Monday, June 25, 2007

Sizing me up

I was very aware that I hadn't gone to the gym all week. I feel really bad when I can't go to the gym. Worse if I have not been playing badminton. Worst when I don't feel motivated to exercise. Sometimes even a self-motivated person like me needs a push, some validation, some encouragement. And sometimes, that comes when you're least expecting it.

Late night meetings with the Boston office lately had left me with no time to do anything but crash as soon I got home. Fatigue can crush motivation in a second. So on saturday afternoon, I decided to hit the gym with a vengeance.

As soon as I entered the gym, I stopped in my tracks (no pun intended).
There she was, sitting on the treadmill (yes, sitting, actually sitting on the treadmill like it was some wooden bench at the park!), a woman of at least seventy.

"Hi..." I said, not quite sure what else to say.

"Hi..." She grinned at me.


I'd barely got on the (other) treadmill when she said, "I like your size."


Holy cow.

"My what..?!"

"Your size... it's very nice." She repeated.


I wasn't sure of what she exactly she meant, so I did not know whether to thank her or glare at her.

"She means your figure..." boomed a voice from behind. I turned around to face
a younger woman doing weights.

"That's my daughter..." said the old lady.

"Oh... okay." I said.

"My son also lives in this building... in the block opposite... but he travels a lot... he's the CEO of his company... CEO, yes?" She turned to confirm with the daughter who nodded.

"Hmmm..." I said.

I figured very old people are like babies that have just learnt to talk. They are adorable, they have a lot to say, they will talk to anyone and everyone, and most often you don't know what to say in response to the things they say to you.

I'd barely stretched my hand to adjust the settings on the treadmill when the old lady spoke again.

"You know... I can't run on these things..."


"Hmmm... me neither... bad knee. So I do some really fast walking. I guess you walk too..?" I asked, not quite sure where this conversation was going.


"Naah... I can't even walk. I need this to walk." She pointed to the large blue Giordano umbrella lying on the floor next to her feet. I brushed away the visions floating in my mind -- of the old lady furiously walking on the treadmill holding her blue Giordano umbrella.

"Hmmm..." I said again. Oh, bless the guy who came up with the versatile and universal H-word.

I started walking.

"Your size so nice, why you exercise?" Suddenly she asked again in typical broken Singaporean english. I couldn't really hear her so I paused the treadmill.

"I'm sorry... What?"

"I said - your size so nice, why you exercise?"

Before I could even think of how to respond, the daughter had answered her question.

"Her size so nice
because she exercise."

And suddenly, just like that, I was re-motivated.



29 comments:

Neihal said...

hahahahahaha !!

I hate when I miss my walks regularly. The guilt has the knack of building up real fast :P

so now you take care of the size, eh :P

Neihal said...

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

GOLLLLLLLDDDD !!!


OOOOOOH sometimes even excess use of CAPS lock is justified :P

hai na!!

Arul said...

Silver,

I can never bring myself to go to the gym... :(:(..

May be I shud start again..(for the twentieth time)...

creepa said...

BRONZE mine!

Harini Sridharan said...

Good one! I would have gone "Tell me more" to the old lady :p

Bivas said...

lolz... =))

V said...

Certainly better than me...taking a year long gym membership and going for all of 3 months [:D]

Sakshi said...

Hmph.
You make me guilty of my size :(

*Going to drown my sorrows in a tub of margarita - bartender. .. fill her up*

The Soul of Alec Smart said...

Well, I am motivated too.. Only that it'll last till the next helping of gulab jamun forces me to believe "yeh motivation sab moh maya hai" :D
And I agree old people are like children.. specially in this age and time when they are forced to learn a whole new way of life and add words like CEO, internet, e-mails etc. to their vocabulary.. but yeah, it makes them adorable :)

Unknown said...

Haha Nice!! Way to go Sash. Gosh, I'd be so embarrassed if I was told my size is nice..lol. She seems sweet though. Unki daughter na kya sahi jawaab diya. Actually, you are a motivation to all of us Sash. I think I can count on my fingers kitne baar main gym gayi hongi. The few times I ventured I was told I needed to get out of there and go eat first! :-))

Iday said...

ROFL @ "size so nice" :P

BTW - the daughter's reply is really sweet :)

Tell u what, i've been on a diet + gym routine too (actually - more diet than gym) and i was so re-motivated this weekend when my aunt said "good work. you dont seem to have a pot belly anymore :D :D :D

6 months of hardship - all for this moment :D

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

Kya baat hai bhai! Ab to budhe log bhi size puuchh rahe hain! :P :P

Thisisme said...

ahh...gud to knw there r souls other than me exercising..i spend daily 1.5 hrs in workout..n blv me..ek din bhi na karo..toh guilt fultoo bhar jaata hai..my size is not so nice..but on way to becoming nice..n ur a motivation again for that :D sash bhai..aapka koi jawaab nahi :D

Enigma said...

ha ha!!

