I am currently on a train heading to Mumbai, sitting across from the most adorable little girl. Ever. She is sharing a small table with me, coloring in a landscape she created (perhaps inspired by the beautiful countryside). The clouds are blue, and she occasionally pauses to stare out the window and contemplate her next move. The sun shines bright yellow and orange on the trees and house below. The house is colored radiantly. She is missing her top two front teeth and is very shy. Perhaps it's because I look like a crazy person.
Varun and Nicole share a bunk, engaged in debate, while I'm surrounded by this new family of mine consisting of the little girl and her parents. We don't talk much but we exchange the usual travel chatter and a few jokes. If I didn't already feel fat enough I endure their glances as I eat some ice cream that was placed in my hands. I want to explain that I normally work out a lot and you just can't see my impressive physique under all of these folds of skin.
Establishing a workout routine while traveling has felt next to impossible. Varun and I managed to squeeze in some simple yet effective floor exercises in the cramped space of our hostel, but I'm really starting to miss running. Something about the polluted air makes me really hesitant to even attempt it. We'll see what Bombay brings. I'm also jonesing for a climbing fix but I don't expect I'll find any in India.
Gym climbing isn't common here and our schedule isn't flexible enough for outdoor trips. I'd say it's no big deal, but my mind wanders off to Sanctuary so often, daydreaming about all of the good times I've had with my friends. Before I left I even started a few new projects that I was looking forward to completing. I spend a lot of time thinking about climbing, imagining different possibilities when I'm stumped on a route. Sometimes I'll have what I think is a great solution and then I'm especially eager to hop back on those routes during my next session. And I have to be patient with my warm up. Not only do I need to get my body loosened up, but I need to get my head back in the right space. Climbing can be really frustrating if you expect immediate progress. Sometimes it's best to hop around on easier climbs and just remember how enjoyable it is to move so freely. Then when the endorphins are kicking in, hit that one route hard.
In lieu of my recent finger injury I had to put some serious brakes on climbing, but I was almost back at my regular level of performance before I left for India. Nursing a strained flexor tendon also forced me to climb much slower, lest I shock load the hand and cause even more damage. In this process I really focused on performing movements as efficiently as possibly. I've found that my mindfulness of form has increased dramatically in the last year, and this is largely from watching and imitating the friends I climb with. Monkey see, monkey do.
Brian has a particularly feather-light style that makes me green with envy. A lot of that stems from his razor sharp mental fortitude. Nothing gets in his head, and as a result he performs flawlessly.
I haven't climbed with Nicole in a while, but she has an unbreakable endurance when it comes to those hard parts. She pushes past exhaustion, ignoring our suggestions to take a rest. And sure enough, she shatters those limits then and there. Solid determination on that one.
Rachel is one of my favorite climbing buddies. She does some of the weirdest and most creative liminal problem solving I've ever seen. It's pretty inspiring to see someone with such an unusual style that also turns out to be wildly effective and fun. It makes me wish I had done the same route the way she did it. We all have different styles, but hers is pretty unique. I hope I get to climb with all or my buddies again when I return. It'll be really cool to see how much progress they've made in six months.
See what I mean about climbing? I can't tell if writing quells the desire or kindles it. My head is in the clouds as a dark India flies by outside the window, lit up briefly by an occasional thunderstorm.
Our train ride is 16 hours long and I'm hoping I don't have to take a shit. So far my body is cooperating. I enter a deep state of meditation where I am in harmony with my body, slowing down its processes to reach equilibrium. Or perhaps it was the sight of the urine sloshing around on the floors that tightened up my intestines. I imagine falling over as I try to take care of business, and these thoughts turn out to be an effective "emergency stop" button. As long as it's not the emergency exit I think I'll survive.
Turns out I spent more time reading than writing on the train, so you can forget about any breaking news. It's all yesterday's jam at this point. I finished Murakami's memoir on running and it was a pretty nifty account of his fortitude and perserverance. Interestingly he divulged some things about himself that I recognized from Norwegian Wood. It's a useful reminder that you can draw from personal experience in fiction. It doesn't all have to come out of the ether. I suppose that would be impossible after all.
You're right. I can't make up my mind as to whether this blog is about books or travel. Everything is rattling around up in there.
Bombay is much more humid than Delhi, so we feel a significantly higher drain in our energy levels as we depart from the train. Varun's uncle Vinod was waiting for us at the station with a private driver to take us around town until our check in time. We spend an afternoon getting to know him while sight-seeing and eating at more upscale restaurants. The south part of Bombay is much nicer than we were getting accustomed to in Delhi. The hostel at the YMCA is more like a hotel. We have air conditioning and ample space for activities. I already feel undeserving of such nice amenities, much preferring something on the modest side. Unfortunately we are told that Bombay is more expensive and traveler hostels are not central enough for tourists. I'll probably be grateful for it all when we leave, but it just feels so fancy. I'm also looking forward to the freedom of spontaneity when we arrive in Thailand.
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