The Pursuit of Wellness

God has been a witness to the ferocity with which I’d fought the need to exercise. Four failed New Year resolutions, countless taunts and innumerable instances of sighs & heartburns later; here I was; walking down a path where many have walked before. 

People from all walks of life come here. The diversity of the population inside is evident from outside itself. Vehicles ranging from mopeds and Nanos to Bullets and Beemers grace the parking lot. The pursuit of wellness, it seems, is a great leveler. It is 7:30 am and the park is teeming with people. Mental note: Come early; lesser the number of people, lesser the number of eyewitnesses. My friend, who weighs about 69% of what I weigh, lays down the ground rules. Five minutes of intense walking, followed by 90 seconds of jogging, followed by 120 seconds of walking, followed by 90 seconds of jogging and so on. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, right? WRONG! 

Well, the walking part was easy; I do that every day. Now came the ‘jogging’ part. Myth buster: jogging is NOT fast walking. It is slow running.

10 seconds: Hey! This is not that bad. I’m running after 5 (Ok! Ok! 7!) years and I still remember how to do it.

45 seconds: Come on Man!! If he can do it, you can do it! Just hang on!! Just hang on!!

70 seconds: Was…. I…. supposed to… run for… 90 seconds… or….. 60 seconds?..... I’m pretty….. sure that… it was…… 60 seconds…. Wasn’t…. it?

85 seconds: ____________________________________

At 90 seconds I, a 25 yr old weighing in at 87 kg, blacked out. I huffed and I puffed and the world danced around me.  I saw sexagenarians walk by me. I could have cut the embarrassment in the air, with a knife. I think I lasted 30 minutes before I threw in the towel and threw myself out.

As I was nursing my sore calf muscles while sipping on some nice ginger tea, I saw a group of senior citizens sitting in a circle with a box of thepla and some cups of tea in the middle. Although I was not within an earshot, I could make out that they were having an animated conversation about some lewd topic. They were, basically, enjoying themselves.

Maybe, the pursuit of wellness is not just about running around in circles or huffing and puffing in exhaustion. It is also about waking up early, spending time with people who know you (and more importantly, people who you know), having something to talk about, sharing a good laugh, being impressed by how the younger generation has ‘developed’ and basically, just having a good time. Some day, I too will sit with a bunch of oldies and have a good time. But to ensure that I last till then, I need to run now.