Pic courtesy: basketman at Freedigitalphotos.net
Walking is something I enjoy. Whether it is walking on the beach, my daily brisk walks or walking on hikes, walking is an integral part of my life. It is the most enjoyable form of workout especially when done outdoors. It can be a pain too when one has to trudge broken footpaths, open gutters and insane bikers who treat footpaths as bike paths. That could be one of the reasons why I prefer not to walk on roads or footpaths unless absolutely unavoidable.
Walking also brings forth memories. This one is actually a funny memory. For the longest time, I remember that as kids whenever we were rushing to a place that required a fair bit of walking, it was dad who spearheaded the group walking ahead sometimes separated by a distance of many footsteps with mom huffing and puffing to keep up and us kids sprinting to match dad’s pace. Considering that he is 6’2” and mom was a good 1 foot shorter than him, the long strides added to her woes. Later, it was sort of accepted that she would languish behind. Some of us would just hang around with her while the others tried to run and catch up with dad. It was the most hilarious to watch on railway platforms. As the siblings grew older, we even gave mom a hand when out hiking.
Cut to the scene now with my family. My husband and I are better balanced in terms of height. He is a few inches taller and we manage our strides really well when we go for our brisk walking. But at other times, due to some strange reason, I see myself falling behind. The other day he commented that even if he slows down, he finds that all of us including the kids slow down so in effect our formation as a group remains undisturbed. It is as if we expected him to lead the way. One advantage of that approach is that we are forewarned of sudden craters, missing slabs on footpath, dog/cow poop on the street etc.
When I thought about it, I felt he was right. I sort of naturally fall behind when we walk together as a family. I guess it must have started when I tried to go slow with the kids who had to run to keep pace with us. Slowly, that became a habit. Even now, my younger son, who loves to walk with us almost runs to stay tuned to our pace. So strange how you go from always walking with your significant other to falling naturally behind when you have kids. Of course, as the years in the marriage increase, the husband stops pausing when the wife stops besotted by trinkets in the shop window and the same applies to the wife who sees the husband almost hypnotized by some random gadget in the window.
We now throw impatient glances egging the other to move on while at a short distance. 🙂
Have you experienced something similar?
Walking is so much fun.. I am just again rediscovering joys of walking and you are so right.. we to debate who is walking fast and who is slow 🙂
haha Never get into that debate. You will not win. Walking is joyful though not on Indian roads certainly.
Hey, what a coincidence! When I was a kid, I remember my father leading the way a few feet ahead. We – myself, my mum in the middle and my brother on her other side – would follow dad, who would chid us to keep pace with him and not lag behind . We three would be lost in our world, me and my bro asking/talking about this and that, and mum listening, and at times grumbling how dad never walked with us! Your post brought back sweet memories, Rachna. Will talk about it with mum when I call her up today. 🙂
Oh yes, your point about being lost in our conversations and also answering all questions is so valid for us too. I notice that my kids constantly share their observations and we tend to slow down further. 🙂 The grumbling part is done by me as well. So glad the post struck a chord with you. Let me know what your mom says. 🙂
We too are ‘walking people’. We had always been walking in the mornings….well, for many years now. He is tall and his strides are long. I am short and so I am always behind him like your mother. We walk up to the beach road and come back. He turns back if I am still behind only at the turnings of the roads…otherwise I mostly walk alone! My walking experience is here: http://maradhimanni.blogspot.in/2014/04/good-mornings-are-happy-mornings-too-now.html
Only thing is we are so obsessed to waking up at 4.45 and go for our walking that even when we go for holidays, we tend to wake up at the same time. Never sleep/not able to sleep till 6 am!
Very interesting to read about your experience, Sandhya. I guess all husbands and wives fall into this schedule of walking comfortably. Will hop over to your post now.
Even I love walking, and I walk pretty fast, my friends used to complaint as they had to walk much faster to keep pace with my steps and continue our conversations.
And now my husband is a bit faster than me at times so I have to always remind him to slow down during our walks.
Nice post.
haha Yes, Swati. I often crib too and then he pointed out that I am slowing further when he slows down. 🙂
That’s really funny Rachna.:) I love walking and Norway is an exceptional place to do so. You would never know it to look at me but I walk usually up to three hours a day because I don’t drive and have to do a lot of dropping off and picking up and errands by walking! Now I wish it would kick in and that I would drop a pound or two!!:) But even if I don’t, there is still nothing I enjoy more than walking.:)
When I lived in the Netherlands and the Scotland, I remember walking to almost every place. The sidewalks were a joy to walk on. Unfortunately in India, you will find very few places conducive to walking. I do love it so and find these walking tracks to indulge in this passion. 🙂 And yes, brisk walk is a great workout too. 😉
Made me smile.. The scenarios you have portrayed ..
And yeah yeah blame it on the kids nooooooo.. He he he
I hate walking yes I do..Maybe because of work got to work a lot as In any given shift have to walk for at least half the shift..and with all the gear on its not easy..and also now becoming budha me.. 😉
hehehe Arre nahin baba. It’s the mom checking that the brood is doing fine keeping up. I can imagine if your work involves walking you wouldn’t want to do that separately.
Love walking, especially during any of my travels. Nothing like exploring a new city on foot. On another note, my mum is a pretty fast walker. During evening walks, she would be the one leading, while Dad and I strolled leisurely! 😉
Absolutely, Aditi. The best way to explore. Now that sounds like fun, you an dad strolling while mom rushes ahead. 🙂
Walking to explore a city or shopping is something that I love a lot. Of course, I struggle to translate this love into a daily habit. And your parents experience and then that of you and your hubby is exactly similar to my parents and KG and I. 😀
hehe So typical of all parents, I would imagine. Oh yes, walking and exploring go hand and hand.
