The Endurance Man

Yet another discovery of a man's attempt to go through the most hellish suffering and prove something .......something what??? I think it simply proves that "Man indeed can DO anything if he THINKS he can". Ummmm....that was a boring cliche from my side but well... I have nothing else to conclude on why man is willing to endure such undertakings.

Whatever....

What panache this gentleman has, haan!!!! So, this is Sir...yes he has been knighted for his unmatchable feats..... Sir Renaulph Fiennes - A Londoner. Out of the many attempts he has made to prove his endurance the following is what actually introduced him to me while I was just hitting around on the wild web.

They've made it!
Seven marathons
in seven continents
in seven days
to help fight heart disease

Yes, to fight heart disease. When one learns that Sir Ran have survived one heart attack and have also bypassed the risks in his two bypass surgeries......Whoa!!! And do no get deceived by that a little younger look in the above pic. He celebrated his 63rd Birthday on 7th March. And yet not done.... he is on an extreme mission of climbing the Eiger.....taking the so said most dangerous approach - The North Face.

Amol salutes you, Sir!!!

This is Dr Mike with Sir Ran at the end of the 7x7x7 adventure in New York, USA. Dr Mike also accompanied him in this mind boggling idea. The idea itself will make one shudder with fear and anxiety.

The amputated thumb you see is the result of frostbites in one of his such crazy attempts. This was during a solo walk to North Pole. Sadly he did not make it for some reason but he has the guts and the attitude to survive the most gruesome challenge.

I have a feeling that this man must be a very simple and down to earth person. Would love to attend some of his talks if ever he does.

"We are ecstatic to have completed a challenge that was in such doubt of ever even starting.My heart attack and double heart bypass operation coupled with terrible weather conditions and mechanical problems in South America posed formidable obstacles to this epic adventure."

Ha ha....... So Cool! I liked this foto. Waiting for his plane at London airport.

I am sure he must be enjoying whatever he is doing to his body in such adventure rides around the world. And yet again it makes me wonder the unique relation of pain and pleasure. Its quite strange to see humans deliberately getting into such mental and physical suffering. Oh yea, of course Sir Ran's expeditions are with a Noble cause of raising funds for the unfortunate diseased ppl than simply with the idea of getting through a suffering. I have not yet fathomed the exact reason why such suffering brings joy to his heart. I have experienced that but do not exactly know the connection between joy and suffering. So contrary yet so connected. I have a feeling that it has to do with some psychological aspect of humans. No ideas whatsoever as yet....an yes....no time to think about that now.


Another foto from their Marathon...this is the duo running on a lonely road at Falklands Islands ....running runing...all alone.....running for a cause....



While looking for some good quotes about suffering this one strikes me and partially answers the connection question I have. This by Hellen Keller - an inspiration in her own style! It conveys in a nutshell what suffering brings to oneself - a transformation. But I am after "WHY".

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the
soul be strengthened,
vision cleared,
ambition inspired,
and success achieved."

...........................................................^ Hellen Keller


So very true............

Their Run horizontal , vertical mine! - The Run!

We keep exchanging such news .... and not normal news.....but news that are totally different and riveting .... news that give a jitter to the rational, normal belief and understanding. During one of such exchanges Rahul sent me a link to this mind blowing mission that three guys from three different parts of the world undertook in late '06 - early '07. This mission deserves to be called "THE RUN". I had heard/read of such marathons in the most punishing of climatic conditions on this earth but this is way beyond one's wildest imagination.

From right is Charlie, Ray and Lin - USA, Canada and Taiwan. I have not yet been able to grasp their inclination towards enduring such an ordeal. Reading through their site on National Geographic I see that they are more into trying to understand the culture and get to know more of the people and the lifestyle there in the Great Saharan Desert.

The Mission: Running 4000 miles across the Sahara Desert - East coast to West Coast of that enigmatic African continent.

One can read more about these guys and their Run at this dedicated site.

For me what strikes out in this attempt by my fellow three human beings is their willingness to persevere the inclement conditions of the Sahara Desert. Well, I like hot regions but having to run in the heat of the largest Desert on earth with a daily target of at least 40miles is of course no mean a task. I can only imagine the itching caused by the sweating, parched throats, high possibilities of encountering lots of wild insects, reptiles and animals. Subscribing for such a mission is itself a feat, I would say.

