“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture on the lonely shore,” Lord Byron’s words ring true for all times and all ages. As a child I would go walking to school with my siblings. It was a 20-minute walk to our beautiful convent school. But we would start an hour early so that we could take our time to, play in the cantonment park, run on the footpath, collect leaves, pet kittens and puppies on the way and finally race to school just in time for the bell.
Long walks have been an integral part of my life. As a teenager I remember the long walks to the beach with my friends, sharing stories, eating salted peanuts in paper cones. Joyous in our youth, wondering if young men were taking notice.
Later in my twenties when my mother was diagnosed with high blood pressure, we took to long walks. We walked so fast, I came back exhausted. We would speak of everything under the sun. On one occasion quoting Mahatma Gandhi, my mother said: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Saying that she proceeded to clear the road of plastic bottles and other waste articles. We spent that morning clearing the path.
After my marriage I moved to Bangalore. My husband who enjoys sports found it hard to understand the joys of aimless rambling. A few walks later, he was a convert.
After settling in Dubai, two pregnancies made me obese. Again long walks came to my rescue.
Dear reader, when you feel dejected or lonely, uncomfortable, stressed, bored just take a walk, ramble aimlessly. It doesn’t matter where. “Forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair,” wrote Khalil Gibran.
- The reader is a homemaker based in Dubai
