I accidentally bumped into one of my school friends, that too in US after a long 15 year break. But the funniest part was we could recognize each other so easily. The conversation went like
Hey ‘R1’ !!!!!
arreee ‘R2’…. you in US ?
Both of us has names starting with R, so I will keep R1 for her and R2 for me.
R1: Hey you look the same after so many years. Did you stop eating after you left school?
I was lost in some thoughts as usual about things I have to catch up with after a three days holiday break. So I was caught off guard with a blank mind with no answers. But I some how came back.
Me: Ya, now I know who was eating all that I had saved. You look really …..(Thinking, what word to use…..after a long pause here) changed.
But man she had put on at least 20 kg in 15 years. I remember her as the slimmest and tallest girl in the group. Now if I look at her, she is hefty, looks more like an aunty but has the same old cute face. The long pause I gave in between the word was too much and she was little concerned.
We started the ritual of exchanging our Orkut/yahoo/ mail ids/ cell numbers, started asking what is X,Y,Z doing. Who all got married, who all got kids (Man time to forward this list to my Mom and dad. Most of the people from my batch is having 2 year old kids and I am fooling around here in US :)). As we both had a one hour time to catch up before our gates open for our flight, we chatted along. Then it came back to the pause between the word ‘you really …..changed’
Even if you know a person very well ,it is very difficult to say that they have put on a lot of weight. The ratio of this difficulty grows if the person is a gal; it grows even further if the gal was a cute looking slim gal.
R1: Hey R2, tell me, Am I really fat? Do you think I should start working out?
she started blaming all the things in the world which caused her current body frame.the list contained
1. This is all because of my current work schedule
2. The eating habits I have these days. I luv chocolate and puddings and also fired items.
3. No one is there to stop me from eating any of these.
It went on and on .....
I was partially lost in my line of thoughts. How do you really answer such a question? If I say its high time you do something about it, it will go down as a bad remark. But If I leave it too easy, she will end up in the next SUMO national federation camp. I tried my best to give a good shot. But I think I failed miserably
Me: Look R1, people put on weight due to various reasons, life style, food habits, by genes etc. All we can do is stick to a healthy diet and make sure we do some exercise.
R1: I do exercise; I walk from my parking lot to office, also parking lot to my house pushing my cart with lot of groceries. You know it is 5 minutes walk from my parking lot to office and most of the time I gasp for air by the time I reach my cubicle.
VOICE_IN_MY_MIND: Buddy, that’s because you have a body weight of 170 lbs (after coming to US,everything in LBS …..You know US culture ;)). That weight is making you gasp for air, not the five minutes walk.
Me: OK R1, can you see your toes without bending your back? This is one of the things guys usually do, I don’t now about gals.
She thought for a moment
R1: I haven’t checked, may be I can see it over the mirror. Why?
You know, when these 'Cute-looking-gals' ask this 'Innocent' but 'dumb' question, but you cannot help control your laughter. But I had to keep the grim face and answer in a serious tone.
VIMM: Went laughing and rolling on the ground. The best possible answer I can get for my question. 'To see your toes, look at a mirror'. Second thought, how people can maintain their level of dumbness even after graduating from one of the best engineering college and working for one of the best IT organization in US ?
Me: I mean R1, it depends on the mass you have and not about looking at your toes. So I would suggest, you take a look at some your old photos and look at the mirror and decide for yourself. Looks doesn’t matter much, but we can keep the way we are looking with a fit body, a firm head and nice smile.
R1: My friends said that I have gained weight, but no one told me that I look fat these days…..
I could see her face, close to a weep. I was afraid that the old guy sitting next to us will call 911 any moment looking at us, An Indian making another Indian gal cry in an airport. I was thinking WHY DID I PAUSE SO MUCH BEFORE THE WORD CHANGE?
Any way our gates opened and we didn’t had a chance to finish that conversation. We parted catching on with our daily life nuances.
I think it is very difficult to say some one has to work on their looks without hurting them.
I usually get a lot of comments on my frame being so lean. People ask me to start eating something at least, but I hardly care because I can’t do much about it.
My answer is a best example of a 'usual' answer people often get. This is one way people react. There are some, who takes up eating less or gymming which fades away with in two days to two weeks. Some say that they are born in a good family and that’s why they look plump. Some gave pet name Assets, showing their 32 inch belly (Especially guys).
Everyone has their own right to be what they want to be and how they want to look like. But provided we have the time, patience and mind, we should work out a little to keep us fit rather than for looks. My generation (aged from 23 to 28) might end up with a list of ailments much sooner than age 50 looking at the life style we follow, the things we eat and due to lack of exercise. So folks watch what you eat and start jogging today...... We never know...
we might end up like king khan with 6 pack or the actor with a great body and looks but some one needs to help him to keep his half opened mouth shut -JA ;)
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