Rising above the waves

I vividly recall that my weekends were a lot calmer when I was studying at St Joseph’s Boy’s High School and later in Jain College. After college, there was a place just outside Bangalore Club that sold the best ‘kulfis’ and milkshakes, and I would go there with my friends and family almost every Friday or weekends. UB City was another regular haunt and I thoroughly enjoyed the desserts at the cafes there, topped it with dinner at Shiro.

I never missed a chance to hop into Eden Garden to savour my favourite dish — ‘butter chicken’. Kudla, a Mangalurean seafood place, was where I would head to for lunch on many weekends since I love fish!

Sometimes, my friends and I would drive to The Oberoi, which has lovely gardens with old, majestic trees and relax at the coffee shop. I guess my favourite hangout those days was the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre where I spent much of my time. When I wanted to reward myself after a week of real hard training, my swimmer friends and I would head to Corner House and treat ourselves to ‘Death by Chocolate’. I am a complete foodie, so leisure was often combined with food.

Now that I am in Pune, my days have been hectic. After spending 20 years in the pool, I’ve begun playing competitive golf, leading swim clinics and often travelling for corporate talks. Now, it is a luxury to have a weekend where I’m not working.

   I believe you need to really love something to be successful at it. When I am not travelling for a corporate talk assignment, I spend close to six hours a day, and five days a week, training for golf.

Now, on a Friday evening, I hit the gym to train specific muscles, to not only help me stay fit but aid my golf as well. I unwind at the end of a Friday by watching a movie in my home theatre, which is like my cave! It’s usually a classic English film, but that again depends on my mood. I used to watch a lot of thrillers, action and horror movies at one point but now I prefer something lighter. I also enjoy music from the 70s and 80s, bands like ‘Eagles’ and ‘Def Leppard’. I’ve lived in different cities and have friends all over the place. So weekends are also the time when I connect with them on chat or social media.

I’ve always been disciplined and enjoy that. On a Saturday, I start training at ‘SwimSmart’, my clinic, as early as 6.30 am and the day could last 12 hours. I spend most of the weekends by the side of different pools around the country where I train swimmers who are competing at club, state or national level. I’ve always thrived on competition, and coaching is a great way to stay in touch with the pool and racing. It’s something that has been a big part of my life. In a lot of ways, it also takes the pressure of golf off me.

I try not to train on Sundays, and spend the day with my parents or catch up with friends over lunch. I love Parsi cuisine (as I am a Parsi), and my favourite home food is ‘dhansak’. If I happen to be travelling on weekends, there are so many food places that I enjoy going to — from Mumbai’s five-star eateries like Jyran at Sofitel Mumbai BKC, which serve amazing North-West frontier cuisine to Nasimi Beach Restaurant in Atlantis, Dubai or places I try when travelling the world that serve authentic local cuisine. After a fruitful weekend at the pool and spending quality time with family and friends, I return rejuvenated to another week of hectic golf, corporate engagements and more.

As told to Nina C George