilometres behind me. There was no groups now to draft behind to conserve energy. All I had, I had to give. The weather at this point was bright and roads kept getting better. We hit the wide N roads and I could hardly see anyone neither in front of me nor behind. The road looked familiar as this was the one we took on the way out. I just put my head down and kept at it. Then a sign which more than boosted by spirit showed up. "10 kilometres to the finish line". My Garmin concurred, the end was near.

Finally one cyclist caught up and I drafted him for a few kilometres and then he did the same with me. The volunteers as I approached showed up more often with red flags, cheering us along shouting out how close the finish line is. Music to my years. The final left corner and there it was. I was so overjoyed, that I let go of the handle bars and did that the pro's do at the finish line. Felt really good. A pretty girl was handing out the medal and I remember telling her “You have no idea how much this one means to me”.

Clasping the medal, i rode on the last few feet, hung up the bike on the stand and got on both my feet. It left like my legs were made of Jelly, wobbling around I looked for Alan's bike. He was at the message tent. He got in 15 minutes ahead of me. Grabbed at least five croissant and a cup of soup and some bananas. Fed myself and waited for Mihir to come in. 

After half hour of feeding myself, I headed back to the B&B. Took a shower and then I was on the bed and I was out within seconds. I slept for an hour and woke up to feel my legs fully functional again. 

The lads came later on. That evening we all headed out to celebrate the race. Had a few pints and good Indian food at "the Everest" restaurant. The food was amazing and all we had to talk about was the race. Analyse and dissect every moment each one had on the race. What worked for them, what did not? As we had our dinner, we checked for the results on the phone. I was the 74th  position out of the 270 odd cyclists which I think is respectable. I was able to complete the route in four hours forty six minutes. Alan was 49^th, Mihir 111^th and Lee 264^th .

Lee did have a tough time, but that was purely due to lack of training. But I have so much respect for the man for not giving up. He kept it going and made sure he was on the saddle at the finish line.

We rested up well that evening, and the Sunday morning, it was time to pack the bags, check out and hit the road. As we started driving towards Dublin we noticed many cyclists as part of a club cycling together. I had so much of respect for them and I respect myself more than I had known for partaking in such an awesome event. Thoughts about the next event popped up then,  and by the time I am writing this, I have already signed up for the next sportive and training has been planned. 

Here is my short video diary

The race route

Kerala sure is God's own country

I am a Bangalore boy, my parents are from Kerala. That means I inherit the best of both. An urban culture and the traditions from one of the most beautiful states in India. I have to admit that until now I have heard of many mates of mine who have been to the best places in Kerala more than I have. Many of them from Ireland , tell me about how good an experience they have had in Kerala. A place which is my native. I had to hang my head down in shame. A visit to the best places in Kerala appeared on my things to do list.

My best mate from Ireland and his newly wed wife had plans for Honeymoon, so I tossed the idea why not they visit the places they want to and come to Kerala. There my family and I can play the hosts and be the tourists ourselves.  The plans was put into play, my visit to India was rejigged to accommodate this plans. The train tickets were booked from Kasargod to Cochin and the return flights from Kochi to Bangalore was booked two months advance.

End of December, Flew to India to meet my seven month old daughter. Super excited! The weather in Kerala was at its best. A very enjoyable twenty to twenty eight degrees. No rains and just the right amount of Sun. two weeks visiting relatives flew by and the time came for the Kerala trip. 

We took the train to Cochin, which is the financial hub of Kerala. The train journey itself was very exciting because we were on the waiting list of the seat we reserved and we finally did not get it.  

We had to board the general compartment which was jam packed, found ourselves some seats and stuck to it till we reached our destination six hours later.  The views of Kerala from the windows did keep me enthralled. We got to the hotel which was just fifteen minutes taxi from the train station. We all rested and my little one took a good nap. Later in the evening, my parents, my wife, my daughter and myself headed out to check out what the city is like. There was lot of construction work going on and soon we were disinterested in exploring more. Did some generally shopping and headed back to Hotel. i was eagerly awaiting for my friend and his wife from Ireland to arrive. I sure was very glad to meet them at the hotel. Made plans for the next day sorted out the taxi for the next four days and we were all set. 