I have always wondered about the liking of 'torture' and suffering in human psychology. And what befuddles me more is the most certainly asked question about it - "Why?", "Why am I doing this to myself?" , "Why?". I have quite often asked this question to myself but never got any answer, or say there isn't any answer or rationale to this strange affinity for suffering. I just end up saying "aah! It feels good.". Suffering - be it emotional or physical I have always kind of liked it. In my own small number of such experiences, I have come closer to the fervor of life. Though I doubt if continuous suffering will get one to the Ultimate Truth of LIFE :-D. And I may not indulge into that. However as Lin has confessed...

"...learning and positive changes are the result of suffering, as suffering only makes one a stronger and better person. "

Personally I have realized that its in these times of suffering that the faculty of critical thinking and deep introspection is instilled and is in full action. For me, it has indeed triggered a lot of good and healthy thinking and has in fact led to many discoveries about myself. Some discoveries I forget , some I carry along but there is a lot of gain in such suffering. I kind of get pleasure in such suffering. Strange but true. The pains at the start of such suffering are engulfed and put aside by the deep thinking that soon ensues, or may be the constant pain is constantly fueling the thinking going on. It makes me unusually silent but not a single thought of loneliness creeps in. I am alone but not alone....am with my suffering, I am with my determination to persevere , I am with my doubts of succeeding, I am with my fears of failing, I am with my loneliness, am with my pains, am with my apprehensions, and for somehow I feel I am with HIM. HE is watching me going through the ordeal...be it physical or emotional...HE always watches and sees how I am going through it as HE must have watched this Trio going through the Sahara. For me, be it roller skating on the slopes of Himachal, cycling up that arduous Gaganbawda Ghat or that Mumbai-Pune one, or the monotonous NH17 on the way to Goa, or those solo treks in the hot sun with minimal water and food in the Shayadris, or simply rowing at the highest load in the NTU Gym, such physical and mental suffering has done a lot to me. and in a way I have liked that feeling. Though obviously this suffering of mine I am talking about is 0.0000000001% of what Charlie and the other two athletes have gone through in the Sahara desert. I can only imagine and admire this phenomenal feat they have achieved.

Certainly not to a scale as this mission of Charlie and his gang but am going on a kind of nano-"mission" this Sunday - 25th Feb. Its the Vertical Marathon 2007, Singapore. Organized by NTU and participated by all. Its banner I saw for the first time a couple of weeks back had fascinated me when I read that its a stair-way climb to the top of a 60 story building at Raffles Place. This 60 story building - The Republic Plaza - presents one with a climb of over roughly 1500ft - that is if you climb up all the 1380 steps there. Yes, a perfect venue to torture yourself and am going to enjoy pushing my legs against the stairs, gaining height at each and every breath.

I wonder even if God knows why am very much into such physical activities instead of participating into those Ice-cream, food eating contests I see going on here when all I want these days is a couple of KGs of fat over my bones to be like a good looking chubby boy.

Anyways looking forward for this Vertical Marathon and am going to complete it for sure, be it in the evening or the next day morning I am going to climb up all those 1380 stairs and click a photograph of the city center from the top.




Re Plaza, am coming!!!!!!!!!!!!

ufff....5:43Am dude! Got to go flat now.

Wrooof wrooof.....no....fuusss fusss...its a snake, buddy!

Photo Courtesy: Tan Sijie

Yes, a snake....
Dog-faced Watersnake - Cerberus Rynchops

Tan Sijie, a NTU student is doing a research on this particular species of water-snakes. They are quite prolific on this island. Collecting data for his work is one big task that is accomplished only with some active field work in the swampy areas of Singapore. So last night and the night before (19th and 20th Feb) we visited the wet lands in Pasir Ris to hunt for these dogs during their feeding time. I ha d volunteered to be a part of the Hunter team (Thanks to Guru for forwarding that mail)

