Age 40+ Waist 40 + over weight 40 +…get going… Take a walk. The last time I visited my family physician with absolute helplessness over my plight, his advice was “stop talking, start moving”. This seems to be the only answer to all people under this genre of 40 + of sorts, be it in age, girth or weight. I heeded his advice without delay and found walking to be fascinating, because — Walking can elicit interesting sights to say the least be it in the luscious expanse of Cubbon park or Lalbagh, or water bound lakes of Hebbal, Sankey, Nagwara or Yediyur to name a few, or in the criss-crossing lanes of Koramangala, Indiranagar, Sadashiva nagar, RMV and other such colonies. Wherever you are, you can hear the chirping birds, growling dogs, chattering ladies, boisterous business men, and many silent single joggers, some young and some not so young. You also get to listen to singers, crooning old melodies or at times whistling them, definitely entertaining every time you pass them.
Then there are men who discuss all and sundry under the sun, sometimes in hushed voices and many times in loud decibels heard well enough from far of distances too. As I walk on, I see an aged couple that instantly arouses my poetic instincts as they seek respite on the parks bench, The civic laws not being stringent in our own land, we have much mooted menace of stray dogs coupled with pet dogs all making merry of their nature’s call on the open paths with least concern of people stumbling over the muck, unlike the West where the civil requirement makes it mandatory to carry a pooh-pooh bag behind the pet.
Bird watchers get a delightful sight watching various aquatic and migratory birds when at lakes and resident birds in the parks. The flowers in full bloom be it the Jacaranda or Gul mohar are another set of treat for the eyes.
Oh! Oh! Am I going over board, let’s stop talking, start moving adding 40 steps to every thousand steps for 40 minutes every day. Happy Walking!