We were heading to Allepey the next day. It’s the Venice of the east. The back waters which has been the rice bowl of the rice and off late the tourist hot spot. We had rented out a house boat for twenty four hours. We were extremely lucky to have found a taxi driver who knew the whole place like the back of his hand. No asking directions, No checking out the map, No Sat nav. The pick-up point for the House boat was some kind of garage to fix boats. Did not make a good first impression, but once we stepped in through three other boats to get to the boat that was assigned to us, it was a big relief. The boat was spick and span, very comfortable three bedrooms with ensuite. There was a dining area. The deck of the boat is where we all spent most of the time absorbing the gorgeous views of the unforgettable scenery that went by. For less than €500, we had a house boat with air conditioned bedroom for each couple, inclusive of all food and the priceless location. An absolute bargain!

The boat cruised ever so gentle that we settled in and relaxed. The food served was extremely delicious. It felt like a well-cooked homemade meal. We had three crew members. Once to navigate the boat, a chef and a house (boat) keeper. We had a stopover at a local fisher man who had some super fresh catch from the backwaters. Most of them were still alive. We hopped over to the thin shoreline and bought some large prawns for less than a tenner. The chef made some fine curry out of it that everyone enjoyed. I was the only vegetarian on board who was enjoying the vegetarian dishes. 

Looking at how the locals went about their daily routine, like going to school, doing business or getting to work and back was fascinating. Children took to water like how the ducks would be at home in water. Women washing up laundry and at the other shore line women divers were diving to the bottom to pick up molluscs. It looked like every house had their own boat. It’s like how we city clickers having a car at home. We gently eased into the night. Mosquito would have been a serious menace but the crew did such a good work or putting up mosquito net all over the boat that we never had any bites. The dusk presented me with some good opportunities to capture the sunset over this beautiful landscape. Paddy fields and stream all over this place with little and large boats going about left and right. 

The following day we woke up to enjoy a great breakfast, both continental and Indian cuisine. What engaged me and my friend was the skill of a tiny little master of this watery world. The kingfisher! There were many hundreds of them, but well-spaced out on the wires and the branches. All they did was look straight down, more than forty feet down into the water below. With the patience of a saint. Suddenly, it would within the blink of an eye drop like a stone with wings closing just before entering water and out it flew with a catch! We were utterly impressed with what this little birdy was doing. Its perseverance, its eye sight, its reflex, its accuracy simply astounding. 

Our Taxi driver was there to greet us at the drop off point, we showed our appreciation to the crew and left the boat contented.  

The next stop was the Preiyar nature reserve, in the district of Idduki. The district that has one of the densest tropical forest of south India. The Preiyar reserve has several tigers and other wild creatures.

We were staying at Cardomom County. It was definitely a very upmarket place but the hospitality and the ambience was worth the price. Top notch! For the evening, the plan was to witness the traditional dance and martial arts of Kerala. All happening within a ten minute walk from the resort. "kathakali" A traditional art form means katha-Story, kali- Dance.

Essentially, its means dancing the story. it was for two hours and the first hours was with introductions to the various gestures, postures and expressions that is involved. The proof of this was in the pudding, the artist pulled up a seven year old from the crowd and just with these expressions and gestures was able to convey, complicated messages to this kid. Not for a brief few minutes, but for a fair bit of half hour. It just went to show how communicative this dance was. The full on Dance was performed which did leave me impressed , but at times lost as well since I could not understand all the gestures. 

The next show at the nearby venue was the martial art, "kallari-paiyattu" . Eight very skilled young men showed off their skills with swords, shields, spears, knives and sticks. Even if each move was planned, the speed at which it was executed was astounding. Even for our eyes it was hard to trace the speed at which this sword or stick moved through the air, forget dodging them. I would say, a slight mistake or lack of attention would cost dearly. There were several occasions where we jumped out of our seats. The crowd was definitely wooed by their performance. I was scared a couple of times because, if the stick of sword slipped out their hands, definitely it would have been a disaster. Given what the guys had to show for, with their experience, they would not have gotten it wrong. 

We retired for the night and the following day itinerary was to explore the nature reserve and some local attractions. The gates of the reserve shut down at five and opened the following day at seven. We were one amongst several others cars queueing up to enter. Looked like we were unfortunate on the particular day, since the tourists were out in several hundreds and we could not get a ticket for the boat ride or the safari. Since that flopped, we had plan B, that is to visit the tea estate. The whole district has several thousand acres of tea estates. The geography was particularly suited for tea. We asked out Taxi driver to take us to one such plantations and I could not have guessed ever, where we would end up. It’s called "Connemara" tea estate.

