I was taking a walk with Biman today on the Windtunnel Road, along the airport walls, towards DRDO's CABS (Centre for AirBorne Systems). Now Biman likes to power walk while I like to stroll. Midway through the walk, as always, I got tired of keeping up with Biman's brisk pace. So I told him to go on till CABS at his fast pace and we would meet on his way back from there.

As he continued to power walk and I continued to stroll, I found that the distance between us was'nt increasing as fast as I thought it would. Then I realized it was the law of diminishing returns again. Every increase in speed beyond a point takes exponentially more effort. And because of the effort we put in we 'think' we are walking really fast, but in reality we are only walking slightly faster. Basic Facts of Life? I know.

I guess marathon runners would be well advised to cajole themselves into running slightly slower than their comfort level. Just in case their comfort zone is slightly slower than they think it is. Hmm.

When I met Biman he had walked about only about 200 metres more than I had. We'll walk back slowly now, I said.

"If we walk fast the mosquitoes don't bite" he said. (At night there's a thick mosquitoesphere, just below the atmosphere, on that damned road. The jets make effective use of it during takeoff. The lungs have to filter it out)

"If we walk slow, we can walk slow" I replied. One of those witty remarks which I later can't decide if they really are my own.

*****

Today during a conference call I got to hear a real-life Brit speak. They speak exactly like Emily (Ross's wife) does. It was fun to hear, tough to listen.