Of Indian women, Thaipussam and Running!

I was thinking about what to write about this morning. I set out at 4 am. I started out faster than usual - after all, I left with dad and both of us are a little competitive. Reading this blog, you have some idea of how vain I am - I go out fast when I know someone is watching me, even if I am dying on the inside :-)

I wanted to run a different route today - I am getting bored of the same old same old. I set out into Little India, via Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and ended my run on the beach. The reason for this was two-fold. Starting today is the Indian festival of THAIPUSSAM. I find it fascinating. Every city, east or west, in the world today, looks the same. This irritates me to no end. I am always happy when I see a hark back to the old world in a concrete city - especially a concrete jungle like Singapore. On the way to school yesterday, I saw these gorgeous dark ladies in orange and neon sarees, bright gold jewelry and flowers in their hair. I appreciate how confident and beautiful these women look, especially considering I feel overdressed in anything other than my standard white. I love it! It truly is a sight to see.

This was the reason I ran to Little India this morning. Priests in temples were getting ready for the THAIPUSSAM parade this morning. The idols in temples were decked up, the men who were participating in the parade were practicing 'mortification of the flesh'. To be sure, this is NOT a barbaric practice. I see many tourists with horror on their faces when they witness THAIPUSSAM for the first time. However, the devotion of the devotees is truly something to be marvelled at. It always makes me happy to see rituals like this still practised. It is one of the reasons I love living in Asia - where indigenous culture and practices are still alive.

How is this related to running you ask? Well, I always ponder these things on my long runs - it makes them alot more interesting. I ran 23.45 miles this am in 3 hours and 20 minutes. I confess I walked 1/4 of a mile. This was followed by a 26 lap swim. The swim was awesome - very cooling and I am not sore.

I am not running this pm. I am going to try my best to stay off my feet until this evening - I am going to watch the parade with camera in hand!