Yes!! Exactly the same spelling. Amused as we were, the started and it sure did have a Paddy connection. My Friend and I were looking at each other amused. Apparently in the early nineteen hundreds an Irish Engineer came over and set up this factory. It reminded him of Connemara. We, soon were enlightened with all Tea facts. First that tea is not a short shrub. It's a tree which is constantly trimmed to keep its tea leaves accessible. It’s still a very manual process where the leaves are hand-picked. Generally it’s the women folk who do this and the men get to most physical work of moving the leaves to the pickup trucks. I spoke to a couple of the women workers and they were seemed to be happy with their work. What they earn for eight days of work picking tea leaves is close to what one would pay for a cup of tea at Starbucks. It does not seem to be fair at all. The tea tree actually does flower. Green tea and the normal tea is from the same tea leaves. There are only three species of tea and all the different flavours we get at the shelves are a mix of these same tea leaves with something else. We got to see the inside of the factory and the various stages of processing. Quite fascinating, to get to see what the humble tea leaves go through to make it to my cup of tea twice a day. When asked the question, "does the tea from Connemara tea estate get to see the land where Connemara is?” He replied, "might be, packaged as Barry's tea”. That's global commerce for you. We left the place after sampling the tea.

I was not impressed and from the look on other faces. I can say they were not either. 

Spent the evening, shopping for some clothes and local sweets. Took it nice and easy at the resort. My friend and his wife enjoyed the good herbal massage offered at the resort. For the entertainment of the guests there was a dance performance arranged by the management. It was called "Barathanatyam" An ancient Indian dance form. It was performed by a male and a female artist. Quite impressive. The dance ended with the female artist performing dance while standing on the edges of a plate with a jar full of water placed on the head. Not once did she spill a drop of slip of the edge of the plate. Truly skilled. The guests were very impressed.

The following morning, it was time to head back home. It was a long five hour drive to the Airport and we had to start really early. As early as half five. My Parents and we three had to fly to Bengaluru, My friend and his wife had to fly to Ahmedabad, in Gujarat. We were really very grateful to Sumesh our taxi driver, who did a splendid job in getting us to places, in time and even making arrangements for us at different venues. We boarded our respective planes while the beautiful memories of this sweet little trip kept replaying in my head over and over again.  

Beautiful Barcelona

Traveling for me had taken a back seat the past year or so. Definitely priorities change, so does the plans. The past few weeks, since August I kind of get to relive the bachelor days. My wife and kid back in India gave me plenty of time for myself. The weather gods of Ireland when are in a good mood, I make the most of it by Cycling or running. Winter is imminent and this good weather won’t last, So time to put the travellers hat back on. It was an impulsive decision looks at the cities I would like to visit and checked which of those destinations had the cheapest air fare. That was about it. From "what do I do four weekends from now?" to "booking done" was all over in mere thirty minutes. 

Barcelona it is, my best buddy had been there before. He seemed to have a good time there, so why not! Departure at the wee hours on twentieth of Friday and back by midnight of Monday. Three days and two nights. Now I had five weeks to look forward to this weekend. Never even bothered to make any plan as to what I must do when I get there. The previous evening of the departure is when I actually sort the tickets, Direction to the hotel and drafted a rough plan as to places to visit while I was there. 

Off I go!

On the very approach to the "El Prat" airport looking outside the window I could sense that I am in for some treat. The geography is vastly different to where I live. There are hills and valleys, lots of lush greenery. Streams and rivers cut the landscape dotted with small lakes all over. 

The weather was sunny and balmy as I got out and realised there was no need of a jacket here. It was an enjoyable seventeen degrees. The first hour of being in a foreign county is always anxious. That's due to the language barrier.  I was trying hard to figure out the stop I had to get off at. By the time I could understand where the name of each stop is mentioned, I had missed mine. But I was in good company of another newbie to Barcelona. He was Spanish. He looked at me clutching me to a print out and trying to look out at every stop. He assured me. " I am lost too" . That was comforting to me. He said, the bus heads to the El Spanya main station and we can figure out where ever we wanted to go from there. Kind soul he is. At the main station, not only could I figure out where I needed to get to, but also surprised that three days of Metro and Bus unlimited ticket is just twenty euros. No brainier!. Got off at the stop and to the hotel I had booked my stay. The receptionist was struggling at English but she more than made up for the the lack of easy communication by being extremely helpful. She was being even apologetic about it. I said, your intention to help a tourist like me is more than what any one new to town can ask for. 

By eleven I was up and about the town. The Hotel was right besides a massive square called fontella. The whole square was carpeted with hundreds  of pigeon. Opposite was the Hop on and Hop off  service. Given the weather was so good, I wasn't surprised that I had to queue up to buy a ticket to get on this bus. It had three routes, Red blue and green and a ticket would last two days to allow me to hop on to any of the routes as many number of times I liked .  Sounded Perfect !. 

