Body language

So on my way to work, I was happily standing in the train when I realised I wasn't vertical anymore. Someone picked me up, someone else picked up my bag and uni notes, and someone deposited me on a seat.

Looked like this year's annual blackout had decided to give me an early surpise. If my life was a newspaper, I can see the headlines 'Annual blackout becomes biannual event'.

So I went to the company doc (the one who is known for giving a medical certificate to my colleague with the words "She is suffering from tired.") and as usual, he was lost. What is it with me and my ailments? Why are all docs lost when it comes to me? He examined my blood pressure and asked me to go to back to him 'if it happened again'. What the..??!! So I was supposed to wait around and actually hope for another blackout to 'happen again' so I could know what was wrong with me??

Back at work, I bumped into a colleague from another department. She looked sadder and quieter than when I'd last seen her. Thinner too, but the 'sadder and quieter' part was more evident. Not knowing what to say, I said, "Hey, have you lost weight or something?"

"16 kgs in 6 months." She said with a straight face.

"What?? How??"

"Diet."

"Diet? Purely diet?"

"Purely diet."

"No exercise?"

"No exercise."

I swear I almost had another blackout there, just listening to that.

I have always believed that no matter how plain-looking you think you are, if you get yourself a killer body, you can look fabulous. I also believe that there are many ways to get hold of that. And depriving yourself of food will get you not a killer body, but a dead body instead.

I believe that our body is continuously trying to talk to us, telling us things, giving us signals. When we're going through an emotional trauma, our body is usually the first to show signs of revolt. But how many of us really sit down to listen to it? I usually don't. I try and sort out what's bugging my heart and mind first, conveniently neglecting the body in the process. Even though I go to the gym regularly, I forget to have my meals, I forget to drink water, I get like four hours of sleep a night... and the story goes on.

But it's all wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And my body's started to yell at me now. Cos I wasn't listening earlier. Like Javed Jaffrey famously says in Salaam|Namaste, "The ghosts of the kicks not listening to the talks!"

Can you hear your body talking to you? In fact, it's not talking anymore, it's singing, in the hope that music is more attention-grabbing than mere spoken words. It's singing Shaan's song from the movie 'Moksha'.

Seep mein moti hai lekin, koi chunta hi nahin
Baat ek kehni hai humko, koi sunta hi nahin...

"There's a pearl in the shell, but no one bothers to pick it up. I have something to say, but no one bothers to listen to me."

Let's think about it. Put all the office problems, family problems, partner/spouse problems aside first. And now count. Count the number of glasses of water you drink in a day. Is it 8-10? Count the number of servings of fruits (and vegetables too, darn) you have in a day. Count the number of hours you sleep each night. Is it 7-8? (if it is any more than that, get outta my face, you lucky bloke!)

'Good health' is usually at the top in my list of 'most important things in life'. Without good health, we really have nothing. We can't enjoy anything at all. Food, friends, love, family... nothing.

I have to start taking better care of my health, I have to start treating my body better. I have to resume taking my folic acid tablets (the excuse that "taking tablets every day makes me a sick person" is just not good enough). I have to choose the red pill -- start eating the damn apples (that I have to because I can't take iron tablets to address my anaemia). Perhaps bananas too. (Or perhaps not. Yuck I hate bananas!)

In the last few days, my weight dropped by 2 kgs. My height dropped by 2 inches. (Ok fine, my height did not drop, I just stopped wearing my heels for a while, for fear of more blackout induced falls.)

And when you're ill, you also affect others around you. You look sad and frail and miserable. You send out negative vibes. When I'm sad, the vibes I send out can knock down a whole building. I'm not kidding you!

A wise old man once told me, "All the nonsense that you young people are eating these days... it will all come back to you in old age." And I really started thinking of the nonsense that we senselessly eat, and not in moderation. The sugar, the oil, the MSG. I hate the fact that there is no msg-free food around my company (recently, a colleague broke the horrifying news that it's not just chinese food that is msg-laden, some of the malay and indian food have it too!)

Scary.

Sometimes, I feel that because I am away from home, and working in such a fast-paced deadline-oriented industry, I can't afford to fall sick. This week at work is a very crucial one, and even though many times I wanted to take medical leave and go see MY doctor (versus someone who asks me to 'come back if it happens again') and get that damn blood test done, I could not desert my project, my editor, and the crazy crisis we're currently struggling with. My work has the top place in my list of 'thing to take really seriously in life'. And so I have been dragging myself to work.

Even if my body wants to give away, I think my spirit keeps me going. And I've come to realise that perhaps that's not a thing to be proud of all the time. Running my body purely on enthusiasm and passion for my work, instead of physical energy is not a good thing to do all the time.

I know I have no desire to live till 80, or 60 for that matter. I wanna die early (50 would be nice, thank you), but I wanna die healthy and happy.

So all you guys here, wanna take a health pledge with me? Since we know that the mental health of people at Sayeshaz is quite a hopeless case, let's take better care of our physical health at least. Lose that paunch, flatten that tummy, get rid of that flab, get into the right BMI range, build those abs and biceps, quit smoking, tone those legs and arms, control that coke, bring down the eat-outs. Let's get going!

Listen to your body. The poor thing has been singing that sad little song for a long time now.

May the gym be with you.