WALK WALK WALK AND WALK

AUM.
WALK WALK AND WALK
By Chitranjan Sawant
I was a boy scout and an active one. I loved my uniform and dreamed of joining the Indian Army someday to wear the olive greens. The British were still around as masters of our destiny in undivided India and all the high posts were occupied by them or by the families that were counted as pillars of the Raj. My scout master commended my plan of becoming an army officer but said that the British rulers did not appreciate independent minded men and women. A little bird brought me some good news. A British Army Officer was to come to motivate boys in uniform to join the Indian Army on completion of secondary school education. The British paramount power needed young men to promote war efforts and that there were privileges galore for those who helped defeat the Axis powers. German and Japanese armies were on the war winning path then.
MOTIVATION FOR MEN
The British Army Officer, after his introductory remarks, said some golden words that have motivated men like me all along. “Don’t let grass grow under your feet” said he. We were standing on the school quadrangle lawn and the grass was already under our feet. We looked at the grass, looked at him and looked puzzled. The officer understood our predicament. He said that this sentence of the King’s English meant that you have to be up and about all the time. If you succeed in joining the army, you will be required to be on your toes all the time. In other words, do everything at the double. Be on the move all the time. The boys thought that the gentleman had demotivated the audience. Boys are after all boys and want to take things easy.
The talk did me a lot of good. I was motivated to be on the move all the time. I promised to myself that I shall not let grass grow under my feet. To achieve this aim, I had to walk, walk and walk. Walking all these years, even as an Army Officer when a car was at my beck and call, kept me in the pink of health. As an adolescent on the threshold of joining the All Men’s Club, I was highly motivated by the aforesaid British Army Officer to join the Indian Army. I succeeded in achieving the goal and what helped me most was my mental make up to be on my toes always and everytime. Indeed it kept my physical fitness at the optimum level.
MY MORNING WALK
Eversince listening to the motivational talk, I have always been up and about in the wee hours of the morning. Initially I went out on a run, then it was walk and run and as the age advanced I took to morning walks. Ah! What a delightful experience it is to walk in sylvan surroundings with the birds chirping on the trees and in mango season, the nightingale singing its song of joy. At the crack of the dawn, there are not many human being around and in wooded parks of appreciable size even peacocks and peahens come close to humans to compare notes. In Pachmarhi of 1950s, located in central India and boasting to be the sole hill station in Madhya Pradesh, nestling near a waterfall or walking through the thick jungles a morning walker could meet a friendly tiger. The magnificent king of the jungle would just yawn to say Good Morning to the civilized Man and disappear in the thick woods.
I have full freedom of doing anything on my morning walks. There is not a soul around at that hour of the morning whose privacy would be disturbed. No one would threaten to sue me if I sang a song or just danced in my own style. Indeed that was the golden hour to prepare my speech or a lecturette and even practise it before a bush or a tree treating them as captive audience. What a pristine joy did I experience in going through the lecture practice without a single interruption from the audience or the mentor. Of course, mistakes went undetected and became a part of the script until friendly mentor pointed it out.
I love to dress up for my morning walks. I prefer all whites, from top to toe. Wearing spotlessly clean and well pressed white shorts, a white half-sleeve shirt, a pair of white socks and white PT shoes without a speck of dust is a source of unadulterated joy. Of course, a lot of effort goes into coming out of the house so well dressed. Once a neighbour remarked that the way you dress up, it appears you are going up for an Olympic competition. I took it as a compliment.
CHARAIVETI CHARAIVETI
It is a command of the holy book, the Vedas. Move on, Move on – that is indeed a Vedic injunction. If a human being is constantly on the move, he will never suffer from inertia. It is the walk, it is the Pranayam that exercises the mind and the body. The essential organs get oxygenated blood and remain healthy. One does an effort to get ready to go out of the house and it motivates the individual to do both mental and physical exercises. That is the way to remain mentally alert and physically fit.
If the grass has not grown under your feet, it means you are an active fellow. An individual of this nature will advance in age gracefully without suffering from common age-related problems like the Al Zheimer’s or Dementia or pain in the knees. There will be enthusiasm for life and zest in doing a job well. An individual who walks and walks will find some meaningful activity for himself and not remain idle. The devil will not come anywhere near an active person because his or her mind will not be idle and cannot become a devil’s workshop.
Accepting the Vedic word of command we walk, walk and walk.
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