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31/08/201215/04/2017

Of unwanted advice and weightloss

Some time back a fellow blogger suggested it was a good idea to incorporate surya namaskars in ones routine. Always ready to try out a new suggestion in the fight against fat, I did so. It’s been over a week now and I’ve stuck to it.

Today as I was in the middle of my daily dose of twenty ..
“Aap breathing control nahin kar rahi hain,” commented a voice.
She was a co-gymmer I barely knew. I threw her a mildly apologetic smile and continued.
“Aise toh koi fayada nahin hone wala,” she went on. This time I gave her a not so apologetic smile, resolutely turned my back at her and went on.
“Haan sachchi.. yeh sab toh instructor ke saath hi karna chahiye,” the co-gymmer had been joined by a friend. This was getting seriously.. IRRITATING. I tried to concentrate harder on my counts.
“Aap ne woh Nazia ko dekha hai? Woh perfect karti hai.
Aaaarrrgh…
I don’t know who Nazia is and I don’t care. I do not want lessons in Suryanamaskars I’ve been doing them for years. I don’t even know who you are, you are certainly not an instructor. Why don’t you find something else to do rather than commenting on me…

I wish I’d said at least SOME of that. I didn’t. I wish it weren’t so tough being rude to strangers… even to rude strangers who crawl on your nerves.

Of course one reason for my irritation was the fact that I haven’t been losing much weight in a long long time, which is also why there hasn’t been a post on weightloss. What’s the point of a post on weightloss when there’s no weightloss?

The summer vacations are suicidal, I swear. Remember before I went off I was there – in that 60s club. However two months and it’s all undone and I can’t get back. The other day my trainer watching me conscientiously at the weights said, “aap exercise toh theek karti hain.. aapka weight kam ho kyon nahin raha?”
Hah thought I, “You haven’t seen how often I’m heading for the fridge”.
It was like he’d heard my thoughts, “Aap bilkul diet nahin kar rahin hain kya?”
Yup “Nail on the head,” thought I.. while nodding and trying to smile a non-commital smile.

However, that pretty much sums up my situation.
Chocolates, pastries, khakras, breads, bhels, soups, salads, eggs and milk.. the good, bad and ugly..all of it finds a place on my plate.

I really do need to get my act together.

And so here’s my pledge for September.

I will

Keep going to the gym
Try to squeeze in a 20 minute walk in the evening
Have just two cups of tea/coffee.. three maybe
Stop at soups and salads at dinner time

I won’t

Eat junk
Smuggle in a sweet post meals
Grab a spoonful of Nutella if there are no sweets
Eat up the kids’ chocolates and replenish them quietly
Sit with a plate while watching late night TV

There I’ve confessed all my sins.

The target for September: Two kgs.

30/08/201215/04/2017

A game of cricket

The batsman and the wicketkeeper

The bowler

The spectators

Some watch from balcony seats

The wicketkeeper/fielder wondering.. Mera number kab ayega

Change of batting.. the coach steps in to help

This bowler knows how its done

The coach gives a demo…

And the ball is lost.

End of game.
Picture credit: The sister

Linking to the Thursday Challenge : “HAPPY” (Playing, Laughter, Things one enjoys, Happy people,…)

And
Linking to ABC Wednesday
: G is for Game

27/08/201215/04/2017

Devil’s advocate

I refuse to be diplomatic on this one. When it’s about love marriage versus arranged marriage, the choice is clear — arranged marriage for sure.

Don’t believe me.. believe Shakespeare… will you? Wasn’t it his beautiful Jessica in Merchant of Venice who said “Love is blind and lovers cannot see…”?

He said it….. Love is blind.

Would you make the most important decision of your life blindly?

Think Shakespeare is old fashioned? Believe the Discovery Channel? Here read this..
A study

by Rutgers University biological anthropologist Helen Fisher and colleagues examined the
brain scans of men and women reported truly, madly in love.
Each of the images showed the same activity in the brain’s reward system as that
which occurs in the brain of a cocaine addict.

