Why walk?

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Haven’t gotten on the 10K-step bandwagon yet. No bands on wrist predict my fitness, I am holy though who thinks fitness levels I would like to detect by “how I feel” Most times it’s muddled, and that’s how it’s meant to be. I am a menopausal woman intending to be a zuzu. But other times the gut does tell about the fitness levels I possess, on some uninterrupted pondering, but the interruptions could be

“I don’t want to do it today” “Why should I measure now?” “Just do, why measure?” “wtf, just shut down and vegetate”

One of the activities that has been constant is walking.

I caught on to it when I moved to Bangalore, then the garden city, to just explore around. After work would walk around and I always felt it gave me a different perspective of the surroundings than the other means of transport. Ofcourse it gave some movement after long sitting hours at work. Then it used to be a solo walk. But the meighbourhood I moved to in bangalore, Indiranagar, was quaint and was worthy of a stroll. Evening showers would have let some flowers fall on the path, and it almost felt like walking on a carpet.

Then, in some years, walking became a dating ritual with my now partner. Morning walks to a temple nearby was mandatory. It gave us some time to talk and ofcourse fool around. What would 20 something lovers do, find a cosy spot to koochikoo. So this green neighbourhood was ideal for that. Morning hours were less crowded in those times in Indiranagar and were ideal for this romantic stroll.

Courtesy : Gemini

Walking was resorted to throughout our lives, when no other exercise can be done on that day. At least a quick stroll around the corner, always was a quick pick me up for the mood. Even when a toddler was home, he was put in a stroller and was pushed around for the walk. Not sure if he enjoyed it. But that was it. The walk had to be done.

Then walking was used for settling arguments sometimes. You need to talk about something, just request a stroll. With the steps, some words also flowed, and some differences could be talked about.

Walking was an essential tool to dissipate the stress in the body when it mounted. So it helped to be the companion when sitting was not an option, as thoughts ran through the body in multitudes. So walked round and round until either the body got tired or the thoughts subsided. Then the 10K was way exceeded in a sleepless night.

Still in a new city, I would prefer walking around and noticing small details of everyday life in that new land. It could be a walk from the financial district to Central Park in Newyork, or around the very familiar Thrissur round the milltionath time, and still discover sometthing every time.

Walking is a constant on all occasions, happy, sad, tensed, in love, contemplative, touristy or otherwise.