Plan was to get on to this tour bus that day on all routes and make note of all the places that would interest me. Got on to the bus and each round trip would take more than an hour.  

On the map, noted down the stops that I wanted to get off and finished both the routes. (Green route was not in service) It was evening and Barcelona city centre does not have one high street, it has several. I went about exploring. In light of the Paris attacks the city was definitely on high alert. Police was deployed everywhere. I definitely did not look like a local and I definitely I got plenty of glances. I don't mind that. I, in fact admire them for the tough job that they have ahead. The city was not sparsely populated in anyway. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly tourists flocked the streets. On the Red route, I got off at a stop atop Montjuïc. It was due to the mention of a cable car. Got into one which stopped at a castle at the top of the Mountain.

The castle had few cannons but nothing much to offer. What it had in abundance was a view. We could see for hundreds of kilometres across the ocean horizon on one side. The other side had the entire city in full view. That is why this has to be the most strategic location for any castle with big BIG guns! The port below was bustling so was the city on the other side.

The evening of the first day, wandered into the market area where local artisans had lot to exhibit. Meandering into the packed streets, I ended up at the farmers market. It was a good find by me. The dry fruits, Chocolates, sea food shops were a delight to see. Even my camera would have been happy.

it was hard to find any good vegetarian food, so had to settle for some salad and fruits and ended my day. I slept like a log.

The following morning, headed out by nine straight to the bus.  Few observations I made during the day tour was, First, the selfie sticks domination. Every tourist had one. Never seen such an invasion of a weird apparatus before on such scale.  Second observation was that Catalans (Barcelona a.k.a Cataluña ) did not take to bicycles as other cities, such as Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam or London has taken to. It has to be because of the gradients all over the city. Barcelona a is locked by two hills on either sides and sea on the other side, so the only flat transport surface is by the sea coast.Third was few of the high streets were lined with orange trees, with real oranges hanging off its branches. Not few, but several!! 

My first stop was the iconic "Sagrada Familia” The presence of such a massive cathedral dwarfed every other structure around it. I was fascinated by the rear facade, which was still under construction.

The sculptures did not looks like from a by gone ear. It had a more modern touch to it. Apparently the construction of this land mark has been going on for centuries. It’s all the contribution of the visitors that keeps the work going on. After purchasing the ticket I realised that I was at the rear entrance. Had to walk around to get to the front entrance. Awe struck is an understatement. It was beautiful the work was from a bygone era. Standing in front of this massive structure and trying to look at the top of the tower gave me a neck ache. The security was tight and as part of a "Random" check I was patted down and bags all checked twice. I always knew that I wear a look of a thief or someone who is up to some mischief. I don't blame them for it, because my default look would not inspire confidence to any security personnel. The inside was surprisingly not as large as what it looked from outside. Pictures would speak well than what I can ever describe.

Headed out and the next stop was Mount Tibidabo.  Anything to do with scaling heights, I am there. A bus took us to the stop where we get the "Funicular”. I kept thinking Funicular was the name of the place, but actually it means a cable car. There for the first time I witnessed a train coach designed at an angle. It has stairs in it. Hopped on to it, for some spectacular views. At the top of Mount Tibidabo it gave me the perspective from the opposite end to what I enjoyed the day before from Montjuïc. There was a theme park at the op and two church. From here we could see the TV tower, a beautiful structure in itself designed by Sir Norman Foster. Fast winds up there made sure I did not hag about for long. The view from the church showed that the city of Barcelona had lot of fauna behind these mountains. For the residents of this city what a fabulous opportunity to explore the wilderness. 

Back on the bus after the decent straight to Camp Nou. I admit, that I am not much into football, but I always had an interest into what these venues would look like. The power for such a structure to entice more than one hundred thousand people in this case is something not to be noticed. FC Barcelona stadium is the largest in Europe. Once I was in, I was gently being introduced to what this place is all about. This is the place where great players are from. Ronaldino, Messi, Piqué are to name a few. 

A century old club this one had a lot of exhibits. The first cup dating all the way from 1902. The audio visual room was also well equipped. I found myself spending half hour in front of a touch interactive massive screen where one could pull up the video clips of the goals scored. Very entertaining it was. Had a tour of the massive stadium at the visitor level, from the directors’ box level and also from the dugout. Spectacular!  I was keen on buying some merchandise, but then feared from who I would put off, if they had known. First of all I am not a fan boy. 

