Flashback 19 years ago. December 6th, 1992. I was in Calcutta, St. Thomas Boys’ School. We were playing basketball when our matrons hurriedly called everybody back to the hostel. Babri Masjid had just been demolished. We were told to hide inside.
Ok wait, that’s too much of a flashback.
Urmm… flashback 10 years ago. December 6th, 2001. Second Year Engineering College, PSG Tech, Coimbatore.
My diary, December 6th, 2001.
6:00AM: Waking up, to the sound of my neighbor softly playing a raga/bhajan from his room. I was up till 3AM this morning, completing an Electrical Lab assignment on Ohm’s Law. Being a computer science engineer student, I still don’t understand why we have all these other branches of engineering as a part of our course. Three hours of sleep is definitely not enough, but I have to go for our morning basketball practice…
6:30AM: Reach basketball court on time, just like any other morning. My teammates from various hostel blocks, including the day scholars, are slowly arriving at the court too. We groggily greet each other with a slight nod (and a yawn). Soon the team captain arrives, and he signals the start of our warming up session.
7:00AM: I’m panting and breathing heavily. We have just run 50 rounds around the two basketball courts, done a “shuttle-race” ten times and various other running exercises. By now I am truly warmed up. Now we will start other exercises involving a basketball, like layups from all sides and full court fast breaks.
7:30AM: Totally warmed up, I can now easily jump and hang from the basketball ring. A couple of teammates from 3rd and 4th year can do that too, but I am the only one from second year who is able to do that, which kinda makes me feel special. Now that we’ve done all our cardio exercises, it’s time for gameplay practice.
7:30AM to 8:15AM: We practice various gameplays, most of them involving our 7 feet tall centre Emmanuel from Rwanda. He, along with two other Rwandan exchange students Clement and Innocent form the basis of our starting five. I’m also in the main five. I play the shooting guard position, but if Clement, who is our point guard, gets substituted during a match, then I take over the PG realm. Hence, all our gameplays have to be practiced with Clement as the PG and then me as the PG, so that there is no confusion if either of us are playing or not playing.
8:15 to 8:45AM: We divide into two teams and start a match. As usual, Clement is in the opposite team. And again, when it comes to man-to-man, we take on each other. He is stronger, faster and a better ball controller than me, but I can jump higher than him. That is the only reason why I am selected in the University team too because having a ball controller who can jump almost as high as the forwards and pivots is not only rare but definitely gives an edge to a team when it comes to rebounds.
8:45AM: We are warming down now. That means 50-100 sit-ups, and stretching exercises.
10:00AM: Reach class, with a late pass from our sports director so that I don’t get marked absent. I try not to sleep during class, especially the boring ones.
12:30PM: Lunch break. Going out with my girlfriend to this new Punjabi restaurant near our campus.
1:30PM: Back to boring class schedules.
4:00PM: Done for the day. My friends Paolo, Johnny and Thomas are going for a new English movie that has just released. I can’t go with them because I have handball practice.
4:30PM: Reach the handball court. We practice for an hour. The captain is really impressed with my improved diving throws but at the same time cautiously tells me to be careful as it’s really easy to get injured if I play that way. But me, I’m riding high on the adrenalin and loving it.
5:30PM: Handball practice is over so I quickly run to the football ground. The football captain is a final year student from the North East, so as usual he allows me to play with the college team. I play the defense position (right back) and give our strikers a good challenge.
6:30PM: The football practice match is over and their coach calls everybody for feedback on their performance, which is a cue for me and a few non-team members to leave. I run to the basketball court. As usual, I get the evil eye from my basketball captain for being late but he doesn’t shout at me because he knows I’m the sports director’s favorite as I am a crucial member of our unbeatable handball team. Anyway, I didn’t miss much as all they did so far was cardio.
7:00PM: We start our evening practice match under the floodlights. It’s me versus Clement again. The match is more grueling than the morning practice session, and my girlfriend along with her classmates sometimes watch me play from the adjacent girl’s hostel, so I put in more effort (and style, lolz). Double team, double fake in the air, alley-oop, downtown jumper, fade-away shots, coast to coast and all that jazz.