"i like ur size"!!! ha ha! my evil mind processed a lot reading this one line!

but sure though, every time someone comments on how good u look and how neat ur figure is, its such a boost to maintain it! though now all these compliments slowly becoming past tenses! "how neat ur figure was!!!" "reduce a bit!!!" sigh!!!

:)
Cheeku

Anu said...

Hey Sayesha,

I must compliment you. need I say what is it about:) your blog was recommended to me by my friend. Since then I have read quite a bit. Its amazing the way you put down in words what goes on in minds!

Love you lady!
Anupama

Unknown said...

LOL.. size?? hehehe.
I agree, old people are really kids and at times equally difficult to handle n explain ;) But they're really adorable :)

Sashbhai, vaise I agree with the lady. your size really nice, you don't need to at least worry so much about the exercising :)

And now that you managed time for exercisin, kindly get active too. Been ages since heard your pottery :|

Unknown said...

*Gulps* Exercise?? er... for me dat means waking up early in the morning.. *faints*

Ramkumar said...

@sayesha i was wondering if an old man can get away asking the same question.

@iday don't lie man. you may be better than what you were but no where near where u shud b.

Lalit Singh said...

kya bhai
dole sholey chamka ke rakhne ka... apun ke line mein yehi sab kaam aata hain

Anusha said...

Ha! You have a knack of running into interesting people at the gym - all I ever meet are tall, stick-thin, model-types who barely say a word when you meet them. Sigh.

"Her size so nice because she exercise" is so fantastic, it's got to be made into some sort of tag-line for gym-promotions. I can totally see it in ad-form! :D

Sandip Chaudhuri said...

u have a bad knee and you can't run but u play baddy?

creepa said...

hehheh..nice one! :)

Sayesha said...

#Neihal,
Hehehe... I will, thanks! :)

#Arul,
JUST DO IT! :D

#Creepa,
Congrats! :P

#Harini,
Hahaha! :P

#Bivas,
:D

#V,
Sheesh! No daaru for you today, here's chullu bhar pani instead! :/

#Sakshi,
Abbe! Aur kitni patli hoyegi, nazar nahin aayegi! :P

//Going to drown my sorrows in a tub of margarita

Hahahaha! I read that as tub of margarine! Hahahaha! YUCK! :S

#The Soul of Alec Smart,
//"yeh motivation sab moh maya hai"

Hahahahahahahahahaha! Statement of the day! :D

#Harshi,
Tera size toh first class hai babe! Bas maintain karne ka! :)

#Iday,
Hainnn? You had a pot belly??? WHEN??? :O

#Sudipta,
Hehehehe! Size matters eh? :P

#Thisisme,
You work out 1.5 hours every day?? Jai ho! :O

#Cheeku,
Hahahahaha! Turn your past into your present yaar! :D

#ChilliMili,
Hey welcome to Sayeshaz! And thanks for the compliments! :)

#Rebellion,
Madam ji, aapka size bhi koi bura nahin hai, achhe achhe phisal gaye aapki kamar ki lachak par! :D

#Tejal,
*Splashes baatli bhar water on Tejal's face*
Lazybum! UTH! :O

#Ram,
//@sayesha i was wondering if an old man can get away asking the same question.

Oh boy. No way man! We'd promptly label him "dirty old man", isn't it? :O

#Lalit,
Bilkul sahi! :D

#Clueless,
Hahahahahaha! The crazy horse chicks still stalking you to the gym eh? :D

#Sandew,
Yup! Running is a more impact exercise (on the knees) than badminton, isn't it? My knee never hurts even if I play badminton for two hours straight. But it starts acting up even if I run 1 km! :/

#Creepa,
Thanks :)

Iday said...

@ram
that is true. i'm not where i shud be. but let's say my aunt was appreciating the progress i'd made :)

@shaz
yeah i had :) well - have :|

it is not a thing of the past, not yet :)

fact is - it is not that noticeably big. just the usual software engineer wala pot belly :) But considering what i was in undergrad (i did look like a undernourished kid) it gets very noticeable for friends like ram :)

Unknown said...

*wakes up grogily* Waat? Whoo? wats happenin? is ther an earthquake?

Sakshi said...

I read that as tub of margarine!
Aisa hi hota hai.. exercise karne ka side effect hai yeh. Sab jagah khana nazar aata hai :D

Bivas said...

@Tejal: you missed out the "Main Kahaan Hoon?!!!" waala part ;-)

Unknown said...

@Bivas- twas intentional ya.. u never kno it Bhai.. wat if the answer wud b- Your in army camp..cmon March soldier :S
*wink*

Unknown said...

LOLLL. Sash, that kind of a reply was least expected from you :P

I never ever bother about a workout. I just hog hog n hogg more :P I'm an eternally hungry person, you know it :P:P