Day two was drawing to an end. The monastery and the 1980's industrial museum did not excite me but I had one more place of interest. The "Barcelona Cathedral" It was a historic monument from the seventeen hundreds. The place was so busy that I had to queue up for forty five minutes. But it was worth it. What makes me wonder is what these kind of ancient structures have witnessed. The times they have been through and the millions of people who would have gone in and out of the doors and an exponential numbers of prayers being rendered here. 

I walked back to the square, walking around was a good way to explore. Spent the dusk at the fontella square clicking away pictures of the colourful fountains. Grabbed something to eat as well as some snacks and retired to the hotel. 

Day three, the final day.Checked out at nine, but left my luggage and straight to the history museum. Doors open at half nine and I was at the station Closest to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya by Nine. The museum was once the place of the kings and what a place it was. Could not be at a better location. Half way up the Montjuïc. Overlooking the city and the grand entrance. A sports event was ongoing and I was lucky enough to witness the lead runner come up. ten kilometers in thirty minutes. Made a note to myslf, next time I visit some place I must try to participate in such events. Such events will hold the memory longer than pictures for me. The History museum had several  sections and it took em three hours just to get around the place. Not as massive as the museum at London or Amsterdam, but much bigger than the one at Dublin . The museum also had a theatre within it which was so grand that it looked straight of out movies. The place was being set up for most probably a musical concert of some kind.

After the tour, I let myself down the stairs to the bottom of the hill. The Barcelona arena was there, and I got to the top of that as well and had a look at the city and the park. Just adding another perspective.

Later that day, I spent walking around the harbour side, having some food, enjoying the music that was being played and the sun. It was long walk to the beach side and enjoyed the view. The surfers were making most of the waves and the clear water. 

What way way to relax and end my tour, i thought to myself. the whole walk way was lined with nothing but restaurants. For the sea food lovers this place is a heaven. Not a vegetarian like me. Spoilt for choices were the tourists. I walked back to the hotel, took my luggage and headed to the square to just see the people with their kids have a good time. Chatted up with a French national who was also a tourist like me and that drew us close to the departure time. Headed to the airport and jumped into the quarter past nine plane bidding goodbye to the city that offered such , good weather, sun and food not to mention fantastic places to visit. I dozed off as soon I was in the seat. Touch down at Dublin at mid night, out of the door the first sight was screen. It mentioned the weather condition of Dublin. It read "Dublin 0 degrees with spells of rain" !! Welcome to reality I told myself!

Illusory Red Balloons

"What is with this four hour mark that seems to move further away the more harder you try to get close to it ? " This is a question that I have been asking myself the past few weeks. I am sure it will stop once 2016 begins and I get my trainers back on. But this four hour mark still eludes me.
The Dublin 2015 Marathon took place over the bank holiday weekend on 26th of October.
Like the other years gone by, training was in place. I kept upping the ante every weekend after another so that the four hour mark is achievable. . Talking about training, its a highly questionable topic amidst my mates. That is because the training plan, is what I make of it, not something that is downloaded. I know better half of my consciousness is telling  me that, training is something that is a highly regimented affair. By the book, come rain, sun or snow, it has to be adhered to. That is what the training plan that many sites offer. It makes so accommodation for really bad weather, family affairs, or work load at office. Most important of all , there is no options to key in for Wife's mood.  On the other had, the stubborn consciousness of mine is thinking, that enjoy the run but not at the cost of your family time, or your own R and R time.
This year, as usual I stuck to my own training plan. that is start running early June, twice a week when its summer and once a week by end of August. Only target is do longer distances each week and slightly better time each of the weeks. Plain and simple. Longer and a little faster. Its not that hard not to follow or complicated to miss it.
The weather this year has been very good. we had very good summer, started off the year with a ten kilometer race at phoenix park which was decent. The race where my pregnant wife was at the finish line to welcome me. Weekend after weekend, the running distance kept getting longer and it was done in better time as well. That was good confidence booster for me. I did not want to break that routine so much so, that I even took trainers and sports watch on my visit to India. I did a good thirteen kilometer run from my little farm house in Kerala to the house of my Mrs. It was a surprise to all of them, because no one else has ever pulled off such a stunt there. The only occasion people in the country side have seen a man running is, if he was chased by police or Dogs or had an emergency loo situation.  Headed out at half six, Few dogs chased me, but I out ran them. people were giving me weird looks. My cousin who was driving along that route, stopped by to offer me a lift "while I was running" , bless him.

