I know what you're thinking, and before you go further down that track, let me tell you right off that I'm not running for a cause. I'm running for hundreds of causes.

And what better causes than the people who could one day be the future kings and kingmakers of our country. It's quite possible that without our help, these very same children could end up swelling the masses of impoverished, uneducated people that are currently their parents.

While many of us understand that education is the key to socio-economic change, to physically do something about it is beyond the means of many of us. Also, many of us are unaware of how to go about it. I, too, belonged to the well-intentioned but ignorant category of people.

And then I started running. For no better reason than to lose weight. I started with 10km, and proceeded to run a half marathon and then 25km and then by the end of the first year, a full marathon. Of course, all the excess baggage I was carrying was lost within the first 3 months of running, but for some reason I continued to run. People ask me why I run, and a lot of them think (some, aloud) that I'm crazy. While I have never disputed their thoughts, I tried to figure out why it is that I run. And realized that it is akin to wondering why it is that we eat or sleep. Running has made me come to terms, if only to an extent, with myself and my life. It has brought me peace along with the pain, if only for those few hours on the track. To put it very simplistically, running makes me feel good. For a slightly longer story on my running, www.mememarathon.blogspot.com. Of course, it helped greatly that I am being trained by Runner's High, an organization that supports Asha Foundation. Asha is a zero-overhead, volunteer-driven organization that works on education in India in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. Asha Foundation runs schools in South India to educate and train these children to be independent, responsible adults. Having seen one of the schools: Ananya, the kind of work the children are doing, and after interacting with the volunteers, it seemed like the perfect cause to give more meaning to my running and the pain that is inextricably associated with it. I've been training since June to run the Kaveri Trail Marathon in September. I will also be running 50km at the Bangalore Ultra in November, the full marathon at Mumbai in January.

I am training to run the Kaveri Trail Marathon as part of Team Asha. And that means, I'm planning to raise funds to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children that Asha supports.

My goal is to raise Rs. 500/km for Asha for Education. It would make a great difference to me and to the children, if you could help me reach my fundraising target of Rs.21,000. Please contact me to contribute, or through the various means listed below.  Be sure to visit our blog for the latest about the team. Team Asha Blog.