8:00PM: Match over, we warm down as usual. Another 100 sit-ups, and then I run to the volleyball court where the college team is still practicing under the floodlights. They usually let me play too, unless they have a tournament coming up.
9:00PM: I have just taken a relaxing cold shower. I am now going out with Paolo, Johnny and Thomas for dinner, and we’ll probably be talking about Gopika, Priyanka and Indira. Hehehe…
11:00PM: We reach hostel just before the deadline. Now I will do a couple of assignments, read a few chapters, and then tomorrow, this same cycle of extreme fitness endurance repeats again.
-------------------------------------------------
My diary, December 6th, 2011.
I am sitting in office, every muscle, tissue and joint of my body aching. I still find it difficult to walk, sit, get up and lie down. I even took a leave from work yesterday (Monday) because of the immense pain. In fact, I was bedridden for the past two days (Sunday and Monday).
Why? Because on Saturday, I went for our MMA (Mumbai Mizo Association) Sports Day event, and participated in Volleyball and Football. I played just two games in Volleyball, and was the goalkeeper for Football. We won both the games of course, but my body took a big hit for merely playing that much.
Ten years, just ten years, and see the vast difference! Daymmmm!
Ten years from now, I dread to think where I’ll be (if I’m still alive by the Grace of God).
-------------------------------------------------
Will update next post with photos and videos of our MMA Sports Day… Cheers… and ouch*
Ok wait, that’s too much of a flashback.
Urmm… flashback 10 years ago. December 6th, 2001. Second Year Engineering College, PSG Tech, Coimbatore.
My diary, December 6th, 2001.
6:00AM: Waking up, to the sound of my neighbor softly playing a raga/bhajan from his room. I was up till 3AM this morning, completing an Electrical Lab assignment on Ohm’s Law. Being a computer science engineer student, I still don’t understand why we have all these other branches of engineering as a part of our course. Three hours of sleep is definitely not enough, but I have to go for our morning basketball practice…
6:30AM: Reach basketball court on time, just like any other morning. My teammates from various hostel blocks, including the day scholars, are slowly arriving at the court too. We groggily greet each other with a slight nod (and a yawn). Soon the team captain arrives, and he signals the start of our warming up session.
7:00AM: I’m panting and breathing heavily. We have just run 50 rounds around the two basketball courts, done a “shuttle-race” ten times and various other running exercises. By now I am truly warmed up. Now we will start other exercises involving a basketball, like layups from all sides and full court fast breaks.
7:30AM: Totally warmed up, I can now easily jump and hang from the basketball ring. A couple of teammates from 3rd and 4th year can do that too, but I am the only one from second year who is able to do that, which kinda makes me feel special. Now that we’ve done all our cardio exercises, it’s time for gameplay practice.
7:30AM to 8:15AM: We practice various gameplays, most of them involving our 7 feet tall centre Emmanuel from Rwanda. He, along with two other Rwandan exchange students Clement and Innocent form the basis of our starting five. I’m also in the main five. I play the shooting guard position, but if Clement, who is our point guard, gets substituted during a match, then I take over the PG realm. Hence, all our gameplays have to be practiced with Clement as the PG and then me as the PG, so that there is no confusion if either of us are playing or not playing.
8:15 to 8:45AM: We divide into two teams and start a match. As usual, Clement is in the opposite team. And again, when it comes to man-to-man, we take on each other. He is stronger, faster and a better ball controller than me, but I can jump higher than him. That is the only reason why I am selected in the University team too because having a ball controller who can jump almost as high as the forwards and pivots is not only rare but definitely gives an edge to a team when it comes to rebounds.
8:45AM: We are warming down now. That means 50-100 sit-ups, and stretching exercises.
10:00AM: Reach class, with a late pass from our sports director so that I don’t get marked absent. I try not to sleep during class, especially the boring ones.
12:30PM: Lunch break. Going out with my girlfriend to this new Punjabi restaurant near our campus.
1:30PM: Back to boring class schedules.
4:00PM: Done for the day. My friends Paolo, Johnny and Thomas are going for a new English movie that has just released. I can’t go with them because I have handball practice.
4:30PM: Reach the handball court. We practice for an hour. The captain is really impressed with my improved diving throws but at the same time cautiously tells me to be careful as it’s really easy to get injured if I play that way. But me, I’m riding high on the adrenalin and loving it.
