Eavesdropping in the swimming pool

Those of you who've been following this blog long enough probably know how much I love swimming and that I go for a swim every morning.

The time I spend in the pool is the best time of my day. The cool water, the peaceful morning weather, well, you get the picture.

These days, when the highest temperature during the day is in the low thirties, the number of people in the pool has considerably reduced which has made the swim that much more relaxing. A few weeks back however there were many more people and unless you were careful, you could actually collide with a number of people.

Invariably, there were groups of people who would come together or people who would meet their friends and acquaintances at the pool and strike up interesting conversations. I would be an unwitting eavesdropper.

For instance, there was one gentleman who was a player in the stock market. He would counsel everyone in sight to get an online stock trading account and dabble in shares giving tips on what to buy or sell.

Then there was this lady doctor who had just returned from a long visit to the US. She spun some of the most ridiculous stories on how Splenda had aspartame and should not be used or that there was now treatment for cancer where they can 'block' the bad cells. And whenever she said 'block' she gesticulated wildly with her hand actually showing how the medicines could 'block' the cells!

There were 2 elderly gentlemen who continuously bitched about a third gentleman. And when the hapless target of the bitching was around, they would be shocking camaraderie all around!

And then there was this group of Gujju ladies who would spend more time chatting about things as diverse as recipes for the best summer pickles to the bawdy Gujju play that ran at their club the previous night. They were there more for catching up than for any serious exercise.

It was fun listening to all this and it was not (I swear!) intentional. I mean, what could I have done? Closed my ears? The persons mentioned did not try to speak softly. The words came naturally to my ears.

Anyway, the summer has gone and so have my fellow swimmers. All I can eavesdrop on now is the chirping of the birds and the whooshing of the wind. I am not complaining.

Comments

PDS said…
Blog like this one and you would see PDS comment. You truly rock man. Great to read your blogs. This was a sweet one. Keep swimming and blogging !!
PDS said…
arre yaar, add my blog link to yours