February 19, 2013
I have been a morning walker ever since I retired in the year 1999 and it has acted nothing short of a miracle for me. During summer when the Sun rises early here in Lucknow my walk begins at 5 in the morning and in the winter when there is extreme cold and the sun rises leisurely, my walk begins at 6.
Way back in 1987 as I terminated my services in the Gulf and returned with a handful of money, I also brought with me several diseases caused by the rich food, the drink and the sedentary life that I had been leading for several years in the desert land.
Soon after my return from the Gulf I gave more priority to my future in India than to my health as I was 45 and was under extreme pressure to devote all my time and energy to make my family’s future secure. After some efforts I managed to land a job in the Government department.
Time passed, things settled down, mission accomplished, I retired in 1999 and in no time the several diseases that remained dormant began to surface. I was no longer the cool and composed person that I once used to be long ago. I even began to feel thirsty more often than necessary. There was definitely something wrong where my health was concerned.
One day our kind parish priest, on his usual visits to my place suggested that I accompany him to the nearest hospital for a thorough medical checkup and the very next day I accompanied him to the hospital. In no time the outcome was there: I was suffering from high blood sugar and also high B.P. While my sugar report was given to me the nurse virtually frightened me after seeing the report. In her mother tongue she muttered “marchi povu” in other words my sugar level was a life threat. I was shaken but did not lose heart.
I continued to stick to the doctor’s prescriptions while a close friend suggested that I take to walking every morning. As the medicines continued, so did my walk at 5 a.m. in the summer and at 6 a.m. in winter.
My walk began quite in earnest. I thought I would get over all my problems very soon. During the first three days of my walk, I got some muscle pain but things began to settle down. While I was continuing my walk, I would soon feel ill at ease and get a strange sensation as if I would fall down. However, I never gave up. I continued to walk and days, months, and years rolled on and my walk never stopped.
I began to feel the benefits of my walk as the days passed by. First and foremost my sugar level remained normal and in due course of time my sense of uneasiness completely vanished. Gradually, both medication and regular walk, except on Sundays, helped me even to bring my pressure down to normal.
I regularly walked for ten years by the side of roads which I no longer do as I found it is quite dangerous as I had a couple of close shaves during these walks. Someone suggested that I should keep walking against the traffic and never to walk in group or in company as it would not help me to maintain a steady pace.
My son who is a fitness freak suggested that I should walk in the sprawling park built specially for the morning walkers by the government close to my place. I switched over to this park for my morning walk and soon found that I had made a big mistake by ignoring this park and now that I keep walking in this park, after driving for five minutes from home, I enjoy myself in the beautiful surroundings of trees, lawns, waterfalls, and birds of various hues and breeds.
Initially I used to get tired after a walk of three kilometers and mind you that was when I was 58 and now I am 72, and after 14 years, I still keep walking, except on Sundays, and I walk the full two rounds of Lohia Park which amounts to in all 7.5 Km. I never get tired after this distance. I keep a steady pace of ten minutes for every kilometer and my walk of 7.5 KM takes just about 75 minutes.
This daily walk, the sweating, followed by a shower gives me enough energy to tackle the diverse tasks that I handle the livelong day with utmost ease and as the day ends, I hit the bed only to wake up for another days walk after a sound sleep at night.
Jimmy Noronha - Archives: