Knock those extra inches off your tummy !!

Generally, teenagers and youngsters do not think much about what they should eat and what they should avoid, what is good for their health and what is not, what can create health problems and what is perfectly harmless. Even I used to not think about it till...till I started working.

Sitting at one place for almost nine hours and staring at your desktop, occasionally getting up for extremely short breaks, endless cups of tea and coffee and weird eating habits and schedule was all going well..until one day, I realized that I have become fat; that I have gained quite a few unwanted extra kilos; that my stomach would, in a few days, start looking as if I have a pot belly. I decided then that I needed to shed these kilos, otherwise I would end up having a lot of health problems. (Actually, the real reason was that I was scared no girl might be ready to marry me !!)

Whatever the reason be, I did not know how to start doing it. I had always been someone who ate to his heart's content, someone who did not feel full till he had eaten almost a minimum of 10 chapatis. Then what was the solution? I started exercising, started building my muscles. But my stomach would not go in. I realized that somehow I had to control my diet. Somewhere I was going wrong. And then, I started looking up online to find out good dietary habits, good lifestyle tips etc. and started following a few of them.

Here, I will try to list down a few good eating habits so that it might be helpful for all those who, like me, are going through this crisis of putting on weight all of a sudden.

• Less oily foods (Say bye to your favourite Vada Pavs, Samosas and Bread Pakodas)
• Heavy breakfast, a lighter lunch and an early dinner (You might have probably heard it millions of times: :Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper". Start implementing it.)
• Good quantity of milk during the day
• Oats, Yogurt and some healthy supplement with milk like Boost, Bournvita or Corn Flakes is a very good start to your day.
• No fruits immediately after meals
• Less intake of sweets and chocolates, especially late in the day
• Try avoiding cold drinks. Instead opt for natural juices.
• Eat more fruits instead of drinking its juices.
• Countless cups of tea and coffee with multiple spoons of sugar is definitely not good for health.
• Green Tea (Though not very tasty, it helps a lot.)
• One should walk a little after a meal. Walking is a very necessary exercise in day-to-day life.
• No reasons needed to quit smoking.
• Avoid rice for dinner.
• Vegetable soup is good for your health.
• Alcohol is not meant to be taken frequently; over consumption can create quite a lot of problems.
• Spicy food should be reduced during hot weathers. It helps you balance the internal heat.
• There is nothing like bananas for breakfast. Eat it before you start exercising.
• A few almonds and walnut
• Brown bread is better than the white bread.
• Rather than counting calories in your food, try to bring in variety, color and freshness in your meals with a little control over your food intake.
• Drink a lot of water.
• Do not ban any food item; after all all foods are meant to be eaten. But it is very essential to know the time when that food should be eaten and the limit in which it should be consumed. If you have eaten more than what you intended to, balance it out by exercising.
• Occasional eating out is absolutely fine until it does not become frequent.
• Eat smaller meals throughout the day instead of large meals only twice or thrice a day.
• Avoid eating at night when you are physically more inactive. Your digestive system needs a good break.
• Limit sugar intake as much as possible; rather have naturally sweet food to satiate your sweet tooth.
• Eating too much salt is not good as well. Can lead to high blood pressure.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just a small start to correcting our eating habits. We would have heard most of the above-mentioned food tips from our parents and elders, but we often ignore it. And the repercussions of it are noticed later. Today, we see a lot of people, in their 30's and 40's, getting life-threatening diseases, something that was not heard of about two decades back. But with our fast-paced lives becoming faster by the day, we need to start taking care of our bodies early.

I am not a dietitian; I do not guarantee that these tips would help you reduce those extra inches off your tummy. But following the above things would surely do your body no harm. In the long run, some of them might just help you. Enhance the quality of food intake, do not try to reduce the quantity of intake of all food items. Remember, a diet does not mean eating less food, it means healthy food.

P.S. I am a vegetarian, have absolutely no idea what non-vegetarian items are good for health.

Bhool Aaye....

Zindagi ke raastein mein bahot aage nikal aaye,

School aur college ko ab hum kafi peeche chod aaye...

Paise kamane ki majboori me hum dosti ko bhool aaye,

Hum to apni zindagi ko peeche hi bhool aaye...

Manzilon ka pata nahi, bas chalte jaa rahe hain..

Girne ke baad bhi uthkar aage badhe jaa rahe hain...

Izzat kamane ki majboori me hum khushiyon ko bhool aaye,

Hum to apni zindagi ko peeche hi bhool aaye...

Vo chutti maarke ghumne jaana, vo dosto ke saath milkar aish karna..

Vo ghanto baithkar gappe maarna, har ek paise ka hisaab rakhna...

Dusro ko khush karne ki majboori me hum in palon ko bhool aaye,

Hum to apni zindagi ko peeche hi bhool aaye..

Zaruri kaamon ko karte karte kahin thak na jaayein,

Dil me adhuri khwahishein lekar kahin afsos na reh jaayein...

Zindagi ka pata nahi, aage ho na ho,

Aao dosto hamari dosti hum fir se jee aayein...

