Last two weeks, was hectic, with a trip to the US, with kids in tow. The travel was enjoyable nonetheless. We were flying the new service by Qatar Airways from Chennai to Doha and then from Doha to Washington DC on a long long flight. I didnt notice the phenomenon, till the return flight from Doha to Chennai.

Qatar Airways is not different from many 'asian' airlines that serve unlimited alcohol free on board. I am sure there is a limit, but it does seem unlimited. There are a lot of other airlines that do serve alcohol free, but is usually offered only during and along with meals and not offered before or after.

This flight is short one, about 4-5 hours, and is crowded, though not full. Most of the passengers are Indians returning home after some back breaking labour from the arab country. Returning home with boxes filled with goodies for people back home, purses filled with dollars or foriegn currency that can be exchanged right outside (i found out later, while exiting) the chennai airport with people who walk freely, with huge wads of rupees, conducting banking transactions.

I was tired after a long flight of over 14 hours from Washington DC, and so wanted a quick meal and some peace and quiet. The meal was served a little later, than usual. But soon after it was over, the rush to bathroom started, and finally it was time to get that rest in peace. As i was walking back to my seat, navigating through a buzz of activity. People were trying to grab the attention of the flight attendants. "Echuse me, Echuse me", although a few did use the right english form of pronounciation of 'excuse me'.

The request was for beer and whisky. There were a few who were flying Qatar the first time, and wasnt sure if this was free or required money, and were shy to make the initial move. So, when a neighbour was served, the interest piqued, and was reflected clearly in the voice. The Qatar Airways people, actually knew how this was done right, 'cause not only did they serve the alcohol, they also served some snacks to go with it. Damn, it was walking through a bar, a flying bar !!

Well, does it. Not exactly, unless you read that this means that now India is included in this otherwise secluded club. So untouchability or apartheid exists, but only that India is part of the group. Among many different problems in the world, this may appear on the face of it, as very peculiar and different, even justifying the different scale used to measure different entrants into the club. But at the end of it all, it is again colonialism practiced in a different form. People who have, deprive the ones who have not.

It is sad that this knowledge can also be used to build deadly weapons. And this causes even more fear in the 'haves', that some part of the 'have-nots' will get wise, build one and threaten the hegemony that exists today. And so to be fair to all the 'haves', all the 'have-nots' are kept out and in darkness, and even banned and threatened with fearful consequences if they acquire or master the knowledge.

It was humourous to observe that countries like Switzerland and Austria amongst others are grand participants of the cartel and put a great influence on a billion plus people of this earth. It is but natural to expect a country that is home to almost 1/7th of the world, to horne a desire to protect its resources and people, by all and any means possible. Specially since it is little more than a half-century since it became free from the clutches of an imperialist nation.

The NSG was setup specifically after the 1974 nuclear testing by India, and since then imposed an ban on all nuclear trade with India. However, as is common with these cartels and groups, small groups break away and continue to support the very causes that are the very basis for their existence. India on the other hand has continued to built on its strength and became a part of the group, only because the 'haves' now see a new way to welcome another 'almost have' and begin a very lucrative money making proposition.

The Chennai marathon or actually the half-marathon was an eye-opener for me. This was my first attempt at running a long race. I had run 5K (5 km or 3.12 miles) before in the US. I had run 10miles, altho not in a race, on two earlier occasions. So this was going to be tough, but turned out, not what i expected at all.

This was also the first race, i was participating in India, and so it offered opportunities to compare between races in the US and here. Well, this makes sense today, only because the organizers were trying to break the Boston Marathon record in terms of participation.

So the marathon got off to a funny start, with the MC messing up statements in both english and tamil. It was quite funny, and it helped tho, easing all tensions one would have had running a big race. There were about 3-5 of us, really enjoying this chap and his comments. Then the guests, chief and otherwise, all added their bit of spice. Since things were comical now, anything anyone said seemed funny. What a mood to kick off the race.

We started off, a little after 6:30am. There were huge number of people, and being one among the crowd it was difficult to count. My race took me exactly 3 full hours to complete. I couldnt take the heat, after crossing the 9km mark, and having had a bottle of water, i was also feeling heavy. I quickly slowed the pace, and was soon walking. Once you are in the almost given up state, it is difficult to get the body to kick start again. And i never did. The heat only added ammunition for my body to fight of any remaining will power. I was reduced to walking, jog, walking, jog, for the remainder of the 21km.

A few good things about the support structure that helped the race. There were cops all along the route to help keep things under control and help with traffic and pedestrians etc. There were also limited but essential first-aid counter, specializing in physio-therapy etc.

Now the bad. Not a single portable toilet at the start or anywhere on the route. It is rare that you would need to piss when you are perspiriing, but still biology is biology.
Very limited water. The sun was up by 6:45, and shining hard. Water was plentiful in the beginning. It vanished from the 5K point till about the 8K point. Then there was far and few. It may also be, that they were only serving the ones that were doing good pace. Because as i was running i did see signs of water (bottles,caps,sachets etc), but no one around serving any more. By the time i was doing the home strecth from about the 15km down, water was completely missing. By now, the sun was bearing down hard. No wonder that there were more people breaking down and seeking help. More ambulances flying back and forth.

All in all, it was a pleasurefull personal experience. However, i wish the organizers of the next one take more care.

This is crazy. Real crazy. But when i first read this message, i read it as "Osama chooses Bin Laden". I did a double take, and expressed the four letter swear word 'What !!', loudly. I do this often, ie read faster than my brain can process, and then again, there are studies to prove that people dont read every single letter in a word.

Well, so Joe Biden, is the Vice President on Obama's team. I dont know enough of this team to say, heaven's doors will be wide open now. But, then again the choices these days are so limited, that we have to make do with what we get. I mean after, eight years of Bush, the best the democratic party could throw up was Hillary and Obama. Obama was again picked as the better of the two, on basis that really was just as flimsy as picking Bush over Gore in 2000.

The Iraq war all the money poured into it, is finally seeming to yield results. But that might only because of lethargy and fatigue. These issues seem so distant today, compared to the crisis facing the finiancials of the economy. Will my home and yours survive is based on numerous factors, half of which are beyond our control. And in this situation, the problem is that the democratic team is not talking very different from the republican team.

May the worst guy lose.