You know what I really liked? The underlying import of that statement: “I guess it must have started when I tried to go slow with the kids who had to run to keep pace with us. ”
We tend to do that, right?Gladly too, since it’s our kids we are doing it for. I always think of who I was before becoming a mom and how I am today and am amazed at the nuances and the changes that have come about.
As for walking I remember falling in love with it as a kid and then somehow stopped doing much of it. Must get back to it. Always makes me feel rejuvenated.
Trust you to pick that up. It is the maternal feeling of falling behind to check that everyone is fine and is keeping up. A few years back, I would have laughed had someone painted a picture of me that way. You are absolutely right, I was actually thinking about this yesterday. How much I have transformed and for the better since I became a mother. Oh, you must walk. I just love it. Thanks for reading and for your lovely comment, Shy.
That part of your memory about walking and some members of the family lagging behind on the railway platforms brought a smile. It is perhaps part of all Indians who have ever traveled by trains. And then of course there is the brisk walker in the family trying to catch up with the porter carrying all the luggage. Such fun memories 🙂
Oh yes, Beloo. Railway platforms are a part of our childhood memories, fond ones at those. And yes, it is the dads chasing the porter who walks at quite a pace despite carrying a bunch of luggage while the others try to keep pace girte padte. 🙂
Haha! For the rotund person that I am, I love to walk. In fact, if the heat is bearable, I would much rather walk and take in the sights around. However J walks really slow and we have a tough time keeping up with each other. Often, she’ll hold my arm and tug if I’m going too fast. See, she keeps me grounded. In more ways than one 🙂
hehe She sure keeps you grounded. How do you guys walk with Rishi or should I ask you this once he is older?
My mom used to walk so fast sometimes and not even look back when the four of us walked together… It used to be so funny seeing her turn after walking so far ahead… Dad would stay back with us… we would be worried sick because mom in her walking mode wouldn’t even look out for cars at times…Ofcourse, now she stays behind due to her legs… With S, we walk together but I guess that will change ..
hehe Yes the husbands usually do that. Keep walking ahead and not even look back till they are out of sight. Yes, you walk together for now. G and I walk together when we are out on our own. But that changes. As it will for you too. 😀
I’m the one who walks faster and has to put up with, what’s wrong with you!
hehe That must be funny.
Saru is much slower than me. I like to walk fast and she is not even half my pace! Over the years, i have slowed down so she doesn’t have to suffer.
I guess, times change and so does the pace!
True, that, Alok. 🙂
I am enjoying walking only in this stage of life as the fat sits in all unwanted parts of the body, 🙁 As kids, never bothered to care how long we walked but I never enjoyed walking as much…I mean never took it as a pleasure. These days, it’s only occasional strolls in the neighbor hood…S has some leg pain issues…so no brisk walks..He prefers to walk on main roads and I take all short cuts, parking lots, local routes and that is where we argue 😛
hehe Walking is really less stressful on the joints but if you do it very leisurely then there is not much exercise you get out of it.
Hehehe…I can visualize the scene; it was the same with my parents, as my mom, too, is almost a foot shorter than my dad.
However, as far as me and my hubby go, we are currently forced to walk together, as my toddler insists on holding both our hands while walking. 😀
Now toddler is an equalizer. 😉
I am the slowest walker in my family and always fall behind. 🙂
These days I almost always fall behind.
The joys of walking are unparalleled and besides health benefits one is ever short of watching delightful people who follow the track:)
True that. 🙂
Always. Height difference is one reason and I love to walk slow. I can’t walk fast. And as you said, it’s good that someone is leading your way and warning you. 😛
Walking is what I do to clear my head, to relax, as exercise, just for fun.
A walk to the park with my fave book – a tree shade to read it under – makes the perfect day!
K is taller than I am by a good measure – so, he has to slow down for me to keep up with him! 😀
It never fails to amaze me as to how some Indian couples walk – the man is in the front by himself and his wife walks behind him… I see so many couples doing that here and I always wonder – when do they talk to each other?
I think a lot of us can agree with your observation. In Indian society, a man is expected to walk ahead. This used to be a way of protecting your significant other. 🙂 With the advent of Mughal era and the women forced to go under veil, women were expected to dutifully follow the husband how-so-ever unworthy he might be of her. A lot of men can’t handle it when they see that their wife is more capable then them.
These days some women prefer walking behind their husband as now both of them remain engaged in whatsap while walking and the woman expects the husband to lead the way so that she can concentrate more on her smartphone than her husband. 😀
I love to walk too. Rather I prefer to walk than to jog. The only condition is I want a bit of peace when I walk so early mornings in bylanes of Bangalore always work for me. VT and I do not match up our heights. So, I fall short of over a feet but I keep matching up the pace. Sometimes, I ask him to slow down to match mine and usually I get distracted to click pictures while on the go 🙂
Interesting. It was exactly the same with my parents and is with my in laws. With me and wife, it was never like that and don’t think will ever be. I tend to be dreamy and thoughtful and not good at keeping track of the road – so generally wife has to hold my hand and lead me around. My son is also slow learning to lead me around. When I am alone I tend to stray and get lost. Then I hail an auto to bring me home.
I thought it was only us – this thing about husbands walking ahead of the lot. It’s funny how families mirror each other through generations. Cute post Rachna.
All of us in the family love to walk. Strangely now that I read your post, I realized that we always walk together – at the same pace. I mean, we just keep pace with each other. Even when Vidur was little, he would just run along and we’d be together. 🙂 Hehehe. I get the habit part though!
Yeah Walking is fun. ! And i recently discovered the benefits of meditative walking. My husband is a faster walker than I am and soon outpaces me. But then we have managed to keep the balance by me, walking a little faster and him, walking a little slower.
When we do our brisk walking, we walk together. It is at other times, that the skew is terrible. 🙂