The Grandfather of Poker

August 26, 2007

The smell of Pizza has dominated the roses. Beer is overflowing. In my mind, I have summoned up everything there is to know about Texas Hold'em. 6 players, sitting in upright posture, staring into the eyes of their opponents desiring to foresee the possibility of a bluffing character.All would stake their only chance but only one would rise above all. All years of experiences is staked in a pot where there is no returning back.

Often shortened to just Hold'em, is widely considered the grandfather of poker. A flop game, in Texas Hold'em each player gets two pocket cards, while five community cards are dealt face-up on the table. The strength of a player's hand is the best five-card hand that can be made with these seven cards. There are four rounds of betting: after the pocket cards are dealt, after the first three community cards (the flop), after the fourth, or turn card, and after the final, or river card.

Hour after hour, players are going down and paying the price. Some actually played to lose as the price comes with its own attractions - a clear shot of 'Grey Goose.' After 4 of us are injured, I the hostess, am almost about to be the overall winner but I end up giving away the victory.Winner is now priviledged with beautiful wine glasses and 2 bottles of italian wine, white and red. All the money in the pot? - well that's the point of writing this story - goes towards the fundraising.

Fundraising is not just about requesting people to donate some money (in some cases, begging). It can have its creative ways. Poker party is one on the top for me as it is all about "calculated instincts & probability". God bless my maths professor for he has showed me the light.

never been a dull moment...

August 2, 2007

She looked so beautiful in golden brown hair just touching her shoulder and her smile so calm and soothing – She shared her story while we sat mesmerized on the grass after training and I could have never imagined what she had been through. She was in college - active, giggling and gossiping just like any other college student… It only caught her attention when she started to put on some weight - obviously! at the time, it's the only thing that matters - your figure. Dieting was next to starvation and exercise brutal and out of question - only series of chest pains, headaches, dizziness, and increasing fatigue gave her the final push to go see a doctor.

Within a week that same young playful girl was given the result - "You have a very large tumor around your heart - 10x13x2.5 centimeters. The only thing we can do is to make you as comfortable as possible."

It was either this or admission into an experimental clinical trial at Stanford Hospital. The oncologists at Stanford told her that the enormous amount of chemotherapy and radiation needed to fight such a large tumor would potentially cause heart, lung, liver, and/or kidney damage that may not present itself for years, but that if she did not follow the recommended program of 6 months of heavy-duty chemotherapy and 3 months of radiation, she would be dead within a matter of weeks. Basically - it was "die now or die later" situation. After a year of persistent nausea & dry-heaving, complete hair loss, self-injections twice daily, a 20-lb weight loss, and radiation burns - she danced with her scrappy bag of bones and shiny bald head around town. She was alive!

Few years later - as strange as it may sound but she was relieved to find out that she was only suffering through a major heart damage and was not having a lymphoma relapse. Personally speaking, I still wonder what kind of relief that is. After two open-heart surgeries (two because the first surgery failed), it was about time that she signed up for "Team In Training" as it had always been a nagging itch for her to finish a full Marathon. To this she says, "I will never forget the Friday before what was supposed to be our first group training run. My world turned black as I listened to what my doctor told me after my routine heart test: Vascular Failure."

She had a large tumor, major heart damage, and vascular failure. And yet - this remains her line - "If there is one thing I can say about my little journey since 1995, it is that there has never been a dull moment!" This brave woman has since ran 3 Marathons, 5 Half-Marathons and is training with us this season for Nike 2007.

After she gracefully narrated her entire story, she thanked all of us who are raising funds for these exact kinds of clinical trials. Her smile carried a sense of genuineness and purity. I heard every word of her story carefully and have tried since then to put it in my own words. Not only do I feel honored to know such a brave lady, I am also very proud of Vanessa. She has not just left me with her story, but a very inspiring lesson in my life.

Maintaining a 6:1 ratio

July 29, 2007

Today my goal was to run 8 miles – with around 7 more weeks training, I should be Okay. I started off with broad shoulders, heavy with pride bragging myself away but running with peers had its own extended perks as I ended up doing 4 more – YES! I ran 12 miles today. And my broken bones can validate the fact. Simply Miraculous!

All through the run, the key is to maintain your pace. Our formula is to maintain a 6:1 ratio - running for 6 minutes and walking for 1. I am so glad I maintained the same ratio towards the end as well – I walked for 6 minutes and ran for 1.

The destination from where we were to take a U-turn was a beautiful water-fall. I would say the whole 12 miles were adventurous and a perfect mixture of hiking & running – not that I want to go there again – at least not till I get amnesia and forget the torture my bones went through – trust me! The run was hard. Even if my heart wants to be there – I would never betray my darling bones.

Motherhood is a beauty in itself. Exactly how a mother forgets all her pain, as soon as her little angel smiles at her and touches her skin – I forget all of my muscular pains at the very sight of the most awaited - bagels, strawberries, cookies, and muffins.

