Saturday, March 14, 2026
Walking along the Thames !
Walking along the Thames !
I woke up this morning while I was just finishing my routine walk along the Thames ! Wiered and surprising ? Yeh, it was a pleasant dream indeed !
However, we have really walked along the Thames perhaps in 2018, while participating in the ‘walkathon’ organised by the Diabetic Association in order to raise charity. It was indeed a very joyful and hilarious experience undoubtably. More of it later.
That makes me compare with the नर्मदा परिक्रमा and a walk along the Thames. I know it is foolish to compare the two, since those are absolutely un-comparable . The ‘Narmada Parikrama’ is a million times arduous and prolonged feat, whereas a joyful leisure walk along the Thames is sheer luxury. Each and every atom and molecule of one’s body is severely tested in the former vis-a-vis the sublimation of those through the latter. Abundant stories of the ‘Parikrama’ are available through those thousands who actually went through the very hard, arduous but highly gratifying spiritual experience. Nevertheless, walking along the Thames Riverside can be another uplifting experience.
Well, the 2018 walk was preceded by yet many excursions by this humble soul. I had a long walk from Embankment just beneath Charing Cross Station, in fact from the famous Cleopatra Needle right up to St. Thomas’s or Guys Hospital, traversing the London Eye, Westminster, Big Ben now known as Elizabeth Tower and so on, on number of occasions.
The 2018 walk was remarkable since all four of us, Usha Shrish Alka and me had a wonderful experience. The route, although familiar was interspersed with crossing across a number of bridges, twelve in number and accompanied by thousands of co-walkers. The start point was Battersea park and the end-point Tower Bridge, where each one of the participants were felicitated. Although it began at nine in the pleasant sunny morning there was no time restriction to reach the goal. Therefore we had almost a leisurely but disciplines stroll joined by many elderly Indians too ! We could ‘fall-out’ at will in order to have a cup of tea and snacks. Overall it was an experience worth cherishing.
I guess there is a subtle difference between walking alone and along with companies. One walks alone talking to oneself whereas that solitude is lost while accompanied by others. I vividly remember a twelve mile walk through hilly terrain along with Vikas Phatak way back on 24th May 1964 ! Both of us shared Mangesh Padgaonkar’s poems enroute. That twelve mile walk was indeed unforgettable and ultimately most enjoyable. Similar was the story in 2018, while we enjoyed that pleasant walk along the Thames !
Dr. P. S. Rahalkar (रहाळकर)
१४ मार्च २०२६.
