Yogi Bare and Grin It

See, I have just figured out why everyone does yoga in India. I know it’s only taken me 2 years but I will attribute that to old age. Today I found myself on the brink of such all encompassing debilitating frustration that I actually found myself praying for a means of stress release beyond the massage of a good Cabernet Sauvignon. I know, I know, very hard to believe but I was at my wits end plus it was only 10 in the morning. 

This morning I went down to the gym to workout as usual. I have a routine which I follow fairly religiously and today was no exception. I went downstairs in my apartment to the gym to find it locked which is not a strange thing as it’s happened before. Normally I can ask the guard for the key and they open the gym and all is well. Well not today #!$#?#

I asked the guard for the key and he apparently went to get another man to talk to me. This man, who introduced himself as part of the society, told me that the gym was closed on Mondays and I couldn’t go in. I very kindly told him that I had come down on Mondays before and they opened the gym and all was well. This guy just pointed to the sign that said the gym was closed and repeated what he said. I asked him why, of course, and he responded that the instructor had a day off on Monday so nobody could go in. So I was starting to get a little irritated, ok maybe a lot irritated because this ‘instructor’ is a chunky Indian guy with a gut who sits behind a desk and knows nothing about training with weights or good nutrition, obviously. So I told as much to this guy and said I was fine in the gym on my own. So I continued to explain that many people work out on Mondays because it follows a weekend of indulgence and that some people, amazingly like working out everyday of the week. So this guy replies that I need to write a letter to the society to which I replied, “ Well aren’t you the society?” to which he said yes and walked away.

See the way it works here in India is that every apartment has these societies who decide on the rules of the building indiscriminately and then ask for more fees. There is no rhyme or reason, logic or purpose. It’s all random. Now I can take abstract, wild, freewheelin’ even lackadaisical, but I hate random especially when it interferes with my workout routine.

Now as I mentioned in a previous post I am not the type of person who has come to India, only to find myself on a spiritually journey of self discovery and acceptance as many have. This journey often starts in a yoga class and leads to a life time of peace and happiness. Not for me. Lifting weights and getting on an elliptical gives me a sense of tranquility that allows to me to see the beauty of India. Unfortunately, however, I can only be peaceful from Tuesday to Sunday and on Mondays I’ll need to find my own personal Yogi.