From the day I properly understood all the tasks that my body could perform, I had never paid serious attention to my fitness.
Except for a brief phase during my 4 year stay at college - the phase was one where my primary ambition in life was to impress a girl. A phase which when thought about now, makes me laugh more than I would for an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
I have never been a huge fan of any sport. I have had favorite sports personalities but I have liked them for reasons beyond their playing abilities.
I have always liked watching a game being played rather than being a participant in it.
Seeing a bowler deliver a short-pitched ball to a batsman coming forward has given me joy. Seeing a football midfielder fake a sprint in one direction before passing the ball in the opposite direction to the forward and assisting in a goal has given me joy. Getting involved in the processes hasn't.
The sweat and the loss of breath and the bruises are as unwelcome to my body as the distant relatives who visit my home on the very day I and my mom plan to visit a place we had been wanting to go for a long time.
My head is my body. To put it down in simple words.
And I have always been happy with this approach of mine.
Or at least I was till last week when a kindergarten kid and a rubber ball shook the very foundations of this approach.
I prefer walking to my office in the morning.
A bus ride from my flat would cost me only 5 minutes as opposed to the 30 minutes my walk takes up. But I prefer walking.
Walking lets me think. Walking lets me notice. Walking takes me past a residential area where I get to enjoy the sight of kindergarten kids start to their schools.
A girl with a small fountain of hair bursting from an elastic band in the middle of her head, a boy seated on top of the petrol tank of his father's two-wheeler wearing his father's helmet, a girl whom I have always noticed to be asleep on her mother's shoulder - All these visuals help me through the rest of the day at office as I sit analyzing data and exceptions.
Or at least they did till last week when a kindergarten kid and a rubber ball shook me apart.
It was like any other normal morning in Bangalore. The sun was out and bright but not hurting. A continuous cool breeze kept moving ahead on the roads irrespective of the stationary vehicles lined up for miles.
I accompanied the breeze as I walked, thinking about a photo series that I had come across on Parisian floor designs. The thought process made me want to look down at the road I walked up on. With every step of mine, a new portion of the gravel road came under observation. After stretch after stretch of gray rocks, suddenly came rolling a tiny red colored rubber ball in my frame of sight.
I stopped the ball with my right leg and picked it up.
Looking ahead, I saw its owner - a small kindergarten kid struggling to escape from his mother's grasp in order to run towards me and fetch his ball. I quickened my steps to reach him and hand over his ball. As he took the ball from my hand, the kid smiled and then a moment later, added, "Thanks uncle!".
My world stopped.
Parisian floors and gravel roads vanished in a moment.
UNCLE???!
In the 21 years I have walked this planet, I have been called a lot of names by my family members and my close friends (many of which have been curse words!).
But never once have I been addressed by that term.
UNCLE!!!
It felt like I was being told on my college graduation day that the entire 4 years I had spent learning engineering had all been a dream and I had another 4 years of engineering ahead of me.
UNCLE!!
It took me an extra 20 minutes to reach my office that day. After I reached my bay at office, I placed my bag at a corner and rushed to the restroom. I positioned myself in front of the huge mirror that had witnessed the sleepless faces of many of my colleagues.
The coffee-brown colored wall of our restroom with me at the center - This was what the mirror showed.
I moved closer to the mirror. I scanned my reflection from head to toe. It would have probably been because of the tummy. I then turned sideways to observe how bad the protrusion of my tummy was. It's actually not that bad! It's nearly flat. What then could have been the reason? Still standing sideways, I moved few steps further to the mirror. A significant portion of the hair on the right side of my head had turned gray. So it should have been the gray hair! Yes! It definitely should have been the hair! I turned again to see the reflection of my entire body. I scanned again from head to toe. I concentrated on my face. I slowly removed my spectacles. A slightly blurred reflection of myself became visible. Do I look younger without the specs? I waited for a few seconds before putting back the spectacles on my face. And I suddenly noticed the beard. Oh! It should have been the beard! Definitely the beard! I slowly massaged the one-week-old beard. And then slowly I turned sideways. It would have probably been because of the tummy.
I decided that I had to change my lifestyle.
Only green vegetables and fruits - nothing else. 50 sit-ups and 50 push-ups every day.
I left the restroom a determined man.
"Let me begin today", I thought and locked myself in one of the empty discussion rooms in my office.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Huff. 6. Puff. 7. 8. Huff. 9. 10. Puff. 11. 12...
And by 10 minutes, I had completed 50 sit-ups. I was already feeling younger. I then proceeded to my office cafeteria to buy a bowl of sprouts.
The change had begun.
And I experienced the complete impact of the change the very next morning.
With every step I kept forward from my bedroom to my restroom, I felt the pierce of a knife through my thigh.
It took me 5 minutes to climb down the stairs from my flat on the first floor.
It took me an extra 20 minutes to reach my office than it had taken the earlier day. And with the piercing pain I proceeded to my office cafeteria.
I avoided the shop selling fruits and vegetables and proceeded to a North-Indian eatery and ordered a plate of poori.
No more sprouts. No more sit-ups.
