A Stroll to Remember

A walk to remember

Lush green grass, blooming colourful flowers, fitness freaks, joggers, children playing in groups, people walking their dogs, parents enjoying the company of their toddlers… Off course anyone can visualise the scene of being in a park. Let’s not talk about the verdant beauty. Through this blog post I would like to recall few memories and talk about how people use this place as a meeting point for discussing various issues, what’s new in other’s lives, how to master the art of cooking and so on.

Last week, while sitting idle at home, I decided to take a stroll at a nearby park.

So dressed in my tracks & favourite shoes, here I was to run with great vigour & enthusiasm.

The green clad place looked beautiful. It was rejuvenating for the eyes to look at the blooming flowers. The aroma of roses filled the air. The place, which was thought to be calm and serene, turned out to be a fish market with people coming for different purposes.

My speed slowed down as group of ladies discussing about pasta were taking short steps while walking. Forget about Master Chef India or Master Chef Australia. Why search for new recipes on you tube, google when you have the experts with you. To them, a visit is no less than a kitty party. It was no less than a competition to show their supremacy, as a cook, over other contenders. And, then we discovered the Punjabi version of pasta. If David Rocco, Italian chef, had been there, he would have either died of maniac attack because of enough experiment done to pasta or he would have welcomed the idea.

The focus of discussion moved from discovering ways to prepare pasta to tips on weight management. Quite unusual though,huh!!!. A minute ago, a group that was discussing about putting extra cheese or oil to make a dish scrumptious, now turned fitness conscious. One of the ladies got my attention that was constantly worrying about her weight gain. She was groaning about putting on 2 kilograms in a week and how her kids constantly reminded her of hitting a gym or spare an hour for yoga from her busy schedule which, most of time, is spent watching the teleserials. Ironically, she was the one who was advising the group of putting extra cheese, consuming aerated drinks daily. With heavy bosom, ballooned and bulging belly, sagging arms, she was proceeding with tiny steps along with her comrades. Enough of the recipe classes for me. I decided to dodge the group to continue for the purpose I came for.  

Stepping ahead, my attention was grabbed by congregation of people who were laughing horrendously. And they called it Laughter Therapy. I could sense the differences in the modulation of their laughter. Few were laughing raising their hands upwards while other, still amateur, and new to the group, tried to emulate the tactics followed by the experienced ones. I gazed at a confused novice who stood confused wondering who to follow as everyone was following his own chores. Shrewdly, he moved out of the area smartly without having caught anyone’s attention. Taking a deep sigh of relief as he outsmarted others in escaping, the man sat on a bench and started chanting closing his eyes trying to meditate.

The other patch was covered by the small group of enthusiasts trying to master the art of yoga. Most of them being potbellied were concerned about shedding those extra inches from the flabs. In an effort to develop flat abs within a day, one of the man fell down while doing asanas.

As dusk did set in, I decided to head towards home when a couple caught my attention. Hiding themselves somewhere in the corner amidst bushes, they caught my attention through public display of affection. Though they cuddled with complete precision, but as they say, such couples can be easily traced though escaping from the eyes of joggers. Though people gazed at them, yet they did not bother and were romancing with audacity. And as they say, love has no boundaries. The girl blushing and embarrassed as they were caught, tried to slide the fringes, falling on her forehead.

Having encountered a lot in an hour’s time, I stepped out of the park churning the rusty revolving gate. That was the end of the story. Extremely amused, I narrated the scenes to my mother once I came back home. I went to a park with a different purpose, to burn extra calories, to shed some pounds. But the hour spent their turned out to be comical that tickled my funny bones.

Each one of us must have come across such people. Let’s put those in categories. There could be mater chefs of the moment, reporters of the day or laughter therapists. Share your experiences too.