I was thinking on writing some useful(for a change) entry in my blog, something that's educative and if possible inspirational. Where will I ever find such a thing? Hmmm! Idea!! Why not write about by my trial and tribulations in the Gym.

I am sure there are many skinny guys like me dreaming about Salman's and Surya's physique and letting out a huge sigh. I don't know how hard or impossible is it to get there, but I have started my journey. I will post my experiences here and see how I progress. If this will inspire atleast one person to go to Gym, I think my time writing this is worth it.

My goal right now is to put on 10 pounds in 6 months. I weigh 150 pounds now. I read in numerous articles in the Internet and also heard from the trainer in my Gym that working out is only half the job. The most important thing is to eat right otherwise all the sweat and pain will be monumental waste of time. From numerous articles, I have gleaned the following,

1. One should eat atleast 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight daily no matter if he works out or not. Meaning, I have to eat 150 grams of protein every day. To give you an idea, an egg has approx 7 grams of protein.

2. 1 gm of protein = 4 calories, 1 gm of Fat = 9 calories and 1 gm of Carbs = 4 calories.

3. 25% of your daily calories should come from Good Fats. Note the work 'Good'. You can't binge on Cheese Burgers and count it here. Good fats are Unsaturated fats which don't contribute to cholesterol.

4. The rest of the calories should come from carbohydrates.

I know these figures sound daunting but I was told that its doable. So I have decided to take the plunge. I have decide to eat more and eat frequently. In addition to the 3 regular meals I will sneak in 3 snack in between to fill in the gaps. I haven't figured out exactly what and how much to eat. I will write those in a follow up post.

I am following a work out plan that is called Two day split. Its as follows,

Monday - Thighs, Chest, Triceps.
Tuesday - Shoulders, Back, Biceps.
Wednesday - day off(yay!!)
Thursday - Thighs, Chest, Triceps.
Friday - Shoulders, Back, Biceps.

I am not sure if I can create a downloadable link of my work out plan. Its small application that calculates and creates a 12 week work out chat with weights and repetitions for you. Its close to 100 MB. Its a zip file. I anybody knows a way to host the file and create a downloadable link, do let me know.

I will keep posting on my progress or lack of it in the weeks to come.

P/S: Some trivia

1. More women come to Gym than men (seems to be the trend in US)
2. Sodium will inhibit calcium absorption. So for those who want strong bones go easy on Salt.

| Permanent Link

Today evening I saw a car sticker that said 'I am proud to be a Christian'. I was pissed of reading that. Then I thought what made me get angry. I don't have any problems with stickers that read 'American and Proud' and others with similar message.

Religion and Patriotism are both beliefs. We are social animals who want to associate ourselves with a group to feel safe and secure. This is the basis for both these beliefs.

Then why did the first sticker make me angry while the second didn't. Surely it’s not because he is Christian. I would felt the same if I had seen Hindu instead of Christian. I am not biased towards any particular religion.

I just couldn't find an answer.

| Permanent Link

Its been quite and unremarkable days since my last post. Except during last weekend when I went to Cleveland after a long gap. From there we went to Columbus to attend Pranav's 5th birthday party. The whole Detroit gang of Kumar anna, Ilango anna and Jai anna were there. As usual I had a ball.

On Sunday all the moms, Devi anni, Kala, Krishna, Sudha, Nirubha, Prabha(put akkas at the end of everyone's name) decided to go 'Hills have eyes', a horror movie while the kids went to 'Curious George'. I joined the mom's gang. I don't like horror movies. Half way into the movies all the moms slipped out saying the movies too Gory. I contemplated running away with them, then finally decided to stick it out. Normally I won't even watch a nice movie alone. I had to watch a horror flick alone. I survived unscathed; I was actually proud of myself after the movie.

So that's how my weekend went. The main purpose of the post is this link. It’s the picture collection of a Belgian national who is fascinated by Tamil Nadu and it people, basically us. His pictures are beautiful and realistic capturing the essence of Tamil life. My brother Pravin sent me this link. I enjoyed watching them and I hope you will too.

| Permanent Link

As usual I had a jobless Sunday, I was thinking about random things(as usual), I thought of this. What's worse? To overestimate or Underestimate oneself. This seems to be a meaningful debate in the light of our modern society where failure is frowned upon. Let me give a shot at it.

To Overestimate is to overrate one's skills and ability, to expect more from oneself and keep slogging till one reaches one's seemingly unreachable goals.
Pros:
1. The one will be called ambitious if he/she succeeds.
2. A success will boost one's confidence and take him/her to higher levels.
Cons:
1. The one will be called vain if he/she fails.
2. A failure will bruise his ego and put a dent in his confidence.

To Underestimate is to set the bar short so that, one will never fail in what they set out to do. To be contended in what one has right now and not wish for anything higher or harder for the fear of failure.
Pros:
1. Never fail, coz you didn't try anything harder.
2. Seemingly contented life void of disappointments.

Cons:
1. Never fail, coz you didn't try anything harder.
2. won't have any interesting stories to tell to grandchildren :(

Though almost everyone will claim that its better to overestimate that underestimate, sub-consciously most of us tend to underestimate. No body wants to fail. Its so natural and ingrained ourselves. It takes a lot of determination and character to break out of this web and try. I read in The Alchemist,"The World will conspire to help those who follow the path of their calling". I wish its true.

| Permanent Link

Bhagat Singh was 23 when he was hanged by the British. A few weeks before his death he wrote his explanation in response to disapproval from his Sikh community and his other revolutionary friends on his lack of faith. You can read the explanation here .

