Self praise is no praise, self recommendation is no recommendation and self admiration is absolutely more than I, myself, can stomach! What, then, does the title of my post today mean? I have a big milestone birthday today, so whom am I talking about, if not myself?
I am simply referring to the goals that I had set for myself a couple of years before I reached this milestone. In 2013, the Westgate terror attack in Nairobi had just taken place. From a couple of kilos above the upper weight limit for my height, I shot up to a few more extra kilos, as a result of cocooning ourselves in our own house and ordering too much food to be delivered at home, with threats and warnings of more attacks preventing us from moving out too much. Around this time I read a quote in a book where the protagonist said " I don't want to be fair, fat, forty and flatulent!"
This struck a chord with me! It is a fact where Indian women are concerned, that the fatter you become, the more your skin stretches and the fairer you look and the wrong diet of course plays havoc with your digestion! Forty would come around anyway, as the months passed...I could see myself fitting this description to a T soon, if I did not act fast. There is little doubt that fat is a major health hazard today.
And so, as discussed in my post Of Weight Loss and Weighty Woes, I took stringent action against myself. I lost the excess weight in three months and doubled the amount of time I spent walking each day and have managed to keep most of it off since. I know the fight, oh yes, it is a FIGHT, is going to get harder as, God willing, I move through the next few years and the Hormonal factor kicks in but so be it...
Today my husband and I spent the afternoon walking for an astounding 18.65 kilometres at a stretch in Nairobi's beautiful Karura Forest and not a muscle ached nor were we out of breath in the least, even though we talked non stop for the three and a half hours that we walked! We were totally in tune with Mother Nature. Monkeys romped in the trees overhead, the soothing sound of the cascading waterfall could be heard at regular intervals, the sun played hide and seek with us through the trees and we felt truly at peace.
By fabulous I do not mean in external appearance but that's how I would like my brains to be described. Vacuous, vacant, making inane conversation, superfluous, fatuous is not how I want to be, more so as I have many students from my Academy back home hanging on to every word I say, questioning me, challenging me, which is exactly how I want it to be. With this goal in view I have completed two diploma courses in the last couple of years and am in the middle of another Post Graduate Diploma course even now. Ideally I should have finished it this year but with my daughter's college admission being on the top of my to do list, this particular goal is currently simmering on the back burner. Never fear, I will surely get there next year...Better late than never. And once the children are 'educated' I can hope to start my Ph.D, a goal that's been on the shelf for the last decade and a half! It must be gathering mold there by now... I will dust it off and get back on track with it.I am humbled that I share my birthday with Savitri Bai Phule, a pioneer of Women's education in my State and I continue to be inspired by her, even as I continue expanding the scope and ambit of my educational Academy, on ground as well as virtually!
This decade of my life that started today promises to be the most exciting one yet, if God wants it to be. I hope to see my daughter get a couple of degrees and start working. Can we hope a big fat Indian wedding will be on the cards too, closer to the end of the decade?!! My son, too, will finish college and get his first degree in the next ten years. When we were out walking in the forest, he solved forty five maths sums at home and gifted them to me when we got back, so I have hope!! My husband is already looking forward to retirement at the end of this decade once the children are 'settled', in a cosy farm house we plan to construct soon. We hope and pray we continue to remain healthy, as this is the age when diseases often strike. As my parents age, I hope to be around for them too.
And so we take each day at a time and soldier on. The wonderful wishes that I have got today via the social media and the surprise visit that our KenIndian friends paid me yesterday, as they knew I had had a very long and difficult week, as we faced tragedy in our school community, has gone a long way in uplifting me and making me feel fit and fabulous. Thank you every one from the bottom of my heart. And no, I am not being fatuous!
The surprise cake our friends got me.
Karura Forest, where we walked today.
An astounding, amazing 18.65 kilometre walk with my husband.
I am simply referring to the goals that I had set for myself a couple of years before I reached this milestone. In 2013, the Westgate terror attack in Nairobi had just taken place. From a couple of kilos above the upper weight limit for my height, I shot up to a few more extra kilos, as a result of cocooning ourselves in our own house and ordering too much food to be delivered at home, with threats and warnings of more attacks preventing us from moving out too much. Around this time I read a quote in a book where the protagonist said " I don't want to be fair, fat, forty and flatulent!"
This struck a chord with me! It is a fact where Indian women are concerned, that the fatter you become, the more your skin stretches and the fairer you look and the wrong diet of course plays havoc with your digestion! Forty would come around anyway, as the months passed...I could see myself fitting this description to a T soon, if I did not act fast. There is little doubt that fat is a major health hazard today.
And so, as discussed in my post Of Weight Loss and Weighty Woes, I took stringent action against myself. I lost the excess weight in three months and doubled the amount of time I spent walking each day and have managed to keep most of it off since. I know the fight, oh yes, it is a FIGHT, is going to get harder as, God willing, I move through the next few years and the Hormonal factor kicks in but so be it...
Today my husband and I spent the afternoon walking for an astounding 18.65 kilometres at a stretch in Nairobi's beautiful Karura Forest and not a muscle ached nor were we out of breath in the least, even though we talked non stop for the three and a half hours that we walked! We were totally in tune with Mother Nature. Monkeys romped in the trees overhead, the soothing sound of the cascading waterfall could be heard at regular intervals, the sun played hide and seek with us through the trees and we felt truly at peace.
By fabulous I do not mean in external appearance but that's how I would like my brains to be described. Vacuous, vacant, making inane conversation, superfluous, fatuous is not how I want to be, more so as I have many students from my Academy back home hanging on to every word I say, questioning me, challenging me, which is exactly how I want it to be. With this goal in view I have completed two diploma courses in the last couple of years and am in the middle of another Post Graduate Diploma course even now. Ideally I should have finished it this year but with my daughter's college admission being on the top of my to do list, this particular goal is currently simmering on the back burner. Never fear, I will surely get there next year...Better late than never. And once the children are 'educated' I can hope to start my Ph.D, a goal that's been on the shelf for the last decade and a half! It must be gathering mold there by now... I will dust it off and get back on track with it.I am humbled that I share my birthday with Savitri Bai Phule, a pioneer of Women's education in my State and I continue to be inspired by her, even as I continue expanding the scope and ambit of my educational Academy, on ground as well as virtually!
This decade of my life that started today promises to be the most exciting one yet, if God wants it to be. I hope to see my daughter get a couple of degrees and start working. Can we hope a big fat Indian wedding will be on the cards too, closer to the end of the decade?!! My son, too, will finish college and get his first degree in the next ten years. When we were out walking in the forest, he solved forty five maths sums at home and gifted them to me when we got back, so I have hope!! My husband is already looking forward to retirement at the end of this decade once the children are 'settled', in a cosy farm house we plan to construct soon. We hope and pray we continue to remain healthy, as this is the age when diseases often strike. As my parents age, I hope to be around for them too.
And so we take each day at a time and soldier on. The wonderful wishes that I have got today via the social media and the surprise visit that our KenIndian friends paid me yesterday, as they knew I had had a very long and difficult week, as we faced tragedy in our school community, has gone a long way in uplifting me and making me feel fit and fabulous. Thank you every one from the bottom of my heart. And no, I am not being fatuous!
An astounding, amazing 18.65 kilometre walk with my husband.
Anupama wishing you all the best for the future. You are a very caring person, one of the few that I have met so far. Wishing you all happiness and may all your dreams come true. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteThak you so much Medhavini Mami for your wishes and your kind words.I will cherish them.
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