The biggest selling magazine and most popular sites that you might inadvertently stop by while surfing through the net, is regarding the fitness of the body. Shape up your body for summer, tone those flabs, loose 10 lbs in 5 weeks are the most popular headlines that we come across. Are we getting obsessive about our looks and features? Is it because of this burgeon fitness industry? Well, even if that be the case, it sure does have one big advantage to it’s credit! It’s making us conscious about our health and appearance these days. Its making us go toward living a life which is enriching for our mind as well as for our body. And that according to me is a very positive change. Fruits and vegetables are in and the junk food is out. Preference toward more natural, environment friendly products are in, which also happen to be fuel and energy efficient, and products which are high in energy and fuel consumption are loosing ground. And the timing cannot be any better than this when Going Green is the new mantra of this age.
The western countries always paid a lot of importance to the physical attributes of people, sometimes to the point of becoming anorexic(the rate of obesity still pretty high nonetheless), but it feels good to read and hear that countries like India where until sometime back it was ok for people to be a little on the heavier side, married men and women especially never really cared how they look , in fact they do end up expanding their midriff after a while, have started becoming conscious, and in effect are paying a lot of attention to this new phenomena of taking care of their physical appearance! The reason for this change can also be attributed to the flourishing fashion industry that’s making a big headway. Gap, Dockers, Gloria Vanderbilt, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Izod and many more…..are all pompously flashing their brands in the big cities these days. During my earlier visits to India, I would never buy jeans from there, coz regardless of the brand, the fittings were typically suited for the mass population which to me didn’t appeal so much, as I always struggled to find the right fit. But its not the same anymore, the boot leg with slender waists have found their way in India, thanks to the fitness conscious nation that they are trying to become.
Pilates ,Yoga, racquet club, pool house, meditation classes, swimming lessons are springing up in every nook and corner. Every time I step up on the scale, I shriek, albeit in excitement, to see that I have lost another 5 lbs and my BMI is pretty much in the range of where it should be! As per the dietician, a person should not loose more than a pound per week, sounds easy right? Well not really, unless and until one is really consistent and disciplined with the exercise and diet routine, it would be very hard to shed off those pounds off of our body.
Other than the obvious benefit of feeling good after the exercise session, there is growing evidence, including a new study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine that shows maintaining aerobic fitness through middle age could delay biological aging by 12 years. And it doesn’t stop here. It has it’s benefit in much wider ramifications too. As the saying goes, “an inflexible body is the cause of an inflexible mind” . Many body-mind experts believe that developing a flexible body helps to develop a flexible mind (and vice-versa). They believe that when the body learns how to be flexible, that the mind also becomes more flexible and creative, open to news ways of solving problems and enhancing creativity. This helps maintain a youthful body and a youthful attitude. The best answer we could find to substantiate this, lies in our own social surrounding. The moment we start aging and our bodies start loosing the vitality of youth, it starts reflecting on our attitude as well. Have you noticed that more often than not, its always hard to argue with an older person as compared to someone in their 20s or 30s? How very well linked the inflexibility of their body is to their mind? Trying out something new and showing interest in learning new skills seems bothersome to them. They are happy in their set own set up justifying the cliché, “you can't teach an old dog new tricks”, referring to the inflexible thinking sometimes associated with stiff body.
Hence while our waistlines are shrinking to fit into sizes 4 or 6, and may be in the process making our wallets feel a little lighter too by helping the economy in spending on newly launched brands in the market, the good thing that’s happening at the hindsight: we are keeping a tight check on our level of cholesterol and trying to make sure that our midriffs are not expanding beyond proportion .....………..
What say?????
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Is feminism outdated????
Whenever the question of feminism occurred, I thought to myself, ah, that’s an outdated concept. Society has come a long way since women did not have any powers to live the life she wanted for herself, it has come a long way since the time they did not have any freedom of choice and it has come a long way since today they are just not a “woman” anymore, but a person of strength and character and integrity and at the same time, also someone who can falter and make mistakes and not always come out as epitome of perfection. Just because they are venturing into the path predominantly occupied by a man they do not have to be more-than- perfect to prove themselves.
Boy was I wrong……. witnessing how the media treated a woman candidate in her race for the highest office of the country. People had sympathy with Hillary Clinton for the first time when she lost the election and she deserved more sympathy on the day she quit the race and gave an emotional speech. Nobody ever liked her before because she did not flash the “woman contestant” card, rather somebody who had more experience, better plans and was resilient and strong and powerful. Throughout the campaign ,the 2 terminologies “an African American and a Woman” have been likened with each other as if being a woman is a class in itself; as if by virtue of being a woman they fell into a different category altogether.
I am truly appalled at the hypocrisy of the society. When Hillary Clinton said “today we made history by choosing an African American a nominee for the Democratic Party and a Woman being successful at hitting 18 million cracks in to the glass ceiling” the crowd went berserk and tearful. She had to play that “woman card” to get the mass moving I was thinking to myself. A woman is always required to maintain a balancing act between the tough and the feminine. Believe it or not, this primary season was undeniably disrespectful to a woman who instead deserved our utmost respect, just like any other candidate running for the highest office. Sexism played a big role into her failure!
The moment we start getting comfortable into the fact that society indeed has changed; a woman is not treated any differently from a man and has been offered the equal opportunities and equal status being crowned upon a man, we take a somersault back into the reality which seems way too different when confronted with a situation like this.
Seems like, it’s really hard to break the convention and the mind set. She had to fight during her school or college days on being mocked by the male students that a woman cannot become a president. 35 years later she is still fighting for the same, hoping that someday that won’t be a dream anymore……………..
Did feminism really become outdated?
Boy was I wrong……. witnessing how the media treated a woman candidate in her race for the highest office of the country. People had sympathy with Hillary Clinton for the first time when she lost the election and she deserved more sympathy on the day she quit the race and gave an emotional speech. Nobody ever liked her before because she did not flash the “woman contestant” card, rather somebody who had more experience, better plans and was resilient and strong and powerful. Throughout the campaign ,the 2 terminologies “an African American and a Woman” have been likened with each other as if being a woman is a class in itself; as if by virtue of being a woman they fell into a different category altogether.
I am truly appalled at the hypocrisy of the society. When Hillary Clinton said “today we made history by choosing an African American a nominee for the Democratic Party and a Woman being successful at hitting 18 million cracks in to the glass ceiling” the crowd went berserk and tearful. She had to play that “woman card” to get the mass moving I was thinking to myself. A woman is always required to maintain a balancing act between the tough and the feminine. Believe it or not, this primary season was undeniably disrespectful to a woman who instead deserved our utmost respect, just like any other candidate running for the highest office. Sexism played a big role into her failure!
The moment we start getting comfortable into the fact that society indeed has changed; a woman is not treated any differently from a man and has been offered the equal opportunities and equal status being crowned upon a man, we take a somersault back into the reality which seems way too different when confronted with a situation like this.
Seems like, it’s really hard to break the convention and the mind set. She had to fight during her school or college days on being mocked by the male students that a woman cannot become a president. 35 years later she is still fighting for the same, hoping that someday that won’t be a dream anymore……………..
Did feminism really become outdated?
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