Halloween is upon us and little ghosts and goblins are going to be roaming the neighborhoods demanding a sugar fix. For the past few years, we have made do with 2 costumes - a clown costume that Arjun wore for a couple of years and was then handed down to Abhi for the last two years. In the meantime, Arjun got a race car driver outfit that he has worn for the last two years. The costume required various adjustments to facilitate a better fit and it is only now that Arjun has grown enough to fit in it without any alterations. Of course, he is bored with it now. They both have new costumes for this time - Arjun is going to be 'Ironman' while Abhi is outfitted to be a 'Red Dragon Ninja.' This is a character of rather dubious provenance, but goes well with Abhi's recent closely cropped haircut. He could join Robinhood's gang with nary a raised eyebrow.
We got the costumes on Monday and they have been wearing it every night till it is time for bed. They can hardly wait to go out trick-or-treating. In fact, on Monday they were almost too excited to fall asleep, all in anticipation of Halloween night. Abhi's costume has a lot of loose folds and today we discovered that it fits Arjun just fine (& in fact probably actually has the intended look) - this is going to a be first for us - a hand-me-up: next year, Arjun can be the Red Dragon Ninja.
Arjun likes Pomegranate juice and I had bought the big bottle from Costco upon his request. Couple of days ago, I was pouring the last of it for myself. Abhi, who was drinking his milk was apparently following this closely and called out, "Why did you finish that, acha?"
Me (somewhat confused, since Abhi is not a big juice drinker): "Why, do you want some?"
Abhi: "No, but aeta likes to drink that juice." Arjun who was sitting nearby, nodded his head in confirmation.
I poured the juice back and wondered where this fraternal caring was at other times. Abhi got a pumpkin from his field trip, but has been protesting every suggestion of getting one for Arjun, coming up with one creative reason after another including insisting that Arjun had told him that he does not want a pumpkin. In this case at least, he would rather deny his brother.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Natural Born Runners
"Running shoes may be the most destructive force to ever hit the human foot." Thus starts Chapter 25 of the book "Born To Run", by Christopher McDougall. (The book is more narrowly focused on 'ultra' runners and the Mexican tribe of Tarahumara, who are called the 'Running People,' but often discusses running in general. I plan to write a review of the whole book soon after I finish it.)
The author then proceeds to list a whole bunch of research that has essentially come to one conclusion: the more cushioned/supportive the shoe, the worse it is for your feet. A very influential book for the pro-shoe lobby was "The Runners' Repair Manual" by Dr. Murray Weisenfeld, which made the case that the foot is the one part of the body that stopped evolving when we started walking on land and hence is imperfectly suited for running. He even went as far as to recommend surgery to remove cartilage from the knee to create the "runners knee", but most people who had the surgery came out with a painful condition that precluded any running.
One strong argument comes from a study published by Dr. Craig Richards in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008 (Summary, Authors Blog) in which he found no evidence that high tech running shoes provide any reduction in foot injuries. In fact, the author went so far as to challenge any shoe manufacturer to produce such evidence, but nobody has responded so far. More about this later.
As in many other aspects, I was struck by the prescience of our yoga teacher Shashi. I find his insights into life and the human body to be very deep and powerful and have opined about this before. One of his bugbears is shoes - the manner in which they insulate and isolate our feet from the sensory experience of walking on the ground. He makes us do several exercises that are meant just to stimulate the foot. This knowledge is also used in Accupressure, of course. Contrary to the claims of Dr. Weisenfeld, the human foot is a marvel of engineering. The centerpiece is the arch, which as any civil engineer will tell you is the greatest weight bearing design ever created. The genius part is that an arch gets stronger under stress - the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. Supporting the foot's arch is a web of 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 tendons, and 18 muscles, all stretching and flexing as required. The argument for barefoot running is very simple: the foot and the human body already know how to adjust to the impact of running. Shielding the foot with a highly cushioned sole is tantamount to cutting off the feedback loop. Sports car drivers call this having a "feel for the road." A sports suspension is tuned to allow you to experience every bump in the road because that directly translates to a more skillful driver. Every shoe store employee and several doctors (including mine) recommend replacing running shoes every 3 months. The research in fact shows the opposite: using older running shoes (the ones that have lost their cushioning and are essentially a flat piece of rubber that work only to protect you from stones/thorns/glass) are in fact much better at preventing injuries than brand new shoes.