Yup.. that’s what addicts think they are…

… that, my friends is the real deal

That’s right .. cocaine addict!!! Would you make the decision of your life under the influence of cocaine?

I rest my case.

I, of course had an arranged marriage… the whole deal. Sari perfectly draped, tray in hand, laden with mere haath ke bane samose and steaming chai, that’s how I made my entry. One bite of the samosa and The Husband nodded out an emphatic ‘Yes’. No one knows to date, whether it was for the marriage or the samosa. Both, I hope.

It’s been over two decades and he continues to love the samosas of my hometown, which he later discovered, were bought from the neighbourhood halwai. What? Cheating? Oh so now you’ll get all righteous and carp about one tiny samosa. What about those hundreds of lies people in love tell each other? The whole tare tor laoonga bit and the duniya se ladoonga promise, then there’s the tripe about sab kuchh chhor doongi, mujhe paisa nahin chahiye. Lies.. all of it.

In fact, I think one should go a step ahead and opt for child marriages. For one there’s the obvious advantage of the girl adapting to the ways of her new home. Also, she learns to love her new family like her old one. I mean no matter how horrible our siblings are or how eccentric our parents are we still love them, don’t we? Well that’s how she’ll be with her husband and in-laws. Perfect recipe for a happy life. Right?

Doesn’t happen in today’s times, you think. Don’t you watch television? Haven’t you seen our own Anandi raking in the TRPs? And here’s an instance from real life.

That’s 5 year old Khalid and 3 year old Hala, on their engagement
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20020554-503543.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Had my parents had the foresight to marry me off young I might not have needed that halwai at all. I’d have made perfect samosas, just the way mom-in-law makes them, just the way The Husband likes them and my life’s ambition would have been complete. Foresight — that’s what my parents lacked. I spent years and years slogging, studying, working but what’s the point? Can I get the samosa right? Nope.

Sigh!

While we’re on this.. suitable alliances are invited for a strapping 6 year old boy and a delicate 6 year old girl. Send in with photo.

Thank You

Disclaimer: This is completely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people dead or alive is merely coincidental. Oh the bit about inviting matches is true.. just wait for another 20 years, though.

This post is part of the raging controversy between love and arranged marriages. For more points of view go here
.

26/08/201215/04/2017

Crafty Sunday

My weekend resolution seemed in trouble this week as we were expecting guests but a last minute cancellation meant we could do our weekly craft. Here it is… a peacock out of some cardboard and plastic spoons. It is everything Naisha could ever have wanted in terms of colour and glitter.

Naisha drew this peacock on a bit of cardboard.. a bit crooked but never mind.

We cut it out and glued on plastic spoons. I never thought they’d hold but they did, beautifully.
You have to be generous with the fevicol.

Paint it blue/green/gold/glittery.. whatever you have. Naisha was too impatient to try more detailing.

Her favourite part.. thumb printing the peacock feathers…

… like this

Then some blue glitter

A yellow beak and yellow feet..

And of course the sequins.
The bestest part of all – I found googly eyes, finally. (at Hypercity, Pune) So we had to use one.

.. And it’s done. It looks much better than the picture.. my photography skills leave much to be desired.
That reflection will be the death of me.. sigh!

Linking this to Shruti’s Artsy Craftsy Challenge .

25/08/201215/04/2017

We won

The only purpose of this post is to make you envious enough to rush over to Shruti’s and participate in the contests she hosts. Last month we
crafted some ice creams and won the challenge and look what we got. The prizes were sponsored by Preethi from Indya Kaleidoscope
and we received all of that along with a very sweet Thank You card. Thank you both of you. Love the gifts. I wish I’d clicked the kids’ pics when we opened the parcel. I wouldn’t have needed to write this post then… their pictures would have been enough.

I always knew ice creams were cool.