The Carter Road promenade in Bandra, Bombay, skirts the seashore and is quite delightful. One can walk the 1.25 km repeatedly without getting bored. [...]
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The Rotary Park in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, is also known as the Rajesh Khanna garden. Apart from the walking track, the main attraction for kids is a toy train. [...] Were I to tell you that there are innumerable great places to walk in the congested city of Bombay (Mumbai) you would probably smile cynically in disbelief and mutter under your breath “Just what has he been smoking…” Right through my 100 for 100 programme, hopefully at the pace of one every decade, I’m going to tell you all about these great places and gradually wipe that cynical smile right off your face. First up is my current favourite — The Swami Muktananda Peace Park adjoining Saraswat colony in Santa Cruz. This used to be a poorly maintained municipal park a few years ago. Then the Brahma Kumaris took it over, and have transformed it into a haven of tranquility and rustic natural serenity — thankfully minus the artificial, manicured opulence that’s a characteristic of places such as Jogger’s Park in Bandra. Continue reading Walking in Peace I was hooked onto Google Earth from the moment I opened the program for the very first time. I’ve always had a thing for maps, and discovering Google Earth made me understand how Bruce Lee must have felt when he got his very first nunchaku. Combine GE with Google Maps or Wikimapia and you’re assured of hours and hours of unadulterated bliss. Among the many niceties of GE are the Ruler and Path options: Mark out any walking path, broken up into sections to account for curvature, and then automatically find out the distance covered (assuming flat land of course). Continue reading Measured for Success It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon on 17 June 2005. Don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly decided to set out from my home in suburban Mumbai and walk to “town”– the Big Walk, I later dubbed it. There was no elaborate plan, except that my destination was to be the Catholic Gymkhana, located near Charni Road railway station on Marine Drive in south Mumbai. It was not as if I hadn’t walked long distances before. In my school and university days I did play a lot of football and hockey too, but all that seems like some previous life now. But in more recent times, post-2000, I had restarted walking for exercise only with great difficulty. Often, after the first 500 metres or so, I would get excruciating pain in my calf and shin region, making it impossible to continue. Strangely, this would not happen on every occasion, but it was obvious that either something was very wrong with my legs, or I was doing something incorrectly. 84.3 kilograms at the start of the 100 days, and 74.3 at the end. It’s not going to happen just on its own. The final goal is known. What’s required is a logical and quantifiable plan to get there. So let’s try and work that out! I am well aware that weight is a complex entity, dependent on a wide range of factors all interlinked in one way or another. But at a very simplistic level the equation is straightforward: Consume more calories than you burn, and you will put on weight; burn more than you consume and you will lose weight; and, if consumption and burn are more or less equivalent, weight will be maintained at a steady level. You’ve probably heard of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the amount of energy you require per day just to stay alive. Here’s a good calculator for BMR. My BMR is 1740. Of course one needs to add in calories for the various regular activities done every day to arrive at an approximation of total calories burnt every day. I’ve calculated mine to be 2800. 100 for 100.Just think: If I can lose 100 grams a day for 100 days, I’ll be 10 kilos lighter at the end of it all! Now what could be simpler than that? The challenge of course, is to do it without fancy equipment, without crazy diets, without major changes to lifestyle — now that would be something, wouldn’t it? Well, why do I want to lose 10 kilos in the first place? Many reasons really, but most importantly, I think the reduction will help alleviate (if not eliminate) a couple of my medical problems — high blood pressure and gout. I know of course that excess weight is not the root cause of either, but it definitely is a contributor and an aggravator. Continue reading What it’s all about |
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