India's first hoopster to be invited to America for WNBA tryouts has sorted out her cuisine problems
India's first hoopster to be invitedu00a0to Americau00a0for WNBA tryouts has sorted out her cuisine problems
Hailing from God's own country has a flipside to it. Finding a palatable cuisine when you travel abroad becomes a problem. And it gets accentuated if you are an athlete for whom diet is a key performance factor.
Off to America
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| Geethu Anna Jose at Indian Gymkhana yesterday. PIC/ATUL KAMBLE |
Luckily for Geethu Anna Jose, she won't face such problems when she travels to the US later this month for 'tryouts' with Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks, which play in the top division of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
For Geethu, the Indian captain who plays centre, the stint with Ringwood Hawks in the Australian Big V league, for two seasons (2006-08) has taught her ways to cope with the problem.
"I eat mainly seafood, fish and chicken. When I went to Australia for the first time, I was feeding on chocolates," Geethu told MiD DAY.
"Whenever I went to play outside India, I would search for Kerala food, not even Indian food. But in Australia, when I saw a north Indian restaurant, I was happy."
She was wiser the second time she went there. She carried homemade chutney powders!
"Once I cooked some beef curry in my room and the Aussies were so attracted by the aroma. They all came into my room saying, 'give me some, give me some of that curry'." But they had it only once and never had it again, because it was so spicy for them," Geethu laughed.
The 25-year-old from Kottyam, Kerala, is used to the various cuisines now and doesn't foresee narrating such anecdotes after her sojourn to the US. "The only food that doesn't go with me now is Chinese. They smell so much of garlic," she said, her eyebrows knotting in aversion.
The Southern Railways employee will be leaving for the US on April 23 for the tryouts which could last for two weeks. She expected to know the outcome of her trials in May.
If picked, she would be the first Indian, either men's or women's player, to play in the world's most high-profile basketball league.
Being the pioneer meant she had another issue to overcome ufffd homesickness.
"When I was to go to Australia, I cried like anything at the airport. I called my agent and said 'I don't want to go'," the 6'2" tall girl said.
"Everything was packed and 15 minutes to go for boarding, and there I was, not wanting to go. The agent said that I had an open ticket and I could come back anytime. So I agreed.
"When I went there, my cousin brother, the coach, the coach's daughter and the captain were there to pick me. After that I was alright."
