The pleasure in exhaustion...

So, Gujjubhai is back to Liberia. Yesyes, I was away, bi-annual leave, India, got stuck in Ethiopia, was rescued by boss.... All that. Cut a long story short, I'm back, babe! And I'm lovin' it!

Ever since I came back, I've been trying to get into some sorta exercise routine. I've tried going to the gym, only to come back after having tread the treadmill for 15 minutes and gotten glares from the instructor for coming down too hard on the 'mill. Then I've tried walking. But that's scary in the dark where I stay, and well, not too much of an exercise, eh? More like something old people do.

So, then we're back to the original exercise, the one we've been doing since we were in Goa. In fact, I learnt how to swim in Goa only. And its a blissful exercise. If I may use some Hindi here, 'Mazaa aa gaya!'. You should try it sometime.

And you know me, overzealous kid that I am, I decided to overdo it. First time in the pool after a long time. Was just subconsciously trying to make up for lost time, I guess.

So, the first few laps I felt I was going to drown. Don't know why, but just felt like I couldn't get the rhythm right. The breathing wasn't proper. I was swallowing water. Cough! Cough! Cough! All that. But then slowly, I got into the flow. Then there was no breathlessness. And hardly any breaks between laps. People came in. People went. And I kept swimming.

Then I got really, really tired. But God knows why, I just wanted to keep on swimming. '2 more laps, that's all', I'd tell myself. And I'd just keep going. Is swimming addictive, by any chance? I must look it up.

And then, I got really, really, really tired. And it was like I was swimming on autopilot. More like drifting. Ever so slowly. On the surface of the water. The hands and the legs moved on their own. It was almost like meditation. Swimming in the blue pool in the artificial yellow spotlight, it felt magical, almost surreal. There I was, floating, blissfully, arm after arm, legs gently swaying. Arm after arm, legs gently swaying. Floating, nicely, calmly, blissfully. And then...... dank! Muscle cramp! Ouch, that hurt. Right in the middle of that deep pool. What's the depth like? 9 feet? And noone around. 'Dammit!' I thought, 'I'm definitely gonna drown today! Thakur toh giyo!'

But you know me, I'm not much of a risk taker. So, I discovered that, out of sheer habit, I was swimming right next to the edge (Yes, you can call 'Sissy!' now, but I wouldn't be writing this blog, if not for this habit of mine). And so, I grabbed onto the edge and slowly slid myself into the shallow waters. Pulled myself up onto the edge of the swimming pool. And then, for what seemed like an eternity (must have been hardly 30 seconds), I sat with my legs stretched, trying to make the cramp go away. And it just wouldn't. God only knows how I've come back to the room. I'm still pretty sure I can feel remnants of that nasty cramp in my thigh.

But, all in all, it was fun. The swim. The tiredness. The peace. Hark! Even the cramp. I think I'm gonna continue swimming. Inshallah!

PS: This really hot white girl was swimming when I came in. Had a nice little chat with her. My newly acquired bald pate is quite a conversation topic, you see. She's gonna go out tonight. Hope she comes to where I'm going. :P

Botswana wa Tsabakela

Yes. I've been trying to figure out what that phrase in Setswana means. For the unitiated, Setswana is the language of Botswana. They even have a Setswana wikipedia. But even there I couldn't find what this phrase means. Even so, from all the googling, I've at least been able to find out that 'wa' means fall or belong and 'Tsabakela' means to glisten. Which would mean 'Botswana belongs to the Glistening'? Don't know. Tell me if you know what it means. So why am I looking for the meaning of this phrase?

Well, here's why. This the opening phrase of the title track of this very nice BBC / HBO series set in Botswana that I have been watching off and on for the past few days. Its called 'The no. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'. It is highly entertaining and lovely to watch and is inspired from a book of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith. In fact, I first read the book and then one of my Zambian colleagues told me about the series. And I must say, unlike many other disappointing attempts to make books into movies or TV serials, this one does a fine job of it. Not that they haven't tinkered with the plot and the storyline here and there. And added or deleted some characters. But then, the soul of the book stays intact in the series. Anyway, have a look at the title track. It has some very nice animation and the soulful, straight-from-the-heart voice reminds me of Usha Uthup

Doesn't it? Ok, now press the play button and close your eyes. Don't know about you, but for me the music conjures up images of giraffes peacefully feeding in grasslands. And rhinos minding their own business in the jungles (or the 'bush', as they call it here). And a simpler world where people are still righteous, forthright and honest. Not the world of today where people's morals are all different shades of grey. So, if that's what you pine for as well, this show is definitely worth a watch. On a related note, I wonder where I could get more such lovely, soulful, traditional African music. Its just beautiful. Speaks to my soul. Liberia doesn't seem to have much traditional music. Or maybe I don't know it, not having travelled much into the bush myself. But if there is, I'd love to hear it.

So, all this is part of my Africa education. O, did I mention? Last weekend, I went to have Ethiopian food. And, do you know, they actually have a huge variety of vegetarian dishes? Their food is much like the Indian roti subzi. Actually the roti is more like a dosa, in that it is fermented. But this dosa is made of some other type of brown flour. Injera, this bread is called. And they use teff flour to make it. So, anyway, there's one thing that's certain. Now that I am in Africa, I want to experience as much of it as I can. The cuisine, the music, the people. Its a whole different world. A world that is often ignored. And that is still simple and untouched, for what its worth. I've already been to 3 countries in Africa (even though two of them were just for a couple of days) and I want to see more of Africa. Amen to that!

(PS: I forgot to mention how they keep having 'bush tea' all the while in the show. I think the next food experiment shall definitely involve this bush tea. Amen to that as well!)