RETROSPECTIVE

Finally the day came and I woke up to resume my fitness routine. I completed six Surya Namaskars, followed with some Pranayam (meditation technique) and was already left breathless. Well, this is how an unhealthy body behaves!! Sudden heat waves take over your body and make you feel  breathless after six rounds of struggling in and out of yoga postures. Even though I skipped my walk due to sheer laziness, I managed to crawl out of bed and practice yoga. So yes, maybe an accomplishment but I guess a few more challenging mornings and I will be charged up again.

Adjusting with a new routine is always a challenge and especially when you have to make the effort to change it. But when you know that a change would do you good then I guess, it gets a little easier. Nonetheless nobody likes changes but sometimes you just need to enforce some into your life to do good for yourself. The most recent and transformative change for me has been getting acquainted with the work place. It's been four months of continuous rummaging and the place where I sit and move around suddenly feels like it belongs to me. The people around have been good companions and helping it all seem worth the risk and trouble, which makes the journey seem exciting. When I go back in time and picture myself in Central Park watching the walls of this office, aiming to be here someday makes me feel a sense of accomplishment. It's a big achievement and I realise the importance of holding onto this. What it has in store, is yet to be seen but the more important fact is to hold onto what I have and cherish what I always wanted. That's what life is all about, something I totally disagreed with a month back.

Life is enjoyed best when you cherish what you possess and held onto whatever stood beside you. Apart from sounding like a philanthropist, it has somewhere seeped into me that gone are the days when only work could determine your personality. You need to build a strong personality and make it reach beyond what the rest aspire towards. It also includes karma and definitely revolves around spontaneity. Your instant reactions speak what your mind is all about and may also act as a breakthrough device at times!

We all go looking for peace and happiness but we never sit back and appreciate what we have today. Life is a benevolent gift, live it while it lasts' and cherish it till your moments are there to stay with you.

SEASON DILEMMA

Spring is my favourite time of the year. The weather is perfect, the bright mornings suddenly make you feel fresh and the chirping birds, just add to the beautiful moment. Even though many say its too early, but I feel that global warming and all the other crazy scientific reasons due to which there are climatic changes occurring, spring will just as usually be here before its official time. I have been waiting to get rid of winter and get into spring, so that I'm free of cladding myself from the cold. Moreover, the season is actually changing. Can't anyone feel the temperature difference? Or is it just me?

Anyway, while thinking about the changing season, what comes to my mind first, is my clothes. I just love the spring for its weather and the clothes that I get to wear. The floral dresses, cool t-shirts, shorts of all kinds and colours and easy going footwear. Winter, no matter how much you try and prop your look, it leaves us with less choice. On the contrary, spring is perfect to experiment and wear the best. During the season, there's a mood that makes you wear bright colours, flashy hues and loud contrasts.

What can be the most disheartening in winter is the weight you gain. You tend to become lazy and the festivities make you gorge on delicacies endlessly. Who cannot put on weight? Three previous consecutive years that I spent on dieting and gyming, had me on a sabbatical this winter. I would usually take time off from the health club and enjoy my vacations for a month. 26th Jan would be my day to go back to my usual work out schedule.Yes, that's the truth. I would gorge the entire month and then be working out rigorously and trying various diets which usually showed results but sometimes had me running to the doctor with some sickness or the other. This year, though, has been different. I have been on a sabbatical since the past six months, the time since I started working. Initially, going to the gym and a regular office routine worked but after sometime, it faded. Thankfully, I have not put on too much weight but pictures never lie.

Sitting at my desk at work, anxiously waiting for the season to change, my attention is suddenly drawn towards my flabby stomach. Six months back, it was flat with no rolls but now it seems to be round from every corner that my eyes can reach. My thighs and legs have an added ooze and the ride in the auto rickshaw today morning, felt the vibrating fat on my arms. What could be scarier than that? Honestly, I don't want to be mistaken as an obnoxiously health concious person. I love curves, but there's a whole lot of difference between curves and flab. So, just to be clear, I am vying for a healthy, fit body.

The past one week, I have woken up to an alarm and after switching it off, I walk out of bed after only an hour. My mind consciously tells me to quit the bed and get out of the house but at that insane hour, when the alarm is shrieking in my ears, I can only think of how to switch it off!

As I sip on my tea, I see my stomach and realise floral dresses and t-shirts that I am eager to dress up in, are not ideal right now. I cannot be walking around with flab rolling either, so its time to get back to the gym and start all over again!