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Wednesday, March 02, 2005
A killer aunt, the yoga addict and fake journalists
Mid Day is on overdrive today, with a number of stories that would do any self-respecting tabloid proud. First, there's a delighful one by Hemal Ashar titled "Is too much yoga killing Khairnar?" Apparently GR Khairnar, who had earned the epithet all of us wanted as comic-book-loving adoloscents, "Demolition Man", has landed up in hospital because of "an obsession with yoga". Ashar elaborates:
His routine sounds quite as rigourous as Sania Mirza's, but somewhat less rational. Of course, there are some things in common between the two. Mirza did not speak to Mrs Khairnar either.
Another headline that instantly drew me to it was "Niece attacks killer aunt in court". The story is run-of-the-mill (by Mid-Day's crazed standards), but the illustrations, by a gentleman named Kasbekar Pratimkumar, are wonderful. I especially like the four ethereal snakelike thingies above the killer aunt's head in the first illustration.
Frankly, the killer aunt got away lightly. In an article titled "Fake scribes thrash cop in Thane", Naveeta Singh described how a policeman was "assaulted on the penis" by two men pretending to be journalists. I hope they weren't bloggers.
And finally, a headline that will surely go down in legend, "Kunte backs Khobragade on Rangsharada". I have no idea who the hell Kunte and Khobragade are, or what or who Rangasharda is, but I wish them all the very best.
Khairnar began practicing yoga while on a rehabilitation drive in Kutch, around July 2004. He started with free hand exercises and light yoga daily. On realising its benefits, he became a man with a new mission.
“I was bitten by the yoga bug,” he said, from his hospital bed. “The pain in my knee, little finger and waist had disappeared, thanks to yoga. I have been allergic to a host of vegetables and dry fruits for 25 years. Yoga cured that too.”
After that, there was no stopping. Recounted Ashalata [Khairnar's wife], “He practised jal neti (taking in water from one nostril and passing from the other), rubber neti (inserting a rubber tube through the nose and removing from the mouth) and pet neti (consuming water in abundance and flushing it out) for several hours a day. He used to practice yoga for 12 hours.
He would push back meal times to 11 pm and sleep for only three hours a day, not wanting to miss his routine. He would sometimes lock himself up in the bathroom for six hours at a stretch, busy with yoga inside.”
“I became greedy. If I were asked to consume a litre of water for cleansing, I would take 30. At times, I would repeat an exercise 800 times, thinking that nothing succeeds like excess,” said Khairnar.
“I did not speak to my wife for three months as I used to do yoga the whole day. Where was the time to talk to her?”
His routine sounds quite as rigourous as Sania Mirza's, but somewhat less rational. Of course, there are some things in common between the two. Mirza did not speak to Mrs Khairnar either.
Another headline that instantly drew me to it was "Niece attacks killer aunt in court". The story is run-of-the-mill (by Mid-Day's crazed standards), but the illustrations, by a gentleman named Kasbekar Pratimkumar, are wonderful. I especially like the four ethereal snakelike thingies above the killer aunt's head in the first illustration.
Frankly, the killer aunt got away lightly. In an article titled "Fake scribes thrash cop in Thane", Naveeta Singh described how a policeman was "assaulted on the penis" by two men pretending to be journalists. I hope they weren't bloggers.
And finally, a headline that will surely go down in legend, "Kunte backs Khobragade on Rangsharada". I have no idea who the hell Kunte and Khobragade are, or what or who Rangasharda is, but I wish them all the very best.
