What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Partial Diary of a Writer & Runner

Just finished reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. He is a self proclaimed writer first and then a runner. He has been running long distance since 1983 and has over 25 marathons to his credit.

Murakami-san wrote this book in a journal / log format that chronicles his training leading up 2005 NYC Marathon. It is part training log and part travelog as he talks training in many parts of the world. (Tokyo, Athens, Murakami city, Hawaii, Boston, Central Park and a few other places I can't recollect).

I particularly liked his log about running his first unofficial marathon in Athens traversing the original route in reverse.

Another thing that stood out was what Murakami-san would like his gravestone to say

Haruki Murakami
1949 - 20**
Write (and Runner)
At Least He Never Walked

That got me thinking about my tombstone. Ofcourse I will not have one as I will be cremated. But if I had one.. I would like it to say..

Ram Viswanathan
1962 - 20**
He Made a Difference

Now back to the book..
Not sure if Murakami-san wrote this book in Japanese first and then got it translated. His style of story telling does take little bit of getting used.

This was my first running book and perhaps wasn't the most appropriate choice to open the account. Nevertheless I kind of enjoyed his meandring log . It helped me come up a simple simple rule for myself.."Never miss a run for two consecutive days".

Bottom Line.. Not a gripping read, but if you are a runner, you will appreciate few things Murakami-san is saying. Also, you might end up learning a few tricks as well.

Next Book: Haven't decided on it yet. My son loaned me Robin Sharma's Who will cry when you die, but not sure if I will read it so soon (I just read Mr. Sharma's Greatness Guide 2 before Murakami-san's). Might read the abridged version of Bhagavatham (பாகவதம்) again.

Books - Greatness Guide 2

Like rising early, reading books has been a continuous struggle for me. But I do know that I need to do them both consistently and easily to reach my next level whatever that might me. That said, I finally forced myself to finish Robin Sharma's The Greatness Guide 2 book.

Though I bought this book for a plane trip in August did not finish is till recently. I did religiously carry it for trip after trip adding load to my already overloaded backpack but did not get to it. At best, I would read a few pages and not touch it again for a few days / weeks only to start all over again.

Here is what I have planned to do.. call it a early 'new year resolution' but here it is.. 'Will read at least one book a month'.

Now back to the book..
My introduction to Robin Sharma was through his book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrai. I enjoyed that one for its easy reading and the Indian connection. With that name recognition, I picked up The Greatness Guide 2 hoping to enjoy and learn from it as well. I am glad to report that Robin Sharma did not disappoint me. Like many of the self-help books, this also urges to be gentle, humble, truthful, give back etc., As we all know, it is the seemingly easy stuff that are the most difficult to practice consistently in life.

As Robin Sharma says in his book, you are the company you keep and keeping good thoughts / reading good books ought to make you act in a positive manner.

One thing liked about this book is that no chapter is more than two pages long. It is easy to read a few pages and continue later. I liked that convenience.. (Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat the small stuff series is also like this.. easy to read.)

Few quotes from the book..

What is Success ? "To me, success is all about being in the process of joyfully creating a life that reflects your highest values, your deepest beliefs and your greatest dreams."

What matters? "At the end of our lives, the only thing that endures is who we became, the difference we made and the love we gave"

Powerful stuff.. much to think about and internalize.

My two cents: I enjoyed reading this book and would strongly recommend it.. I am sure you will enjoy and benefit from it too.

This book and will remain in my library for revisits and will be enriched with couple of other Robin Sharma books soon: 1) The Greatness Guide 2) Who will cry when you die.

My next book: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Games Indians Play - Why We Are The Way We Are?

Very interesting title isn't it..? This the book I have started reading..

“Why are we a nation that is individually so smart and collectively so naive? Why do we mistake talk for action? Why is our self-worth massaged only if we have the ‘authority’ to break rules? Why are we among the world’s most corrupt? Why do we jump red lights? Why do we dump our garbage at the neighbour’s doorstep? . . . Can it be our climate, population density, poverty, colonial past or even genetic encoding?”

