One for a healthy heart

"All the first year students should report in the seminar hall for a medical check-up." The notice-board on the college walls made this announcement. It is compulsory to record the medical history of every student in the college, so that it is easy to administer medical care in case of an emergency.

"So, what all will they record?" This was Leena's first question. Height, okay, blood-pressure, pulse, allergies, anything else except weight. She dreaded that part, because she had been overweight (on the borderline of being classified obese) right since her school days. Not that she didn't exercise or try to reduce her weight. She tried jogging, skipping, aerobics and many other things. But, she always did it under parental pressure. Surprisingly, she didn't pay heed to peer pressure.

"Leena, don't worry, you won't have to give your weight details," said Sumati, mischievously. "Why?," asked the others around her. "Well, you see, her weight is beyond the limits of the weighing scale!!" Everybody standing around poured into laughter. Leena, took it sportingly, but it always hurt her. Not that she was a lazy-bum, couch potato. She stood 5'8" tall, could walk for miles together or any given day, but her weight still was a concern to her. After college had begun, under pressure from her parents, she joined a gym, where she diligently followed their workout programme, hoping that she will lose weight. But, again, she dropped out of the gym at the very first excuse available.

Now, let us fast forward. Two years into college, Leena had made a nice group of friends. Everytime after the results were out, the group used to gather in a restaurant just to celebrate their success. Even if somebody had failed in a subject, (s)he would join the celebrations. But this time, they decided to go out on a trek to the small hillock just on the outskirts of the town. Excitedly, they all rushed to the hillock on their bikes and started trekking up the hill. While the group was moving ahead, Leena was stuck behind, because her weight didn't allow her to make quick moves up the hill. Sumati, who was with her because she always used to be, asked her to speed up. "But..... hmpf, hmpf, I can't go up any further," said Leena gasping for every breath of air. "It is too tiring. " "Come on, Leena, you can make it," Sumati couldn't think of anything better to encourage her. Leena continued, although she felt like her legs would break up into pieces, she had decided she wouldn't give up on the trek. The pain was too much to bear. Finally, almost an hour after everybody had reached the top, Leena managed to tumble up the summit. And she wasn't left with any strength to proceed further. She just gulped 2-3 glasses of cool lemon juice, which had a refreshing feeling.

At the summit the entire gang just sat and had lots of discussions over all possible issues under the sun. Suddenly, realising that they would need to start now, if they were to reach home in time, Leena and Sumati ushered the group to wind up and start the downward journey. It was a bit early, but Leena needed extra time than others to complete her downhill expedition.

When she came home, she withdrew to her room and tried to think what could be done about her weight? Dinner time came and went, but she wasn't able to make up her mind. She was completely embarrassed by today's outing. Something within her didn't want to take it lightly. She wanted to be fit and fine for every physical activity. For the first time, she realised the importance of all those health related articles she'd read on the internet. They always warned about eating right and exercising so as to stay fit. It finally dawned upon her that if she didn't take efforts to stay fit, not only would she end up at the back in treks, but also end up with heart problems, diabetes or blood-pressure. She desperately wanted to follow some of the fitness tips offered on the websites, but knew she couldn't stick to them as these tips never ever addressed beginners.

She then devised a plan for herself. Firstly, she would bring her diet under strict control. Not the kind of diet that aspiring models indulge in. She would limit the quantities of food she takes. Breakfast, which was normally healthy and sumptuous, needed no attention. So, during lunch it would be just two chapatis and a serving of rice, supplemented by ample amounts of salads like cucumber, carrots, etc. It shouldn't matter how favourite the vegetable is, the amount had to remain fixed. Dinner, would mean three chapatis only. Nothing more nothing less. And a strict cut down on intermediate munching. If she was hungry, it would be fruit juices, for she couldn't carry fruits to college. For the first three months, she would be just ensuring a discipline in her diet. Physical exercise was necessary if she wanted to reduce her weight. Leena decided to participate in the monsoon mini-marathon, which was 8-9 months away. To prepare for the mini-marathon, she would have to practice jogging. Since, it was a target for her to complete the marathon in respectable time, she would be forced to practice for it. And, to avoid embarrassment at college, she wouldn't be able to withdraw at the last moment. But, will she be able to run? She was determined to try!

Three months later.... Leena was sticking to her schedule. Her diet was under control for 6 out of 7 days of the week. Once in a while, she did give into the temptation. Her jogging efforts too were taking shape, albeit slowly. She was able to jog for 1 k.m. before tiring out. A good progress, for some one who had detested the idea of running around without purpose. Over time, she had realised improvements in herself. Although her weight wasn't coming down quickly- she lost only half a kilo in three months- she was feeling better. She felt fitter, lighter and quicker. Out of curiosity, she had got herself tested for blood-pressure and other conditions. She found out that everything was well within limits. Her blood-pressure was normal, sugar and cholesterol well within limits. And her exercise schedule continued like before, diet under control, jogging distance increasing gradually.

