Spring and My First Run

Spring is here!!!! In New Jersey weather is a little strange. We seemed to have fast forwarded to summer while still being assaulted with one off cold, wet days. Nevertheless, the flowers are blooming, a topless man with lots of body art is doing his daily crunches in the park outside my house, children are out playing till late in the day as the sun sets much later... all signs of winter being over.

There is another sure sign of spring... my first run outside. I am not much of a runner in the sense I have never been very successful in long distance running. But we all need to adopt some form physical activity so that we continue to fit into our jeans and for some strange contrary, reason I have gravitated towards running. 

No matter how much I try to keep in some semblance of shape in winter, it always proves quite futile. I did try this year. I tried a couple of winter hikes, tried skiing, and joined the gym. I still fit in my jeans but my first run was as always an eye opener. Winter months are just not meant for exercise. Winter is season when the fat polar bear has a better chance of survival than the lean panthers. It is a season to eat, cuddle and keep warm. I cannot believe I complained and whined about winter when winter in return gave me hot food, cozy nights by the fireplace and an excuse to do nothing. Such ingratitude does not go unpunished so along came spring. 

I am not sure why I picked running. I am not a very health conscious person and like my food way too much. Running is hard for most people and in my case I think I just do it because I am slightly masochistic.  My first run is always an exercise in pain, humiliation and frustration.

I set off this Wednesday with the moderate goal of two miles. Despite time spent on the elliptical in the gym every muscle and bone protested. I had picked that stretch because it was a street lined with pretty houses with gardens full of spring flowers. The plan was a pleasant run with flowers blooming, birds chirping, children playing. If any of you remember the opening credits of "My Little Pony”, a cartoon show that I watched as a child, where flying unicorns paint rainbows in the sky. That was how I had pictured spring and my run. Well not exactly but you get the drift. 

In the tortuous 25 minutes ( yes that is unfortunately how long it took me to run two miles) I did not notice a single flower, I was not interested in the children playing. I just wanted them to keep out of my way so I could jog in straight lines and make the ordeal end as quickly as possible. It took a lot of self control not to scowl at a couple of young mothers with strollers that I ran around.  I was however aware of every crack in the pavement, all the elevation changes however negligible, all the curves in the road. 

Since I am masochist I went again the next day and it was only slightly better in the sense I knew what I was in for and my mouth did not keep falling open in surprise at my physical condition. The third day was also just as physically taxing but I did notice one house with the most beautiful trees full of flowers. That is a definite foot forward. I hope to be able to realize some realistic version of my "My Little Pony" fantasy but I am still hoping that winter will come back and I can go back to being a polar bear. 

Recipe

Yellow thai curry. This is surprisingly easy dish to make. I have not been able to find lemongrass so I just throw in some grated lemon rind. I am sure this leads to a loss in flavour but without the exotic ingredient I am able to have curry for a last minute dinner - a justifiable sacrifice if you ask me. 

 

Things

After a few months of lovely domestic life I have surrounded myself with things that

- I don't really need.

- I don't ever want to do without again

- I would never have bought before said life of domesticity.

1. Shower Radio - I now own a waterproof shower radio so I can blare Dhoom FM even as I struggle to open my eyes completely and get ready to face the day. I had bought this as a part of a birthday gift for music lover husband but in reality I have enjoyed it as much as him if not more. I have been known to bathe multiple times (up to 4 times) a day just so that I can relax and face something afresh.

2. Euro pillows - Since I wanted our bed to look all pretty, color coordinated and inviting I invested in two Euro pillows. This I think was a part of the first baby steps towards the creation of my "adult" avatar. My bed looks lovely of course but these pillows give me so much more. The pillows are also perfect for cuddling, leaning, throwing.... just lovely.

3. Hair straightener - After meeting with fashionable old friends I decided to spend some money on clothes/ makeup apart from comfy t shirts, dresses that are 80% off at Kohl's and pajamas. So I bought myself a chi hair straightener. I have used it only once and I feel similar to how I felt when I turned up for my school farewell in my mother's silk Saree. It is not quite me but I like the end result :).

4. Carpet runner - 7 months ago I would have scoffed at the idea of buying 50 dollar scraps of carpet to put on top of a perfectly functional carpet. I was unjust in my opinion of carpet runners. They make a totally plain room look pretty, a lot of them are really soft and just nice to put your feet on and most importantly they are a great way to hide all those carpet stains that are a result of eating your meals in all areas of the house except the dining table.

5. An entryway bench - This is positively the single most scarcely used piece of furniture in the entire house. My husband and I continue to lace our shoes while staring at the TV and store our coats on top of the dining table for easy access (not eating our meals at the table has its advantages). But the real purpose of an entryway bench is to hide clutter. I had the foresight of buying one with big baskets underneath and that in turn results in a clutter free home in less than 15 minutes.

6. A gel fireplace - Our condo came without a fireplace so we bought an indoor one that can burn gel fuel. This fireplace had given so much. The fireplace, as can be expected, is great for a romantic evening. The other less obvious advantage is that lighting a fireplace gives you good reason to dim the lights. So on an exhausting Friday evening you can ignore the clutter around you not by cleaning but by turning off the lights.

Where Are You Really From?

Growing up most of us have heard/ watched the famous "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara".  It is a beautiful number about national integration.  In a country with many different cultures and languages national integration is an important message. This song though inspiring and very well executed is a little too politically correct. The idea of national integration seems a tad incomplete without the idea of national identity. 

Living in a foreign country a national identity should be easy to stir. All things Indian are now dear and have fond memories attached to them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. What is a little strange is that despite all the distance we have traveled our identities still seem tied to rather small part of our country. 

 Which brings me to the title of my blog? A lot of conversations start with "Where are you from?”.  Since I bear a long Tamil surname with many A's “Delhi" as an answer does not seem to suffice. So I have taken to "I am a South Indian brought up in Delhi". For dinner conversation you would think this would be sufficient but that is seldom the case. "So what is your native place? Where were your parents from?" Again "My Dad was brought up in Delhi too and so was my Ma". Most polite folks stop here but some really persistent ones counter with. "Yes that's nice but you must have a native place?” 

To make things worse I am now married to a tamilian who was brought up in Bombay. So the questions continue. So where is your husband "really" from? What is your husband's "native place”?

Which leaves me to wonder why we obsess about where our forefathers are from. Is it our need to mentally put people into slots that we have in our heads? Just a need to keep our mind free from clutter? A mental equivalent of a filing cabinet? Maybe we meet so many people this trick is required to assimilate it all. 

In order to classify the people we meet (if we must do that) the questions about their hobbies, work, interests have now been replaced with tracing their genealogical tree all the way back to Adam. 

Do these questions give people an insight into my life that I have overlooked? I believed that my husband’s and my personality attributes were a result of our genes/upbringing/exposure. Perhaps it is not that complicated. Does "My native place" hold the key? 

To the person with this question it seems to hold all the answers. Despite my reluctance stemming mostly from the fact that I have no idea whatsoever where my native place is, the bearer of said question is usually quite persistent. As if I am withholding the one nugget of information that is the answer to all questions. The rest of the conversation might as well be -

Do you play tennis? Oh wait a second don't answer that. I know. Your native place is "XYZ". 

Do you like knitting? Oh I am sorry, why am I asking you this. Your native place is "XYZ".

Did you opt for biology in school? Pardon me, I am repeating myself. I know all the answers. Your native place is "XYZ".

Food for thought.....

While on food for thought. This Gujrati kadi was first introduced to me by my aunt - My Favourite Aunt :).