This is a much belated post about the unexpected bonanza that December 2015 offered by way of swimming avenues. Swimming is my favourite kind of physical activity. Growing up, I had access to a swimming pool only for very limited summers, and given the long intervening gaps between them, I must be the only freak in the world to have actually forgotten to swim and who had to re-learn to swim (once with the help of my father, once by myself). Now with a few hundred kilometres of pool water under my horizontal body, I'm hoping that won't be happening again. As a result of this mish-mash of swimming education, I believe I still don't have the most efficient swimming form.
But the excitement that a swimming pool (or any large body of water) generates in me is unparalleled. As a kid, on nights before I was to start going to a swimming pool in any given summer, I remember I would lie on my bed, unable to sleep due to the anticipation of submerging myself in water, and "practise" my stroke. Yes, I am that kind of weirdo. And that's how much I love to swim.
But the excitement that a swimming pool (or any large body of water) generates in me is unparalleled. As a kid, on nights before I was to start going to a swimming pool in any given summer, I remember I would lie on my bed, unable to sleep due to the anticipation of submerging myself in water, and "practise" my stroke. Yes, I am that kind of weirdo. And that's how much I love to swim.
I completely identify with what Rich Roll observes in his riveting account about transforming into a vegan triathlete:
"Most of all, I loved the silence of submersion - that womblike feeling of protection that enveloped me when underwater. What can I say - there was a feeling of completeness, of being home."
For a hapless landlocked swimmer such as I, the end of September marks the close of the traditional "swimming season" in Delhi.
My luck was extended only so far as to draw the lottery at my neighbourhood sports complex to become one of five hundred people to get a temporary membership to use the swimming pool for the months of October and November. This is an outdoor covered pool that offers the facility of heated water at an enhanced rate (vis-a-vis the summer charges for using the pool). Alas, a dysfunctional boiler (?) ensured that the water was fairly chilly these two months and I didn't quite get to utilize this coveted membership to its full potential.
Just as I had written off swimming for the year 2015, December brought some bountiful travelling to locations outside Delhi that helped me swim in the off-season! These were a set of very enjoyable swims, compelling me to blog about them. So here we are.
December Delight # 1: Ashwem Beach, Goa
While in Goa for a weekend to attend a beautiful destination wedding, A and I decided to add an extra day and spend it on a beach different from the one where the wedding was happening. So we chose Ashwem Beach, known for its Russian tourists (?), ceviche at a restaurant called Plage (unfortunately I discovered this after I had left the beach), and - as my flawless internet research revealed - a hotel with an infinity pool.
The hotel seemed a bit expensive, but since I had never been to an infinity pool and always wanted to, I thought the premium seemed justifiable. I combed their website and its reviews, satisfied myself that this was the right choice, and booked the hotel. We reached Goa after a delayed flight (thanks, Air Asia) and spending a considerable amount of time in a queue for a taxi at the Dabolim Airport, and a very long journey to Ashwem beach with a lost cabbie. Maybe I would be just in time for a sunset swim at the infinity pool, I thought.
Imagine my shock and dismay when we reached the hotel after many hours of travel, only to find that not only is there no infinity pool, but no pool at all. Something about municipal regulations in the area. The declarations to the contrary on the official website of this hotel were conveniently dismissed, because the website just hadn't been updated, you see. I cursed the management for their misrepresentation, and told them I no longer intended to stay with them. A and I trekked to look for another hotel on Ashwem beach, me with my (then) aggravated knee ligament, and between us not just the baggage that we had carried from Delhi, but that of many hours of travel and being let down by a hotel that flaunted as its USP an infinity pool that did not exist.
We ultimately stayed at a very nice cottage on the beach, which didn't claim to have a pool of any kind, but did provide us with King's beer that helped cool down my considerably heightened temper that evening.
Moving on from dwelling on the pool that wasn't, to the great big swimming pool that is the Arabian Sea. I headed out for a swim in the sea the next morning, and it was wonderful! Ashwem at low tide is gentle and relaxing to swim in. It's not a crowded beach, so you only have to share the water with a few other tourists. The water is not deep, and the waves are not too rough. On the whole, Ashwem offers a great spot of sea to jump into!
