Global Hindustanization

It was night around 10 pm in the city of Dusseldorf in Germany in early November 2008. I asked the car pooling guy to stop the car as i thought i had reached the metro station which my friend had asked me to get down at. As i got down from the car and pulled along my rug sack bag, the cold breeze from the river Rhine chilled my spine. My cheeks turned pink and my hair was flying. "Vielen Dank für die fahrt!", i thanked the person for the ride from the city of Hamburg to Dusseldorf, as i closed the door behind me. As i walked towards the place i realized that i had got down at the wrong stop, misreading the sign board. I immediately went into a panic mode. I tried to reach my friend on the phone. But her number was not reachable. I had no clue where i had got down and how to get to my destination (the metro station). I put on my rug sack and started walking down. I asked some people passing by for the nearest metro station and went into it. I looked at the metro map at the station, trying to figure out what to do now. I suddenly heard a voice behind me, "Moechten Sie Hilfe?" ("Do you need some help?"). There was a cheerful, blond lady standing behind me. "Ja, mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut. Sprechen Sie villeicht English?", (" my german is not so good. Do you perhaps speak english?").

"Yes, i speak English. Where do you want to go?", she asked me. "I am visiting a friend who lives here. I am supposed to meet her at the Königsallee S bahn station. I got down at the wrong place and i dont know how to get there. I am unable to reach her on phone!", I said all flustered. "Calm down. Don't worry. You have to take the metro line from this side of the platform. I will take you. I also go there", she said smiling. "Thanks a lot for the help!", I smiled back.

As we were walking to the platform she asked me, " Which country you belong, you are Arabic?". "No no, not arabic, I am an Indian", i said. " What! you are from India??! You know SHAH RUKH KHAN??", she literally yelped out a scream. " Yes of course, i know Shah Rukh Khan!", i said. " Oh my God!! I love Shah rukh Khan.I love Bollywood movies. Even my daughter. We are craazy about the songs and dance. Very nice!", she said literally jumping out in excitement. "Wow, thats nice to hear!", i said surprised. " Do you know he is married to his wife Gauri for sooo many years. He has two children, one sohn and one tochter. He is so romantik. Ich liebe ihn. I love him!", she continued. " I love this song Mahive Mahive, u know from his film, Kal honaho....What is meaning of Mahive?". " Err, Mahive. I dont really know what is the meaning of it. But i know the song from Kal ho Na ho. Very nice song indeed", i said. I was slightly embarrassed that i had never thought about the meaning of the word Mahive, which is commonly used in several Indian movie songs. " India is so colourful. Movies full of songs and dance. It is sooo nice. I am happy to meet someone from the country of Shah rukh Khan!", she said cheerfully.She sat and spoke to me for 20 minutes until my train arrived. I told her thanks for her help and boarded the train. "Thank God for Shah Rukh Khan i wasn't stuck helplessly all by myself!"

This was one of my first experiences living abroad where i encountered the phenomenon of 'Hindustanization' of the world! Who knew that our movies were so popular around the world and that Shah rukh Khan was a rage among European women, especially the Germans. Did you know that there was a International conference on Shah rukh Khan and global bollywood which was held in Vienna in 2010? I had watched a documentary on the same on German television.

I was also surprised to know that Yoga was mighty popular in all the countries. Every gym and every University had yoga classes regularly taking place in Germany. I did not know that there was something called Bollywood dance, which was so popular among the Germans. Not to mention that bhangra songs which have become an integral part of the German night clubs. I still remember the first time we had our university freshers party in a night club in Hamburg. I and some of the other Indian students roared in excitement when they played 'mundiya tu bachke rahi' and started dancing like mad. We created an infectious atmosphere and the rest of the crowd decided to join our dancing, asking us to teach them 'bollywood dance moves'. The Indian students association also organized a 'Bollywood party' to raise charity money in Hamburg in 2009.

Do i need to mention about the popularity of Indian cuisine? It is incredibly popular all over the globe. What about the samosa's and chicken tikka masala's, Mango lassi's and mango chutney's. Once a European colleague of mine asked me for a special favour...to bring him back an exclusive box of Shri Krishna Mysurpa while i returned from my annual trip to my hometown, Chennai! I found that Masala dosas's were a rage among the German folks during my visit to the pretty city of Heidelberg in a small Cafe called MASALA!..Exclusive vegetarian and vegan restaurants have become extremely popular in Germany these days and most of them serve a wide variety of Indian dishes. Needless to say the enormous choice Indian cuisine offers to vegetarians. 
                                         
                                  

What about the Indian people? The Indian community have for instance, become an integral part of American television. Right from the series 'The Big bang theory' to 'House'. From 'Homeland' to 'Harry Potter. Indian faces have become prominent. I met some Italian students in the students home where i was living in. They once told me, " Indians, They espeak good Inglis. So good Muah!, Italians cannotu espeak so good." I was quite surprised they noticed that. Once a Russian girl was telling me that she was very anxious about a certain situation. I gave her some advise. She then told me, " Thanks. Indians, they are so wise. So much wisdom you guys have". Wow, that was an unexpected observation!

The Indian culture and the Indian people are so popular all over the world. Be it Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood, yoga, ayurvedic massage or mango lassi. Afterall, we are the great Land which Christopher Columbus wanted to reach when he accidentally discovered the America's! Let us be mighty proud of our nation. We have every reason to glorify our culture! 

