The "Susegaad" life!

The aircraft banked as it began to align for landing at Dabolim and I saw the breathtaking blue-green ocean, the palm fringed beaches and the endless coastline of golden sand. I was fortunate to encounter a Goan Taxi driver who offered me a "self-driven" car. When I found out that he spoke my dialect, I switched to rapid fire konkani. A deal was soon struck (the guy was so taken in by my ability in local lingo, that he forgot to take any form of security!) and I was driving a Baleno with Monsoon and Bryan, cruising thru' Goa' excellent roads.

We checked in at "Santiago Resorts" and went out that evening to savor Goan cuisine at "Souza Lobo". I was more then content with the "Maad" (Coconut Fenny) and I guess my eyes showed it:-) The next day we toured Panjim, Miramar, Dona Paula, Vagator and of course Calangute. Bryan got a thrill out of parasailing and cresting the waves on a high speed water scooter. Our evenings were spent at a local bar and restaurant that had a one-man "live Band" playing goan folk songs that I had to translate for Monsoon and Bryan:-)

Our routine of sleeping long hours and sumptious meals coupled with my day & night "taka-tak fenny" made us all accumulate some "blubber" around the middle:-) When we reached the airport for our departure, I realized how much I loved my beloved Goa. I fondly reminisced about the long summer vacations I spent here with my brothers and sisters when we were all at school. The football matches, bathing at the local spring, drawing well-water, eating rice soup with mango pickle, Goan wedding banquets, village feast revelry and most of all, sitting on the floor with earthen cook-ware and eating dinner together under the light of a "Petromax" (Goa did not have electricity then). I did not know of any place in the world for a vacation other than Goa. Viva Goa!

Palm Beach Resort

After a lot of flip-flops on deciding whether to go out or not last weekend, we finally made it to Manori. Bryan first went off to Pali Hill resort in Uttan as part of his summer camp ( I remembered our days when the parish used to take us all to Gorai) and we collected him from there in the evening before proceeding to Manori.

We had a nice big room for 10 people (there were 2 other couples with us) and of course the "ubiquitous Dojo" trotting around and getting in everyone' way:-) We "captured" one of 4 lofts raised on stilts that are available on first-come-first-served basis and settled with our snacks and drinks. There was a DJ that night and we "shook a leg" (especially us men after feeling invigorated with the liqour). That night, I slept fitfully because I was worried that Dojo would wake up the others (who are not used to having a dog in the same room) and the rascal thought I wanted to play with him! He periodically jumped on my bed and nibbled my toes and made me gasp everytime he dug his cold nose in my side:-) At one time, he started kicking the maid' hair clip around the room and I had to get up and wiggle a finger at him. His response? Snapping at my extended fore-finger playfully!

The next morning involved treats of beer, fish and chicken. There were pool games and I had to literally ask the owners of the resort to drain the pool inorder to get Bryan out of it! We arrived home late evening on Sunday and Dojo seemed relieved to return cause he fell off to sleep immediately, peaceful in the comfort of our home.

Daily Nutrition

I was recently introduced to a book titled "What your doctor does not know about nutritional medicine may be killing you"! The author ( a medical doctor) dwells on the diseases that invade our bodies by virtue of the fact that we ignore to take basic butrition by way of multivitamins and minerals. Yes, a balanced diet works but in todays world do we have time to allow ourselves the luxury of cooking "balanced" meals? It is an established medical fact that these "micro-nutrients" are absolutely essential for us to combat the ravages of "oxygen radicals" that latch on to myriad other compounds and cause an imbalance in our bodies. More important, many of these "free radicals" (a term known to those of you that studied science) cause "mutations" inside the cells of our body and give rise to cancer.

The book discusses at length the different conditions that afflict us today; namely, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart diseases, diabetes etc. BTW, cholesterol is not as good an indicator for your risk of getting a heart attack as compared to "homocysteine" levels. This is a well known medical fact today but a researcher was hounded in the US about 25 years back and lost his job; merely because the pharma companies at the time wanted to make a killing getting people to buy drugs for reducing cholesterol. They apologised to him now but the damage was done and the researcher rued that he had already lost 25 years of his life as an outcast in the medical community which could not be restored with such an apology.

I believe the above has a parallel in the suppression of medical fact and research on radiation from cell-phones and their deleterious effect on the brain (they say you "micro-wave" your brain in the long run). However, the cell-phone companies have down-played this matter. The same holds true for those of you that allow a cell-phone provider' tower to be placed atop your building. Beware, the radiation could be killing all of you slowly!!