5:30PM: Handball practice is over so I quickly run to the football ground. The football captain is a final year student from the North East, so as usual he allows me to play with the college team. I play the defense position (right back) and give our strikers a good challenge.
6:30PM: The football practice match is over and their coach calls everybody for feedback on their performance, which is a cue for me and a few non-team members to leave. I run to the basketball court. As usual, I get the evil eye from my basketball captain for being late but he doesn’t shout at me because he knows I’m the sports director’s favorite as I am a crucial member of our unbeatable handball team. Anyway, I didn’t miss much as all they did so far was cardio.
7:00PM: We start our evening practice match under the floodlights. It’s me versus Clement again. The match is more grueling than the morning practice session, and my girlfriend along with her classmates sometimes watch me play from the adjacent girl’s hostel, so I put in more effort (and style, lolz). Double team, double fake in the air, alley-oop, downtown jumper, fade-away shots, coast to coast and all that jazz.
8:00PM: Match over, we warm down as usual. Another 100 sit-ups, and then I run to the volleyball court where the college team is still practicing under the floodlights. They usually let me play too, unless they have a tournament coming up.
9:00PM: I have just taken a relaxing cold shower. I am now going out with Paolo, Johnny and Thomas for dinner, and we’ll probably be talking about Gopika, Priyanka and Indira. Hehehe…
11:00PM: We reach hostel just before the deadline. Now I will do a couple of assignments, read a few chapters, and then tomorrow, this same cycle of extreme fitness endurance repeats again.
-------------------------------------------------
My diary, December 6th, 2011.
I am sitting in office, every muscle, tissue and joint of my body aching. I still find it difficult to walk, sit, get up and lie down. I even took a leave from work yesterday (Monday) because of the immense pain. In fact, I was bedridden for the past two days (Sunday and Monday).
Why? Because on Saturday, I went for our MMA (Mumbai Mizo Association) Sports Day event, and participated in Volleyball and Football. I played just two games in Volleyball, and was the goalkeeper for Football. We won both the games of course, but my body took a big hit for merely playing that much.
Ten years, just ten years, and see the vast difference! Daymmmm!
Ten years from now, I dread to think where I’ll be (if I’m still alive by the Grace of God).
-------------------------------------------------
Will update next post with photos and videos of our MMA Sports Day… Cheers… and ouch*
The body can easily bounce back.
ReplyDeleteThere are only two things, 'train' and 'untrain' (like Denzel Washington says in one of his movies) except that the speed at which we could retrain and the levels to which we can might only vary slightly with age up till forty (and then maybe a lot more later on).
Alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle do their share of damage more than anything IMHO. But if you really want to, I am sure you can get back to that form big time! :)
And OMG I can't imagine your fitness levels at college level, we used to be useless wimps even then!
In college, we had X-country races for 8Kms, and I usually came in the top 40%, but whats important was that I was able to finish.
ReplyDeleteNow, 1KM on a treadmill, (Yes.. I've started gym on weekdays to enjoy a guilt-free weekend!) and I can barely breathe, but I've improved a bit which makes it worth the while.
Do this: Google "Leroy Bell" (60-yr old X Factor contestant) and be inspired!
@ claytonia: Lolz brother, it is not that easy for the body to bounce back :D I've been trying for the past three years now, but to no avail :( Nobody here in office will ever believe I once use to have six pack... now I have just one pack.
ReplyDelete@ blackestump: I am planning to start walking to office again... around 10KM, once the climate gets a bit cooler. Hope I can do that... I must do that... arrgh... I will do that.
Mumbai and deskwork does this to all of us, young, old, middle, everyone. I'm sure you can get back some of your stamina, since you had it in the first place.
ReplyDeletemesjay is right too, mumbai can do that. Living in mumbai can be the opposite of high-altitude training if you know what I mean :)
ReplyDelete@ mesjay: I really hope so, pi mesjay...
ReplyDelete@ claytonia: yup, the urban lifestyle here too play a vital role... everything moves so fast, if you take time off to walk or exercise or play, you get left behind, both literally and metaphorically speaking! :(