The motley walk of life

Sometimes when I go for an occasional walk in a park, I come across different kinds of people out there. Some walkers share a peculiar relationship with their phones. The phone is their constant companion. I came across a muscular young man, with a big smartphone attached to his bulging biceps, with a plastic ribbon. Before I could comprehend that, along came another phone-obsessed walker, who overtook me, while continuously looking at the fitness app in his smartphone, showing how many steps he had taken and how many he was yet to walk. He also tripped while looking at his phone.

I spotted another man, who kept count of his steps, while looking at his smart-watch. Seeing him, I remembered an amusing incident when due to a technical glitch, a walker’s smart-watch displayed his heartbeat rate to be nil, and although he was alive, he panicked and fainted.

There are those who have humans as their companions. Two people gossiping about others passed my way. Then there are the elderly, taking a walk while reminiscing about the good old days. I also spotted an old man trying to impress a young woman by lifting weights. There was a young couple walking hand in hand, uttering sweet nothings, oblivious of others around them, a middle-aged couple quarrelling over trivial family issues, and an old couple walking side-by-side peacefully through their twilight years.

There are those who prefer nature as their companion. There was a man, who did not like to walk on the cemented path. Instead, he preferred to walk up and down the green hilly slope. Seeing him, I was tempted to do the same. He’s also the one who folded his hands before anyone who came his way.

Some are there to click pictures. Walkers clicking a selfie aren’t uncommon. I spotted a girl decked up like a bride, wearing sneakers, and walking briskly beside a man, dressed up in casuals. She seemed like a runaway bride, but I later realised that she had come for a photo-shoot and he was her photographer.

There are some who exit the park after a hurried walk before office time and others sitting in high-end cars, gulping down protein shakes. In the parking area, I spotted a man lying prostrate on a yoga mat, amidst the parked cars. A broom lying beside him amusingly revealed that he had cleaned up the place before choosing to lie down there.

Just like in the park, in life too, our path is the same. Still, we all have our own way of walking on it. Some choose to walk alone, some count their steps while walking and some choose to walk the uphill and downhill path with a smile on their faces, teaching others that life’s steps aren’t meant to be counted.