Recently I watched Netflix thriller Spy. It is based on top Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen who went to Syria on a mission and led to his tragic death. It is a true story and certainly a captivating series. However, this is not a review!
Movies and series become special for me due to a scene, a line or the moments that they recreate. For instance, the way Jack Nicholson says “You make me a better person” made the movie As good as it gets made it Oscar worthy .. well almost! And sometimes, it’s not even the spoken words but what remains unsaid that leaves a lasting impact.
In Spy the protagonist Eli is happily married to Nadia, and they are crazily in love. In first episode he comes home upset and to calm him down Nadia pulls out some bread and butter from the fridge and they eat together. This quiet ritual repeats in the following episodes. It’s a small, intimate act, but it speaks volumes about their connection.
As the series progresses and Eli leaves for his mission in Damascus, the bread-and-butter moments take on even more meaning. Separated by miles and caught in the storm of their respective struggles—frustration, loneliness, fear—they still find solace in this shared ritual. Sometimes, they even eat the same simple meal at the same time, despite the physical distance between them.
How lovely, how unspoken, and yet how deeply felt. It’s these understated, almost invisible gestures that make The Spy more than just a thriller; they make it human.
It has been some time since I have posted anything especially after my grand announcement of posting regularly. I was caught up with life. But I am happy there has been always someone or other reading my blog on most days and my blog is still alive. So finally today is the day I decided to post something 🙂
Life has been pretty happening last 6 months. My daughter is in high school now – we call it college in India, two of my cousins are now battling cancer , my boss passed away suddenly , I had a fabulous vacation in UK after 4 years and my work is going really good . it has been a mixed bag of 6 months. I feel time is flying is really at a high speed and I am not able to keep pace with it. I am sure everyone feels the same.
If I have to pick up one thing that is really bothering me is the health issues so many of near ones are facing. It is like reliving the terrible moments again. I had one too but thankfully not as bad as others.
last month I had a bathroom fall and it was such a vulnerable moment. I came out of the shower and had an important meeting that day and I was practicing it in mind and before I realised I was on floor. Wet , naked and totally in shock! So many thoughts went thru my mind , I hope I have not broken any bone and can get up on my own! If I cant get up how will I get help ? and the worst I am naked! They will see me helpless and naked! The whole scenario disgusted me.
I have been in this position before and reliving it was a really bad feeling. Thankfully I was able to get up , get dressed and come out . It was a bad sprain and it has eaten up my good two months. My lower body strength was bad and now it is worse. But it is really nothing compared to a kidney failure or a cancer. I still live life well but more like an old person but I am ok with that.
I have started a physiotherapy and I am working hard on my lower body strength and brain and body coordination. Aim is not to conquer Mount Everest or little local hill but just climb stairs without any issues and walk straight :). and yes avoid future slip ups!
Every year during October – November months, we plan a trip to Shirdi and then Saptashrungi. We have been doing this for a few years now barring two years of Pandemic.
For my trip a month before the pandemic broke, there was a huge pooja planned and I had bought a fancy new saree. I packed my new saree, jewellery , makeup and the works! I wanted to really dress up for the Mahapooja at Saptashrungi. Married women come decked up there. But while leaving for the trip , my husband forgot to put my bag in the car. He still denies it and says I was supposed to take care of it! But no! He forgot!
That was a bit of a shock as we realised it after reaching there. We drove for 7 hours and the temple is on a hill and has no shops. Fortunately we were travelling in a big group and the ladies loaned me the saree and jewellery. I was really put off with my husband as I had really done lots of prep and I couldn’t use any of it.
Last week we went on this trip again. This time I had made no prep. I didnt even pack that well as my brother had just passed away two weeks back and I was really not in my best spirits. It was just meant to be a simple temple visit. My sister and her husband were with us. First we went to Shirdi temple. Now this place has undergone a change in the last two years and many shops and eateries have popped up. One of the shops had beautiful sarees on display. I rarely shop for sarees but this time I just wanted to check it out and ended up buying two sarees one blue and the other black . I was really surprised with myself and passed it off as post trauma retail therapy.
After that we headed for the Saptashrungi temple and while we were checking in our rooms. The priest there told us we can do the evening pooja and aarti but we have to be in a saree. I was taken aback. This time we were not travelling in a big group, but I had a brand new saree that I could wear. I wore the blue saree and gave the black to my sister . We bought bindi and some fake jewellery there as we were not carrying anything. I had to drape the saree on my top and trousers which was very uncomfortable and I was very close to a wardrobe malfunction. The goddess literally saved me from that though.
It is uncanny that I had a Saree story for two consecutive visits . The last trip I had to wear a loaned saree and this trip I loaned one to my sister. I am curious what the next trip has in store for me.
I am back to blogging after almost a year. I joined work after a long break and wanted to write about my experience but I never got to do it. But today I finally got the motivation.
By 3:30 PM on Friday I was feeling exhausted. It had nothing to do with work but due to sheer fatigue because of things happening in my personal life. I am back at witnessing what my life was 3 years ago, thankfully this time I am not the patient but it is still hard. To see all these things happening and the times are hard .
