Fitcomb

 It was 12th Apr of the year 2020 , Easter Day. I wore my best shirt a white full sleeved cotton and pulled up my new denims pairing them with grey leather boots. All decked up , the lovely meal comprising of 'bhuna mutton' was packed neatly to be carried alongwith to my children's place for lunch. I left home all excited for the festivity but the excitement could not last for long , as soon as I reached the main gate of my society I found it locked with large police gathering on either side of it - Suncity was under lockdown and no one was supposed to step out nor anyone could come in. All my dreams of a family lunch were quashed and I returned back like a fool - Covid had made its first nasty presence! Since then it is almost a year and life has been a rollercoaster with lockdowns, shutdowns , curfews , social distancing and masked movement being an integral part of our lives . Though we are still 'social animals' albeit without any social connect. Politicians who...

Introduction The evil tentacles of Covid19 held our heads down for long but now in Oct 2020 after things had started easing out we also planned  a much awaited ride . Also, the Atal Tunnel at an altitude of 10,000 ft was recently inaugurated and made open for the public and I thought of being one of the first few to ride through it. The Plan  I zeroed down on Shinkhu La or Shongo La which lies at an altitude of 16,703 ft linking Zanskar and Lahaul as it is one of the most unheard of passes and wanted to nail it before it becomes commercialised like another 'Pangong Tso' courtesy (sic) 'Three Idiots' (a bollywood blockbuster). The plan was quickly scribbled : Day 1 - Gurgaon - Kullu  Day 2 - Kullu - Manali Day 3 - Manali - Shinkhu La - Manali Day 4 - Manali -Swarghat Day 5 - Swarghat - Gurgaon  Total Distance- 1500 kms  My dear friend and martial arts student Shridhar Sinha was itching to ride to the hills and hence this plan of a hill ride crystalized so quick. ...

"The ones who will stay in the game will be those who survive." Its time that we endure the testing times and sustain to be able to bounce back. Times are tough, though it could have been prevented but... As a matter of the fact ,history has proven that we as human beings never learn from our mistakes and keep reinventing the wheel of destruction. Having said that it is imperative that we 'adapt and survive' , its NOW that we must carry our detailed analysis and introspection of what we do and more importantly how we do. I have come across a lot of so called professionals who have switched from one trade to another, nothing wrong in it . Then there were host of individuals turned entrepreneurs who got into ppe's probably with an intent to survive or if it may not sound rude make some money out of the situation. Expertise or no expertise , some just tried to ride the wave but every wave settles down sooner or later . People realized that dupattas , scarves , hankey...

 The euphemism uses this adage to denote women as some one who is petite , lovable , needs to be handled with caress or simply said , a softer version of Gods creation . Though it is absolutely fine to extend respect and courtesy but it is dogmatic to  have this mindset exclusively for women. In the last 11 years I have had a great experience of having come across over more than 50,000 women and girls who I had the pleasure of intervening with in the domain of empowerment and self defence. Believe you me , I found most of them very high both on mental and physical robustness with utter disregard to the heresy that haunts them. Whether it was the posh training hall of a big 4 corporate or an open ground in sweltering heat where scores of rural girls were rearing to learn to be able to stand up in the face of an adversary, the 'josh' was nowhere lacking. Not only the enthusiasm , they have always displayed higher conviction towards learning and bestowed highest level of respect ...

We have often heard a lot of people saying that 'age is just a number' and I guess its true to an extent. Staying healthy and fit to my mind should be everyone's top priority. How can we forget that old adage - ' A healthy mind stays in a healthy body' ! Fitness to me is a state of mind and I can without much deliberation attribute my own health and endurance levels to regular practice of martial arts. The journey into martial arts began when I was about 15 years of age when I picked up Karate which I would practice 3 days a week. Time passed by but my love for martial arts stayed kindled without a flicker , such is its addiction. I was a regular martial arts movie buff and would not miss a chance to see Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies which would then be screened mostly in morning shows. The effect of the movies would be so intense that I would pick a few things from there and include it in my daily practice regimen like rope climbing from that famous scene wher...

Does practicing in studio or dojo apply in reality? Well, the answer to this question is a Yes and No! Now let us try and understand this, what we practice in studio or dojo is a synchronized move wherein the role playing attacker attacks or threatens in a certain manner and the defender tries to defend it in the way is ‘supposed to’ is ‘taught to’. The ability to think beyond and improvisation reduces drastically if the same drill is practiced over & over again without any changed scenario, environment of attack methodology. It is good to an extent that the same is internalized but the flip side is that the response gets skewed if there is a slight variation in the attackers design. To address this acuteness I have always recommend the following 2 ‘Cs’ : 1.       Conceptual Understanding – Always focus on the ‘concept’ , which means what may happen in a certain condition and what should be the outcome? This will leave the ‘approach leverage’ wit...

'Safety Needs' to be addressed before you reach 'Self Actualization' Survival has been the oldest forte of human being. Since the evolution of mankind we have primarily been working around 'Survival' , fending off threats from wild animals , humans and natural catastrophe. History has enough evidence to prove that the first invention was 'Fire' which was primarily done to survive against wild animals , to keep warm and later to cook. Invention of tools and weapons evolved alongside where we used sticks , stones , bones & other hard objects to make equipment which could cut , hammer and much more. Well we are not dwelling upon the inventions which human beings made since their inception but that the basic skill set which has helped us stay safe and secure is 'survival'. The paradigm of 'Survival' has always been of prime significance. From stone and fire we have evolved to nukes and drones, our genre of being a food gath...

