He had one of the cricket channels running on the small monitor inside his consultation room.
There was a re run of one of the old one day matches may be as part of the program " India victorious" or something. It had Viru bhai one of my favorites thrashing Pakistan all over the place at Karachi in front of their home crowd.
Incidentally I remember Viru hit a century in this match and got us the win. If you also see the statistics whenever Viru has done well India has gone to win the match.
It was my turn . The doctor did the usual checks - Blood pressure, weight, height etc..
He suddenly said " Three short of century". I thought he was talking about Viru's innings which was on the TV. I said no doc he scored a century in this match. The doctor replied "I am not talking of Viru, I am talking about you- Your weight is Three kgs short of a century and you better do some thing about it". He also went on to say that I am on the wrong side of fifty and though I have no issues ( Sugar cholestrol etc.. ) as of now they could come any time into my life if I indeed reach the century like Viru.
Pushpa my better half was also around when all this conversation was taking place. She immediately wanted to me to get into serious action. I was trying to tell her that nothing much has changed in my life style - I still slog like the earlier days almost doing sixty hours per week at office. This in spite of people giving feedback on my 360degree appraisal that I need to manage my work life balance.(Honestly I never understood the cliche - Work Life balance - How can you balance across two different areas. However this is one big topic which seems to be part of the employers attractiveness as per many of the surveys on why people join and stay with an organization!!).
Now coming back to my "TSOC" (Three Short Of Century) stage Pushpa wanted some immediate action. I was trying to tell her it is in my genes and can't do too much about it now. I reminded her that her mother-in-law was healthy which must have passed on to me. She did not relent but got me enrolled in a yoga class with a personal trainer.
Murthy was my neighbor's yoga trainer who used to come home and teach. Very interesting character. He is 63 and is up every day at 4.30 and his first class starts at 5.30. He says he has 5-6 classes everyday of an hour each and he does all the exercises along with the students. So some stamina for his age. He always prides himself as an innovator and tries modifications of existing Asanas like Trikonasana ( All others teach only one variant- We are the people who teach you four variations. Even Shilpa Shetty's video does not go beyond two variations!! Says Murthy proudly).
Thanks to him and some discipline from within I am now able at least do some of the asanas and pranayama regularly. Now I can do Kapalbhati for 350 counts and the target is to reach 500 counts.
According to Baba Ramdev Kapal Bhati is a great way to keep your weight in check besides fighting the battle of the bulge. Now that I have been a regular for the last 2 months wanted to check with my wife and kids whether they see any visible change in my mid section. My daughter claims she can see change of few microns off my belly - Guess she must be having fantastic eyesight.
Anyway the Pranayama has helped to feel energetic through out the day while I fight my battle of the Bulge and making sure I don't reach the coveted century mark.
Hopefully time will tell whether this happens and hope my motivation also holds up in my battle ...
