Soma Purana

Just because you don't say anything doesn't mean you don't have anything to say. So, just say it. Write, tell. Writing is a process. You have a thought, an idea and you start writing it down. In the process of writing, the initial thought gets refined and transformed, new thoughts are generated. At the end, what you wrote very likely will not resemble the initial thought. Also, you become a better individual as a result of now having a more cogent set of thoughts. Writing takes time because in the process of writing you are having a conversation with yourself. You learn to listen to yourself, you learn to criticize yourself, you learn to appreciate yourself. You learn to love yourself.

Everyone feels guilty at times. So, it must have been a trait spread by natural selection. If you are in a dangerous zone (say, tigers roam around), you decide to get the hell out of there. But, a day has passed, you are still there. If you start feeling guilty, you may take action now to leave and if you do that will save your life. If you don't feel guilty, you may just continue to hang around and eventually eaten by a tiger. So, it looks like guilt is a good trait, right? Also, there is a conception that if it a trait selected by nature, it must be a good one. Wrong. Nature doesn't produce traits. Traits happen randomly caused by genetic mutations. Nature just acts to weed out the weaker and select the stronger among them. Suppose we had developed instead of guilt a new different trait - let us call it "newgem" - that forced us in the morning as soon as we wake up to take stock of where we are at that moment and then chalk out the action for just that day and star...

On Jan, 6th 2013, I and my wife started Bikram Yoga prodded for sometime by Neeraja. I have attended Yoga classes every day this first week. It is 90-minute long and is conducted in a room where 105 deg F temperature is maintained. The yoga involves 26 poses. These are tough. Week of 1-6-2013: 7 days Week of 1-13-2013: 7 days Cumulative=14 days   1-20-13: I am gaining weight. My eating has remained the same. Obviously, Bikram is affecting in some way. I am hoping that it is increasing my lean mass and reducing fat mass. The amount of strength increasing postures is great in Bikram. Yesterday (1/19/13), I was dead tired after Bikram. It felt as if 14 days of yoga without a break was taking its toll. Week of 1-20-2013: 7 days 21 days My weight is stabilizing. Gaining phenomenal strength. Knee pain and all pains are gone! 100%. My 30-day reduced rate will end soon. Is thinking of signing up for entire year. Week of 1-27-2013: 7 days  Cumulative=28 days Week of...

Three wonderful movies we watched in 2012, Lincoln, Argo, The Guilt Trip. We actually watched The Guilt Trip on New Year's Day. This is a beautiful mother-son comedy, end is so sweet....

I know the reason for poor running in December. The temperature dropped considerably. It was in low 30s. If it falls below 40 deg F, I am hesitant to run. So, I now have decided to switch to treadmill whenever the weather is not amiable. Week of Dec. 30 2012: 0+6+0+6.5+++= Mon was on treadmill for 92 min. The machine said 1020 cal, 312 Fat cal. Wed was also on treadmill for 106 min (but a little slower).  1000 cal, 302 Fat cal. Need to include some yoga since I have lost quite a bit of flexibility.

I had stopped making the updates. I was not recording daily run miles properly in the previous few weeks. Anyway, in the last few weeks I did not meet my quota of 40 miles per week. I know I will be motivated to meet my quota if I record every day's miles and report here. What I have decided is to start this post and just edit it week after week rather than write a new post every week. Some learnings from previous weeks running. Got new running shoes. makes a huge difference. Was getting a lot of pain in the knees initially. Over weeks of running, it has gone away. Cold does not bother me.  It had been 27 deg F one morning. But I was OK after a couple of minutes with just a jersey. Each number is for Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat Week of Nov. 4, 2012: 8+5+7+6+0 +0+8 =34 Thurs there was snow. Fri, I was just tired.   Week of Nov. 11, 2012: 6+7+7+0+5+0+6=33 Week of Nov. 18, 2012: 0+8+0+0+0+0+0=8   Pretty dismal week! Cannot blame it on wea...

It was a thrilling ride! The professor Keith Devlin (Stanford) was superb! I also received a certificate of completion with distinction! I cannot believe I obtained some quality education from a prestigious school. This is the power of MOOCs. Makes it available to anyone; then it is up to you. These courses are tough! Require a lot of work. But they are exciting and you do learn. Now I am deep in my Genetics & Evolution MOOC. It is getting a little bit beyond my abilities but I am hanging in there.

I finished my first MOOC course "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking" taught by Keith Devlin of Stanford, an outstanding professor. It was a tough course! I am almost half done with "Introduction to Genetics and Evolution" taught Mohammed Noor, another outstanding professor from Duke. I have already learned a great deal from this course. This is a tough course too. Believe it or not, I have signed up another 16 MOOCs! Within a month, three courses will be starting; Think Again: How to Reason and Argue , Introduction to Astronomy , Drugs and the Brain .  The New York Times called 2012, the year of the MOOCs, see http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&.

I feel I have no time at all, yet feel I have not accomplished much at the end of the day. So I thought I would analyze what I have done today so far and determine whether that accounts for much. I had done masters degree in Industrial engineering and had worked as an industrial engineer for five years before I switched my field. So, this post has industrial engineering bent. Let me first list the items I have completed so far. Ran 6.5 miles in the morning (started at 4AM). Made smoothie (spinach, banana, cantaloupe, grapes, orange). Only I and Neeraja consume smoothies every morning. Cooked garbanzo beans and made breakfast with oatmeal in my style. Used liberal quantities of ginger, garlic, three varieties of pepper, onion, turmeric, cumin powder, beans, egg plant, oil.  Made several rounds of coffee for everyone at home. Made salad for the day. Packed lunch for my wife and Raghu. Attempted Genetics and Evolution MOOC course Problem Set 1. Watched Mathematical Thinkin...

