JOIN USLife off the pitch
I don’t have the luxury of enjoying a ‘perfect weekend’. The weekends always seem like ping-pong balls, which seem to bounce off even before they arrive.
My weekend starts with some gruelling training sessions on Saturday morning. I am on the pitch from 9 am — on the crease or behind the wickets — till about mid-day. I look forward to the rest of Saturday and the whole of Sunday. But they seem like silver threads of dawn which show up once in a while.
I usually come back to a long massage. It helps me relax my muscles and rejoice the trance-like experience. I love to look around in the kitchen, like a detective, and experiment with the ingredients that come in hand. I have had a love for cooking since I was a child.
Those days, after my cricket coaching, I would help my mother in the kitchen. Sometimes, I would just observe the way she organised and set up a great meal. We like cooking together as well. I generally cook a number of Italian dishes. I love cooking up an alchemy of spices, savouring the waft of a boiling dish and listening to clinking cutlery.
However, I am much more of a baker than a cook since I have a sweet tooth. I love baking different versions of the same recipe and I am into baking healthy desserts. My chocolate brownies are a big hit among my family and friends as they have a fine finish.
However, my strict diet regimes don’t allow me to eat a lot. I am working with a nutritionist now and have to indulge in various carbohydrates, proteins and fibres. So, these weekends call for ‘cheat meals’ that I look forward to.
When it comes to eating out, I enjoy eating at ‘Shiro’ and ‘The Olive’. I also love to indulge in South Indian food. Soft ‘idlis’ and piping hot ‘sambhar’ call for a perfect meal. I have travelled a lot and there is no other place in the world that can replace the hot ‘pongal’ at ‘Brahmin’s Coffee Bar’ or the crispy ‘dosas’ of ‘CTR’ and ‘Vidyarthi Bhavan’. Nowhere can I ever experience the homely feel of ‘Airlines’ or the friendly vibe of ‘Corner House’.
Saturday night is also the time that I spend with friends. Though I don’t get the opportunity to travel around much in the City, as I am not here most of the time, I love driving to the outskirts when I am here. But I don’t go out much during the day because of the traffic, so my friends and I hit the road at night.
The best part about the weekend is that I can sleep for a long time. I go to church in the morning and catch a movie in the afternoon as I am a huge movie-buff. I try to catch a new release on Sunday afternoons. I also love watching a number of sitcoms and shows. My favourite show is ‘MasterChef Australia’ as it gives me great insight into cooking and inspires me to cook. Towards the evening, I prepare myself for the week ahead.
I am meticulous that way and plan out my week by drawing out a timetable to list out my schedule. I think about all the practice matches, forthcoming cricket sessions, leagues and fitness regimes that are going to take place during the week.
I don’t get enough time to spend with my family during the weekend as my mother is in Coorg and my sister is in Australia but I am used to it now. I love staying in Bengaluru during weekends as it is one of the most popular cities in the world.
I also have a house in Mumbai but there is no place like Bengaluru and I feel blessed to call it my home. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t go away from this City. I would rather relax in my house and spend my free time rustling up meals.
I thoroughly enjoy making the most of my free time during these two days, though they are like short-term springs that arrive once in a blue moon.
As told to Anushka Sivakumar