Be an active part of the phenomenon of Hindustanization and embrace it with open hands.....Jai Hind! (http://bit.ly/MITYTIndiblogger)

The story of shedding those extra pounds

After a super sweaty Zumba workout, I got back home and had my chilled whey protein shake. I then made some hot green tea (with ginger, lemon and mint)  and started sipping on it.  I think that a sweaty work-out followed by a fresh beverage is one of the most powerful secrets for feeling happy.  And out of nowhere  I had my moment of inspiration to write a new blog ( Yeah these sudden moments are very strange. I never understood how they come and how they go!). 

Hence, i am going to blog about something  which would strike a cord with many a soul. I am pretty sure that many have experienced those agonizing thoughts about all those extra pounds they carry under their skin. Staring at the mirror and thinking how lovely it would be to shed those layers of fat on their waist,  their thighs, their ass...Those dreadful love handles, those heavy arms, thunder thighs and whale-like belly. When they met skinny people, they have this wishful thought, " I wish I could do some fat transplant to them!!" . The agony especially increases  when they go shopping for cloths, "Oh my God, awesome dress-I only wish my tummy was not so visible", "Oh these sleeveless top- Agrhh, it shows my fat arms", "Oh these gorgeous printed pants, I wish my size was available", " Oh my God, these leggings don’t get into my thighs"…... The concern escalates when some function or event is coming up.  They get themselves new dresses and want to look good in them. They make a quick-fix resolution mainly during the week preceding the event (like GM diet!). And once the event is over, they bounce back to their old ways.  The work stress, tension, lack of free time and more often than not, long travel times to work are to blame. They have an immense craving to lead a healthier life. It crosses their mind every time they see a super fit person or when they see people eating loads of fresh fruits and veggies instead of the heavy meal they are gulping down. They get all excited when they see someone who has lost weight and ask them for their secret formula.  They hope that they would give them some amazingly easy miracle tip, which would help them too reach their goals.  I... have definitely been there and done all of that……. 

Finally one day  I decided to take a break and resolved to make serious changes to my lifestyle. This lingering craving  (to lead a healthier life) which was going on within me for quite a while, finally started taking shape.  It is most certainly not easy to keep it. There have been many times when I resolved to change my lifestyle, but I used to give up after a while. I thought that this time I needed to do something different. I needed to be more organised and have immense will power to lose those extra pounds off my body. 

The torchlight in my hands

To start off with, I decided to take some professional guidance. I went to a naturopathy centre (Ayushmaan*) and stayed  for 3 days. There we practiced yoga and aquatic yoga and ate the food prepared by them. I got my colon cleansed to have a fresh start. We also had several sittings in the infra-red sauna to get rid of the toxins in our body along with the sweat. Most importantly, the doctor there gave us some vital information and educated us about living a healthier lifestyle. I came to know that since most of the vital organs are in the abdomen region, the extra fat in the abdomen causes most dangers (hormonal imbalances) as it compresses the organs and restricts their functioning. I got some excellent guidance.  During my consultation time,  I told the doctor, " I had the slipped-disc condition few years back. I had to stop my dance classes and  aerobics classes for several months in order for the pain to subside.  And since I didn’t control my diet, I added several kilos!  but I do exercise regularly nowadays. I really don’t understand why, but it never helps me lose any weight. I am frustrated!".  He asked me one question, " Do you eat your food very fast?". I said, "Yes, that’s true. But why do you ask that?". He said, " Well, that is the main reason why you are not losing weight easily. You need to chew your food and break down most of the carbohydrates with the saliva in your mouth. This makes sure that your intestine has lesser stress on it. It will make a lot of difference".  It was as though someone had handed me a torchlight on the dark path of my newly made resolution! After three days I came out of there, rejuvenated and enlightened. (P.S. I know that many people visit these centres just for rejuvenation. But once they come out, they fall back into their old ways. For this guidance to help one meet their goals, one has to have immense determination within their minds to succeed !)

The next couple of months

Once I came out of the naturopathy centre, I followed many of the things I learnt over there.

• I started my day with just fruits. (I tried to skip morning coffee, but that was impossible...hence I kept the habit!). Apples, pomegranates, pineapples, kiwis,  watermelon, cherries, pears….i bought more fruits and picked any 2-3 of them for breakfast. Did not eat anything else at least for the next 2 hours.

• I had some nit bits every 2 hours. My lunch was not heavy. Instead I ate/drank at least 6 to 8 times a day.

• I started eating my food slowly. Chewed every portion of it until I could feel it breaking down in my mouth.  My meals took longer to finish and invariably as I noticed, the portions also became smaller gradually.

• I switched to whole foods, brown rice instead of white, whole flour instead of refined flour, red rice idlis instead of white rice ones etc. 

• I went for brisk walks regularly (5-6 times a week). Started off with 2 km and gradually increased it to 6 km per day.
• I reduced the number of times I ate junk food and reduced the quantity too.
• Instead of gulping down a whole pizza, i restricted myself to 2-3 slices, once a month, just to satisfy my occasional craving.

I continued like this for the next two months. When  I went for a regular check-up with my doctor, she asked me to get on the weighing scale. What I saw took me completely took me by surprise. I had lost 10 kilos in 2 months! And I had no clue it was happening. My doctor congratulated me on my weight loss and asked me to keep up the good work. It was a great boost to my motivation.  I thought I had found the secret formula to getting a sexy figure! All the excess baggage would melt away in a jiffy.

But just when I thought that I was in a rapid weight losing spree, I realised that two months down the lane, my weight had not budged even a bit! Such a disappointment.

Is it not possible for me to shed the rest of those extra pounds? Why is my secret formula not working anymore??..............Continued to...The-story-of-shedding-those-extra-Part-II

* http://www.livefulllife.org/