Warning: Undefined array key "inject_bottom_color" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 143
Warning: Undefined array key "inject_bottom_color" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 159
Warning: Undefined array key "" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 159
Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 160
Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 161
I still remember it. EWWW!
I’ve written about my grandfather in the past, and those long swims I undertook with him in a lake in Kolkata in India back when I was “ye small”, and “until his knee” so to speak.
Well, probably until his waist, hehe.
I’ve written about the wonderful memories of waking up at 430 in the morning (earlier, actually, hehe) and then getting in an old Fiat car and honking outside my cousins house (my aunt would usually say “fast asleep, Dad” and then run back inside) … so it was usually me and him.
He was a great, great guy and one of the best doctors in his city … and it’s a pity I didn’t get the chance to learn from him in terms of life (well, many things) but the fitness bug probably took root there!
And speaking of bugs. Ugh again!
If there was ONE thing I hated more than anything else about visiting my grandpa’s mansion in the “good ole days” (summer holidays basically) it was this – the entire place was over run with roaches.
There was no airconditioning as well for whatever reason, but I can handle that. Not easy by a long damn stretch, especially considering the heat and humidity in that part of India, but … can be done.
But the roaches? And the literal gaggles of them?
I mean, there was areas in the house where you’d have more roaches than humans – – and I’m NOT kidding ya – – and this was looked upon as “normal” back then.
I have NO idea why!
I still remember flying roaches around the dinner table (and crows cawing outside in the morning) and my grandpat taking a fly swatter to them, hehe.
I still remember my uncle “wickedly” saying “the roaches here are deadly! They FLY!”
And so forth.
Now don’t get me wrong – if it’s the odd roach in a five storey house – well – that happens. No big deal, obviously.
But … that house had roaches everywhere, and this was WITH domestic help that cleaned it daily (gaggles of them there as well if I recall right!)
A problem that could very easily solved by spraying the place down … but for whatever reason, no-one did that.
Now again, don’t get me wrong. If someone is poor and cannot afford it, well, I’d be the last one to complain – – but money wasn’t an issue at that time for my Grandpa.
And NO, before you start jumping up and down with me being born with a silver spoon in my mouth – – no – – I wasn’t either.
I made my own way – – and sure, while I could have toed the family line and probably gotten enough in terms of money for the rest of my life, it became apparent to me at a very early age that was NOT Rahul.
I’d rather do my own thing – be independent and have FREEDOM, but that has responsibilities, of course.
It also means you’re on your lonesome, with no family credit card to help out when times get tough or even in times of EMERGENCY.
And that’s the path I chose, and still do, and always will. Hehe.
Anyway, back to the point. Why my good grandparents didn’t think it necessary to spray the place was beyond me – utterly beyond me – and despite the vast number of people that visited the house daily, nooone thought it was.
It was looked upon as “normal”.
Hmmmm …..?! I’ve been known for having an opinion on just about every thing, but this flummoxes me for sure!
Anyway, that brings to mind what Farmer Burns said in his course on “Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture” all those years back.
Basically what he said, and he was right, was that the average office worker, although he “looked” clean on the outside, was anything BUT on the inside.
The laborer, or farm worker, though he looked dirty and sweaty on the outside was far cleaner and healthier than the above category of individual, and he was right.
Take the average office Joe today, and you’ll find a host of health issues – not limited to, but including – constipation (the chronic kind where you need a “smoke or two” to “go”), IBS … bloating, flatulence, low energy levels, a tendency to get easily annoyed, and so forth.
And most of all, they don’t FEEL GOOD during the day as a physical laborer does – or sleep half as well, if at all.
I know one damn thing – my own workouts keep me CLEAN – both internally – and externally!
You’d think anything, but, of course, when you saw me returning from my jaunts up the hill – soaked to the bones in both torrential rain and sweat.
Or, when you see me after 250 pushups in my living room.
Or, when you see me after a good jump rope session …
But guess what. It gets things MOVING for one, both internally and externally if you get my drift. It keeps you healthy and feeling GOOD from the INSIDE OUT – and most of all, you have this vibrant BUZZ about you – this FEEL good feeling – ALL day – that cannot be beat!
I don’t know about you, my friend, but I’ll take that anyday over the other “average office Joe” choice, hehe.
And that’s that for now. Back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
P.S. – HERE and HERE is where you can find the sort of workouts I mentioned above. Grab ‘em now.
Sign up for the 0 Excuses Fitness newsletter.
Thanks for signing up. Remember to confirm your subscription via the link you get in your email.