December Delight # 3: Adishakti, Auroville
Around Christmas, A and I took a very brief holiday to Pondicherry and Auroville. After spending a day in Pondicherry, we arrived in Auroville for a stay of two nights in the lovely Adishakti campus. Adishakti is a performing arts company, and their campus is where all the action happens. There is a lot of emphasis at Adishakti on the physical aspects of acting, which is why there appeared to be classes for kalaripayatu, yoga, and well, a swimming pool!
It was this swimming pool which compelled me to make a booking at the Adishakti guest house on AirBnb. And boy, was I not disappointed!
The husband and I had a very hectic schedule in Auroville. We had decided to make surfing the central focus of our trip. But the beach where the surfing happened was about 8 kilometres away, there was no public transport to speak of, and the cycle rental place was 3 kilometres away. So most of our two-ish days over there were spent in walking, cycling and trying to learn to surf. This left us understandably tired. But somehow I would always muster up enough energy for the beautiful pool in Adishakti.
As mentioned on their AirBnB entry, this pool used only natural salts and shunned chlorine. The pool had sparkling clean water. These standards were maintained through a series of very strict rules posted outside the premises of the pool, which included no swimming without a cap, no lotions before swimming, no peeing (!), no footwear around the pool, etc. I was happy complying with all of these to maintain the sanctity of this heavenly pool, this Godsend in December, far from Delhi's cold and pollution.
The pool was only about 20 or 25 metres long (I forget exactly now, but in the absence of availability of information about this on campus, the OCD swimmer in my downloaded a measuring app on my phone to manually measure its length), but in the course of under 48 hours, I swam here 4 times (including on my birthday, and twice on my last day before heading to Chennai in the afternoon - goodbyes are just so hard!!!) and almost a total of 5 kilometres.
Swimming at Adishakti was an experience. It is perhaps the most serene swimming pool I have ever had the fortune of swimming in. While in this pool, all you could see was greenery and tall palm trees, and the Laurie Baker-inspired mud walls enclosing it. There was a pleasant breeze to accompany you on your swim, no matter what the time of the day. The evenings actually got too to swim after sunset (in Tamil Nadu, would you believe it!).
This was a great pool to swim my last few swims of 2015 in. So the deluge of photos below is warranted, I feel. Thank you, Adishakti pool! You will be remembered very fondly, and hopefully we will meet again soon!
My luck was extended only so far as to draw the lottery at my neighbourhood sports complex to become one of five hundred people to get a temporary membership to use the swimming pool for the months of October and November. This is an outdoor covered pool that offers the facility of heated water at an enhanced rate (vis-a-vis the summer charges for using the pool). Alas, a dysfunctional boiler (?) ensured that the water was fairly chilly these two months and I didn't quite get to utilize this coveted membership to its full potential.
Just as I had written off swimming for the year 2015, December brought some bountiful travelling to locations outside Delhi that helped me swim in the off-season! These were a set of very enjoyable swims, compelling me to blog about them. So here we are.
December Delight # 1: Ashwem Beach, Goa
While in Goa for a weekend to attend a beautiful destination wedding, A and I decided to add an extra day and spend it on a beach different from the one where the wedding was happening. So we chose Ashwem Beach, known for its Russian tourists (?), ceviche at a restaurant called Plage (unfortunately I discovered this after I had left the beach), and - as my flawless internet research revealed - a hotel with an infinity pool.
The hotel seemed a bit expensive, but since I had never been to an infinity pool and always wanted to, I thought the premium seemed justifiable. I combed their website and its reviews, satisfied myself that this was the right choice, and booked the hotel. We reached Goa after a delayed flight (thanks, Air Asia) and spending a considerable amount of time in a queue for a taxi at the Dabolim Airport, and a very long journey to Ashwem beach with a lost cabbie. Maybe I would be just in time for a sunset swim at the infinity pool, I thought.
Imagine my shock and dismay when we reached the hotel after many hours of travel, only to find that not only is there no infinity pool, but no pool at all. Something about municipal regulations in the area. The declarations to the contrary on the official website of this hotel were conveniently dismissed, because the website just hadn't been updated, you see. I cursed the management for their misrepresentation, and told them I no longer intended to stay with them. A and I trekked to look for another hotel on Ashwem beach, me with my (then) aggravated knee ligament, and between us not just the baggage that we had carried from Delhi, but that of many hours of travel and being let down by a hotel that flaunted as its USP an infinity pool that did not exist.
We ultimately stayed at a very nice cottage on the beach, which didn't claim to have a pool of any kind, but did provide us with King's beer that helped cool down my considerably heightened temper that evening.
