Discipline

Living; there's no point in it if there's no discipline to guide you. This is my first serious posting of any nature.

I relive with dread, the memories, when the teachers in my boarding school led us through physical and mental exercise. I have spent the rest of my non-school life doing everything I can to rebel against the values instilled in me then. I smoke, drink, eat unhealthy, don't exercise, don't read to improve my technological skills. The worst part is I bloody know I'm wrong. I even know what I have to do to change myself. That's not enough though, is it?

I need to get my life back on track. I will not go into the intricate details that I plan to enforce upon myself. You live just once. I'll do a bit of everything but at the same time, care for the vehicle that my soul has been given. Also, while I'm at it, I'll make the journey worthwhile.

A Change for the Better

The subject would seem alien to bachelors. Of course, as always, there are exceptions but I speak for the majority. For the breed of males who show a promise of acting up to their parent's hopes in the earlier years but then gradually spiral into depravity. For those people who are well off in the financial sense (this translates into a tad more than just making ends meet) but have gotten their now-spent wealth through no real hard work of theirs.

After my engineering, I started off my career with Infosys. It may seem all nice and bright in the press but the labor class (read software engineers) know the dark facts. Then again, I digress. The lucky get no work and get paid for other people's efforts. Fortunately, I fell into the lucky class! Not that I minded it but then one gets ensconced in this sense of security. It makes you believe that going forth, life would be as easy. You could spend your entire life there without moving an inch and retire easy on your stock options. That's the reason why they say its so difficult to study once you start earning. You may have heard it before, but I've experienced it. Five years passed. Inherently a convincer of people, I changed companies to lay my hands on a better salary. To summarize the picture was something like this: A tubby guy who earned proportional to his weight and with no ambitions.

Then it happened. Marriage. Resigning from the job and moving to the US. Searching a job and finding one. Till now, I was never "responsible" in that I never sent any substantial amount of money to my parents, never cared to increase my knowledge, never cared to change my technology. I found a job in a different city than the one in which my wife was. I went to the new city, learnt cooking(!), acclimatized myself to the fact that in the US you have to clean your own shit. This was HUGE for me. I mean back in India, I never had to worry about learning how to cook or manage my finances or even walking a short distance for that matter. I am in the process of learning all this. Also I now know how important it is to be thankful to people. To use Sheetal's favorite dialogue, "We live and learn". Earlier, I just lived! :)

As of now, my wife is on the verge of finishing her PhD and she's already gotten a postdoctoral position in Harvard (yep, you heard it right!). As for me, I'm real real proud of what she's achieved. I know what she's been through to get it. She'll be moving to Boston in the last week of August. With my newfound outlook towards life, I have packed enough zeal in me to learn a new technology (Oracle DBA) and find a job in Boston for the same.

I'll let you guys know how things go. Cheers!

Weight Problems

A scourge of the Gen X, this problem's here to stay. I've been tubby ever since I could remember. The severity was not a lot during my early teenage but come my 17 and there it was.

Initially, I'd been away from my home for 10 years, studying in a boarding school at Puttaparthi. Back there, physical fitness was emphasized. We were made to get up early, freshen up, say our prayers and then ushered off an adjoining stadium. The fact that I was a tad heavier than the rest of the folks earned me an extra round of jogging. Come to think of it, it didn't hurt all that bad. But back then, I was a tithe of what I am now and carrying my weight around was a lot easier. We played some cricket/football/basketball depending on the availability of stuff and then carried on the rest of the day.

The above mobility did make me flexible though. I know a lot of fat people love to say that they're flexible although they're not! But I can touch my toes with my fingers without bending my knees. All ye flexible, beat that! I digress though. After my time at the school I came home to a loving mum who couldn't wait to dish out what she could conjure up in the kitchen. I slowly but steadily put on weight and became a healthy 75 by the time I started my graduation. Back in India, there was no real pressure as regards dating. The ones who got the girls were effeminate and we were studs! :) The point? I did not have enough drive in me to slim down. I tried in bits and pieces but the fat know that it's easier said than done!

I did my graduation, got me a nice girl (all due to my talking and empathizing as she claims) who later on went on to become my wife and I did all this without slimming down! I don't say it with a lot of pride though. Getting fit gives you a huge confidence boost; your heart's gratitude to you not counted. I can blame it all I want to on my sedentary job (I'm a member of that breed called software programmers), the weather et al. The fact remains that nothings going to happen unless I wish it, will it and stick by it.

I'll sign out as my 90 kilo frame craves for a snack now. It's this bloody job I tell you!