Throwback Motorcycling has been one of my oldest passion to an extent I remember modifying an old 1971 model Jawa bike into a Motocross Bike with the help of a Thai pal - Oye back in the yesteryear 1987! Little did I understand then what a motocross bike meant, but it looked superbly chick. My girlfriend liked it so much that she called it 'Barbara' - not the English name but Hindi for 'Come Again & Again.' Since then the love for motorcycles see me graduate from a Jawa to Kawsaki Bajaj 100 cc, Royal Enfield Classic 350 (LSB) .  Touring 2006 saw me switching onto the so called 'solid', 'no plastic' bike- 'Bullet'.I can without any biases credit my RE which I called 'Black Cat' for getting me into touring and adventure riding. 60 KPH as a motorcycle travel club was instrumental in organizing annual rides which saw me doing Ladakh (every riders dream destination), Rann of Kutchh, Chakrata, Chambal, Himachal P...

My palms had been itching for long for a long ride & I could not see anything beyond mountains. Mountains untouched, rustic, in the best or worst of their natural self with only serious travelers around to appreciate them and not leave behind their trash. After 3 Idiots (the movie) 'Pangong Tso' in Ladakh which was not much heard of atleast amongst the 'Simla Manali' Type tourists got enormous hits and loads of enterprising tourists thought of exploring it as the likes of Amir Khan & Kareena Kapoor had made it intriguingly surreal  What happened post it was a major disaster - the once placid & tranquil spot with almost nil stay and eating options now mushroomed with umpteen shanties , over enthusiastic tourists clicking pics & selfies & wasted no time in making them viral leading the place to be strewn with plastic bottles, wrappers & loads of muck...phewwww. So a place I loved so much & traveled thrice before had to be decided against. Sp...

It was shocking yet again to read the news and fathom the naked audacity of the psychopaths who not only gang raped a young 19 year old mother of a few months old baby but also rammed the new born on the pavement infuriated by her constant wailing. In yet another brazen incident of personal vendetta, a young techie was shot dead by a jilted lover who couldn't take a negative from her. The 23 years old Anjali Rathour, a Mgmt Traneee with Lava Mobile Phones  was shot dead by an unidentified person at Shatabdi Rail Vihar, a residential society in Noida Sector 62, last week , where she lived. Police said CCTV cameras recorded footage of her being chased by a pistol-wielding man at a parking lot of the apartment complex around 6.34 am. However, poor video quality has prevented police from zeroing in on the murderer so far. This is not the end of the ordeal but just the tip of the iceberg, an number of cases are not even reported by the victim and a similar numbers are not ...

What happened ? The video is disturbing of course & what is more disturbing is the audacity of this pack of 's**t' to openly outrage the modesty of ladies & record their misdeeds & make it go viral for NO FAULT OF THE WOMEN! Those of you who did see the video would appreciate that pleading , requesting & humbling down from the victims, which fell on deaf ears. Remember, a psychopath has utter disregard to our convenience or plea, all they want is to vent their barbaric vibes either through thought or action. Most time such incidents happen when these pack of 'wolves' gather together & acquire a sense of strength & support. in the video when the pleas fell on deaf ears the women became more vocal & started shouting & even abusing but by then it was too late & by now the pack of hooligans had gauged the response level of their victim and were couldn't careless. It was foolish of these spineless men to post the video as it led ...

Introduction The ordeal of someone who gets kidnapped cant be described here nor shall I make any effort to do so. Rather I shall try & explain the whole concept of kidnapping & the antidote for the same. Kidnapping is not very common on our streets but it is definitely not 'uncommon'. The incidents of men & ladies getting pulled inside a moving car, kidnapped, raped & let go or even killed & dumped keep finding place in the newspaper but surely miss out our eyes because 'may be we are not bothered' or may be 'it did not happen with me so its ok' syndrome has colored our whole psyche and made us 'sheeps' & since we do not have very many 'sheepdogs' around we need to fight our own battle. Why do kidnappings happen? They happen when we are lost & oblivious of our surrounding, when we look like sheep - fearful & unprepared or may be when we have a past & someone need to settle a score with us. But is sur...

Today as I looked at the newspaper & read about a certain institution planning to inculcate 'self defence' training for their employees as a preventive measure against rowdy attendants & visitors who not only threaten the staff but even vandalize both property & life I felt very happy.But my excitement was short lived, when I further scrolled that those responsible for training the team are Martial Artists who have won laurels in various tournaments & competitions. Well, I respect these martial artist / sportsperson & have highest regard for them as great athletes who have proved their worth on the 'mat' against another 'player' & while all this was done under the sharp eyes of the referee adhering to the laid down rules & norms. Unfortunately, the streets have no rules, there are no matches but bloody brawls which may lead to some very serious injuries or even fatalities but definitely not a medal or award. Survival is the agenda ...

Introduction It was work as usual for me on Apr 7th 2017, this time in Odisha (India) & little did I know that another barbaric incident was making an infamous history in Europe again, this time in Sweden. Nice (France), Brussels (Belgium), Westminster (London) & now Stockholm (London) have had a similar fate , all within a very short span of time. The modus operandi in all these mishaps remained almost the same - 'use of a heavy vehicle as missile to mow done innocent lives'. News Report A man drove a stolen beer truck into a crowd of people in a popular shopping district in Stockholm on Friday afternoon and then rammed it into a department store, killing four people and injuring 15 others in an attack that unleashed bloodshed and panic on the streets of another European capital. “Sweden has been attacked,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a televised news conference. “This indicates that it is an act of terror.”A nationwide manhunt conducted through m...