I could on and on about this - the research, the anecdotes, the various big name runners who ran bare feet or with bare-bones shoes, but I will leave something for the potential readers of the book. Lest anybody think that I am questioning running as an activity, perish the thought! I am firmly in the camp (along with many researchers and doctors in the field) that there is no better aerobic activity than running. Done properly of course.
Is this all propaganda from the anti-Nike (the inventors of the modern running shoe) lobby? Hardly. Nike themselves know this and have implicitly acknowledged it.
In 2001, the highly respected coach of the Stanford track team (Vin Lananna) started training his athletes in bare feet, despite being a recipient of Nike sponsorship. When challenged by the Nike reps he simply countered that they had fewer injuries this way. To Nike's credit they did not play ostrich and proceeded to study it on their own and like any good business tried to find a way to make money off the 'barefoot movement.' After a few years of research and study Nike introduced a new shoe, the 'Nike Free.' A shoe that has almost zero cushioning and is meant to allow you to run "naturally." In true Nike style, the shoe was accompanied by an enticing marketing campaign with a very catchy slogan for the shoe:
"Run Barefoot."
Friday, October 9, 2009
Mr. Abhi Goes to School
Despite all their similarities, Arjun and Abhi have very distinct personalities. Arjun is the earnest one, Abhi is the interesting one. Arjun is driven more internally while Abhi is the reactive one. Many of his likes and dislikes seem to suspiciously mirror those of Arjun's. Going to school was no different. Arjun pretty much took to school (both Scripps Montessori and PV Elementary) right away, making friends and being totally involved and dedicated to his school work and activities. He is a bit of a perfectionist (total mystery to us of course) and gets very upset if you try to suggest that he is not doing something the correct way (once again, a big mystery).
Abhi could not wait to start school. He wanted to be just like his "eatta" and given his multiple visits to Arjun's class in Scripps, he was raring to go. The first week was fine and then the glow seemed to vanish. School was not just fun and games. There were lessons to be done and stuff to be learned. You had to repeat the same lesson and even worse, you had to remember what you had been taught. He adopted the tears strategy - as soon as his teacher (Ms Ada) asked him to do a lesson, he would burst into tears. She soon cut back from 3 lessons a day to just one. We would elicit promises from him every morning that he would not cry that day. Ms Ada was rather puzzled because he seemed to pick up stuff pretty quickly. Given his exposure to Arjun's learning and Malini's efforts, he was clearly ahead of where Arjun was when he started.
When I asked him why he didn't want to do the lessons, Abhi said that it was because, "I know I can't do it." Maybe our actions have something to do with this: We would often get upset when Arjun would make mistakes or be slow in doing some of his home work. So this may be Abhi's way of avoiding all that unpleasantness. Of course given that this is Abhi, I wouldn't put it past him to have computed that this is the easier way to get out of doing work!
Through all this, Abhi's natural instincts continued to shine through. Once after a bout of crying he told Ms Ada, "Don't tell my parents I cried. Its our secret." Another time, he asks her,
"What time will my amma pick me up?"
Ada: "11.30."
Abhi: "When will it be 11.30?"
Ada explained how the two clock hands would be positioned at 11.30. Then Abhi asks her:
"Can you please get me a small clock so that I can keep it with me? I want to know when it is 11.30."
Thankfully, things are looking up a bit. He has been better the last few days, going so far as to actually ask for lessons to do. He has worked his way up to 4 lessons a day and seems to enjoy (or at least tolerate) school much more. He would still like to be done though: Yesterday he wanted to know why he could not graduate like Arjun had earlier this year and then supplied the answer on his own: "Because I am not a big boy."