Back to Dublin by first week of September and the running continued. Since my wife and Daughter did not fly back with me, that meant I had lot of time on weekends to get this running going. I had also jumped into the cycling sport and kept that going on weekdays and running on weekends.
The running distances, were easily twenty kilometer plus on the final eight weeks. I was pretty confident and on the penultimate week of the race I ran for thirty two kilometer in three hour five minutes. I thought to myself, this is good time and all I had was another ten kilometer, so getting to the four hour mark should definitely be possible, if not easy. The confidence in me was really strong, and I kept telling myself that I have done a good job training and the set goal was very achievable.

The race pack was picked up from RDS next door.  There were lot of participants this time, I could tell. The crowd was huge. fifteen thousand runners this year which is a record in the Dublin Marathon history.  This was the thirty seventh Dublin Marathon .There was lots of tips and advice that I picked up from the organizers there. I had even made note of the colour of the four hour pace keeper balloons. It was RED.
The forecast on the race day was not great for folks who wanted to be around the race route to cheer the runners, but speaking for myself the weather was just perfect. Just what I wanted. Overcast sky, and the fine misty rain.
I cycled to the start line. Parked it in a bad location, in terms of getting back to after the race. On route I saw the twenty six mile marker tied to the light pole. I had a good look at it and even touched it, thinking it might being be good luck. Emptied by bladder one last time and took my place in the green wave. Five minutes before we started moving, I consumed a banana got rid of the extra layer I was wearing and off we went. The enthusiasm in the air was palpable. The dark skies made no difference to the moods of the thousands. All running with a smile, because now, there is no looking back. The route was slightly modified this time. In my opinion this was the best course so far in all these years. The long run from Pheonix park from end to end and loop back into the park was one of the best. It was a steady climb but very good. the ten kilometer mark came up there. My pace the first 10K was off by a couple of minutes  because, it was all the crowd that was slowing me down. The second 10K was on target. The runners had thinned out. The cloudy skies made sure that I was not dehydrating fast and the rain kept the face washed from the sweaty salts. The organizers had made sure to have water stations and lucozade stations well spaced out.
Most of the course, I was sticking with the four hour pace keepers. That means that at the thirty two kilometer mark I was at three hour mark and along side the pace keepers. That meant it was all going as per plan. Hurray!! Just another ten kilometer

Now the rest of it is on the record and it speaks for itself. My legs were not hurting but my energy levels were going down. I saw the pace keepers going further and further away by the kilometer. Finally the balloons were like a red dot to me. My intake of Gels along with sipping of water was not helping me much. It was a mental battle within myself, one saying "don't push yourself you are fine". My eyes were on my heart rate and I did not want to let that exceed 185 bpm at any point. I thought letting it cross that zone will cause damage and might become extremely tired to get to the finish line. Yes, that was me thinking all of that in the last ten kilometer of the race.
Every time the heart rate reached 185 I would slow down to a brisk walk to get the rate back to 165, then I would pick up again. This killed the good pace I was maintaining. the last five kilometer was on familiar ground for me. A right from N11 into Nutely lane followed  by Merrion road. Latter being the most favorite road of mine. This time, the course was straight down Merrion road towards Merrion Square. On that road is when the wretched green balloons, four hour ten minute pace keeping balloons went past me. I definitely had missed the target time. Crossed the finish line, thanking the gods above, who saw to it that I finished it.
My energy levels was not at zero, rested there for a bit, collected my medal and T shirt. The thing that I wanted the most out of this race. All that effort and sweat and one pair of trainers for that shiny piece of Metal.

Collected goodie bag which had one of the worst ever made cakes in it. It felt like I had shoved in a hand full of sand into my mouth. The only downer for me in the entire event organisation. The rest of all it was arranged in a splendid fashion. No complaints, what so ever except for that horrible cake.
My good mate, Mihir and Kate were there to greet at the meeting point. It was definitely encouraging to have some one there to congratulate and give you a hug.  Getting back to my bike which was on the other side of the race was a nightmare. Tried persuading the gardas, but no joy there. Got to my bike some how and cycled back home.
Stuffed myself with loads of food and had a long nap, only to wake up thinking of race again. Only consolation to myself was I fished the race few minutes better than the 2014 run. So, that's not too bad. Switched on my laptop and looked at the marathon training plan I had downloaded earlier the year.
Then said to myself " Bloody Red Balloons, I will get you next year"

One Day of being the Best

I am not the best, definitely not. But for one day I was known as the best man. The odds of me having the honour  of being the best man to my best mates wedding is extremely rare. I do not think I am going to get another chance in this life time. I say so , because back home in Hindu weddings there is no concept of "best man" and I do not have much Christian friends in India.
The build up to this special day , which is the twenty seventh of June has been coming since quite a while. Ever since my Best mate proposed to the love of his life, the planning had kicked off.

