The journey to 108

The little one celebrated his 1st birthday last week. He isn’t much of a little one now, so have to rack my brains to come up with a new pseudonym. Until then there is something else to share and talk about.

A couple of weeks before the International Yoga Day (21st June 2020), I decided to try my hand at Suryanamaskar (SNM). The last I ever performed a SNM was way back in school. If I remember correctly it was in the summer camp when I was 10-12 years old. So after a gap of little more than 20 years I decided to give it a go again. By the time Yoga Day came around, I had the technique down and was comfortable doing 12-14 rounds of SNM and that is when it struck me. I could build my SNM practice to perform 108 SNMs by 21st July 2020 which would also coincide with the 1st birthday of my kid (the aforementioned ‘little one’).

I was surprised with the way my mind worked to not only decide this but the determination I felt when I set out doing this was something which I have seldom experienced in my life. Fatherly instinct anybody? Though the Mrs had her reservations as to how me doing 108 rounds of SNMs had to do with me being a father. However I digress from the topic.

Some research on the internet yielded a schedule which if followed would help me reach the goal in 4 weeks and so began my journey to 108. It was exhilarating to say the least. The first week where the schedule demanded that I increase the rounds daily was grueling considering my body was not used to the level of physical activity demanded. Soreness was a constant companion for the better part of 2 weeks. From the third week onward my body, now used to the daily rigor, was up for the task. Towards the end of that week, for the first time, I enjoyed the practice from start to finish. The 4th week was all about mind over body, where I just had to be present on the mat long enough to ultimately get through the 108 rounds. I achieved the feat on the morning of 18th July, 3 days before the deadline. There after I repeated the 108 rounds daily till the 21st July.

Every day through those 4 weeks I felt myself progressing both in the mind and the body. As I had read in the articles during my research about planning to do 108 SNMs, I could understand what was meant by peeling of layers from oneself as the practitioner progresses and reaches the said goal. However hard I try to express the precise feeling, I fail and only wish that you too undertake this journey and experience it firsthand.

Thanks are in order to Aditya Gund – a good friend who is a source of inspiration and dare I say peer pressure rolled in one; Priyanka Gadekar – whom I have not met in person yet, but is only an Insta chat away for anything yoga. Last but not the least; the Mrs – for the patience she showed when I complained non- stop about my sore body and how I would be able to do only so much with regards to helping out with the little one.

When in doubt, ask.

Just the other day, a friend forwarded me an audio clip of a conversation between a lady and a doctor. The lady had called up the doctor to enquire if one can contract the coronavirus over the phone by talking to a CoVid positive patient. Predictably the doctor could not control his laughter and asked her about the source of this information. The lady candidly confessed that it was her mother who said that, and she, having her doubts thought it best to fact-check with the doctor. The doctor told the lady that the virus does not spread over the phone and if that would have been the case, then he should have been dead by now owing to the fact that he talks to CoVid patients day in day out.

This clip did leave me in splits but when I gave it more thought, I ended up doffing my hat to the lady. The fact that she decided to call the doctor (a competent person) with this question (however stupid it may seem to us), instead of taking it at face value and maybe spreading (mis)information forward deserves a lot of credit.

In today’s age where information is being made palatable to suit our tastes, the line between fact and fiction has become blurry making it imperative for us to question. Often times we are bogged down  with thoughts like “Is my question intelligent enough?”, “Will I seem stupid posing the question?” etc. Our best interests lie in getting rid of these thoughts and forging ahead with getting the answer to our question. The worst that could happen is that you might not get an answer but you will still be free to ask again to someone else.

As a kid I was always encouraged to question and also to first try and find the answers myself. The rationale which later became clear to me, was that the added effort put in finding the answer made sure that I treasured it. 

Now when I listen back to the audio clip, I am sure that the lady would spread the right information and at the same time encourage anybody and everybody to question. Just imagine the positive change asking a question would bring about then.