I signed up for an excellent online course called Mathematical Thinking by Keith Devlin, a Stanford professor. This course is primarily about mathematical logic. This is week #3 and it is going really well. It is not easy though! I also have signed up as a community tutor (I don't know yet what my responsibilities would be). My initial experience was so exciting, I signed up for a whole bunch more future courses. Computational Investing, Part I Fundamentals of Personal Financial Planning Introduction to Genetics and Evolution Introductory Organic Chemistry - Part 1 Know Thyself Calculus: Single Variable Introduction to Astronomy   These are all given by eminent scholars in ivy league schools and are free! These are known as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course). If someone is interested they can browse the available courses at https://www.coursera.org/courses   I would think, this is going to be the future!  One can design and follow whatever cur...

Going forward, I will update the walk review once a month. I want the blogs to be more of my thoughts and insights rather than mundane exercise talk. This week I made 42 miles with some difficulty. I had soreness in my knees during many nights, particularly, in early morning. I thought it was because of inflammation after long walk. But, I think it is because of lactic acid buildup that happens when aerobic respiration is not adequate and the muscles resort to anaerobic process to generate energy. This is just my theory, I need to understand this a bit more. For the last three days, however, I have not had this soreness.

Records are meant to be broken. 8 miles was my limit. I do 8 miles several times now and one day this week, I made 9 miles. I walked six days (one day I didn't walk, not because of weather, but because my knees cried for rest). I made 46 miles putting 6 miles in the bank. My walk these days consists of an hour of brisk walking and an hour of slow running. I am using arms quite a bit while walking. I start off with my arm at 90 degrees from midsection and swing it to slightly higher than my heart level. This is helping me tone my arms muscles. I may have to perfect my arm movement to maximize the benefit.

I walked all 7-days, hooray!!! I made 47 miles total. 40 goes to my quota and 7 in the bank. 8+7+5+7+6+7+7=47. This week was very god for walking. No rain; temperature was perfect.

I read quite a bit of fiction. I generally don't buy books but pick them up at Mercer County Community college where I teach as an adjunct. Most of the books I pick up are trash, I throw them away later. Some are real jewels. "Eric Ambler's "Dirty Story" and Herman Wouk's pulitzer winning "Caine Mutiny" are among those. I just re-read Dirty Story. Absolutely fascinating novel. Caine Mutiny is just marvelous reading (I didn't like the movie that much). I liked Dirty Story so much I ordered The Light of Day by Ambler whose sequel is Dirty Story. The Light of Day is just as suspenseful and a delight to read. The unlikely hero in these sequels Arthur Abdel Simpson is a thief, a swindler, a coward, an opportunist, somehow gets mixed up in constant troubles, yet, a reader walks away extremely sympathetic towards Simpson and convinced that the world has dealt a very unfair hand to him. I don't think I would want to swap my life with his, but exper...

What a wonderful book! Read it for the 2nd time. Once you start, you cannot put the book down. This novel won Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1964. In the previous post, I wrote about a little madness in Zorba. You see plenty of fascinating madness in the Simpson character in this book. I have read another fiction by Ambler "Dirty Story" which is a sequel to "The Light of Day". Simpson's life is so rich because of the madness. I can't wait to re-read "Dirty Story." Eric Amber writes so well, the language is so appealing. I wish this book was made into a movie!

Watched two movies. "The Apartment" (2nd time watching) was truly entertainng with superb performance by Jack Lemmon who should have won best actor award. The movie won best picture and bagged four more Oscars. Truly entertaining movie. "Zorba the Greek" with finest acting by Anthony Quinn as Zorba who also should have won best actor award got three Oscars. This movie is quite entertaining while being quite philosophical. The most memorable quote for me in the film is Zorba's " Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You've got everything except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else..."

I wrote about walking 8 miles on one day and suffering severely from it. I concluded the week with 7 miles on Saturday. For the week, I did 5+8+0+0+6+7+7=33 miles. 7 miles, even 7.5 miles, is OK, but 8 miles messes me up. Strange! it looks like, going forward I can meet my 40 miles per week criteria (provided it doesn't rain). I did 7.5 miles today. I still miss my bike riding.

Buoyed by successful week of walking and running, I upped the ante and covered 8 miles on Monday 8/20/2012 with 4 miles of it running. Boy, did I exceed the limits that my body demanded! Later that day, that night, and the following day was hell. It felt like my knees were falling out. Advils did nothing. With a couple of days break, I restarted doing moderate 5 miles with no running. I have to figure out slowly what I can do. I am sure over time, 8 miles will be alright, but right now, I am no where near it.

Last week I was watching a program by Shawn Achor called "Happiness Advantage." Achor was relating how we derive happiness with smiling. He said if we put a pen across our mouth forcing it to look like we are smiling broadly, the brain dumps dopamine into the system and we feel "happy." It is not a real smile, there isn't a real happy event, but basically, you have tricked the system into producing happiness. So, I am feeling happy and I also know nothing has changed. Is this schizophrenia? Who is feeling happy? Is that me? why do I feel happy? Brain produces thoughts in mind. Theologians claim, mind and the body are two different things. The "body" includes brain. To illustrate, I have to use two me's, letme call them I-A and I-B. I-B decides to put the pen across mouth. My body and brain decide I must be feeling happy and introduce dopamine. Increased levels of dopamine cause I-A to feel "real" happiness. This statement assume...

Last week I walked five days covering approximately 25 miles. I started week 2 (Sunday 8/19) upping my previous per-day miles. I walked today 7 1/2 miles in an hour and a half. My goal is to do 40 miles in one week going forward. Probably, I will feel sore later today.