~~~~4 feet under: Day 4~~~~

"F^&*!!!!!"

 My pool-mates laughed hard for the next 2 minutes or so but my coach didn't seem amused. I guess Americans are even more conservative than I assumed them to be. Next time, the temperature of the water is not to my expectation, I am going to bite my lip or perhaps mouth another word that I often substitute for the harsher version: "frack" (which I picked up from my Canadian friend). Perhaps even "fish".

So nothing very exciting to report about this time but for the two athletic looking Indian guys who walked in midway through my class and barely even returned my gaze. I guess it's not our culture to be amiable to random strangers and we smile rarely, if you haven't noticed already. You walk down campus and get a smile from almost everyone walking by but Indians. The corners of their lip extend just about .08 mm or so for a sec and then they are back to the straight faced matter of fact look. It's like they cheat you into thinking "yes I'm smiling at you" but they don't land up doing so and as a result you are left grinning wide faced like an ass because your reflex has already jumped into action with that .08 muscle movement from the Indian opposite you.

Anyway, enough love for my brethren. So back to swimming class. Yesterday, I was taught a free hand stroke and forced to be pinned against a wall while I got it right. My hand co-ordination isn't right apparently but as soon I had the pool to myself, I practiced the stroke for close to two hours. 

I find it hard to get out of the water once I get in. That block of time from 7-9 is mine and only mine. All the stress and mind wandering of my professional and personal life completely disappear when I am in the water. 

Every muscle in my legs and shoulders hurts but I can't believe the brilliant work-out this proving is to be. 

Winter, I am sticking my tongue out to you..

Bleah!

 

~~~~~~~4 feet Under: Day 3~~~~~~~~

It's official and I am announcing it the whole wide world.

I can float. Finally.

Today is important and it will stay etched in the aqua tinted recesses of my brain. A sense of accomplishment and a really big one if you ask me since I never had the opportunity to learn how to swim or simply been afraid. I could have gone on, the misery of not overcoming this fear and instead made excuses for lacking the gumption and simply blame my parents for not taking any interest in my extra curricular activities. Or been miserable whenever I was tin an exotic paradise where surfers and bikini clad women made me feel like a ninkompoop. OR worse faced the end of my life if ever caught in a flood.

However, I don't want to find myself in any of these scenarios and so it's been pretty much sink or swim attitude that's taken over.

It paid off.

It didn't happen easily though. Between several half baked attempts at gliding from one end of the pool to another,  forcing myself to breathe under water and finally letting go, there's been the sense of absolute misery for wanting to chicken out yet again. I did this when I was 14 years old and I think growing older beyond 25 gives you a checklist of things you want to feel proud of. Being lousy in water amongst a family of swimmers ( and mind you my parents swim in the sea, lakes and ponds. Pools weren't even a luxury to them) isn't what I wish to be stuck with when I am 30. 

Subconsciously though, this push to learn swimming began when I struck up a seemingly perfect and too good to be true relationship earlier last year.  I realized what great joy it would be to be able to swim next to this person. Our little plans of traveling..maybe Goa first, the beach and the sea, that talk must have done something. 

Perhaps distance does change equations. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be. 

But hey! I am on my way to finally enjoy nature's liquified bounty. With or without a companion.

By the way, this was my third swimming lesson and my instructor has turned out to be really patient so far. However,  I have a friend and stranger to thank much more than anyone else for getting ahead.

All that I could think of in those 3 hours in the pool today, kicking , floating and enjoying every minute of my new found skills, was the big lake in Ma's village and wanting to go swimming with her and Baba.

Pardon this abrupt jump ahead, but Day 2 was really a lot of paddling around and getting the kicks right. I also spent 2 extra hours by myself teaching myself to stay under water longer. In comparison, today is just more exciting to write about :)

Next class will undoubtedly be more exciting, if I manage to get the stroke right

Glub, glub. More updates coming up

~~~~4 Feet Under: Glub Glub Chronicles~~~~

I wish I had something more original to quip. But the TV series, two numbers more, that bowled me over in high school always inspired sad one liners. And here's mine :P


I force myself 4 feet under....water. Every Wednesday night, I walk half a mile across the campus at about 7 pm into the gym. A couple of minutes later, I am trying my best to work on my fear. Yes it's swimming.


I love bathing in the sea and splashing around in the pool but never have I ever swam and I'm getting frustrated letting my fears grow stronger over the years.


When in Hawaii over winter break, I felt like an idiot waddling around with a tube in a 4 feet pool.


And SO It's my New Year's resolution to learn to swim this year and for a change I am sticking to mine. Only that it's pending from 2010.


'High time'. Ha ha!


Glub glub chronicles begin here :)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1


"Give me a dead man's float".


I splutter through the chlorinated water barely able to say "How?" because my teeth refuse to stop clattering and here my 21 year old coach is asking me to simply let go on my first day of swimming lessons!


"I have control issues DUDE!" I yell back furiously.......in my head.


 I mean, when in water, I am freaked out of letting my feet float off.


"Take a leap of faith", he adds promising to spot me.


Right!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More to come!