| My Slim Fast Story By Nirmala Garimella
Bless me o lord with happiness and kachori.
Sometime
during the month of March, my physical spine wakes up
and reminds me that I have to lose 15 pounds, fast and
quick. The reason: I soon have to make my annual trip
or should I say pilgrimage to India and looking slim
and beautiful to everyone out there is my primary motive.
I assure myself that I have April, May, June and 15
days of July to tuck in my body beautiful before I board
my flight, time enough to knock those extra tires and
the fat accumulated that are always in tug of war with
me . Challenging me and saying, we are an essential
part of you. How could you be so mean to let us go ?
So what do I do my dear friends? Yank myself out of
bed and head to the nearest gym. No way! It ain’t gonna
happen. Do I reach out for the delectable apple instead
of the loaded cookie or even a cheese stick? Not a chance.
In short I am in short dose of what I call willpower.
Some people are blessed with this phenomena. Not me
. My lethargic feeling starts sometime in November around
Thanksgiving time. While the world celebrates for the
food on the table I celebrate with the food in my stomach
tucked away with guileless glee and merry making. By
December I am a party’s putty . In my family we have
celebrations every week, since we all had the bright
idea of coming into this world in this wondrous month.
By January my soul needs the equivalent of a visit to
the spa and a stylish hairdo. I am bummed out totally
and I am perplexed as to why my body refuses to get
out of this cauldron.
I have now formed my own definition of exercise. While
others define it as being fit and healthy, mine has
acquired undertones that might fit in a dictionary of
inertia or terms of that nature. Here is goes. Exercise
to me is dodging the issue, dragging my feet, throwing
my weight around, pushing my kids to their limits, beating
round the bush, passing the buck, wading through excuses,
running and stretching my imagination.
These days I have this new buzz that rings in my head
“Need to do, need to do, need to do” almost like an
ad jingle. But do I listen to my inner voice? No buddy
no! A walk invitation from a close friend elicits a
standard response. “I need to get this done soon. Yaar!
Sorry I can’t come. Invite me the next time you go out
Mujhe bhoolna nahi.” And yet when the same good friend
(God bless her) calls me to join her for shopping at
the nearby mall or the Indian grocery store I am all
ready to go like a charged battery. Reason, I can actually
delve in at the candy factory or even pop a few samosas
or aalu bonda in my mouth from the loaded aluminium
trays that are invitingly placed at the counter of the
desi shopper. Tempting isn’t it.
But the adage that I live to eat, not eat to live has
been strongly ingrained in me. Can any of you shed weight
on any other saying that makes more sense than this.
I meant metaphorically, of course, not literally. So
when anyone approaches me with this new one liner of
“I lost 10 pounds in three weeks,” I turn my head to
them and say “Oh really ! how wonderful, which three
weeks are you talking about.” Or something like, “I
can now fit into these pants that were presented to
me by my mother in law,” my riposte is “My mother in
law thinks I look great in saris,” and so on.
The other day I was at the Museum of Science chaperoning
bravely for a field trip for my son’s class and the
most exciting exhibit to me was the gigantic weighing
scale that screamed “what will be your weight on the
moon”’ To tell you truly folks, I did not want to move
away from there. What flattering numbers! I wished I
could record them in my heart, my soul and of course
you guessed it right, my body. If you’ve been to the
Museum of Science in Boston you will also recall that
there is a corresponding weighing scale on the other
end in Jupiter, I think . I am not sure, since I never
been there. Jupiter, the planet you see has never held
such fascination to me.
So my slim fast story is interminable. It sometimes
also means grow fast, walk slow and slimmo. This is
my new prayer to God. God give me the energy to climb
mountains, but don’t deny me my daily bagels with garden
cheese, give me the strength to uphold truth, but don’t
deny me my pakodas and puris, and bless my family with
loads and loads of happiness coupled with some kachoris.
So thank you lord.
..-
End Of Article.....
|