Cricket without Sachin...Unimaginable!!

I am 24, born in October 1989; Sachin Tendulkar played his first Test match in November the same year, and has been playing continuously for these 24 years. This might indicate the enormity of the occasion. Majority of India's population is less than 25 years, and for us, cricket without Sachin is unfathomable. We have never seen an Indian test cricket team without Sachin, except for the few test matches he has missed because of injuries. It will undeniably be very hard to accept that cricket can be played without him.

Most of us Indians have an opinion on anything remotely connected to cricket: from the school-going children to a bed-ridden old man, from a politician to a roadside 'paanwallah', from a CEO of a big company sitting in an air-conditioned cabin to a salesman knocking at every household. The topics of discussion vary from D/L Method, or the Hotspot Technology or the razzmatazz IPL or if Bangladesh should have been given Test status. But the foremost question on everyone's minds since the last few years has been about the impending retirement of this great.

We all knew Sachin would retire sooner or later. Quite a lot of people felt he was past his prime and he should gracefully make way for someone younger. Many people thought bidding the game goodbye after the World Cup 2011 win would have been befitting for a champion like him. But now, when the time has finally come to close the curtains on what has been an illustrious career, we can't help but feel sad that this legend will not take the cricket field anymore.

 The debate about whether Tendulkar is the greatest batsman of all time is always going to stay. Sir Don Bradman once said, "I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I felt that this player is playing with a style similar to mine, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel!" Brian Lara, the stylish left-hander, another great of this generation, can also lay claim to this throne. Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Viv Richards, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, and a host of other names have all left a glorious legacy for the cricket world to cherish. Comparisons are inevitable, but we can leave the debate on who is the best of them all, for some other time.

But when you look at his statistics, you will be dumb-struck. Almost 35,000 international runs, century of centuries, 200 Test matches, first double-century in ODIs, a World Cup victory, and other several records to his name, you are bound to think where does this man get the inspiration from, to continue playing cricket for so long. Mind you, 24 years, doing the same thing can become monotonous. Yet he has given everything that he had, to this sport. He sums it up perfectly in his retirement letter, "It's hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I have ever done since I was 11 years old.".

To be successful consistently at the highest level of cricket, you need to have passion, grit and determination. Sachin had that, and a lot of other things. His zeal to play was no less than any newcomer who broke into the Indian cricket team. Watching him celebrate after taking a catch would make me ponder how a guy, in his late thirties, can rejoice so much on getting a wicket, as if it was his first catch. Surreal!

But for me, what sets him apart is the way he has carried the burden of an entire nation's expectations on his shoulders. His petite frame can be misleading, but the nerve-wrecking pressure of a billion people wanting him to score a century every time he occupies the crease would have broken a lesser mortal. But not once has he complained about it. When a wicket fell, we used to say, "Koi nahi, Sachin abhi baaki hai.". When he got out, people stopped watching the remaining part of the match. All this is not exaggeration, it is reality, indeed!

He has been a role-model to an entire generation. The dedication and concentration with which he played the sport, the honesty with which he conducted himself on the ground, the passion and excitement with which he approached the game, is a lesson for all those young people who are starting with their life journeys now.

In India, the one thing that undoubtedly unites everyone is cricket,and thus it is no short of a religion here. And the God of this religion is 'Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar'. The way he has brought people of every caste, creed and class, come together is nothing short of a miracle. And instead of all this, he has never made the mistake of placing himself above the game. Humility is a very essential trait of a champion. 

I remember watching the first-ever double century in ODIs at a street corner with plenty of others, who like me, were caught unawares with what was going on at Gwalior. What a leveling sight it was! College students, shop owners, labourers, hawkers, white-collared office-goers, all standing on a footpath, waiting with bated breath, for the Little Master to get to a milestone, which no one had ever breached. And as soon as he reached there, hugs followed, people started to dance. It all seemed like a festival.

Two other innings of his that have been etched in my memory forever are the twin centuries against Australia at Sharjah, in 1998. Emotions were high, a lot was at stake. But Sachin continued playing sublime cricket, enchanting millions worldwide, and making the Aussies look at him in awe. He first managed to get us into the finals, and then single-handedly demolished the Kangaroos to achieve a victory that would everlastingly remain in the hearts of all Indians.

I don't know how much to write and what to omit, what details to mention, and what to overlook. Even a book on the maestro won't be enough. My eyes are swelling and voice is choking, and I am sure there would be many people out there like me, finding it difficult to accept that Sachin would not put his pads on again.

It doesn't really matter where he plays his last match. He is loved and respected everywhere, not just in India, but also abroad. And whatever is his last venue, he is definitely going to get a reception, no less than that of a king.

The last ball is not yet bowled. Two test matches remain, and I personally do not care if we win or lose. What I want is that Sachin plays the best cricket of his life, free-minded, relaxed and calm. Those beautiful cover drives, sixes over third man and mid-wicket, those flawless sweeps, shots straight over the bowler...one last time... Oh Sachin, you will be sorely missed!