Curiouser and Curiouser

We Have Been Measuring Push-up Competitions Wrong. I’ve been a top-heavy, chunky boy for a while during my childhood. Although I am currently working on altering that, don’t worry this post isn’t about my journey to getting absolutely shredded (fingers crossed) it’s instead about something that I discovered on the way there. (To clarify I’m not there yet. Check again in 6 months).  While exercising I’ve progressively lost weight and I noticed that once I lost a few kilos the movements and exercises got much easier and effortless. So I’d have to increase the reps or opt for much harder variations in those exercises. One particular exercise though stood out. The Push-up.   Every kid has been a part of at least one push-up competition. Whether voluntarily or otherwise. It’s a common metric that children and adolescents use to measure each other and square themselves up to the rest of the class/group/friend circle/team/gym. No space is too sacred for a push-up competition. Heck, I...

The ethics of trekking.   Last weekend,  my cousin and I went for a trek on the outskirts of our city. Bangalore being nearly 950 metres above sea level, there are only so many hills to climb nearby.  While on the trek, we came across quite a few people. Now, to be honest, this irked us. Not because they couldn't be there but because we wished that they weren’t. The peace and serenity that comes with a trek is particularly ruined by the presence of other strangers, especially ones in groups larger than 5. The frictions of other human beings interacting with each other, sapped some of the joy out of the trek.   From playing club music on speakers to being loud and belligerent towards the peace of nature. One loses the opportunity to disconnect, to soak themselves in the great outdoors, to take in nature and hear anything but the chatter of other fellow great apes. This got me thinking, is there and should there be a code of ethics for trekking? It's an absurd ide...