There is a difference between knowledge and realization.
Always knew that this is a narrow world; just realized that the world is not
just narrow, it’s thin, well-built and is perfectly(?) proportioned as well.
Think about it. Think about the way this society conditions
its citizens from the very beginning. An action figure is always beefed up; the
dolls are always slim, slight and slender; the stuffed animals are always ‘cute’
(many years later, you realize that ‘cute’ may be code name for ugly but
adorable); the clowns are always portly; the animated protagonists are always
fit and clever (Thank you Johnny Bravo for being a notable exception!); the
sidekicks and the ‘best friends’ are usually on the slower side and out of
shape on various sides.
Where do the kids learn that the fat kids in their class are
supposed to be objects of public ridicule? Why should Ms. Congeniality have similar
body measurements as that of Ms. Universe? Will some extra weight really affect
her ‘congeniality’ in any way? Why should the epic love stories be always set
between ‘perfect’ couples? Do we have any documentary evidence of how Prince
Salim, Anarkali, Young Akbar and Jodha bai actually looked? Did they have six
packs, pouted lips and matching hips? Why should a movie about a regular guy
and a regular girl falling in love, should either be a romantic comedy or be
embellished with actors who look anything but regular?
Day in and day out, we run this jogging track of life in the
quest for perfection without even realizing that ‘perfection’ is being
constantly determined and tweaked around by the society that surrounds us. Something
that was ‘acceptable’ some years back becomes unacceptable all of a sudden. The
popular media decides, influences and controls our notion of perfection and beauty.
The page 3 tabloids regularly publish ‘special articles’ on how weight
reduction can ‘improve love life’ (more regularly just a month before Valentine’s
day). It even imparts its zombies with defense mechanisms that negate any
contradictory thoughts. So as you read this post, you might probably think “Can’t
control his weight so now he is out to change the way people think about him?!!
Lazy bugger!!”… I understand what you’ve been through, so I won’t blame you.
I believe that as long as someone can perform every duty
that is normally expected from that person in a normal day, that person is fit.
Why one should be lifting 80-100 pounds in a gym when all one really lifts
during a day is perhaps a couple of kilos of vegetable from the market? Why
should one be running 12 miles on a treadmill when there is hardly ever going
to be a reason for that person to run that much in real life? Why one should
toil on the stepper machines when most of the buildings taller than 4 floors
would be having a lift?
I believe that as long as you can carry that bag of
vegetable home, do your household chores, play with your kids, tie your own shoes, work efficiently in the office, walk to the nearest
supermarket and don’t have any medical conditions that can get aggravated by
that extra pound, be happy with it. You decide your own perfection.
Lastly, do you know what's the difference between knowledge
and realization?
Realizations just tend to hurt more.
Wow Murthi! Now this is what I call perfection. A beautiful article, a perfect read. :) :) Keep writing, dude.
ReplyDeleteI loved it till the last two paragraphs. Media is definitely defining what beautiful is for our largely blind population..agreed. But! .....
ReplyDeleteLast two paragraphs do make sense but do not do proper justice to the ones above. You do not need to lift 80-100 pounds or run 12 miles or climb 4 floors everyday. However not having to do those things everyday is not justification for not working out to have the strength to do them.
First: You go to the gym to work-out your heart, to loosen your body, to stretch those muscles that otherwise start getting locked up and give you pains ;). You do not go to the gym to enable yourself to pick up 80-100 pounds. :)
Second: Carrying that bag of vegetable home, doing the household chores and playing with kids etc. and "not having any medical conditions" - may not always remain as easy a task forever if your body is not pushed and moved from time to time. So saying that being able to do those things is Enough (?) for staying healthy forever is inaccurate.
Third: You need not only go to the gym to stay healthy. Millions of people jog in the open air in the morning, do thousands of other free exercises that do not require any weight lifting.
The purpose is to make those lungs breathe harder, make that heart pump a little harder, make those muscles stretch a little longer. I once again stress that in a young age one must think that they do not require exercise as long as they can perform everyday tasks with ease...but my friend, the body is a machine as well and every machine requires that occasional greasing and oiling...otherwise the parts get worn out and cranky without regular maintenance....and then it starts demanding new, replacement parts later on. I leave the analogy for you to relate.
So in my opinion, your latest blog is an attempt to club two independent issues. The media defining how you look by showing you images of godly and fake figures with 8 packs and perfect breasts is one; and working out your body for the right reasons is another.
Hence, you trying to reject a healthy lifestyle (which must include some working out, only giving up chicken will not do the magic for you) -by saying that that is your way of showing the middle finger to the manipulative media is unjustified and a bit confusing to me.
I took the time to write this comment for exactly that reason...The top paragraphs and the bottom two paragraphs really did not gel together like your other well written and justified articles because this time I think you may have passionately missed out a little fact that they are not very connected. :)
:) Just my two cents.
Hi Nirav,
ReplyDeleteThank you for spending your time and two cents in typing out a reply. But I think you got lost in translation.
point 1: "You do not go to the gym to enable yourself to pick up 80-100 pounds. :)" - I've had my share of gym experience and I have realized that irrespective of how noble an intention you join the gym with, you end up straining yourself. The reason could be anything; looking at people running that extra mile or pulling that extra load; just getting carried away with it, etc etc. It takes a very single minded individual to resist these temptations and strictly stick to loosening the muscles. If you are that person, congratulations!
Point 2: "So saying that being able to do those things is Enough (?) for staying healthy forever is inaccurate."
