The word “adventure” conjures up images of the African Serengeti or the Amazon rainforest. I am fortunate to have had my share of such adventures: pogo stick jumping in Antarctica and juggling underwater with sharks in an aquarium in Malaysia, to name a few. But adventures don’t necessarily have to be in exotic places. With the right attitude, you can have an adventure in your own backyard or, as in this case, at a nearby zoo!
I do like to find an appropriate backdrop for my record attempts. It’s part of the fun, but at the end of last year (2006) I was extremely busy with work and couldn’t spare the time to go to a faraway place. I wanted to attempt two records : the first-juggling three balls for the most number of catches while hanging upside down; and, the second-crawling the fastest mile. One of my friends suggested the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut, which is less than two hours away from my house. I’m an animal lover, and it sounded like a lot of fun, so my friends and I piled into a car and visited the charming zoo.
I found a flat course on grass for the crawling mile, but I really got excited when I saw the tiger cage. On the outside of the cage was a post from which I could attach a bar to hang and juggle. I think the tiger liked the idea because when I approached the cage, he came to the fence and stood up on his hind legs. “Wow”, I thought, “either this guy really likes me or else he’s thinking what a tasty meal I would make!”
Of course, I still needed permission which is often not immediately forthcoming from the authorities. Fortunately, the zoo management couldn’t have been more encouraging (about the record attempts, not about the tiger eating me!) and we set up a date for the following week.
On the appointed day, I decided to do the juggling record first. The tiger cage drew quite a crowd of the usual zoo-visiting kids and parents, but the record attempt brought some reporters as well. I was pretty nervous because upside down juggling requires intense concentration, and I was concerned that all the people might divert my attention.
I hopped up onto the bar, focused and began my record attempt. I had not anticipated all the noise from the watchers. Even the tiger seemed put off by all the commotion as he retreated to the far corner of his cage! Concentration was difficult and at about 150 catches, one of the balls fell to the ground. Ugh. To perform this record, you hang by your ankles and bend your torso up to toss the balls skyward. The record at 197 continuous catches doesn’t sound like much, but after a short time your abs fatigue and ache, and your throws tend to become erratic. It takes unwavering concentration to keep the balls from flying out of reach.
I was concerned because the stress on the abs is such that you can only make a couple of attempts before your abs turn totally to jelly. I rested a few minutes and tried a second time, but again, I came up short. My adventure was becoming an adventure in embarrassment!
I announced to the disappointed crowd that I might try again after the crawling record depending on how I felt. However, I knew from experience, that a third juggling attempt was unlikely because the crawling record is also very ab intensive. If anything, my already fatigued stomach muscles would be in even worse shape after crawling for a mile.
Anyway, I knew I needed “inner recovery” from my failed attempts so I meditated for a minute on my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy. I was suddenly flooded with energy! I approached the starting line of the crawling mile determined not to fail. At the starter’s “Go!” I became a crawling fool! The timers announced my split times in disbelief. I was so concentrated that I didn’t even notice a dog on the course who seemed to be perplexed by this unrecognized four-legged creature huffing and puffing towards him!
My time for the mile was 24 minutes 44 seconds, more than 4 1/2 minutes better than the previous record! My abs were sore, but fortunately my inner focus from my meditation was still with me and I was eager to try the juggling record again. The television reporter could see that I was tired and told me it wasn’t necessary to try again because he already had a good story. I thanked him for his concern, but explained that this wasn’t about the show: it was about the challenge!
I waved to the tiger, struggled up onto the bar on his cage, and began juggling. It was amazing-everything became effortless. I was able to manage 251 catches and, when I landed back on terra firma, I surprised myself by letting out a resounding whoop. Across the zoo, visitors must have wondered at this new and strange call-the call of the joyful, juggling, crawling, homo crazylius, who just had a wonderful adventure in self-transcendence at his local zoo!
