#146 - Pets what do they want?, Marathon distance, Sperm racing & The future
16 May 2025
Hello,
How are you? I went into the office after more than a month on Wednesday. On Thursday I went for the Oracle Tech Forum in the city. Both days I had to wake up 30 mins earlier than my normal time go for a run, get ready and head out. I was exhausted by the end of Thursday. To think that I used to do this 5 days a week and still have energy to go train for an hour in the gym is unfathomable to me now. It has been a busy week and productive week. Few breakthroughs at work so next week will be exciting. The users we have been helping for the past couple of months brought us cheesecake on Wednesday and thanked and appreciated for the efforts. It was a nice moment. Friday evening we are playing badminton for 1.5 hours. This will be longest we’ve played since we started playing I’ll let you know how it goes.
For this week I have a podcast episode, a fact, an event and quote for you to ponder.
We had a dog in our house when I was about 8 years old when I was in first year of college he passed away. I was not particularly close to him, in fact I was a little scared of him. Hardly petted him, maybe left him food a few times. But after Kai my attitude towards pets totally changed. Everything revolves around him. On Thursday both Chin and I were at work which hardly happens and we both were worried about him and trying to get back home ASAP. This episode is all about pets - dogs, cats, horses. An eye opening one.
I ran the Mumbai Marathon in January 2011. That has been my only Marathon till date. I don’t know if I’ll ever run one more but I do get tempted once in awhile to sign up for one so I can train and push myself. But it’s a big commitment to spend several hours a week running long distances. The first official Marathon was run in the 1896 Olympics. The distance was 40kms which signifies the distance between Mount Hymettus and Penteli which is what was ran by Pheidippides who died after running this distance to announce the victory of Romans over Persians. The 40 kms distance was kept the standard, but in the 1908 Olympics it was made 42.195 kms so that the race could start in Windsor Castle and finish in the Olympic Stadium. This distance has been the official distance now. Crazy how a small tweak changes the entire understanding of history.
To keep with the theme of racing, I came across this last week and I was blown away that people would pay money to see such an event - its Sperm racing. Apparently this event is spread awareness about how infertility is on the rise among men and what steps can be taken to prevent it. But the entertainment value this provides is crazy. First event happened on 25th April in Los Angeles. Like the name suggests its sperm racing of two different men through a course which is telecasted live using high resolution microscopes. Crazy right? Check out the video.
The future will be better than you expect it to be. It always has been. You would not have been here if your present matched your past fears, would you? - Mo Gawdat (An Egyptian entrepreneur and author)
That’s it for this week.
Have a great weekend everyone. See you all in the next one.
Take care, Be Kind and Be Good!!