No more change.
I was fine with 'uncle'.
Except for a brief phase during my 4 year stay at college - the phase was one where my primary ambition in life was to impress a girl. A phase which when thought about now, makes me laugh more than I would for an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
I have never been a huge fan of any sport. I have had favorite sports personalities but I have liked them for reasons beyond their playing abilities.
I have always liked watching a game being played rather than being a participant in it.
Seeing a bowler deliver a short-pitched ball to a batsman coming forward has given me joy. Seeing a football midfielder fake a sprint in one direction before passing the ball in the opposite direction to the forward and assisting in a goal has given me joy. Getting involved in the processes hasn't.
The sweat and the loss of breath and the bruises are as unwelcome to my body as the distant relatives who visit my home on the very day I and my mom plan to visit a place we had been wanting to go for a long time.
My head is my body. To put it down in simple words.
And I have always been happy with this approach of mine.
Or at least I was till last week when a kindergarten kid and a rubber ball shook the very foundations of this approach.
I prefer walking to my office in the morning.
A bus ride from my flat would cost me only 5 minutes as opposed to the 30 minutes my walk takes up. But I prefer walking.
Walking lets me think. Walking lets me notice. Walking takes me past a residential area where I get to enjoy the sight of kindergarten kids start to their schools.
A girl with a small fountain of hair bursting from an elastic band in the middle of her head, a boy seated on top of the petrol tank of his father's two-wheeler wearing his father's helmet, a girl whom I have always noticed to be asleep on her mother's shoulder - All these visuals help me through the rest of the day at office as I sit analyzing data and exceptions.
Or at least they did till last week when a kindergarten kid and a rubber ball shook me apart.
It was like any other normal morning in Bangalore. The sun was out and bright but not hurting. A continuous cool breeze kept moving ahead on the roads irrespective of the stationary vehicles lined up for miles.
I accompanied the breeze as I walked, thinking about a photo series that I had come across on Parisian floor designs. The thought process made me want to look down at the road I walked up on. With every step of mine, a new portion of the gravel road came under observation. After stretch after stretch of gray rocks, suddenly came rolling a tiny red colored rubber ball in my frame of sight.
I stopped the ball with my right leg and picked it up.
Looking ahead, I saw its owner - a small kindergarten kid struggling to escape from his mother's grasp in order to run towards me and fetch his ball. I quickened my steps to reach him and hand over his ball. As he took the ball from my hand, the kid smiled and then a moment later, added, "Thanks uncle!".
My world stopped.
Parisian floors and gravel roads vanished in a moment.
UNCLE???!
In the 21 years I have walked this planet, I have been called a lot of names by my family members and my close friends (many of which have been curse words!).
But never once have I been addressed by that term.
UNCLE!!!
It felt like I was being told on my college graduation day that the entire 4 years I had spent learning engineering had all been a dream and I had another 4 years of engineering ahead of me.
UNCLE!!
It took me an extra 20 minutes to reach my office that day. After I reached my bay at office, I placed my bag at a corner and rushed to the restroom. I positioned myself in front of the huge mirror that had witnessed the sleepless faces of many of my colleagues.
The coffee-brown colored wall of our restroom with me at the center - This was what the mirror showed.
I moved closer to the mirror. I scanned my reflection from head to toe. It would have probably been because of the tummy. I then turned sideways to observe how bad the protrusion of my tummy was. It's actually not that bad! It's nearly flat. What then could have been the reason? Still standing sideways, I moved few steps further to the mirror. A significant portion of the hair on the right side of my head had turned gray. So it should have been the gray hair! Yes! It definitely should have been the hair! I turned again to see the reflection of my entire body. I scanned again from head to toe. I concentrated on my face. I slowly removed my spectacles. A slightly blurred reflection of myself became visible. Do I look younger without the specs? I waited for a few seconds before putting back the spectacles on my face. And I suddenly noticed the beard. Oh! It should have been the beard! Definitely the beard! I slowly massaged the one-week-old beard. And then slowly I turned sideways. It would have probably been because of the tummy.
I decided that I had to change my lifestyle.
Only green vegetables and fruits - nothing else. 50 sit-ups and 50 push-ups every day.
I left the restroom a determined man.
"Let me begin today", I thought and locked myself in one of the empty discussion rooms in my office.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Huff. 6. Puff. 7. 8. Huff. 9. 10. Puff. 11. 12...
And by 10 minutes, I had completed 50 sit-ups. I was already feeling younger. I then proceeded to my office cafeteria to buy a bowl of sprouts.
The change had begun.
And I experienced the complete impact of the change the very next morning.
With every step I kept forward from my bedroom to my restroom, I felt the pierce of a knife through my thigh.
It took me 5 minutes to climb down the stairs from my flat on the first floor.
It took me an extra 20 minutes to reach my office than it had taken the earlier day. And with the piercing pain I proceeded to my office cafeteria.
I avoided the shop selling fruits and vegetables and proceeded to a North-Indian eatery and ordered a plate of poori.
No more sprouts. No more sit-ups.
No more change.
I was fine with 'uncle'.
