Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
A Week in the life of....Day 2, Wednesday
Today was a quiet day. I spent the morning at home doing Hindi homework and preparing lessons for Chaya and then headed out to one of the air-conditioined malls, seeking respite from the weather.
I know I keep going on about the weather, but it is just such a huge feature of life here. So yesterday, that cruel assailant Heat was finally vanquished by the arrival of the mighty Monsoon; however it seems he has now sent his trusty side-kick Humidity in to finish his business! It is incredible - just yesterday our washing was bone-dry in thirty minutes, now it is damp after being on the line all day! Needless to say it makes life pretty uncomfortable.
So the mall is ultra modern, bright and flashy and even has a Debenhams - another of India's many faces. There is a security presence - you are given a cursory bag and body search before entering. I sit in a coffee shop and check my emails using wi-fi. I could be anywhere in the western world.
Head back and then out to the gym round the corner, which is pretty crowded at this time! After ten minutes I am dripping - but lots of people around me seem cool as cucumbers; adapted to the conditions here, I suppose? Sometimes I even have to fight battles to keep the fans on! Yep, it's a different world to Fitness First back in Brum.... A man is running next to me, sweat trickling down from the edges of his turban. The sound of bangles jangling is audible over the electronic whir of the treadmill;the young woman on my other side is wearing the traditional red and gold bracelets - from wrist almost to elbow - that signify she is newly married. Over in the corner a group of Sikh youths pump iron. An older woman in full salwar kameez is doing sit ups on the mats and some younger girls in regular jogging trousers are cycling away whilst reading Indian Bride and Cosmo magazines.
I look down at my own attire, assembled from the dregs of my rucksack; a pair of green sweat pants which I have hacked off just below the knee and an orange hand-me-down t-shirt. I figure I must look a bit like an upside-down pumpkin. My face is redder than a chilli and I am gushing sweat by the litre. Nope, neither me or my fellow gym-buddies are gong to win prizes for work-out chic. I think back to my old local Fitness First, hardly a fashion mecca either, but I smile to think of what the people there would make of this motley crew.
I last thirty minutes and then head home for a much-needed shower, dinner and an early night!
- comments