What gives us more cause for hope though is what he did in class yesterday: Out of the blue, he told Ms Ada that he wanted to sing a song for her and then proceeded to sing a made-up song which he refused to divulge to us. Starting to see their teachers as equals to their parents is a big milestone in a kids schooling life. Has Abhi reached that point? Maybe, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Abhi could not wait to start school. He wanted to be just like his "eatta" and given his multiple visits to Arjun's class in Scripps, he was raring to go. The first week was fine and then the glow seemed to vanish. School was not just fun and games. There were lessons to be done and stuff to be learned. You had to repeat the same lesson and even worse, you had to remember what you had been taught. He adopted the tears strategy - as soon as his teacher (Ms Ada) asked him to do a lesson, he would burst into tears. She soon cut back from 3 lessons a day to just one. We would elicit promises from him every morning that he would not cry that day. Ms Ada was rather puzzled because he seemed to pick up stuff pretty quickly. Given his exposure to Arjun's learning and Malini's efforts, he was clearly ahead of where Arjun was when he started.
When I asked him why he didn't want to do the lessons, Abhi said that it was because, "I know I can't do it." Maybe our actions have something to do with this: We would often get upset when Arjun would make mistakes or be slow in doing some of his home work. So this may be Abhi's way of avoiding all that unpleasantness. Of course given that this is Abhi, I wouldn't put it past him to have computed that this is the easier way to get out of doing work!
Through all this, Abhi's natural instincts continued to shine through. Once after a bout of crying he told Ms Ada, "Don't tell my parents I cried. Its our secret." Another time, he asks her,
"What time will my amma pick me up?"
Ada: "11.30."
Abhi: "When will it be 11.30?"
Ada explained how the two clock hands would be positioned at 11.30. Then Abhi asks her:
"Can you please get me a small clock so that I can keep it with me? I want to know when it is 11.30."
Thankfully, things are looking up a bit. He has been better the last few days, going so far as to actually ask for lessons to do. He has worked his way up to 4 lessons a day and seems to enjoy (or at least tolerate) school much more. He would still like to be done though: Yesterday he wanted to know why he could not graduate like Arjun had earlier this year and then supplied the answer on his own: "Because I am not a big boy."
What gives us more cause for hope though is what he did in class yesterday: Out of the blue, he told Ms Ada that he wanted to sing a song for her and then proceeded to sing a made-up song which he refused to divulge to us. Starting to see their teachers as equals to their parents is a big milestone in a kids schooling life. Has Abhi reached that point? Maybe, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Nobel Peace Prize to Obama
The blogosphere must be going crazy today, especially the right wing ones. When Al Gore won the prize, Fox News suggested that he should have rejected it because the prize was tainted by the previous award to Yaser Arafat. Wonder what they are saying about Obama's win - I am sure Jon Stewart will have an outtake.
I thought I would weigh in before I read any of them blogs (not that I follow any) or hear from the TV pundits. I was shocked to hear about the prize being given to Obama this morning as I am sure the vast majority of people were. It still doesn't make sense to me. Does it dilute the prize or does it put enormous pressure on Obama? After all the Nobels have historically been given to recognize actions that have been deemed a success. Obama's election victory is certainly of historical significance to the US, perhaps even to the world given the prominence that the US holds in the world. However, is historical significance sufficient?
Then you flip the coin over and consider what message the Nobel committee may be trying to send. Perhaps they believe that the change of tone in the manner the US engages with the rest of the world is a sufficient achievement. In a round-about manner, perhaps they are trying to take the pressure off of Obama - "You are already a success, you can relax a bit now." Or maybe it tells us something about how Obama is viewed in the rest of the world - as a world leader who has fundamentally changed the way the global dialogue is held. His Cairo speech, the recent address to the UN, the attempts to engage with Iran, the backing off from the missile shield for Eastern Europe, are all signs of a more open, flexible approach to the world. After all the arguments have been aired and all the words are thrown back and forth, this will remain a choice that can only be vindicated by the passage of time.
The person I feel for most is Bill Clinton. He has been on the short list for a while and with his recent headlining activities, I would have thought that he would have been a good choice. One more Clinton aspiration dashed (hopefully only delayed) by Obama!