Now, almost a year has passed since Leena embarked on her fitness plan. It was totally self-motivated. No parental pressure or peer pressure. Just self-motivation. It all began with her desire to stay along with the rest of the pack during their trekking excursions. She realised the power of positive emotions. Previously, all weight-reduction plans had failed, because they were thrust on her. This time, it was she who had undertaken the task herself. And she couldn't let herself fail!! She completed the mini-marathon, 12km, in 1 hr. 45 min, a respectable time for her. Her weight too, had come down by 6 kilo, but her frame appeared still leaner and fitter and her waist was down by three sizes. This time, when they went to trek the hillock, she wasn't far behind the rest of the group!

Note: This post was written as a part of "20000 Bloggers for a Billion Hearts" contest for Indiblogger.in. Through this post, I wanted to convey the importance of self-motivation that can drive obese/lethargic people into doing the impossible. You can see my pledge on the extreme right gadget bar. I urge you to take the pledge too and spread the message for a safe heart.

European diaries, Part2: Confusions galore

In my previous post, I had written about how the politeness of Belgians and, in general, most of Western Europeans left me baffled. There are a lot more things in Europe that can confuse you, especially if you are coming from tropical South Asia.

Since the young age of seven or eight, we are taught about how to safely cross the road. The teacher used to instruct- look to right, see if there is no vehicle approaching. Then look to your left and see if there is no vehicle approaching. Then cross the road only if there are no vehicles approaching from both sides. Over time, we gained experience on how to cross the streets safely, even if there are vehicles approaching. And over time, our necks first turn right, then left, as if it were a reflex action. But, this would never work in mainland Europe. In the first two days, I used to do that almost reflexively. And when I began crossing the road, a car used to honk at me. It takes you time to realise that the traffic here is always travelling from left to right. So, you need to first look left, then right and then cross the road. Till the day I left Europe, it always happened to me atleast one a day.

European summers too add to a lot of confusion. Being from India, where the longest day isn't more than 13 hours, it is very difficult to digest the fact that the sun sets after 10:00 PM in the summer. Even at 8:00 PM in the evening, the sun is shining as it would at 4 PM in the afternoon in India. And the mind cannot prepare the body to have dinner while the sun is still shining high in the sky. Or to go to sleep when it is so bright. I've ended up being half sleepy all through my Europe trip, just because I couldn't adjust to this very fact. But, otherwise, Europe is enjoyable and the life is definitely good.

On the back of my mind

Sometimes, we hear statements that get etched on our mind for a very long time. We may forget the context in which that statement was made, who made it, etc. but the statement can be clearly recalled any time of the day. I do not know why have these statements been there in my mind for me to recall them. I have actually forgotten the context of many of those. In a few cases, I've even forgotten at what place and time did I here the statement. Sample these

1. This is sometime around 1994-95. My father and me were waiting on the New Delhi airport after the security check to board a flight, probably to Bangalore. From the public telephone, a lady was calling up somebody and suddenly she screamed into the phone- "Hailllo Papppuuuuuu !!" Me and my father just stared at each other and had a good laugh. That is all I can remember about the event. Nothing else.

2. This is some cricket match in which India was involved. A one-day international. Ajit Agarkar, at that time was relatively new and was brimming with raw pace. This was before he visited the MRF pace academy and Dennis Lillee, instead of helping him increase his pace, reduced it and thus ruined Agarkar's career. Coming back to the match. Agarkar was back into the side after being out because of injury. India was fielding, Agarkar was the bowler and Ravi Shastri was the commentator. Agarkar bowled a delivery and immediately took a wicket. I do not remember the mode of dismissal, but part of Shastri's commentary was "... and Agarkar is back, to his wicket taking ways." This piece of Shastri's commentary still rings in the back of my mind, while I remember nothing else about that match. Not even the opposition!

3. I used to attend summer camps in my childhood. I've attended two such camps. After that, I consider my childhood as over. In one such camp, we were being told a story. It was supposed to be a comedy story, as it was being told to kids. It was about some lady who had come to Pune city from a village and didn't understand the city. Somewhere in the story the lady mentions to someone, "माझा भाऽव ड्यॅक्कन कॉलेजाऽऽऽत सुपारी टुण-टुण हाय", which means, "my brother is a superintendent at Deccan College." In this case too, I do not remember the story, but this sentence has been etched into my memory.

4. This was when cable TV was new in India. They had a game show on Star Plus, called "The Crystal Maze". In the final round of this game show, the participants used to gather inside a large crystal shaped dome. Their job was to collect the maximum number of gold and silver foils in a specific time. The gold foils carried more points than silver foils. The team that scored the maximum points used to win. These foils were blown into the crystal dome using blowers that created air currents turbulent enough to set the foils in a Brownian motion. After the team had gathered into the dome and the dome gate locked, the host used to say his trademark sentence- "Will you start the fans, please." This sentence too rings at the back of my mind, though I remember very little of this show.

BTW, Breaking News, I just found old videos of The Crystal Maze on YouTube.

I find this ability of the brain pretty amazing. Retaining bits and pieces of information that have flashed only momentarily. But on the flip side, there are some equations that I see daily, but can not remember them if anybody asks about them later. There may be many more such incidents stored in the back of my mind, which I cannot recall right now, but it would be interesting to jot them down as and when I recall them.