By G. V. Krishnan

*San Ramon, CA*: Every other person I meet in this country follows a fitness regime. Even the ones I knew back home, to have been devoted to two square meals plus their morning idly-chutney. I don't know what happens to their flair for food when they leave India. I can't figure out how sumptuous eaters, when they come to live in America, take to dieting and get bitten by the fitness bug. Maybe it comes with the green card.

Must make a disclosure here. I'm over-weight, over-sized, incorrigible, and am in the US on visitor's visa. My son, a green card holder, has reduced his intake of *thalee* meals. He avoids *papad, *fried, has it micro-ovened; has acquired track-suits, and goes to the gym. My daughter-in-law is a US passport-holder.

Need I say more?

The other day when my wife asked what she did for lunch at work, Meera quipped, "Oh, we go out, pick up some salad". To one of our slim young friends, my wife (who else) said, with understandable concern, "you've slimmed down a lot since we met last" (read emaciated). "Thanks, aunty", replied our young friend, taking my wife's observation for a compliment. Our friend, a green-carder, is a US citizenship aspirant.

Cost of medicare in the US being what it is, I can understand one being health-cautious. But our friend appeared to be under diehard dieting. This fitness thing could get out of hand. Many of our otherwise sensible youngsters in America are so devoted to the up-keep of their shape that it becomes an obsession.

Daytime talk shows, weight-loss ads., diet books and e-groups fuel this obsession. It's as if they watch weight, to tailor themselves into their favoured designer's clothes. It is a condition caused by excessive waistline concerns. It's FAD (fitness anxiety disorder).

For FAD positives the cutlery of choice is a table-spoon, rather than *'khadcha'*, for servings of *dal*, rice and gravy. Intake of '*rajma', 'raitha', 'bisibele-baath' or 'biryani'*, Sunday-*ke*-Sunday, is in ounces, with a calorie tally metered in one's mind with every helping. Come Monday, it's back to *dal *and *sukhi roti* at night, and salad, at work.

America plays it both ways. They export 'Big Mac' and pizza-culture to rest of the world, but promote dieting at home. The US government issues dietary guidelines. The latest one urges Americans to eat at least three servings a day of white grain wheat, for healthier diet. Newspaper columnists write regularly about good eating mode. I read a columnist the other day writing on the comparative merits of edible fruits and vegetables. He rules out pomegranates as a fast-eats option - too time-consuming. Carrot is the most user-friendly consumable for all occasions – at the table, on a stroll at the mall and behind the wheel while driving to work. An apple is okay, fruit-wise; it works even at high speed driving. Banana takes some peeling.

Fitness books make it to the best-sellers list. I once spotted two in the NYT top five how-to books on a given week. At No.5 was '*You: The Smart Patient'* by Michael F Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz., a guide to navigating the American health care system; and at number two was 'The *South Beach Diet'*by Arthur Agatston, a weight-loss plan devised by a Miami cardiologist.

A blurb on Jane Fonda's '*My Life So Far'* made a propaganda point by describing the actress-writer as 'fitness guru'. I can't see this selling Jane in India, where we all know her as Ted Turner's ex-wife, Henry Fonda's daughter and not a very good actress. Talking yoga in cocktail circuits is hip. Working knowledge of a few exercises can open for you a few American doors. NRIs who are here to stay are less likely to be susceptible to American accent than the fitness bug.

My neighbourhood newspaper, *Contra Costa Times*, hosts an online diet club and has sponsored a *Times* Fitness Challenge, for which a team comprising the newspaper staff is among the contestants. Journalists in my days had a healthy disregard for such fitness humbug. It was as much an attitude issue as their working conditions, entailing late nights and odd-hour eating. Boozing and stress-smoking was normal among journos.

Having spent a lifetime in the newspaper world I thought this *Times*fitness challenge team was a joke, till I read that the competing staffers were thinking of signing up for a 15 week *butts-and-guts* course. Columnist and diet guru Joan Morris in a report reviewing the *Times* team's training, a month after the fitness challenge announcement, says everyone is committed to winning the thing. The team caption and pop music critic, Tony Hicks, is reported to be running every day (well, almost). TV critic Chuck Barney has shed five pounds and stepped up the number of sit-ups.

Sports writer Bill Kolb is said to be down by eight pounds. He runs at least a mile a day, goes to the gym thrice a week; has cut out food/drinks after 7 p m. Home & Garden assistant editor Trine Gallegos is reportedly holding up her end of the bargain, and doing yoga. Deputy business editor Victoria Manley can be counted on working hard as she is training for the Silicon Valley Marathon as well. Graphic artist Jennifer Modenessi works out by walking up her neighbourhood hill. Jennifer is reported to be the fastest miler of the *Times* team. Her timing: 10 min. 58 seconds.

This, then, is America, where no one remains unbitten by the fitness bug, not even hard-boiled journalists.

Tailpiece: My wife, who has a way of unsettling me with her comments from behind my shoulder, said she couldn't figure out what I was fussing about. Looking over my shoulder as I key in this piece, she quipped from "Aren't there fitness freaks in Bangalore?" She may have a point. The US, which is into outsourcing, has sent the fitness bug along with BPOs, as they did the parthenium weed, with their PL 480 Wheat , in the fifties.

This blog post first appeared in GV Krishnan's column, Dateline Mysore on www.zine5.com.

 

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