At work I attended a session on Mindfulness and it kind of got me motivated. While going through the session I realised , I am already doing many things but wasn’t calling it a mindfulness practice. One of the activities described was journaling , which I do on a daily basis but it is too honest and explosive to be published 🙂
At this moment I do not have a specific topic on which I would like to write but I just want to be back on popular demand! Yes!!! A lot of my readers are asking me to write again and here I am. They have kept my blog alive. I have been getting constant hits so I am happy.
Since my blogging started with my kidney disease I want to give an update on my kidney. I am in my fourth year of transplant and feeling great. Life is great! I have few limitations like losing balance – I have had few falls in 3 years and right now my shoulder and right toe are injured. I continue to gain weight but at the same time my parameters are also healthy.
My old boss got me back in the workforce and I am loving being back, interacting with people , feeling occupied. It is great.
My darling daughter will be finishing school this year and I am very emotional about it. She continues to be the light of my life and a hug from her is all I want everyday. My husband is creating new challenges for me to keep the marriage sparkling 😁!
My siblings -they continue to enchant me. The brother who gave me a kidney is battling for life and needs a liver. My sister has offered to donate hers. Once that happens we will be connected by an organ each! I am praying for it.
I feel life is a puzzle and we are always stuck at that piece which is crucial to solve it but cant get it right. The last piece!
We all have heard about magic 10000 steps a day to keep the body and heart healthy. But how many of us have actually tried to do it every day? I personally have aimed for 10000 steps daily for as may days I can but not for an entire month at a stretch.
So when my coach Arpita Boyd of Mind & Body Personal Training, announced the 10000 steps challenge in our group, I participated with all the determination. I am not a stickler to any program. I am one of those many who do everything 80% and then blow up in the most crucial 20% last leg. To make it easier to understand, I do strict diet on weekdays and when the scale is about to move to left I blow it up all on weekend.
In my nutrition program “Transform” by Arpita Boyd , we have to do 10000 steps every day and it didn’t feel like a big deal doing this challenge. I knew this was going to be tough for me as I get tired easily and apart from the 10000 steps we also had to do our daily workout as planned for us. There was no way we could skip our workout for getting the steps.
The challenge was designed in different way. The step count was increasing every week :
Sept 1st to 7th – 10000 Steps
Sept 8th to 14th – 11000 Steps
Sept 15 to Sept 21. 12000 Steps
Sept 22 to 30. 13000 Steps
For me the last week seemed challenging with 13000 steps. Nevertheless I decided to give my best shot to complete the challenge.
The week 1 was easy breezy as it was normal 10000 steps and It was quite doable
Week 2 however had its own challenges. Ganesh festival was in this week and it gets really busy with preparations. Guests, cooking and celebration. For the first time in my life ever, I woke up early on that day and I finished my workout to ensure I will get those steps. By evening I was around 8000 and supremely tired but I still walked around the house till I got 11000 steps .That whole week was tough. By the end of that week I was pretty exhausted but still very much determined to be in the race.
Week 3 was better than week 2 but it was getting harder for sure as I didn’t have rest day. My body needs at least one day of complete rest and I didn’t get any for two weeks and exhaustion was setting in. But I decided to do it and kept going . In week 3 Leslie sanson helped me a lot. She has these bubbly 10-15 minute Youtube videos which you can do in between. I also found a video which promised 10000 steps in an hour but I had no patience for it. There was a day in this week where my feet badly ached. I was sure I was going to give up but thankfully I made it.
Week 4 – The homestretch is often the toughest and it had two extra days to make things tougher. For 13000 steps, apart from my workout I did an extra walking workout to get these steps. But I had become smarter and planned my activities accordingly. For instance it was easier to get steps on cardio days than on strength workout days. So on strength days I planned my errands and grocery shopping that made me walking necessary and didn’t feel like exercise. This was hard week for sure but I made it! Yay! I actually walked 3,35,000 steps in September!
When I reflect on this challenge I learnt many things about the challenge and myself.
First to give the credit to my coach Arpita Boyd, she designed the challenge in a very interesting manner and gamified it with a buddy assigned to each participant and declared an additional prize for the winning duo. She would cheer us up every morning and we were supposed to post the screenshot with the number of steps and the date on that message. It was fun to check who was posting it first and motivating their partner. Being responsible to someone’s success makes it easier for you to try harder. So having a partner cheering me up and community jointly doing this challenge was really fun.
Secondly, it gave a huge boost to my morale. I have never won any competition in my life or completed any challenge so it made me really feel good about myself especially getting up early on busy days to get these steps. Now I am ready to participate in these fitness challenges more.
Third, I can move much more than I thought I could and now it has become a habit. While on this challenge, I was constantly thinking about the ways of how to increase my step count and now it has become a habit. So now I walk while talking on the phone, brushing my teeth, watching some TV show, walk after every meal and even while lunch or dinner being cooked and while tea is brewing and even when i am using Microwave oven for a minute! In fact while writing this blog, I have stood up twice and took a small walk around the table. No kidding!
In terms of results, I checked my weekly weight log and see I have reduced 1.2 kgs over a month so I am very happy about it.
After the challenge finished , I took a day off and rested as I really needed that but now I am back on track. I am doing 10000 steps again and they feel so easy and good!