Well, enough of my "dooms day" banter for now. I will probably receive some "hate mail" from the cell-phone companies now:-)

Alibag calling

On Saturday, 3rd May, I went to alibag to spend the night at Dilip Kamtikar' Bungalow based on his invitation to me and a few other Aarey Runners. The place is well-furnished with a lot of plantations around the bungalow and its right on a secluded stretch of beach. I drove down in my car with Bryan (yes, ku-ku boy wanted to be with me:-) and Pankaj Sharma. We arrived at 6:45pm and went off straight to the beach. We played a little bit of football with encouragement from Bryan, who was keen on kicking the ball around and tempted us all.

The table was set for a "tipple" and Dilip was kind enough to offer us "Black Label"! We truly enjoyed the liquor (though the snacks arrangement could have been better) and got into intense arguments on happiness, money and even death (though many indicated by their reluctance to be drawn in, that such morbid discussions are inappropriate). By the time we ate dinner, it was 12 midnight and we were truly famished.

The next morning, Bryan and I woke up at 5am! We went for a walk on the beach and enjoyed the cool day break and dipped our feet in the ice cold sea water. Bryan was keen on getting the rest of us to play a game of fooball on the beach but I guess the guys were feeling the effects of "the night before" and were more comfortable lounging around and chatting about how Dilip made his fortune in life:-). At 11:30am, Bryan, Pankaj and I bade goodbye to the rest and left for home. On the way we stopped for a bite at Macdonalds and wolfed down some burgers, which Bryan enjoys a lot. We reached home at 2:30pm after which I had a beer and snoozed. All in all, it was a nice weekend.

Self-flagellation!

Maharashtra Day is a holiday for me and I surprised myself by waking up at 5am without an alarm. I had nothing to do as Monsoon is in Leh for a company review (some MNCs really do reviews in style!) and Bryan was to go to "Water Kingdom" with his friend Shiva. I decided that I'd just do a long run. The weather was like it was last Saturday; warm and humid. I realized that doing a long run would be a tough call. Nevertheless, I set out at an easy pace. About 2 hours later, I felt sapped and wanted to stop but I trudged on cause I wanted to overcome pain. This kind of punishment was meant to help me cope with my stress! Maybe the logic beats you but its just that I felt better pushing myself physically over the brink. It made me feel that I can handle whatever crap is thrown my way.

I finished the run another 45 mins later completely drained and dehydrated. I went to the Aarey water pumping station and the attendant there seemed to recognize me. Well, I guess that running 10 yrs in this place makes one rather popular:-) I used the hose that was lying around and let loose a "high pressure fountain" on myself. Boy, the cool water felt like heaven. I walked back home shaking my head at the lunacy in my work out today.

I met Rajesh while doing my run and he was wearing a knee brace! I realized that his knee was acting up cause he had not rested it enough after the damage from his Judo fall. He tried to laugh it off but I could tell that he regreted it. The sad part was that he was walking; unable to even jog because of the pain. Well, runners never learn. They throw caution to the winds cause their motivation to run is right up there.

Whew! I made it!

After enduring months of studying in planes, trains and cars, I was delighted to receive intimation from the American Council on Exercise that I am now a Certified Fitness Professional. Well, this certification allows me to design exercise programs for strength and endurance for not only healthy populations but it licences me to deal with special populations such as those suffering from obesity, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, coronary heart diseases, muliplesclerosis and even pregnant populations.

Frankly, I did find the course content tough because it entailed knowing every bone and every major muscle in the body by location, origin, insertion and their latin names. In addition, the chapters on nutrition, injuries and pregnancy placed a substantial load on my ability to memorise - I had long lost this ability after studying to be an Engineer. Well, I could call myself a 30% doctor now - at least the course content made me feel like one:-) I was just joking; if I encounter questions that are the domain of a health care provider, my "code of conduct" requires me to refer the person to one and not "stray" into this area!

The day after

The day after my "junk miles", I set out from home early morning. Somehow, just as I knew on saturday, that I was not in form, I knew this sunday, that I was feeling strong! Well, true feelings never lie and whaddya know; I ran a 10K in 47 mins! I revelled in the comfort, speed and length of my strides:-) Also, since I had so much time on hand before I could head home for a sunday morning breakfast of eggs, chicken sausages and cheese (yes sir, you spoil yourself cause you earn these occasional sinful delights thru' running), I decided to just stroll around and savor the morning sun ( a surya namaskar was in order), acknowledge the smiles of my walker friends (who raised an eyebrow or two on seeing me doing nothing) and I literally stopped to "smell the roses".