It is that time of the year again…

When the sheer passion for the sport would wake me up as early as 5:30 in the morning (or sometimes 5 AM) for three months in a row and I wouldn't complain once.

When every morning I would curse my ma under my breath for making me drink a tall glass of porridge (used to taste yuck) at 5:45 before I left for the club. Eventually, I was grateful she made me drink it!

When PR was as important as knowing the right rowing skills if you want the boats when you needed them

When the daily morning run would stop and the circuits would begin! How we hated doing it.

When my coach would give me a “tch tch” if my endurance wasn't good enough compared to the other guys on the land-work

When our calf muscles would beg for us to stop working out and rest them for a while

When the post-lunch nap at work cannot be avoided

When we dreaded the ergo-meter race more than any other race

When our head-coach’s call to flip the toss would make us weak at the knees clearly reminding us of the impending win-or-die race

When all around us, we would hear one seemingly important mantra … “Die on the boat”

When what appeared to be the most troublesome crew of all, sat quietly bundled up in one corner of the club wondering how much ahead of the other crews we are, or how far behind

When all the bars of chocolates, energy drinks, and red bulls would be our only life-savers between races

When I would eagerly await the knock-out races rather than do the circuits at the end of each race :-/

When we’d feverishly wait under the bridge, my heart pounding against my chest, waiting endlessly for what seemed to be never-ending passage of time, before we got the final call for the race-starts.

When eventually the success of the entire crew would be too sweet for any of the less trivial coxie problems to matter

The year of 2003 was by far the most fantastic rowing season for me! Yet again, it is that time of the year, except this Fall I’m not rowing! But the prestigious M&B corporate regatta is on and is at the Madras Boat Club, Adyar, on the last Saturday of this month. If you are in Chennai, be sure to attend it after 3:30 PM! You don’t have to row, but at least you can be there to witness and confirm that all of the above statements are accurate.

I'm grateful for...

... the finest woman in my life.

For being

radical

fanatical

magical

practical

remarkable

for being a pillar

for enduring

contributing

for ... just BEING there when I needed her.

I cannot begin to imagine the sphere of activities I will have to start doing on my own... starting from shopping till managing my finances (which just-so-you-know, I totally suck at!). :-/

I'm dedicating this post to my sister!

Reflections

Disclaimer: This post was originally written two weeks ago but is getting published only now… sooo some of them might not make sense and most of them may not be presently applicable.


A couple of observations that are specific to the country everyone is oh-so-interested to move to (or visit at some point at least). Some of them I totally concur with and some others I don’t! But remember, no pun intended.

• The days being longer than the nights, life here runs with a rhythm of its own. It would be Monday today and before you know it’s the weekend. I have never felt the days/weeks pass at this pace before!


• Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, iced tea, flavoured water, and other unmentionable soft drinks all now become “sodas”.


• Lunch being a battle every single day, now I can clearly comprehend the exact meaning of that lil prayer I used to say every morning in school for 14 years straight… “Give us today our daily bread”. Phew! Vegetarians sure do have a tough time :-/


• Wake up calls, voice messages, and Din Dins. Dinners were soo much fun ‘cos this is the only meal of the day that I get to cook for myself; especially my favourite food, south Indian! :) Sometimes, all six of us used to get into the kitchen and make elaborate dinners, which would all turn out to be absolutely yummo!


• I met a few very interesting people here and have come to make a memorable friendship as well, so much so that my angst to get back home sooner, lessened in time. I also came to realize that when you’re that far away from home, you tend to count a LOT on your friends. Damn good reason to stay together I must admit!


• New York. Undoubtedly, ever-enticing! :)


• I had a chance to meet a very interesting Blogger friend as well. It was very pleasant to meet you Oracle. :)


• The locals almost always smile and say a hello to everyone they see. The customary “Hi, how are you?” the “I’m good, how are u?”, and finally the “I’m great, thanks” has a way of getting onto my nerves! No seriously, when you really don’t expect the person to tell you the truth about how he/she really is, or when you don’t care a tinker’s damn yourself, why ask? Honestly, I think that’s very artificial. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s only in my humble opinion. But just so you know, inadvertently, I’m practicing that too during my stint here. :|


• Flavoured yogurt! Especially the ones with peach… yummooo! Perhaps the single most awaited food every afternoon.


• Seaside heights, NJ. The sparkling blue-green water, the sun high and sharp, tiny boats tossing lightly farther away in the ocean, the golden speckless sand, women dressed to liberally serve the needs of the men. One amazing trip that will live in my memory longer than me.

More to come. :)

Addendum:
1. I got back on the last Sunday of August to attend my sister’s wedding.
2. The wedding went on very well and I’ve gotten back to the grind again! Thanks for all your prayers. Will try and post something on it soon, while I rub my feet to wear off the tiredness of the 3-day wedding business.
3. Dharma, thank you so much for tagging me. I feel honoured. I'm on it already, but I can't promise you on when it will finally get published. :)