It was one of the coldest and
darkest of the December mornings with the sky appearing to take revenge on
mankind with a very heavy downpour. I tried to save whatever heat I could by
clinging on to my dear blanket and hugging my pillow even more. I must have
been in grade five or six then. I heard the old clock in my grandpa’s room
striking five and shortly after that I heard the main door of our home making a
creaking noise.
With stories from Phantom and Mandrake the Magician running at the back of my
mind, I suddenly smelled a sense of adventure!
With some effort and lots of
courage I crawled out of my bed and walked into the hall which was quite dark. The
mirror in the room shared a faint reflection of the leaves of papaya tree that
stood in our backyard. The dim street light in a pocket road next to my home
gave an eerie feeling to the whole morning. The door creaked again.
I peeped into the drawing
room where the main door stood and saw the figure of a man clad in white
T-shirt and a cotton wraparound with a head gear covering the ears. He had an
umbrella as well in his hand. Before even I could speak a word he promptly got
out and plunged into the rain giving me an illusion of almost disappearing into
the darkness! That was my grandfather going out for his usual morning walk, a
routine that he followed till an age when his legs could carry him!
Walking was just one of them.
He had many more such regular practices in life which he followed quite
strictly. Eating on time, sleeping early and catching-up on the newspapers
daily were a few among them. All of these and many more were religiously
followed by him that the days in my grandpa’s life can be a textbook with pages
that showed up as photocopies.
Today, we are living in a world
where life is changing at a pace where we aspire to do things differently every
other moment. This picture perfect life led by my grandpa now appears to me
more like a fantasy. While I would like to classify this as a lesson from a centenarian,
perhaps this is one of the toughest one as well. Modern day lifestyle coupled
with lethargy makes it quite a challenge for following something as rigorous as
this routine. Nevertheless I would prefer to highlight this as one of the most
inspiring lessons from my grandpa.
It indeed is a challenge to
practice such a lifestyle but with the kind of news we hear around us with
respect to health and wellbeing I believe it becomes all the more important to
learn from such a life. Our sedentary way of life is one of the primary reasons
for many of the ailments we suffer today. The only way out is to make up our
mind to kick out the lethargy and find at least 30 minutes in a day, if not
more, to involve in a physical activity that will make our body and mind
engaged. Initiatives such as Fitness Challenge by the Crown Prince of Dubai is
meant to make us aware of the need for this in our life today.
While I have not been doing
justice fully to such initiatives I strongly subscribe to the thought that I
should really be following some of these learnings from yester years so that it
adds value to my everyday life. It is not just our health that becomes better,
but the overall quality of life improves with such positive changes that are
brought in.
A mere thought may not be
sufficient for us to be motivated to do something as challenging as this. What
helps many I learned is to set a target which can be achievable and work
towards it. It could be something in lines of losing certain number of kilos or
comfortably getting into that tight dress in your wardrobe or so.
May we all find that spirit to
pull us out of our laziness and push us forward to a healthier and brighter
life!
God bless.
