A morning walk...
5th October 2008 - A vibrant Monday morning
Well, people have many reasons for a morning walk or a jog. Some do it as an exercise, some consider it as a stress buster, some do it just for fun and for some, it is all three packed together in a single activity. I fall in this category. Although it's really difficult to say a goodbye to the warm, cozy bed (especially when you know, you can spend a few more hours there), sometimes the returns are just as worthwhile.
My morning walk normally takes me around one and a half hours, walking along the roads in Pimple Gurav and Sangvi (places adjacent to my home at Dapodi). Although there are many morning enthusiasts who love walking in places with least disturbance from people or traffic, I love these 5-6 kms for just the opposite reason. I love it for the plethora of people and beautiful surroundings, which I find along the way.
Today, 5:30 in the morning, began my first adventure of the day. It was dark when I started walking and there were not many souls in sight at this hour. I made my way to the road which connects Dapodi and Pimple Gurav. Along the way, most of the people I found were the ones who were rushing to an open places nearby, for their morning routines. The only public toilet in this area, is always overcrowded and badly neglected, forcing people to find new places to relieve themselves. I consider it really unfortunate that we, as a nation are able to spend crores on nuclear projects, but always fall short of fulfilling the basic responsibility of providing sanitary facilities to every citizen of this country.
Walking ahead, I found a few newspaper vendors setting up their stalls for the day. I had a glance on the headlines, and as usual, the newspapers presented the same depressing picture, which all of us are accustomed to seeing and hearing everywhere these days. Crime, injustice, scandals, death, strikes and agitations always seem to be the only things happening in a nation of millions of people. Perhaps pessimism sells better than optimism.
I walked ahead, observing the people around me. And this time it wasn't a depressing sight at all. It was in fact a pleasant sight, to see people of all ages, walking in opposite directions of the road, acknowledging each other by smiling and waving hands to each other. There were elderly couples chatting along, smiling and walking fast, to keep up with young boys walking just ahead of them. Seeing them, I felt that perhaps, age should never really matter, when it comes to enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Life should always be enjoyed, by completely ignoring the boundaries of age.
The things I saw in the next hour, were equally beautiful. There were kids dressed in bright school uniforms, holding the hand of their yawning mothers and waiting excitedly for the school bus to arrive. There were sounds of loud chats and laughter emanating from the shops serving fresh hot tea. Women, holding three to four vessels each, stood impatiently in a long line, in front of a pipe supplying water. There were young boys cycling, whistling and throwing newspapers at doorsteps of houses, with amazing skill and balance. There were sounds all around of birds chirping on trees, bhajans being played from houses alongside the road and the pealing of bells from a nearby Lord Ganesha temple. Roads which were empty a little while ago, had now come to life with all kinds of vehicles. Life was slowly coming alive, on a lovely Monday morning.
As I was reaching home, soaked in sweat, I looked up at the sky. There the sun was, glowing brightly. And in the calm rays of sun falling on my face, I could clearly see, how our lives are entwined with this celestial delight. We too wake up to each day in our lives, trying to fight the darkness which yesterday brought with it, with a new hope of making everything around us bright forever. We try our best to fight it, until we can, and then we call it a day, letting our tired souls dwell into the veil of a beautiful sleep, one in which we conceive the dream to be fulfilled the next day, the dream of waking up to walk the distance of hope, love and a few unfulfilled dreams again...
Well, people have many reasons for a morning walk or a jog. Some do it as an exercise, some consider it as a stress buster, some do it just for fun and for some, it is all three packed together in a single activity. I fall in this category. Although it's really difficult to say a goodbye to the warm, cozy bed (especially when you know, you can spend a few more hours there), sometimes the returns are just as worthwhile.
My morning walk normally takes me around one and a half hours, walking along the roads in Pimple Gurav and Sangvi (places adjacent to my home at Dapodi). Although there are many morning enthusiasts who love walking in places with least disturbance from people or traffic, I love these 5-6 kms for just the opposite reason. I love it for the plethora of people and beautiful surroundings, which I find along the way.
Today, 5:30 in the morning, began my first adventure of the day. It was dark when I started walking and there were not many souls in sight at this hour. I made my way to the road which connects Dapodi and Pimple Gurav. Along the way, most of the people I found were the ones who were rushing to an open places nearby, for their morning routines. The only public toilet in this area, is always overcrowded and badly neglected, forcing people to find new places to relieve themselves. I consider it really unfortunate that we, as a nation are able to spend crores on nuclear projects, but always fall short of fulfilling the basic responsibility of providing sanitary facilities to every citizen of this country.
Walking ahead, I found a few newspaper vendors setting up their stalls for the day. I had a glance on the headlines, and as usual, the newspapers presented the same depressing picture, which all of us are accustomed to seeing and hearing everywhere these days. Crime, injustice, scandals, death, strikes and agitations always seem to be the only things happening in a nation of millions of people. Perhaps pessimism sells better than optimism.
I walked ahead, observing the people around me. And this time it wasn't a depressing sight at all. It was in fact a pleasant sight, to see people of all ages, walking in opposite directions of the road, acknowledging each other by smiling and waving hands to each other. There were elderly couples chatting along, smiling and walking fast, to keep up with young boys walking just ahead of them. Seeing them, I felt that perhaps, age should never really matter, when it comes to enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Life should always be enjoyed, by completely ignoring the boundaries of age.
The things I saw in the next hour, were equally beautiful. There were kids dressed in bright school uniforms, holding the hand of their yawning mothers and waiting excitedly for the school bus to arrive. There were sounds of loud chats and laughter emanating from the shops serving fresh hot tea. Women, holding three to four vessels each, stood impatiently in a long line, in front of a pipe supplying water. There were young boys cycling, whistling and throwing newspapers at doorsteps of houses, with amazing skill and balance. There were sounds all around of birds chirping on trees, bhajans being played from houses alongside the road and the pealing of bells from a nearby Lord Ganesha temple. Roads which were empty a little while ago, had now come to life with all kinds of vehicles. Life was slowly coming alive, on a lovely Monday morning.
As I was reaching home, soaked in sweat, I looked up at the sky. There the sun was, glowing brightly. And in the calm rays of sun falling on my face, I could clearly see, how our lives are entwined with this celestial delight. We too wake up to each day in our lives, trying to fight the darkness which yesterday brought with it, with a new hope of making everything around us bright forever. We try our best to fight it, until we can, and then we call it a day, letting our tired souls dwell into the veil of a beautiful sleep, one in which we conceive the dream to be fulfilled the next day, the dream of waking up to walk the distance of hope, love and a few unfulfilled dreams again...
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