Worlds oldest marathon runner

Respect to the worlds oldest marathon runner! Thx to Sikhnet

Forrest Gump ran and ran. At first, he ran up to the end of the road, then across town, eventually criss-crossing the country for the next three years until one day he stopped running suddenly, turned around and walked back home.

Fauja Singh hasn't heard of Forrest Gump, the protagonist of Winston Groom's eponymous novel, which was subsequently filmed in 1994. But he hasn't stopped running, nor does he plan to - not even when he turns 99 on April 1 this year.

Fauja is the world's oldest marathon runner, sweating it out at most competitions in the United Kingdom and around the world. A thin frame weighing 52 kgs, nearly 6 ft in height, with a flowing silver beard, sparkling black eyes set in a wrinkled face, a neatly tied turban on his head, watching a sprightly Fauja on the track is a bewitching sight-incredulous and inspiring. His matchstick legs seem to belie his grit, but they carry him with ease, and not a step falls out of line. Bathed in sweat, and with a placid expression permanently etched on his face, he steams his way to the finish line.

Fauja has participated in innumerable competitions worldwide, his fame prompting then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to invite him to run in the inaugural Lahore Marathon in January 2005. He holds 12 Commonwealth, European and British records for his age-group, ran as one of the torch-bearers for the Athens Olympics in 2004 and was chosen, in 2005, as the Official Starter of the second biggest marathon in the UK, held in Edinburgh.

Fauja has broken bread at the Buckingham Palace with the Queen, who awarded him the runner-up award of Living Legend at Windsor Castle in 2006. More recently, Fauja was part of the Queen's Baton Relay, when it was flagged off in London as the run-up to the Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in Delhi later this year.

His indefatigable spirit has won him a legion of fans. Impressed, sportwear giant Adidas chose Fauja to feature alongside David Beckham on its ‘Impossible is Nothing' campaign. Not only was his face splashed on huge billboards globally in 2004, Adidas named a shoe-range in his honour. And to think Fauja hadn't heard of Beckham until he was contacted for the ad campaign!

About the campaign, Fauja recalls, "My grandsons told me he was a very famous boy who played football. I was taken to a big stadium where they took my photos. Later, they gave me these shoes." He excitedly rolls up his trousers to reveal trainers named after him.

From living in a small town, Beas Pind in Punjab, for most part of his life - where his only skill was growing sugarcane and wheat - to becoming the poster boy for a whole generation of marathon athletes, the story of Fauja's life reads like fiction. But the marathon man ascribes his tremendous feats to God.

"It's all scripted by the Almighty, you do as He Wishes. I am soldiering on, to His beckoning," he says demurely in Punjabi, the only language he can read, write or speak in.

He came to live in the United Kingdom after he lost his wife and a son in quick succession over two decades ago, and moved in with another son in East London. Unable to cope with the bereavement and loneliness of living in a foreign country, a desperate Fauja realised he needed something that could alleviate his pain and infuse a sense of purpose in his otherwise vapid life. Before long, he rediscovered the passion of his youth. Fauja started running.

But to become a marathon man required training. As luck would have it, Fauja happened to cross paths with Harmander Singh, who had narrowly missed representing the UK in 10,000m in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Harmander was both intrigued and impressed by his new protege.

As Harmander said: "Marathon is a punishing discipline and even the most youthful and physically fit cannot run for 26 miles if they haven't followed a dedicated and challenging training regimen to first build their endurance. Training Fauja to that level of strength was not only a challenge for me but for him as well."

Mentored by Harmander Singh, Fauja went on to run in the London Marathon in 2000, his first, at the age of 89, clocking 6 hours and 54 minutes. Fauja recalls his London experience, "I didn't feel tired at all and could go on running with everyone else. I found it peaceful as I could talk to God while running."

Thereafter, it wasn't just about completing marathons, but also about improving his timing. Sharpened further by his mentor, the nonagenarian went on to run the next five successive London marathons, gradually improving his time to 6 hours and two minutes.

His personal best was in the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon - he hit the finish line in 5 hours and 40 minutes.

For Harmander, Fauja's body is a mystery.

As Harmander says, "You will be surprised to know how little he eats. We have not given him any special diet. His body has inexplicably adapted to the demanding physical routine and we do not want to interfere with it."

At 99, which is three decades more than the UN-defined average life expectancy for Indians, Fauja's fitness leaves most others around him dumbstruck.

Says Nirmal Singh Lotay, Harmander Singh's deputy trainer, "He's 180 per cent fitter than an average man of his age and has remarkably high bone densities in both his legs. He walks or runs 7-10 miles every day and has a training session with his coach once a week."

The man of many marathons himself says he gave up meat and alcohol years ago and furnishes details of his daily menu. "I start my day with a cup of tea and a few pinni (a type of Punjabi sweetmeat). For lunch, I like to have one chapatti with daal and vegetables. But I always have ginger curry for dinner, which is the secret of my strength."

For one whose personal philosophy has placed running close to godliness, money isn't a consideration - he has donated every penny he raised running to various charities.

"What will I do with the money? To be able to run at this age is a reward in itself. God is watching me, please give this money to those who need it," Fauja Singh says with humility.

It appears that to be a successful marathoner, first and foremost - you need a big heart!

[Video] - A mother and daughter team built a successful cookie shop one sheet at a time.

thx to HLN

Train Surfing? Old School Trend coming back

A old trend is coming back. Train Surfing -

Train surfing is riding or climbing ("surfing") on the outside of a moving train. This activity is illegal in many countries and is prohibited by administrative law.

