The
caged Lion in that zoo is a 'picnic' spot for me! That was what I
thought ... only till I reached an age where I had to walk right
through that zoo to even reach my school every day! (The walk-route
was a bit shorter than bus route, and bus route costed bus-ticket,
which we couldn't really afford then!)...
The
lion grew lean as days passed by... visitors even 'sympathised' that
it is ill fed...
It
had no 'walking' space... all it did was turn around after a couple
of steps (the cage was small!)...
No
exercise possible...
After
a couple of decades, I found people spending money to
'become-lean'!!! (I did not really dare to quote that deep-embedded
memory of that lion who grew lean doing nothing, spending even less
on food!)....
Our
mindset is perhaps inclined towards anything that makes us heavy...
and so the 'heavy-mind-set'.. or 'heavily set mind of ours'... We
like to have both, the things that make us heavy, and also to remain
lean... Now there is a 'commercially viable' scope for those who can
sell the 'make-belief' ideas!
In
response to my previous blog (sharing an experience), I was asked
specific queries about what I did when I lost nearly 4 kilos, in just
about a month... I tried to reply very honestly, though I knew, my
answers do not match those famous 'weight-reduction-programs' which
carry a heavy price-tag... It was then, I thought, why not remind
myself of that lion, who is about 600 pounds ( a guess, from what I
heard from a world famous hunter who said about the choice of death..
“I would prefer to die at the hands of a tiger pouncing upon me,
with its 700 pounds of weight, which would instantly crush my bones,
than an electric chair which is supposed to be the most 'humane'
death-sentence-infliction by legal authorities).. That lion does not
do any 'exercise' in that small cage. Today, the zoos try to provide
'natural-habitat', and what I got to see was during 1950's, when
animals were given little attention in captivity!
We
have to see what kind of food this body is designed for... What kind
of physical activity this body is designed for... what kind of
ambiance this body is designed for (fan, A/C, apart-ments, etc
is what we have... I heard a news-report that somewhere in west, in a
very cold country, there was forced-power-shortage due to fuel costs,
and people 're-discovered' a healthy way to live, when they willingly
allowed the cold-climate to seep in within their homes too, avoiding
fuel-power-heated-airconditioning!)... And in India, air-conditioning
even today means, make it too severely cold inside, use thick
blankets, pollute the entire city outside of homes, and boast about
'having' tonnes of 'costly A/c' (weight reduction programs are
already 'within-reach' through internet!)...
A
person very close to me, past 60, visited a cousin of his, and having
nothing else to do (after that 'hello, how are you' etc..), tried
their 'gadget' of walking at the same place, on that machine, and
then cycling at the same place... he started sweating profusely...
'good' he must have thought... but the sudden flow of blood caused a
heavy stress on the heart, and within a few days, he needed
cardiac-related-medical assistance! The body is a wonderful machine
with adequate safety-checks in place... when we are engaged in hectic
physical activity involving legs, our breath becomes heavy and
fast... only then, the sweating starts, as a second level warning..
when the activity is with only the hands, then that panting is very
mild, and sweating becomes almost simultaneous... but not suddenly
profuse... it is a kind of warning, not to go too hard and hectic on
that activity!
What
is amazing is, what we call as 'stamina' is delayed panting (rapid
breathing), and not the ability to breath faster and yet remain
normal! The 'stamina' is never at the cost of early warning signs,
the safety-checks! (During school days, I practised slow running when
compelled by a 'national-coach', I discovered that I could reduce the
breath-rate to near normal and still keep running slowly, thus
shifting that 'stamina' increase towards leg's muscular strength,
instead of remaining stuck at lung-limitation! That is what exactly
drew the attention of that coach to call me and teach me
'track-technique', for free!... He was impressed that my breath did
not decide my stamina-limitation!).
I
perhaps failed to provide 'healthy-tips' for weight reduction... I
wonder what that lion would have done, if pizza, noodles,
samosa-kachori, and such costly fast-foods of our style were fed to
it forcibly instead of just the raw meat which was meat for its
body-design! And then, provide an A/c glass cabin(rain/sun
protected), cushioned sofa, a TV, and a drum of Coca-cola, and see if
it would say 'Yeh dil maange more!'
Heavily
yours,
psn
(1st November, 2013)
