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On
Sundays most hardworking souls (this writer included; Editor, please
note) kick off their shoes, put their feet up and catch up with
their reading (the smart ones, if we may add, read Business Today).
If the week gone by has been good-no surprises at work or home;
no emergencies; just business as usual-most probably spend some
time ruminating on how quiet things seem and, if they are of a religious
bent of mind, proffer their thanks to a deity of choice or guardian
angel.
This sunny Sunday-November 23, if you must
be exact-there are other attractions for the denizens of Asia's
fastest growing city, Bangalore, in the shape of fast wheels. The
Fast And The Furious didn't do great business in India and Biker
Boyz is yet to hit Indian screens yet (and thank god for that),
but drag racing, essentially a test of acceleration with vehicles
racing from a standing start over a quarter of a mile (402 metres),
has its own closed user group in India. And so, some 20,000 car
and bike enthusiasts sacrifice their Sunday peace and quiet and
head for Bangalore's Jakkur aerodrome.
Located on the outskirts of the city, the aerodrome
is usually the haunt of modern-day Icaruses keen to improve their
para-gliding skills. Thanks to auto magazine AutoCar India and Bharat
Petroleum, the organisers of Speed Run, this Sunday is different.
There's the smell of burnt rubber, the sound of engines revving,
muted cheers, gasps, and a profusion of beautiful metal (so what
if the pit girls are missing). Hormazd Sorabjee, the Editor of AutoCar,
isn't surprised by the turnout. "The nature of drag racing
makes it easy for anyone with a car or a bike to enter the competition,"
he explains. "And as the Indian car and bike population explodes,
drag racing becomes more popular."
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| FURIOUSLY FAST &
COMPLET: Raymond's Gautam Singhania poses with his Lotus
Elise S111. |
The crowd is a microcosm of Bangalore: matrons
in sarees, children, and young people in leather. "I am here
to see my grandson race," says one lady in a startling pink
saree. "This is a good way for me to unwind." Among the
star attractions are two bikers from Singapore. Jonathan Tan Teck
and Errol Yeo Chiawming of Team Yamaha have flown down from Singapore
to work the crowd with their Yamaha bikes. They jump, they do wheelies,
they display amazing control, and the crowd laps it all up. However,
when the contest for the fastest wheelie over an eighth of a mile
happens, it is TVS Racing's Syed Rahman who comes in first; Teck
is second, and Chiawming, a disappointing third. The bike races
aren't restricted to men; there's one for women which Rachana Joshua
wins in the sedate time of 23.252 seconds (that translates into
an average speed of around 62 KMPH and a peak speed almost double
that).
However, Team Yamaha, Rahman and Joshua have
to play second fiddle to a Lotus Elise S111. This is one of two
cars-the other is a Honda S2000-that Gautam Singhania of Raymond
has shipped down to Bangalore. "I rarely get the opportunity
to spend time on the track," says Singhania. "Despite
my schedule, I take time off whenever possible to be on the tracks."
Singhania hovers watchfully around, as some spectators pose for
photographs in front of the Lotus. "This is primarily a choice
of British racers who could not afford Ferraris," explains
Singhania. "The Lotus can accelerate from 0-100 in less than
five seconds and costs a quarter what a Ferrari does." Acceleration
is the key in drag races and Singhania walks away with the top prize
in the two categories in which he participates: foreign cars up
to 2,000 cc (the Lotus, and he clocks 15.619 seconds), and foreign
cars between 2,001 cc and 3,000 cc (the Honda, 15.28 seconds).
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| EQUAL OPPRTUNITY DRAG
RACES : There was a separate bike race for women, won
by local girl Rachna Joshua |
Much like the math of the distance-time equations
mentioned in the previous sentence indicate, peak track speeds touch
200 KMPH. And S. Ramesh, gm, Retail Strategy and Branch, BPCL-the
company sells high performance petrol under the brand name Speed-is
smiling. "Speed has made an emotional connect with its target
audience through unconventional and innovative brand associations
like drag racing," he says.
The classification-apart from Indian and Foreign
there are engine capacity classifications-ensures that quite a few
of the 200 participants head home with prizes. The real winner,
however, is the culture of drag racing. "Events like this are
no more niche," says Sorabjee. "There is enough competitiveness
to attract hardcore car and bike racing fans and enough fun to appeal
to families." It won't replace the K-soap as family entertainment
yet, but judging by this writer's experience at Jakkur, drag racing
is here to stay. After all, it makes sense for speed devils to check
out 0-60 claims made by car companies in a secluded aerodrome than
the city's main thoroughfares.
| TREADMILL |
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Workouts for would-be Moms
 Move
over, jocks. Treadmill's got something else to talk about
in this issue. The idea came to me when a co-member at my
gym began wondering whether it was okay for her to continue
exercising after she became pregnant. She checked with her
doctor who ruled out jogging and other aerobic exercises and
asked her to cut out all the weight-training that had formed
a routine part of her regimen. Walk, advised her doctor, but
don't run. That seemed reasonable to her, but she still wondered
whether she should do other exercises.
While Treadmill advises all expecting
mothers to check with their doctors on specific exercises,
here's a basic guide to exercising during pregnancy. In addition
to your heart, the three muscle groups you should concentrate
on during pregrnancy are the muscles of your back, pelvis,
and abdomen. Stronger abdominal muscles make it easier to
support the increasing weight of your baby, while stronger
pelvic muslces will help childbirth. They also help prevent
common urinary problems after delivery. And a stronger back
helps improving your posture, minimising the strain of pregnancy
on your lower back.
What exercises do you go for? Again,
check with your doc, but here's one I'll talk about that most
seem to agree as a good one to do. It's called the Kegel exercise,
named after Dr Arnold Kegel who originally proposed them.
It's a simple exercise that helps tone muscles in the pelvic
area. How do you do the Kegels? First, locate your pelvic
floor muscles by trying to stop and start the flow of urine.
Once you've located the muscles, simply try to relax and tighten
the muscles intermittently. Hold the muscles tight for 10-15
seconds before releasing or relaxing them and do Kegels as
often as you can.
Besides Kegels, there are other exercises
that you can do. Some of the old notions about refraining
from strenuous exercise during pregnancy have now been disproved.
But then what you can do depends on the level of your health
and how active you were before pregnancy. Exercise within
reason, though. If you were not the exercising type, perhaps
you could walk. Or even cycle on a stationary bike. Some active
women even play games like tennis or badminton and that may
be fine as long as you are aware of the changes in the way
your body balances. If you swim, that's probably the best
exercise to go in for as most doctors will agree since it
tones and strengthens a variety of muscles in the body. But
Treadmill would like to remind you again that whatever exercises
you want to do, be sure to consult your doctor first.
-Muscles Mani
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