Goodbye Muscles!

July 27, 2007

Now would be an appropriate time for all of you to congratulate a wonderful person - ok to cut the crap, I'm talking about myself.
I have successfully reached half of my target - I've crossed the 50% barrier. It has been such an experience – almost felt like crossing "the sound barrier".

Getting money feels so good - Every now and then, there is a temptation to keep it all in my pocket. However, getting money comes with its own disadvantage. It feels like I deliberately and helplessly need to be nice to the donors. For example - my boss was very generous in his donation and now its extremely hard for me to say "no" when he asks me to work overnight (of course he offered the sleeping bag!). That was just a joke Boss!

Yesterday was the first hill run day - if you ask me, it was more of the hill and less of the run. Luckily there were few others who found the hills overwhelming in nature.
At the night time I celebrated the farewell - all I said to myself was "Goodbye muscles!”

Fundraising is not just collection of money; it's a realization

July 18, 2007

Till date, I have emailed 117 people including 3 huge groups of several people. I surprised myself that I actually knew 117 people all this time? - This was my first realization. I can still think of another hundred - my second realization. Out of these - 31 people have already donated - My third and the biggest realization.

I take this as an opportunity to find out people across the nation and this world who do care about me; so many people who are putting their faith in me - having their hopes high. When I started, I thought I am doing this for myself - then it became a cancer related issue - but now when I think of this - I know that I'm doing it for myself, for people who are dying of cancer and for people who have donated part of their salaries for the cause…

All you people are just wonderful - many who I see at work but never had talked with, many who taught me engineering 2 years ago, many who I thought didn't actually like me, and many who I know don't have enough money… Giving away something that you could have easily used on your leisure is not easy - and you are all winners...

Wharf to Wharf Race

I cheated.

NO! I didn’t choose to watch ‘The Cosby Show’ instead. I didn’t load up on New York Super Fudge by Ben n Jerry’s either. I did run. But, I ran where I wasn’t supposed to.

Santa Cruz Wharf to Wharf Race – Everyone seemed to be making a big noise about last Sunday. I had been trying so hard to keep up with all the top-2007 events, I didn’t even notice about some local ones. The event was completely ‘sold out’.

In full dismay – I got up early in the morning – (well dismay because I wasn’t registered and more because I had to get up really early in the morning for an event I wasn’t registered for) – hoping to at least cheer the lucky ones and probably run on the beach.

What I saw a little later is what I am a little ashamed of but I have already forgiven myself for that. On my left and on my right were runners – few of the 15000 runners. There were 40 live bands – some young crazy people and some old crazy people singing to the tunes of plain utter noise which at the time proved to be phenomenal – helped in maintaining the momentum. YES! – I joined the registered runners with absolutely no registration.

Luckily I was not the only one. In any other organized event – there are no chances but this one was a little different. How could I tell? There were guys with beach shorts, girls with ‘bebe’ tops and old ladies out for their early morning walks. The number ‘15000’ is a little hard to keep a check on. Most of all – there were bibs missing on a lot of them. Overall – there could have been 5000 extra’s. Alright – I did a pathetic thing but you can’t say I missed my run!

The track of 10 kilometers went through the residential area and so it was a picnic day for all who made a bold decision to stay home on a sunny day – people gathered in their porch and lawns with their extended families enjoying a nice afternoon with barbeque & beer. It was a sun-screen day.

I cheated but let me confess – I absolutely loved it.

Training is not easy

Wednesday - July 11, 2007

Yesterday I had to take 4 rounds of a regular 1/4 mile track. I felt good and very healthy. Later, to my amazement I found out that it was only, what it's called - 'warm up'. The actual training was just about to begin.

9 never-ending rounds of the same track with much faster pace took out the last air left in my arteries... Running the first one was acceptable...3rd and 4th seemed problematic....then the 7th seemed almost equivalent to getting the customer/vendor to do something they should have in the first place, in short words, impossible. At that time - the only way to keep myself running was to imagine things very close to my heart - delicious food, long hot bath...chocolate cookies with icecream....and I finally finished my last one daydreaming...

During every training session I curse myself, "Why the hell did I take up this training? - Who was the idiot who forced me into it?". At the end of every training session I realize - this is absolutely nothing compared to knowing at the age of 5 that you have cancer. My honoree, Kirsten Laidlaw is 16 and runs with all of us. She herself is preparing for the Maui Half-Marathon as well. I plan to write a small article on her very soon.

So finally the end of the training was here and I was ready to go home. Or atleast what I thought was the end.

The end appeared to be just the beginning - of incessant push ups, crunches, and core strength exercises…

6:15 pm to 9:00 pm could have been a long time for me to utilize effectively as well as productively - I could have slept peacefully.