Monday, July 30, 2012

Wabash Wisdom


At a fortunate moment of indecision, I decided to go all the way to Udupi, a restaurant 50 miles away from my dear WestLala, lured by the prospect of gobbling idlis and vadas (yes, you read the verbs right). As an after-effect of the above decision, I was forced to go for a jog in order to fit myself into my T-shirts again. In a certain sense, I'm happy that I decided to jog, since jogging along the northern parts of Wabash Heritage trail was one of my to-do things at West Lafayette. Just in case you are wondering, yes, I'm still looking for the second item in that list.  But let that be. For, as a fall out of my expedition today, I learnt many a thing that I'm postulating here as the dozen pearls of jogging wisdom


I learnt 
  • that Rajinikanth is right, as always. He once said "vazhkai oru vattam da" (roughly translates to 'circle of life')
  • that it takes at least 7 miles of running for your stomach to feel normal after hogging 11 medu vadas.
  • that less traversed under-the-bridge pathways are a popular destination for men with OAB, no matter what country you are in.
  • that 'The Road not taken' is an inspired poetry is a lie. Robert Frost had once taken a stroll along the N. 9th Street, Lafayette.
  • that all roads in West Lafayette lead to the Happy Hollow park.
  • why India does not compete in track and field events - we are just not meant to be athletes.
  • It is final.  The winner in the category "best music track for inspired running" is Bhag bhag DK Bose. Sanjay Subrahmanyan's Upacaharamu cheseva comes a distant second.
  • that fitness Apps in iPhone are not to be trusted for predicting distances. Ever. 
  • what Jenny meant when she said "Run Forrest, run."
  • that it is a good idea to take bath after running 9 miles . Apparently you turn into an effective rodent repellent after 7 miles.
  • deer in west lafayette is not a fable. I saw two by the US-52.
  • the meaning of life

Glossary:

WestLalaa rhyming pet name for West Lafayette, influenced by hours of watching innumerable tamizh songs with completely worthless lyrics.  
Bhag bhag DK Bose - hindi equivalent for encouraging a certain gentleman who goes by the name of D.K.Bose, to run. Really. Even Mr.Aamir Khan said so.
Upacaharamu cheseva - a carnatic composition by Saint Thyagaraja in the raga Bhairavi.
Rajinikanth - "      " intentionally left blank, undefined - the inventors of Boson particle at CERN are still working on this
Medu vadas - fried salted spiced lentil donuts. Salt - no sweet,.
US-52 - a very popular and landmark destination connecting the historic towns of Lafayette and West Lafayette across the might Wabash. All visitors of the Walmart definitely pass by this historic location.

A note to the posterity - this is the route that I ran today. May you find peace and prosperity and enough oil to light your lamps!

 
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