People in China and India have been doing it for years, video underneath.

Versace for H&M Fall 2011 Campaign @FabSugar @StyleBistro @ologize

Thx to StyleBistro, Ology, Here comes Versace for H&M Fall/Winter 2011 Campaign. It features chic & trendy stuff for fall season designed by Donatella Versace for the Swedish retailer H&M.

Photographed by famed photogs Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot, campaign stars gorgeous models Daphne Groeneveld and Lindsey Wixson, styled by Joe McKenna. Fall win­ter 2011 Ver­sace for H&M ads features brightly pat­terned pieces, stud­ded black leather jackets along with gold jew­els and chic studded handbags.

With this, H&M makes another high end label collaboration with an in-store capsule collection flaunting the very best of Versace for H&M. Versace x H&M collection will hit stores on November 19.

For the full sneakpeak make sure you check out FabSugar

CyanogenMod for TouchPad -working

CyanogenMod for TouchPad is working, well sorta. According to the CyanogenMod Board @ RootzWiki:

SO WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T WORK?
Most hardware features of the Tablet should now be supported, although not 100%. There may be issues with sound, camera, wifi, etc. As stated previously, it is definitely an alpha build.

Here is a helpful list of features that are near-completion. Thanks to DarkRedFlame for compiling this.

* Booting into Android
* ADB commands via ADB
* Power, back/home and volume button layout
* Touchscreen support (Multi-touch, 10 fingers)
* GPU Acceleration (2D Acceleration doesn't work, but not a release blocker)
* Dual core processing
* Bluetooth
* Sound
* Accelerometer
* Power Management
* Battery Reporting
* Camera(only video chat, no recording or snapshots)
* Vibration
* Backlight
* LED
* Multiboot (via moboot)
* ClockworkMod Recovery
* Fast Switch Boot
* Fake SD card Mount
* Light Sensor(need to check "Enable Light Decrease" in cyanogenmod settings->display->automatic backlight
* Accessing webOS files from Android and vice versa
* Touchstone Support
* Softkeys
* Wifi
* And much, much more!

As far as what *doesn't* work, that list is probably too long for a FAQ.
* Many apps will have compatibility issues. Many. Including possibly your favorite app.
* Phone-related items (such as the dialer and text messenger) are left in the build. These apps consume minimal energy and can largely be ignored.
* Speaking of energy-- power management has not been the focus of the port thus far. Battery life is not as good as it might be, and you can probably expect improvement in this area over time.

DOES ROM MANAGER WORK?
Not completely. It can't be used to install or update ClockworkMod Recovery for example. Developer Koush will first need to add TouchPad compatibility to Rom Manager.

BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms)

According to Engadget:

It's day three of RIM's BlackBerry service outage in much of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil and Chile. But now the problem appears to have spread into Canada -- RIM's home turf -- and we're even hearing reports of some service issues in the US as well. We've reached out to RIM for comment, but we'd like to hear from you. Let us know whether or not you're having issues in the poll below, and jump past the break to sound off in the comments.

Update: RIM has posted the following statement to its BlackBerry Service Update page:
BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We will provide a further update as soon as more information is available.

Update 2: RIM UK has also posted a statement:
We know that many of you are still experiencing service problems. The resolution of this service issue is our Number One priority right now and we are working night and day to restore all BlackBerry services to normal levels.

Gobi Manchurian Recipe

Gobi Manchurian Recipe

In every small or big cities and towns in India you will find Chinese fast food centers present in its every nook and corner. I’m not sure when and where it became so popular but people even today are still hooked to manchurians, be it chicken, mushroom, gobi or even Indian version of Paneer manchurian. Most of the times I remember going to restaurants for dinner Gobi Manchurian used to be my favorite dish for starters. First time I tried cooking it when I was in my early teens and till now I’m not bored of it. Thanks to my hubby who is as big foodie (or bigger) as me and its one among his vast section of favourites.

Gobi Manchurian
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Small head of Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

For Batter:
1 cup Refined flour/maida
2 tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp dry Red Chilli Powder (adjust acc to taste)
1/2 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
Salt to taste

For Sauce:
4-5 Spring Onions, thinly sliced (Keep greens sepated from white)
1 cup Capsicum/Bell pepper, diced(any colour)
1 inch Ginger, chopped finely or grated
3-4 large cloves Garlic, chopped finely
2-3 Green chillies, finely chopped
4 tbsp Tomato Sauce (I used Maggi Hot & Sweet Tomato Ketchup)
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
1-2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce (Optional)

Method:
Preparing the Base Sauce:
In a pan take little oil and fry chopped garlic and chillies for a minute over mdeium heat.
To this add whites of spring onions, ginger and capsicum and saute till onions turn translucent, about 2-3 mins.
Add tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce and soyasauce(if you want it to be more spicier add chilli sauce)and stir well. Switch off the flame and keep it aside.

Preparing Batter and Gobi for Deep Frying:
Wash the cauliflower florets in water with a little salt dissolved in it.
Make a little thick batter with cornflour and all purpose flour dissolved in water. Mix in red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and salt to taste.
Coat the florets with the batter and then deep fry at medium flame till they turns golden brown.
Drain them in paper towel to remove excess oil.
Add these fried cauliflower florets with the sauce you have prepared just before serving and mix well.
Garnish them with chopped coriander leaves and greens of spring onion and serve hot.