The Walk of a Lifetime
Why am I doing this to myself?Well, I had committed to it - it's a promise made. I have to do it for the posts made on FB - don't want to end up as a laughing stock, for the people who are donating and who are receiving. For my team. For myself I'm plain daft. 40 + Kilometres into the longest walk of my life, I was walking alone - darkness was setting in, I was hungry, thirsty, tired, sweaty, disheveled, cramping up. I was still recovering from torn ligaments on my ankle and suffice to say that completing the Oxfam Trailwalker India was the last thing on my mind. I was just concentrating on keeping the pain out of my mind.
It was not the same 11 hours earlier. We had started bright and early, completed the first 20K without so much as breaking a sweat and all was looking hunky dory. That was when the sun decided to smile on us, and how it did. The next 10 Ks were slightly more difficult, the tiredness was creeping in ; broken by the magnificent topography all around which refreshed our minds, and the interaction with the villagers. One thing which had struck me was how the school children thought we were from a different country (Hello Ingliss, is how I was greeted somewhere). They kept running toward us and presenting us with flowers, the pure innocence and joy in welcoming us strangers to their territory, no doubt amplified multifold by the fact that it meant a holiday in school!
The villagers too, amid their farming and silk-weaving were spending a lazy afternoon; that time when the rice causes a soporific stupor, which results in a siesta under the porticoes of newly built brick houses; a time when all work comes to a grinding halt. The heat to the elderly left no option but to spend time with their family, to youngsters a challenge, one that of defiance, for a game of marbles and hopscotch. For the breadwinner this was the time to hang his feet, maybe light up his pipe and discuss the intricacies of the season's harvest. For the dogs, all the running around for food was catching up, and the heat caused their tongues to hang out and limbs to wilt, to tired even to shake a fly perched on its ears. It was this lethargic scene which greeted our eyes as we entered the village.
What was more surprising was the sudden change in behavior as the villagers noticed our arrival in their territory. The hopscotch game suddenly stopped, as if someone had pressed a pause button. The eyes were wide open. The elderly stopped their conversations to focus on us. Their mouths opened and closed, as if they wanted to ask something but were not sure whom to ask. Who was the leader of this group, which appeared so foreign? As we passed, smiles were exchanged but no words came out, from our end because we were short on water supplies, limited knowledge of the language and were getting tired; from their end probably because they were still getting over their surprise at seeing such a people wearing such foreign-looking attire.
As we were about to pass ahead, someone suddenly ventured and asked "Which Country?"
Bangalore - India, I replied. "What's your name?", I ventured in my basic Kannada. Suddenly a smile, a warm smile appeared. The ice was broken - suddenly all curiosity had to be satiated and after a repartee, the questions started coming thick and fast. "Why are you walking this distance?", "You are walking, how much are they paying you?", "How stupid! You are suffering in this heat, and paying for it too. You city people are so stupid", "You don't have money? That's why you are walking?", "There's a bus which stops right here. Catch it and go" and so on and so forth.
Once you crossed that barrier in the conversation, indulged them in their curiosity, it was great fun receiving the hospitality that followed. The gifting of walking sticks by children when they saw us limping, being offered water and cold drinks (refusing to accept money for it), the cheering when we received at the check points, the smiles and waves interchanged is something that I will cherish forever. It was this exchange, even for the fleeting instances, where there was no give and no take, where it was all about two humans exchanging emotions, passing through language and social barriers which caused a plethora of emotions within me. It reconnected me with the basic essence of life, and for that reason I will forever remember this walk.
One thing else I learned was about the power of willpower. When faced with such physical adversity it is the vision of the goal and the will to achieve it which makes you cross any (and I mean ANY) hurdle. It was this will which caused one team-mate to walk the last 40 Ks after he was contemplating retirement due to an injury. It was this will which caused us to run the final bit (after 35 hours of walking). It was this will that caused us to walk 100 Kilometres.
[ This was a walk organized by an NGO - Oxfam India. Oxfam trailwalkers are famous in that they have been conducted throughout the world; this was the first time it was being done in India. Our trailwalk?
100 KM, from Sangam to Bidadi (places in Karnataka, India, in case you're wondering). 35 Hours 23 Minutes 07 Seconds is what it took for us to travel the distance.