Let me throw some light on Mihir, the man of the hour. My Acquaintance with him started  at work. From then on it grew to being friends, later good friends then finally leading to flat mates. I refer to him as Mihir bhai. Many here think I call out to him as Mihir 'boy'.  Its kind of true since he is a boy at heart. A person where the age has never effected his attitude to look for fun or being positive at everything. That's Mihir. There are many life lessons that I have learnt from Mihir and I cherish each one of them. At one point in everyone life one realises there is one another friend whom you are going to stay in touch with, till the end of life. Mihir falls into that bracket for me.

Back to the planning. Ever since the proposal to Kate was done we all knew that Mihir totally deserved one hell of a stag party . He's of the type who would make any stag party he attends to come to life. But Mihir also is an accountant by academics, so he likes everything organised. That is when Mihir ask three of his best buddies to be his Best men, I am lucky to be one of them. He started planing what he wanted for his own Stag. I had my reservations with that approach. I have met Bekir Andrews, Mihir's university buddy before so I engaged with him directly keeping Mihir out of the loop for the Stag trip planning. Mihir provided us with the contact details of his friends. We took up one suggestion of his, which is the location. It is not one of the places to be known as Stag heaven, but we did accept since it was a sensible place. Milton Keynes. Mihir had friends from Dublin,
Birmingham, London and Spain. MK seemed more convenient . Bekir a.k.a Becks was very good at planning and we got rolling. Since Mihir was a out door-sy person we decided to head to a GO-Ape out door adventure place, then followed by bowling fun and then the inevitable yet the secondary highlight (though some think this is the primary highlight ) of the day, the pub crawl!
June the 7th was the date for the Stag. The stag list was long,  as below

Mihir Patel, Nadeem Din, Kumaswamy Parthipan, Bekir Andrews, Anthony Cannon, Simon Walker
Lee Ali, Paul Green, Nick Moon, Maurice McNamara, Alan O'Reilly, Shane J Kelleher, David T Phelan, Richard G Meikle, Lee Dando, Brian Clearly and me.

The dublin folks took the early morning flight to meet the rest of the boys at MK, Have some food and the head to the adventure spot.  The fun we had there could not be expressed in words, Not even pictures were enough only a video could do that . I will let the video speak for itself.


Some were wrecked with all this physical activity, few petrified and some mortified, But the star of the day Mihir was like an eight year old left unleashed! Mission accomplished !! Nad, Becks and Myself wanted just that. With deformed rear ends, bruised limbs and whip lashes we Headed back to hotel. After a quick shower we headed to the bowling arena. Becks was running a tight schedule where many doubted if we would hit all the spots on time, but none the less we made sure everything went by plan. After the bowling action, we had dinner and then hit the pubs. I had too many shots to remember and too many beers to count. The whole evening is a blur to me. Mihir seemed to like unstoppable. He could go on and on. I on the other hand was a total mess. My buddy Maurice made sure I got back to the hotel, for which I will be grateful.
Following morning, it was time to say good bye to all after a quick breakfast. All went back with the assurance that we will all meet up once again on the 26 th of June.

Mihir and Kate were extremely busy in arranging for the wedding. The venue was Dublin's finest place  for a wedding. The iconic Clontaraf castle was where the ceremony was at. Not too many days left and Mihir bhai was getting the guest list and rooms booked for guests who travelled afar. Becks , Nad and myself had the privilege of the presenting the Best man speech. We were busy with that and the number of times it went back and forth for the revisions they have had is innumerable. We had the option to use a projector at the venue and we went for it. I very secretively spoke to Mihir bhai's dad and got him to send me photographs of old photographs of Mihir bhai from the Album they had in London. I had seen those pictures when I was over and I had a rough idea what I wanted.
Writing up a speech about the person whom you know quite well is not tough. Just the few pictures and all the past conversation I have had with Mihir bhai and his parents were like fine thread to me which weaved itself into a fine fabric to me. With the deck ready and the speech timed I was almost ready.
I went out shopping for myself some new shoes, socks and other bits and bobs. One shiny cuff-links that spelt the obvious "BEST MAN" was also a part of my shopping list. I know that I could not use them on any other day other than this one day and it was all worth it.
I had copies of the proceedings of the day, Memorised the timing schedule of sequence of events.

