Wall Climbing

After months of procrastination I finally went for wall climbing at the Kanteerva stadium in Bangalore. Two of my friends have been doing it for a couple of years now but they have been lazy these past six months. A couple of weeks ago (last Saturday of Nov '09) some friends came over from the US and we had a big get together at my house. That evening a plan was laid to go for wall climbing the next day. The next day some relatives came over at my place, one friend went to Delhi to attend a marriage and the third had some unexpected work come his way. So much for our plans.

This had all the making of yet another plan never executed. We decided we would go the following weekend. On Saturday my friend sent me an SMS inquiring if I was still game to to go wall climbing on Sunday evening. I replied in affirmative. Sunday evening came and I went to my friends place and from there we proceeded to Kanteerva Stadium. My friends had all the equipment required, ropes, climbing shoes, belay device, carabiners etc. the works.

I started with bouldering (i.e. going to a height of 5-8 feet and then moving right to left) to get a feel of rock climbing and also to gauge the effort and techniques of wall climbing. Then we started on top rope climbing i.e. have a rope loop round the top of the wall with one tied to the climber and the other in the hands of the belayer. I was taught to tie the figure of eight knot and the follow through figure of eight knot. That done I stared my ascent. To my surprise my hands now did not have enough strength to hold me even at the lowest point (I am proud of the fact that my arms can lift my body weight easily and rope climbing and pull-ups have always been easy for me). So both my friends climbed before me. One reached the top, the other unfortunately, pulled a muscle. I tried again, having given my arms a rest, and was able to go up 3-4 holds before slipping. I tried again and slipped at the same point at which point I gave up.

After a couple of short tries on the wall we decided to call it day. Going back to my bike I was shocked to discover that I could not press the clutch with my left hand. It was as if the hand did not belong to me. I was willing it to press the clutch but my finger tips did not move. My friend drove my bike and I rested at his place for some time (almost an hour) before starting for my home. Even after an hour's rest my fingers still did not respond to me. I had a torrid time coming back home, pulling the clutch with the third segments of my fingers or using my wrist. After a difficult ride, wherein I regretted more than once my decision to come back on my bike instead of taking an auto, I reached home. I have been dreaming of wall climbing since then. Anyways, next weekend I am going for it again but this time I will take my car :).

Air India Rocks

It's been a while since I have flown with Air India, Indigo being the one I have traveled with most this past year. But the experience I had flying Air India this time was awesome. It started with meeting my wife's cousin who is a Captain in Air India. Actually he is my daughter's cousin and calls my wife Mausi (Most Indians would have a bhanja/ji or bhateeja/ji older their age :) although he is not older to us). In fact my two year old tied rakhi to him on saturday but that is besides the point.

Then came the boarding process. I had forgotten that domestic airlines use the aero bridge too, becoming accustommed to boarding the aircraft via a bus. So walking into the plane via the aerobridge, avoiding the hassle of a bus pleased me. Once on board we were given wet tissues and a small bottle of lemon juice which refreshed me.

By now I was already pleased by the service. Then came the food. Thai food on AI, that too on a domestic sector. Surely it cannot be good. But when I ate the thin noodle with the chicken in red curry, the food that i had had in transit, in the Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong came to my mind. The chicken was soft and gave way easily under the knife. The Noodles were well cooked and had a nice flavour. Apart from this there was a veg sandwich which was fresh and tasty.

For desserts there was a chocolate walnut brownie. Not a pastry, not a mousse but a brownie (I love brownies, especially the walnut ones). On finishing my food, a very satisfied me sat back sipping a cup of black coffee. This had been a nice flight altogether. Oh! did I mention that there were no delays.