For generating funds we created a campaign on the net BPL ko GPL for raising funds. My teammates were Abhishek Haritwal, Sourabh Mundhra and Vivek Shah
http://trailwalker.in/]
It was not the same 11 hours earlier. We had started bright and early, completed the first 20K without so much as breaking a sweat and all was looking hunky dory. That was when the sun decided to smile on us, and how it did. The next 10 Ks were slightly more difficult, the tiredness was creeping in ; broken by the magnificent topography all around which refreshed our minds, and the interaction with the villagers. One thing which had struck me was how the school children thought we were from a different country (Hello Ingliss, is how I was greeted somewhere). They kept running toward us and presenting us with flowers, the pure innocence and joy in welcoming us strangers to their territory, no doubt amplified multifold by the fact that it meant a holiday in school!
The villagers too, amid their farming and silk-weaving were spending a lazy afternoon; that time when the rice causes a soporific stupor, which results in a siesta under the porticoes of newly built brick houses; a time when all work comes to a grinding halt. The heat to the elderly left no option but to spend time with their family, to youngsters a challenge, one that of defiance, for a game of marbles and hopscotch. For the breadwinner this was the time to hang his feet, maybe light up his pipe and discuss the intricacies of the season's harvest. For the dogs, all the running around for food was catching up, and the heat caused their tongues to hang out and limbs to wilt, to tired even to shake a fly perched on its ears. It was this lethargic scene which greeted our eyes as we entered the village.
What was more surprising was the sudden change in behavior as the villagers noticed our arrival in their territory. The hopscotch game suddenly stopped, as if someone had pressed a pause button. The eyes were wide open. The elderly stopped their conversations to focus on us. Their mouths opened and closed, as if they wanted to ask something but were not sure whom to ask. Who was the leader of this group, which appeared so foreign? As we passed, smiles were exchanged but no words came out, from our end because we were short on water supplies, limited knowledge of the language and were getting tired; from their end probably because they were still getting over their surprise at seeing such a people wearing such foreign-looking attire.
As we were about to pass ahead, someone suddenly ventured and asked "Which Country?"
Bangalore - India, I replied. "What's your name?", I ventured in my basic Kannada. Suddenly a smile, a warm smile appeared. The ice was broken - suddenly all curiosity had to be satiated and after a repartee, the questions started coming thick and fast. "Why are you walking this distance?", "You are walking, how much are they paying you?", "How stupid! You are suffering in this heat, and paying for it too. You city people are so stupid", "You don't have money? That's why you are walking?", "There's a bus which stops right here. Catch it and go" and so on and so forth.
Once you crossed that barrier in the conversation, indulged them in their curiosity, it was great fun receiving the hospitality that followed. The gifting of walking sticks by children when they saw us limping, being offered water and cold drinks (refusing to accept money for it), the cheering when we received at the check points, the smiles and waves interchanged is something that I will cherish forever. It was this exchange, even for the fleeting instances, where there was no give and no take, where it was all about two humans exchanging emotions, passing through language and social barriers which caused a plethora of emotions within me. It reconnected me with the basic essence of life, and for that reason I will forever remember this walk.
One thing else I learned was about the power of willpower. When faced with such physical adversity it is the vision of the goal and the will to achieve it which makes you cross any (and I mean ANY) hurdle. It was this will which caused one team-mate to walk the last 40 Ks after he was contemplating retirement due to an injury. It was this will which caused us to run the final bit (after 35 hours of walking). It was this will that caused us to walk 100 Kilometres.
[ This was a walk organized by an NGO - Oxfam India. Oxfam trailwalkers are famous in that they have been conducted throughout the world; this was the first time it was being done in India. Our trailwalk?
100 KM, from Sangam to Bidadi (places in Karnataka, India, in case you're wondering). 35 Hours 23 Minutes 07 Seconds is what it took for us to travel the distance.
For generating funds we created a campaign on the net BPL ko GPL for raising funds. My teammates were Abhishek Haritwal, Sourabh Mundhra and Vivek Shah
http://trailwalker.in/]
A real experience this was indeed and it is always so nice to read about it from the perspective of a fellow team member (:)) ....Nice description about the village(r)s;landscape etc ...quite vivid!
ReplyDeleteYes, that it was. Something to cherish and remember forever
DeleteInteresting walk... will surely visit the trailwalker website for more details.
ReplyDeleteArvind Passey
www.passey.info
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, please do. It's quite a surreal experience
Delete