Heavy Mind-set!

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)