This book is by V Raghunathan, an IIM-A professor who is using Game Theory to explain why Indians behave the way we behave.

I just read the first few pages and if they are precursor of things to come, then this book promises to be an interesting one. The book starts of with discussing the booty Karnataka Government announced for forest brigand Veerappan's head and how they handled hundreds claim for the INR 500 million.

I am not an avid reader, but would like to become one. I hope to come back to you next week with my take on this book.

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff With Your Family

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff With Your Family

Richard Carlson has written a number of books in the Don't Sweat series and I finally finished this one early last week. I have been lugging in my backpack for a while and glad to have finally read it through. One advantage with Mr. Carlson's work is that, each section is not more than 2 - 3 pages long and it is easy to read a few sections now and connect later.

I have read a few of his books and looking forward to read a few more. Each time I read his book, he helps me refocus on the important things in life and become a little bit calmer (have a long way go..). His message is simple, straightforward and encourages us to not to take stuff seriously (any stuff..). Most importantly, he talks about the importance of acceptance, appreciation and love. His messages though are common sense are NOT common practice.

He has written a series of books in the 'Don't Sweat the small stuff' series and is quite simple in its message: Love your family unconditionally. He suggests simple ways in which this could be accomplished as well. Thanks to Google, we can read the first 19 sections online.

PS: As I was digging around on the net to write this post, I learnt about the sudden demise of Richard Carlson in December of last year. It left me dumbfounded for a few moments and I don't think have gotten over it yet. He left his own trail as he walked the earth and lived a life devoted to peace, love, and the betterment of humanity. Mr. Carlson has touched my life in several ways like millions of others he did while he was in this earth. May his soul rest in peace and may God be with his family.

He died of heart attack while flying from SFO to NYC to promote his new book "Don't Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant and Downright Mean-Spirited People."

Richard Carlson encouraged us to

"Ask yourself: Is there any way I can become even more loving than I am? Can I fill my heart with more loving kindness? Can you, despite the fact that there are less than perfect people in our world, think loving thoughts about yourself and about others? Spread that love around as far as your mind will allow!"

and.. I encourage you to try any of his book. It has helped me lot and I am sure it will help you too..

Let me end this post as Richard Carlson always ends his correspondence "Treasure Yourself'".

Cut-Outs, Caste And Cine Stars

Cut-Outs, Caste And Cine Stars by Vaasanthi, Penguin Group Publications, INR 425

This book came out just before the May 2006 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu (TN) and tracks 40+ years of Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. Vasanthi has done a good job of tracing the influence of film industry from the days of Annadurai to Jayalalithaa. She vividly points out the contrast between Dravidian political rhetoric and practice. While the Dravidian parties rile on Hindu religious practices, they actually follow that and revere their leaders as demi-gods complete with status, garlands, Arathis, coconut offering etc.,

However, this book isn't a easy read. I felt the narration is dis-jointed on many places and jumps around time-line which made it a difficult read. I have been following the TN political scene for the last 20+ years, even then I found it hard to following the narration. If Vaasanthi had followed the 'chronicle' approach to story telling, it would have made a much better read.

Bottomline
This is a decent book for anyone who is interested in Dravidian politics of Tamil Nadu and its unique relationship with the Tamil film industry.

Vasantha Kala Kuttrangal

Vasantha Kala Kuttrangal by Sujatha - Visa Publications, INR 52

This book must have been written in early 80s and it shows in the narration. The characters don’t use any of the latest technology and rely on what is now considered as the dinosaur age stuff..

As usual, Sujatha’s story telling style is superb and it masks the weakness in the storyline which is very loosely weaved together and unravels fast and quite unexpectedly. Initially, the storyline seem to be dragging but ends rather abruptly.

Read if you have time to kill

Rating: B-