I thought I would weigh in before I read any of them blogs (not that I follow any) or hear from the TV pundits. I was shocked to hear about the prize being given to Obama this morning as I am sure the vast majority of people were. It still doesn't make sense to me. Does it dilute the prize or does it put enormous pressure on Obama? After all the Nobels have historically been given to recognize actions that have been deemed a success. Obama's election victory is certainly of historical significance to the US, perhaps even to the world given the prominence that the US holds in the world. However, is historical significance sufficient?
Then you flip the coin over and consider what message the Nobel committee may be trying to send. Perhaps they believe that the change of tone in the manner the US engages with the rest of the world is a sufficient achievement. In a round-about manner, perhaps they are trying to take the pressure off of Obama - "You are already a success, you can relax a bit now." Or maybe it tells us something about how Obama is viewed in the rest of the world - as a world leader who has fundamentally changed the way the global dialogue is held. His Cairo speech, the recent address to the UN, the attempts to engage with Iran, the backing off from the missile shield for Eastern Europe, are all signs of a more open, flexible approach to the world. After all the arguments have been aired and all the words are thrown back and forth, this will remain a choice that can only be vindicated by the passage of time.
The person I feel for most is Bill Clinton. He has been on the short list for a while and with his recent headlining activities, I would have thought that he would have been a good choice. One more Clinton aspiration dashed (hopefully only delayed) by Obama!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Too Trusting By Half
Harini shared this story at the RD-Bhoj taco party on Saturday and I am repeating it here without permission. The talk had circled around to kids asking to have pets and ways to say no to them (at least in most cases), when Harini mentioned that they have a goldfish. The crowd was a bit surprised - You have a fish tank? Well, it's not much of a tank - just a little thing really and Harini gestured with her hands to indicate a small box. How many fish, an enquiring mind wanted to know? Oh, just one. And is it doing well? Yes, but....oh good, there was a story here. So apparently what happened was that when the fish came home, the kids (or was it Harini? I forget) took it out of the water and left it on the counter top "momentarily" before dropping it into the tank. The fish seemed fine and the kids went to bed happy to have a new friend. Soon after though, Harini saw the fish doing the belly-up float, which fish in the pink of health are not wont to do. Siva was promptly dispatched to WalMart which fortunately is open at 10.30pm. He came back with a fish that sort of looked like its predecessor - only a bit more orange and a lot more plump. He went in the tank and down the toilet went the first guy.
The next morning, the kids ran to check out their new pal and there he was - swimming along just fine. Pranav though, noticed a difference and commented to his sister, "Wow, see how much he has grown in just one night?" His older and wiser sister was quick to dismiss him: "No you silly, he is not any bigger. Its just the light - see how much more orange it makes him look?"
Little did it occur to them that a switcheroo had taken place - after all who would do such a thing?
The next morning, the kids ran to check out their new pal and there he was - swimming along just fine. Pranav though, noticed a difference and commented to his sister, "Wow, see how much he has grown in just one night?" His older and wiser sister was quick to dismiss him: "No you silly, he is not any bigger. Its just the light - see how much more orange it makes him look?"
Little did it occur to them that a switcheroo had taken place - after all who would do such a thing?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Why I Will Never Buy A Kindle
Knowing my love of books and reading (there is a distinction), not to mention, gizmos, many friends have asked why I don't have a Kindle. My answer was always that I would at some point, just not now - I wasn't quite happy with the current form and functionality. Last week's New Yorker has an article about the Kindle that is very negative. Some of the complaints the author has ("Text is greenish grey") seem rather petty, but even after filtering those out, it crystallized my discomfort with the Kindle.
The best part of the Kindle, I have always felt, is the wireless connection that is always available and for which there is no explicit fee. This wireless connection is enabled by Qualcomm and that of course has an added appeal. In fact this model is considered so revolutionary, that it has coined a new term in the industry - "Kindlize," which is basically to add seamless wireless connectivity to a device and not have the owner pay a recurring service fee. And there are the usual pros about e-books: can have a whole library with you, reading a big book doesn't come with the challenge of holding up 4 lbs of paper, etc.
