'Satu, dua, tiga...'

God gives second chances – and just when I thought I had once again for the umpteenth time in my life broken my New Year resolution in the very first week itself – in came the Chinese New Year! The year of the rooster! With stronger determination I resolved to keep my commitment this time round and embarked on my eternal battle of the bulge.

Armed with a shaky will power and a spreading girth I slunk into the apartment gym. Come hail, come snow, come storm – I fought all adversities to make it to the health club regularly. It was after all, just an elevator ride down twelve floors and no excuses were at hand.

A month of regular workouts and not an iota of difference! The only thing sliding at a rapid pace was my motivation level. The gym trainer had a perpetual grin on his face. There were days when I felt it was an effort on his part to egg me on while at other times I felt it was his way of showing empathy. “Try aerobics,” he advised. “It will help kick start your lethargic metabolism.”

So here I was in my brand new aerobics gear – a complete novice looking around at the veterans with terror emblazoned across my face. The class consisted of a petite bunch of Japanese, Koreans and Indonesians all small built and very agile on their feet. It took immense grit to last out the one-hour session.

The instructor conducted the class in Bahasa and it took all my skills to coordinate my hand and leg movements to a count that was alien. “Satu, Dua, Tiga, Empat, Lima, Enam, Next, Change” he counted leading to a total breakdown of communication in my nervous system, as my neurons seemed to wage a complete mutiny. I watched helplessly as my nimble footed classmates pranced around the mirrored studio in complete unison.

"Don't take life too seriously,” I consoled myself - “ you can't come out of it alive anyway." Lets show them what I can do better, I thought, smiling wryly – as I belted out the lyrics of the English numbers that everybody exercised to – turning tables instantly! For there I was with admiration being cast my way even as I moved to the left while the entire group stepped to the right.