Some people aise hi, for no rhyme or reason, motivated rehte hain — apne aap ko ship-shape mein rakhne ke liye. Early morning they get up, go for a jog, swim, even do both, and by the time the likes of me wake up, the Motivated Ones are emitting golden-golden, holy-holy pointy darts that jab lazy motus like me who need a motivational speech even to get up and brush our teeth.
Life progresses in a funny way. When you are young and straight, the opposite sex motivates you. Boy calls and says, let’s meet this Saturday. Mind goes wrrrrrrr, “GM diet, -3 kilos, max - 4, latest by day 5, ideally day 6”. So you say, “No, let’s meet next Wednesday”, bang the phone down, make frantic phone calls to BFFs who are nutritionists and fashion experts.
As you get older, motivation is tougher to come by but I have been feeling ki kuch karna chahiye, so I turned to TV for motivation. I tried kick-boxing with Arnab, but I collapsed laughing. I tried yogic breathing with Rajat Sharma, but he makes me very breathless, very fast. I tried gentle tai chi with Diya Aur Baati Hum (Star Plus), but every time Sandhya has a task to accomplish, I get tense and start eating ladoos.
But then, on Ten Sports, I discovered real motivation —the Legends Football League. LFL is not your regular football. This is a ladies only affair.
Take the Legends Cup that was playing —it was the Grand Finale of LFL Australia in Perth’s NIB Stadium, Angels Vs Surge. Both teams were in chhoti-chhoti kachchis, with chhoti-chhoti bras — one black and gold, the other white and blue. And ekdum freely these girls were grabbing that strange football that doesn’t bounce, and huffing and puffing and doing thoda-thoda grabbing-shabbing while making goal pe goal.
What bodies they have. The crowd would go mental every time the girls collided. And I, who was sauntering on my treadmill at 1.6, got so energised that I made it 5, then 6.5, then 8 and ran and ran with them. By the time the camera panned to a particular torso of an Angel and the screen screamed “Legends Cup”, I was at 9, and five kilometers were done.
