Daily Routine In Exumas

Lounging in the cockpit listening to music

Get up in the morning, have coffee, look at the horizon, blue skies, and the gentle sound of waves while I sit and listen to my music or read news of the world - this has been my idea of retirement. I never achieved it until we started living on a boat. This has certainly been my routine while anchored in the harbor outside Georgetown, Bahamas. I mostly listen to old Hindi film music. It is interesting how much one's taste in music is shaped in childhood. That is also true of the food preferences. Although over the years I have become quite proficient at making western dishes and dishes from regions like Thailand, France, and Mexico, once in a while we get the urge to have dinners with simple Indian dishes like Khichdi and spicy potato and onion sabzi, the way our parents used to make.

Here are some of the videos and photos that illustrate my morning routine. The video playing on the computer displays one of my favorite Indian actresses, Madhubala. As an aside, my other favorite is Sophia Loren. You might correctly surmise that these choices betray my age, which is in the 70s.

In the evening, sometimes we sit in the chairs in our cockpit, have tea, and snack. Occasionally, also sip wine, whiskey, or a gin and tonic while I smoke a cigar. Lately, I am trying to keep alcohol consumption down to twice a week and cigar smoking to one cigar a week. For health reasons. However, I buy into the idea that if I did not die from those bad habits by now, why worry now about the rest of my life?

Morning routine also includes calls to India. For me, it is to my mom or to the staff of the charity I have founded. In the late evenings, I have taken to watching a movie or a TV show. Afternoon is a nap time. I must say that sometimes I get a feeling that I need to do some more work - learn more about boats, do some boat projects, read books, and otherwise do some useful work. I do that sometimes, and I wish I would make those activities part of my daily routine. I also need to make doing exercise daily part of my routine.