Its hard to believe that these are the words of a condemned man, facing his imminent death. The clarity of thought that created his words is stunning. He was only 23. A regular 23 year old guy has 2 interests, career and girls. I am sure he too must have those feelings. He must have deliberately blocked them, in order to concentrate on his struggle for freedom. I wonder what gave him the courage to do it.

His command of the English language is amazing. He starts with why he doesn't think why vanity or Ahankar, as he quotes, is not the reason for his decision to be an atheist. Then he goes after the definition of God as the creator. He questions if He has the power to create, why doesn't he have the power to stop the sufferings. His comparison of God to Nero and Chengizkhan makes sense if you see it in his context. He explains that the concept of God is created by the innate fear of the unknown in Man. Having realized that, he doesn't need to God or any other entity to delegate his fears and find peace. Because he is already at peace with himself.

What a Man!!!

Note: It turns out that few days before his execution, Bhagat Singh met Bhai Randhir Singh who was a freedom fighter in the same jail and a devout Sikh. After this meeting Bhagat Singh regained his faith in Sikhism and went to the gallows as such. Thanks rsingh for this clarification.

| Permanent Link

This is one of the Analytical Writing Assesment (AWA) question I came across. I thought I will pen my analysis down and see how it looks. If you find flaw in my reasoning please do let me know.

I agree with the above assesment, probably because its the correct(safe) thing to do give the recent scandals like Enron etc., But before I give my reasons for agreeing, let me play devil's advocate for a moment. These days, the success of a business and thereby the effectiveness of its leader is measured in the numbers on the Financial Statement. This could accomplished by ethically questionable strategies by getting inside information on a competitor's strategy or spreading false rumors on the effectiveness of competitor's products and services etc., In this context the concept of ethics and effectivness don't go hand in hand.

Having said that, let me give counter argument. If a leader starts a rat race by indulging in the above activities, what will stop the competitor from doing the same back at our leader. Then those two company's management will be busy trying to tarnish each others reputation than on investing time in improving the basics like customer service, quality of products and employee benefits and satisfaction. This is crucial in increasing the company's standing among the clients and its own employees and will help it in achieving it goals.

I think it takes a leader with high ethical standards to block the temptation of instant gain by following cheap tactics and set a strategic vision for the future. That way he will lead as a example to follow for his subordinates which will propagate down the chain to the grass root level. That will make the employees taking pride in what they do and how they do it, thereby increasing efficiency.

Another important issue in light of the recent scandals is, the increase media attention to the white collar crimes. The business leaders are under a spot light where all of their actions are under the tight scrutiny. If they are involved in any unethical activity, they are putting themselves and their company in jeapordy. An ethical leader will have more time in his hand on constructive activities than an unethical one who has to do a lot to cover his tracts and lose scope for the future.

In short ethics fosters confidence and credibility which are crucial for an effective leader. Yes, I agree with this assesment that most effective leaders are those whose value ethics.

| Permanent Link

My colleagues Shyam and Shilpa invited me to their apartment for dinner yesterday. We went to get the movie 'Rang de Basanti' to watch over snacks and dinner. We had samosas for snack and Shilpa made an excellent grilled tortilla with Indian spices. I had a sumptuous dinner watching RDB. What else can you ask for? Shyam and Shilpa took a lot of effort to make me feel comfortable. It was a dinner I will remember for a long time.

On my way back to my apartment, I was thinking, what a great think this hospitality is. It transcends the circle of a family and friends and includes everyone who comes to visit you. It takes a lot of character to host someone, to attend to their needs and make them comfortable. Here, in this country, I have been to quite a few homes, of Indians and of Americans. They were all gracious hosts. There have been times when I was not mature enough to appreciate it, but I do it now.

I have never hosted anyone. I am taking cues from the people I visit so that I too can be a gracious host someday. I am writing this post for myself, to remind me of the importance this social responsibility so that I don't forget about this in the tides of time.

| Permanent Link

Yesterday was my first day at this Gym. I wanted to join a gym for a long time. I never got a chance to do it since I never had a permanent address for myself. It’s one of drawbacks of being a consultant. You never know how long you will work on a project before moving out. Finally I signed a lease for 12 months in an apartment last week. Since I am stuck here for the next 12 months, I thought I might as well make use of it and join a Gym.

Though I do some work out with dumb bells, I have never been to a Gym since I left India. I was little nervous in my first day. I did some warm up, and went straight to the machines. I am a sucker for weight training and I couldn't wait to try out those fancy machines. I have a complimentary session with a personal trainer which I scheduled for Monday.

I am not familiar with those machines. I had to read the instructions or see how somebody else works it before I can try for myself. I spent a an hour in the Gym. I felt good at the end of it. I have to be careful not get too enthusiastic and burn myself out in the first few days. I am known for short attentions spans. I hope to settle down in to a schedule and rhythm which I can sustain for a longer period. I better do that else my money will go down the drain, since I have signed up for a year.

As a side note, I am tired of so many girls drooling over Surya and decided to give him a run for his money. Watch out! Surya, Here I come.

| Permanent Link