These dogs are nocturnal snakes that mainly feed on fish. And as Sijie's research work was centered around their feeding habits we had to venture out during night time in the small window of low tide. The low water levels give good chances of capturing them while feeding. Ascertaining these nights when we could go hunting was purely based on statistical data of the tide levels. Sijie did a meticulous analysis of the Tides' data sheet he had acquired from the Govt office to decide the hunting nights. So considering the time of the day, tide level, and chances of capturing the snakes he had 4 days in Feb and 4/5 days in mid March. Quite a short time to collect data I feel. He is to arrive at some conclusion about the feeding habits of the snakes. We are to capture snakes right when they are swallowing a fish. And by swallowing I mean really swallowing. I was not impressed by their lack of judgment on the size of the fish they can squeeze into their slender body. Well you have that ability to widen your mouth to an extent of ones amazement but afterall you have cannot swallow each and every fish, damnit! :). We are to catch a snake that has almost or completely swallowed its prey and log it in Sijie's log book there. The next day he would take the snakes to his lab and take the measurements of their weight, length and other parameters. Am sure he knows what all he needs from the specimen :)


Night 1 - 19th Feb

We were to meet at the Pasir Ris MRT at 6:45PM which is the last stop of the EW Line starting from our boarding station, Boon Lay - the first station on that line. So going from one end to the other in exactly 60 mins flat. Yes, Singapore is just so small. :). Sijie and his friend "Fish" were already there. Singaporeans - very punctual rather, Amol - always late.

Got into our shorts and 'booties', sprayed anti-mosquito liquid on the open parts and there we were at he banks of the canal in the swampy area. Thankfully its more of a rocky shore than a swampy one so not much of foot-mud-munching and no fear of something creepy getting into your shoes. Sijie got the first sight and showed me how it looks.

From whatever I had read about the Dog
1. It's grayish in color
2. It's nocturnal and the very reason for our night time hunting.
3. It's non-venomous - a very important fact.
4. It's not very aggressive - another important fact.
5. Mostly feeds on fish - thats what we were to wait for it to do.

And yes...it was grayish and seemed not very aggressive but it was to be confirmed when I got my hand on the first snake that night. Not much luck in catching a feeding but spotted a few that helped Sijie capture it and add to his collection.

At the end of the time window we had we bagged around four Dogs with fish inside. Not bad haan!! Packed up and headed back to the MRT and back to Boon Lay to luckily get the last bus to NTU


Some more fotos ....from the same night.

My foot and a juvenile...just to give an idea of its size.

Another juvenile finding its way thru a gap under my shoe



An adult swallowing a fish.....




An overly ambitious juvenile trying to swallow
more than it can chew

Night 2 - 20th Feb

Same place but a little late. We were only two of us as the other volunteers were running late. Anyways started with our hunt. Had a good start at sighting but had to wait for a while before a good swallowing was in hands. In another hour the two later comers joined in and we four continued under our head lamps. Eventually we had a better catch this night. 6 in all. All feeding. In between had a small drizzle but thankfully did not pour beyond that and beyond 10mins and it kept the session quite enjoyable. Being in a swampy area with pouring like that of Singapore is not a comfortable situation to be in.

After quite a successful hunting session headed back to the MRT and back to Boonlay to catch the last bus to NTU. On the way I tried to understand some Chinese and Singaporean intricacies. The Chinese names have always befuddled me and the 1 hr train journey gave a good chance to try and understand how they are coined in the first place. Sijie and his other friend (Singaporean, I forgot his name. I am so dumb at remembering these Chinese names, Ufff! It just slips out of my brain the very next minute) were quite good in explaining the things. For the first time I understood some bit of the complicated names and Language intricacies of China. And yes also about guessing the gender of persons by their names. Now that I found is difficult without any knowledge of a good number of Chinese words:D

Overall, this activity was a nice experience, specially because it took me to the wild and so close to its habitants. Not that it was my first time......those days with Vaibhav back in India at Chirner, Panvel were closer and wilder than this one...but it game a good feeling to be around in the Nature. As is every instance of snake handling this added my liking towards these reptiles. At the canal whenever a Dog would swim pass me I would simply watch it with a smile while it wandered around between rocks. I felt genuinely good simply watching their graceful swimming. They ARE beautiful creatures. And such zillions of small members in the bigger picture, that is Nature, ought to make it beautiful.