But, I dislike the Kindle - sometimes with a visceral intensity. It is in some ways a most cynical expression of locking the owner into a closed system under the pretense of freeing them from the shackles of traditional books. The Kindle uses a proprietary format for its books that can only be read on the Kindle - there is an open format, but Amazon decided against that. Until the DX, they didn't support PDF either. The books you buy for the Kindle, can only be read on your Kindle (or your iPod) - you cannot lend them out, cannot give it away, cannot donate it to a library after you are done, cannot resell it. One of the joys of books and reading for me is to share the experience - talk about the book and allow somebody else to enjoy it by loaning them the book. You cannot do that with a Kindle book. This is not just about borrowing books from your friends. Think about it - you have all your books locked in your Kindle - what is the trigger for your spouse, your kid, to pick up a book from the shelf or the nightstand and start perusing it, perhaps reading it all the way through? How often has it happened that you are at a friend's house and notice a book lying around and it piques your interest? Or maybe you notice what somebody traveling with you is reading? Recently P&V announced that they were going to get a Kindle for S. I wonder - how will little s be able to pick up and read a book that her older sister is reading? In fact, how will she even know what book is being read?
Even economists ("Freakonomics") have made a case for the value (in terms of positive impact on the kids) of just having books in the house. Where goes that value when all your books are trapped in a little plastic box that makes every book look the same?
The Kindle does many other things to destroy the reading experience, but they are common to e-books in general. Page numbers have no meaning, the physical feel and heft of the book are lost (I often picture the actual book in my head when I think about a favorite book - what happens with an e-book?), but I know these are aspects that will cease to have much importance over a period of time.
RD announced recently without an hint of irony that the new Kindle almost made him want to read a book. I do see the value in e-books and maybe there will be some future incarnation in which the pros will outweigh the cons. The Kindle is not that.
The best part of the Kindle, I have always felt, is the wireless connection that is always available and for which there is no explicit fee. This wireless connection is enabled by Qualcomm and that of course has an added appeal. In fact this model is considered so revolutionary, that it has coined a new term in the industry - "Kindlize," which is basically to add seamless wireless connectivity to a device and not have the owner pay a recurring service fee. And there are the usual pros about e-books: can have a whole library with you, reading a big book doesn't come with the challenge of holding up 4 lbs of paper, etc.
But, I dislike the Kindle - sometimes with a visceral intensity. It is in some ways a most cynical expression of locking the owner into a closed system under the pretense of freeing them from the shackles of traditional books. The Kindle uses a proprietary format for its books that can only be read on the Kindle - there is an open format, but Amazon decided against that. Until the DX, they didn't support PDF either. The books you buy for the Kindle, can only be read on your Kindle (or your iPod) - you cannot lend them out, cannot give it away, cannot donate it to a library after you are done, cannot resell it. One of the joys of books and reading for me is to share the experience - talk about the book and allow somebody else to enjoy it by loaning them the book. You cannot do that with a Kindle book. This is not just about borrowing books from your friends. Think about it - you have all your books locked in your Kindle - what is the trigger for your spouse, your kid, to pick up a book from the shelf or the nightstand and start perusing it, perhaps reading it all the way through? How often has it happened that you are at a friend's house and notice a book lying around and it piques your interest? Or maybe you notice what somebody traveling with you is reading? Recently P&V announced that they were going to get a Kindle for S. I wonder - how will little s be able to pick up and read a book that her older sister is reading? In fact, how will she even know what book is being read?
Even economists ("Freakonomics") have made a case for the value (in terms of positive impact on the kids) of just having books in the house. Where goes that value when all your books are trapped in a little plastic box that makes every book look the same?
The Kindle does many other things to destroy the reading experience, but they are common to e-books in general. Page numbers have no meaning, the physical feel and heft of the book are lost (I often picture the actual book in my head when I think about a favorite book - what happens with an e-book?), but I know these are aspects that will cease to have much importance over a period of time.