Moving on from dwelling on the pool that wasn't, to the great big swimming pool that is the Arabian Sea. I headed out for a swim in the sea the next morning, and it was wonderful! Ashwem at low tide is gentle and relaxing to swim in. It's not a crowded beach, so you only have to share the water with a few other tourists. The water is not deep, and the waves are not too rough. On the whole, Ashwem offers a great spot of sea to jump into!
Ashwem beach: deck chairs and beyond.
Ashwem beach: head far out with the seabed firmly beneath your feet.
December Delight # 2: Dona Paula, Goa
Shortly after the swim described above and the breakfast that followed, we headed 40 kilometres away to Dona Paula, to attend our friend's wedding. The public attraction here is the Dona Paula Jetty (where Singham was allegedly shot). We were very lucky to be staying in a hotel with access to its own private little cove.
The rocks outlining the stretch of beach that belonged to the hotel created an almost lagoon-like setting. This part of the Arabian Sea was like a big swimming pool! At high tide, you couldn't always see all the rocks, and even during low tide, some of those buggers submerged under the sea did end up scraping and knocking us.
Dona Paula, you beauty!
It was a bunch of us who had congregated in Goa for this destination wedding, and in the twilight before the shenanigans scheduled for the evening were to begin, we went down to the beach to pursue our varied interests. As one faction amongst us started playing football with a ball assiduously procured from Panjim earlier that afternoon, I ventured out with another keen swimmer.
Since he was also a diver, he used some diving technique to keep bobbing down underwater and arriving above the water level with a figure denoting what his estimate of the depth was. I think about 15 metres was the deepest he figured we went to.
This was also when I discovered that my "multi-sport" TomTom watch, in use for under a year, was not quite the solid triathlon gadget it claimed to be. It went kaput during the swim, and has still not recovered (it never will). I hate you, TomTom. But Arabian Sea, you will always be my love.
Mandatory Goa pool photo
There was, of course, the swimming pool inside the hotel that I did lounge about in briefly, but when you can have a much larger natural swimming pool at hand, why settle for any less!
Around Christmas, A and I took a very brief holiday to Pondicherry and Auroville. After spending a day in Pondicherry, we arrived in Auroville for a stay of two nights in the lovely Adishakti campus. Adishakti is a performing arts company, and their campus is where all the action happens. There is a lot of emphasis at Adishakti on the physical aspects of acting, which is why there appeared to be classes for kalaripayatu, yoga, and well, a swimming pool!
It was this swimming pool which compelled me to make a booking at the Adishakti guest house on AirBnb. And boy, was I not disappointed!
The husband and I had a very hectic schedule in Auroville. We had decided to make surfing the central focus of our trip. But the beach where the surfing happened was about 8 kilometres away, there was no public transport to speak of, and the cycle rental place was 3 kilometres away. So most of our two-ish days over there were spent in walking, cycling and trying to learn to surf. This left us understandably tired. But somehow I would always muster up enough energy for the beautiful pool in Adishakti.
As mentioned on their AirBnB entry, this pool used only natural salts and shunned chlorine. The pool had sparkling clean water. These standards were maintained through a series of very strict rules posted outside the premises of the pool, which included no swimming without a cap, no lotions before swimming, no peeing (!), no footwear around the pool, etc. I was happy complying with all of these to maintain the sanctity of this heavenly pool, this Godsend in December, far from Delhi's cold and pollution.
The pool was only about 20 or 25 metres long (I forget exactly now, but in the absence of availability of information about this on campus, the OCD swimmer in my downloaded a measuring app on my phone to manually measure its length), but in the course of under 48 hours, I swam here 4 times (including on my birthday, and twice on my last day before heading to Chennai in the afternoon - goodbyes are just so hard!!!) and almost a total of 5 kilometres.
Swimming at Adishakti was an experience. It is perhaps the most serene swimming pool I have ever had the fortune of swimming in. While in this pool, all you could see was greenery and tall palm trees, and the Laurie Baker-inspired mud walls enclosing it. There was a pleasant breeze to accompany you on your swim, no matter what the time of the day. The evenings actually got too to swim after sunset (in Tamil Nadu, would you believe it!).
This was a great pool to swim my last few swims of 2015 in. So the deluge of photos below is warranted, I feel. Thank you, Adishakti pool! You will be remembered very fondly, and hopefully we will meet again soon!
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