Most of Mihir bhai's family were arriving the day period to the wedding day. The tradition of "pheri" was held at the castle. The staff at the castle were kind to accommodate. I finished work early and headed straight to castle. It was indeed a great pleasure to meet Mihir bhai;s parents. They are the sweetest ever and the affection they have shown me all these years is much like my own parents to me. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable. Few of the other guests who were also at the stag arrived and it was a joy to meet their other halves . All of the lads seemed to he every happy to be there. We had dinner and the activity for the evening began. Mihir bhai, came well prepared to the hall in shorts on Tee's It was going to be messy. Mihir bhai's mu and all his aunts and cousins gathered around him and he was smothered with fine paste of sandalwood. A handsome man he is, and this is to make him even better. Kate's parents were witnessing this and I am sure they were surprised. But such well spirited folks they are that they jumped into the party as well and gave Mihir bhai a good dollop of the paste on his Belly. ( An unusual place to have it applied ).

The big day had finally arrived. Mihir bhai came around to pick me up and we went to the Venue. My wife and my Little one would join me later. We had the time to go through the schedule, the guest list, the Venue and got ourselves familiarised with the different service providers of the day, just so that they have point of contact.

It was time for us to get ready. This is the point when you realise the show is now on!!. We boys got into a room and took our fresh suits and finely polished new shoes out. The sparkling cuff-links out of the small box. Kate had given each of a tie to match with what the bride's maid were wearing. Mihir bhai was looking for a million dollars and his enthusiasm was contagious. We we aware Kate is going to look like a billion dollars getting ready upstairs.  We had to make sure Mihir bhai at least looked like a couple of million. That he sure did. The custom cuff-link and the suit with the picture of Kate's favourite cat coco was put on. All the anxiousness and enthusiasm filled the room with high spirits.

 It was time for the civil ceremony, The ambience of the room was fantastic. With all the proceedings going really smoothly and the words spoken there definitely resonating with most of us few of us emotional. I had the privilege of being the witness to the wedding.

Now that Mihir bhai were legally, officially husband and wife it was time to celebrate. As the new couple walked out the guests all got to throw some confetti  which was fun and a great photo op. Ever one headed out and the photographer did a great job of taking a group shot. Kate and Mihir went with the photographer to take more shots. Becks, Nad and myself were busy to get our laptops hooked up to the projector. Made sure that the food was all ready. There were varied dietary requirements and ensured that was all taken care off.

We made the announcement to all the guests to come into the dining hall.  The guest names and their respective table names were put on display on a beautiful mirror. The hall was beautiful with lot of attention to detail for each table, the flowers at each table, the chairs well spaced. The whole ambience of the room was staged quite suits for such a wonderful occasion.

It was time to make the speech. Mihir bhai started off and made quite an interesting presentation with all animations , more importantly it reflected how much he loved Kate and the journey they had been through the past couple of years. Kate actually stole the best flat mate I have ever had, but I am glad my flat mate found a soul mate. Becks presented his share of the speech elaborating about Mihir's University life. The wild person he was , was pictorially well laid out for the one hundred plus guests to see. Nad followed Becks and he did draw an even better picture .
The last person to finish off the speech was me and even If I had know him the past seven years, it always felt like I had known Mihir bhai longer. His family, were also close to me. I decided to share how Mihir's childhood was and how much a family person he was. Kate was a person on the same lines of Mihir and it was evident that they made a great match. My speech drew to an end and it was time for a wonderful dinner. My Wife and Daughter had joined me at the table. We had an awesome meal, I even went for two rounds of desert.
At the corner of the room stood a beautiful cake which had to be cut. Mihir and Kate rightfully did the honour and I must admit it was one of the best pastry I have had, I helped myself with some twice!
The DJ meanwhile was spinning some really nice tracks. Few of the numbers on the list were the Bollywood time recommended by Mihir bhai. That got going most of the Indian crowd. The dance floor, lets say had not an inch to be spared. My wife , how lets say is two left foot was also pulled into the dance floor by Kates dad. He got her moving and it looked like for once she enjoyed dancing. It was fun and honestly a joy to watch everyone enjoy. Young little 4 year old to seventy year old seniors like. For a moment everyone seemed to be enjoying like the lucky four year old.
That's how I like to remember this day of mine. A day that brought so much of joy to so many, A day that made me feel special because It was such an honour to have a important place on a one of the most significant milestone of my brother. A day that gave me a sister in law in Dublin.

Since then every morning , as I get ready to go to work, I have the cuff-link on the shelf next to the shirt. I give it a look and walk away with a smile. I cherish that day. The day I had the title of being the best, for my best "bhai".