RD announced recently without an hint of irony that the new Kindle almost made him want to read a book. I do see the value in e-books and maybe there will be some future incarnation in which the pros will outweigh the cons. The Kindle is not that.
Abhi Makes Progress
It has been a while since I blogged and it is not for want of things to write about - time has been in short supply. Anyway, I am going to try and get a couple of things out quickly.
Abhi recently achieved a significant milestone - he is riding his bike without training wheels! The purchase of a bigger bike (20") for Arjun seemed to be the trigger and he put aside his hesitation and got it down in a couple of sessions in our local park. Now he is eager to go riding everyday and most evenings both Arjun and Abhi ride to and from our park. It is possible the recently concluded Tour De France had some influence as well. All of us (yes, including Malini) watched each day's race with great interest and the boys absorbed a lot from the coverage and commentary. Just before he managed to ride without his training wheels Abhi would ask if he could ride in the TDF once he learnt to ride. He took to calling himself 'Alberto Contador' and would only respond to that name, but only while he was on the bike. As they ride around in our cul-de-sac, Arjun keeps a constant running commentary going about an imaginary bike race in which he is involved.
Arjun likes Boost in his milk and we ran out last week. So I mixed in some Horlicks for both of them and after some reluctance they both drank it up. When I asked how it was, both replied "good." I was eager to press it home (since we have about 3 kgs of that stuff accumulated), so I asked if they would have it every time with their milk. No response. Arjun was watching a show, so that was understandable - it typically takes a 6.4 earthquake to break his TV focus. I asked again. This time Abhi gives me a considering look and replies, "It is good, but not that good."
One of my pet beefs is the amount of toys all our kids have. This abundance and variety of toys stymies their natural imagination. Notice how much fun kids will have with a cardboard box and some foam pieces if that is all they have to play with. Giving kids a whole bunch of toys has basically the same effect as sticking them in front of Cartoon Network all day long. We pretty much stopped buying toys for the boys about 3 years ago. It doesn't really seem to bother them - they play just fine with the ones they have and often create new games from whatever is around. A recent example is "TT Golf." This consists of a fly swatter (the club), a sketch pen (the tee), and a TT ball. It is rather fun and safe to play indoors - you should try it sometime.
Abhi recently achieved a significant milestone - he is riding his bike without training wheels! The purchase of a bigger bike (20") for Arjun seemed to be the trigger and he put aside his hesitation and got it down in a couple of sessions in our local park. Now he is eager to go riding everyday and most evenings both Arjun and Abhi ride to and from our park. It is possible the recently concluded Tour De France had some influence as well. All of us (yes, including Malini) watched each day's race with great interest and the boys absorbed a lot from the coverage and commentary. Just before he managed to ride without his training wheels Abhi would ask if he could ride in the TDF once he learnt to ride. He took to calling himself 'Alberto Contador' and would only respond to that name, but only while he was on the bike. As they ride around in our cul-de-sac, Arjun keeps a constant running commentary going about an imaginary bike race in which he is involved.
Arjun likes Boost in his milk and we ran out last week. So I mixed in some Horlicks for both of them and after some reluctance they both drank it up. When I asked how it was, both replied "good." I was eager to press it home (since we have about 3 kgs of that stuff accumulated), so I asked if they would have it every time with their milk. No response. Arjun was watching a show, so that was understandable - it typically takes a 6.4 earthquake to break his TV focus. I asked again. This time Abhi gives me a considering look and replies, "It is good, but not that good."
One of my pet beefs is the amount of toys all our kids have. This abundance and variety of toys stymies their natural imagination. Notice how much fun kids will have with a cardboard box and some foam pieces if that is all they have to play with. Giving kids a whole bunch of toys has basically the same effect as sticking them in front of Cartoon Network all day long. We pretty much stopped buying toys for the boys about 3 years ago. It doesn't really seem to bother them - they play just fine with the ones they have and often create new games from whatever is around. A recent example is "TT Golf." This consists of a fly swatter (the club), a sketch pen (the tee), and a TT ball. It is rather fun and safe to play indoors - you should try it sometime.
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