A life that is static is fondly known as death. The list of things that I have mentioned here is not at all exhaustive and cant be generalized to all age groups. When one is younger, obviously one is expected to show more physical movement and as one grows older the chores and responsibilities go on changing. I just want to say that irrespective of how old you are, as long as you can do the 'normal' day-to-day activities without losing your breathe and feeling worn out, it's ok! I am not saying that I am able to do these things without huffing and puffing.
Point 3: "Millions of people jog in the open air in the morning, do thousands of other free exercises that do not require any weight lifting."
You just contradicted me by stating exactly why I have implied. If you take a closer look, I've only talked about the stepper machines and the treadmills and the free weights. I have not said anything about morning walks or yoga. Do it by all means! because those are not just exercise for the body but also for the soul.
Point 4: "Hence, you trying to reject a healthy lifestyle (which must include some working out, only giving up chicken will not do the magic for you) -by saying that that is your way of showing the middle finger to the manipulative media is unjustified and a bit confusing to me."
It is confusing because you started reading this blog with an assumption that I am plainly whining about physical fitness and trying to run away from it by typing with fingers instead of running with my legs. Remember: When you ASSUME, you make an ASS of ME and you make an ASS of YOU.
I see your two cents and I raise it to four.
First I am not trying to assume anything if that is what you might have gotten from what I wrote. Neither do I intend to get into a war of words. However your perspective in this blog is unclear to me only because of the following.
ReplyDeletePoint 1, 2 and 3 - It is good that you have tried the gym experience and ended up straining yourself. I think you missed the collective meaning of my Point 1 and caught on only to a single line. Every exercise and every machine you will use will work towards loosening muscles and working your heart and lungs and keeping that heart rate up - which is eventually the goal to all exercises. Whatever visible results come along with that is an added bonus.
Hence I mentioned that "You go to the gym to work-out your heart, to loosen your body, to stretch those muscles that otherwise start getting locked up and give you pains".
Since gym machines help you to concentrate on all local areas, that way you are able to work out all parts of your body that otherwise do not come in regular use.
When an Engineer has to design a bridge to carry 400 people, he will try to make it so that it can carry 600 or 800 and still put a sign "Max. limit = 400" In a way, they are designing it for safety, for tolerance, for endurance, for wear and tear...
The same principle applies to us! Don't get me wrong. I am not asking you to enable yourself to pick up 100 pounds so that someday you may rescue me when I faint on the road. However, if you have built that much strength or endurance, then it will always help you keep your strength up in all your daily activities - A long day's trip...a hectic and stressful work day or even work week, etc. will not affect your health or make you weak or tired because your body will have built that endurance. And that is a good thing!
Also, let me make myself clear. I am not saying that I can religiously stick to good intentions for workout otherwise I would wake up early in the morning and go do Yogasanas. I will definitely strain myself to get some result that I want for myself. In saying that, you are spot-on. But we are deviating from the fact about my reply to you. The gist of my entire reply was simple.
I do not doubt your resolve or your intentions of continuing or stopping to work out or live healthily. I did not intend to convey in any way that you are lazy and trying to avoid working out by replying with your fingers. Not for one second do I doubt that you will do what is required. So if I came off in that way, forgive me. I did not proof read, i just posted what seemed a bit unclear to me.
Also, you must know this that I of all people would not start reading your posts with prior assumptions or judgements in mind. This is an attempt from me to give you an unbiased outsider's view of your post.
ReplyDeleteMy intention is to point out the fact that to me the top and bottom of your article still seem unrelated. I was talking only about the article and not the individual.
All said and done...Only because the media shows you something and you realize that it is foolish to blindly follow them, it does not mean that you shut the door to that thing forever.
The best way about it is to evaluate it from your own perspective and making an informed decision whether you want it for yourself or not: whether it will benefit you as an individual regardless of what the media says and regardless of how people are taking it.
Hence my intention, once again, was to point out that one must do or not do things based on their own feeling of the same. A person's decisions to take an action or refrain from it must not be based on what is shown to them.
Do you not ocassionally admire a nice big bungalow while walking down the street? Do you stop wanting one because the media displays wealth and prosperity in a different light? Do you stop admiring or wanting a fast and powerful bike because the media shows Hrithik Roshan chasing a tornado on one?
We still do things because sometimes no matter what light the media portrays them in, we as individuals love doing or longing for them immaterial of whatever is shown and talked about. We feel good and thrilling while doing certain things so we do them. Hence the line, "Shaukh badi cheez hai"
So, I maintain that the media showing you images of perfection and you not blindly taking them to be the benchmark is correct by all means....pardon the grammar :p
But don't you see a little bit of discrepancy in your following paragraphs?:
"Why one should be lifting 80-100 pounds in a gym when all one really lifts during a day is perhaps a couple of kilos of vegetable from the market? Why should one be running 12 miles on a treadmill when there is hardly ever going to be a reason for that person to run that much in real life? Why one should toil on the stepper machines when most of the buildings taller than 4 floors would be having a lift?
I believe that as long as you can carry that bag of vegetable home, do your household chores, play with your kids, tie your own shoes, work efficiently in the office, walk to the nearest supermarket and don’t have any medical conditions that can get aggravated by that extra pound, be happy with it. You decide your own perfection."
How is the media's definition of perfection related to being able to carry out daily activities and staying healthy or going to the gym? Media's definition of perfection is merely from an aesthetic angle! So they are incomparable in my view.
Having said that, I would still love if you came and worked out with me :) In fact I will not stop forcing you to.
I see your four cents and fold my cards. :)
"Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly."
ReplyDelete"Homer, when a man's biggest dreams include seconds on dessert, occasional snuggling and sleeping till noon on weekends, no one man can destroy them."