We have all studied Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of needs when we were in the school. We know that at the basic level are the Physiological needs, ie, needs of Food, Water, Shelter etc. As Abraham Maslow points out, only when the needs at one level are met that you can go up to the next higher level. To illustrate this, we had a Punjabi anecdote about a beggar being taught maths. He was asked: “Do ate do kinne hunde ne?” (How much is two plus two?) Promptly he replied: “Chaar rotiyan” (Four rotis).
I sometimes feel that however much we, as Indians, try to get to higher levels of needs: Safety Needs, Belongingness Needs, Esteem Needs and Self-actualization Needs, something constantly pulls us down to the Basic Needs.
A few months ago I put up an article extolling the virtues of walking outdoors as opposed to working out in a gym (Please read ‘Walking Or Gym? I Like It In The Open’). If you read the article, you would find that I have brought out that being one with the Nature, observing the sky, birds, flowers, hills, trees and breathing in fresh air would tilt the scale in favour of walks in the open anytime in comparison to being in the gym. The article has lovely pictures of all that I observe during the walks even though I walk very fast. Kharghar, in Navi Mumbai, is where I stay and I love these walks.
Many others, I mentioned, also walk and be with nature, dawn, breeze and surroundings.
However, two years back, a village woman spread a sheet on the pavement and started selling vegetables. Of course, walks were forgotten and people started buying vegetables. Seeing this success, now we have a full fledged vegetable and fruit bazaar at that spot. People now come for walks only so that they can buy fruits and vegetables.
I can imagine shops or kiosks selling screwdrivers, hammers, pliars etc outside fun parks such as Esselworld or Imagica. In India, these would do booming business. I can also actually imagine us Indians going to see the Taj Mahal and returning home after buying “really cheap and fresh vegetables and fruits” from pavements outside one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Life goes on. We are never too far from the humdrum of life; not even for half an hour of morning walks.
I am reminded of Santa coming home after office and telling Preeto: “Preeto aaj maine 10 rupaiye bacha liye“. (Preeto, I saved 10 rupees today)
Preeto: “Vo kaise?” (How’s that?)
Santa: “Main bus ke beeche bhaaga aur bhaag bhaag kar office pahunch gaya“. (I ran after a bus and ran all the way to the office)
Preeto: “Paagal ho ji aap; taxi ke peechhe bhaagate to 100 rupaiye bach jaate“. (You are mad; if you’d run after a cab, we could have saved 100 rupees)
Imagine the same Santa coming home after buying 1kg of apples during his morning walk and saving all of five rupees; and Preeto telling him if he had purchased 10 kgs each of aaloo (potatoes) and pyaaz (onions) he could have saved up to 30 rupees.
Sample of conversation between two Kharghar ladies:
Lady One: “Pichhale char paanch dino se aap morning walk ke liye nahin aati, kyun?”
(For the last few days you haven’t been coming for walks, why?)
Lady Two: “Maine achhe rates par poore hafte ki subji khreed li. Khatam ho jaaye, phir aati hoon aur khreedane ke liye.”
(I have bought vegetables for the next one week. When they finish, then I shall come (for walks) to buy more)
Lady One: “Aa jayo naa, good quality ke cheekhu aaye hain…”
(Do start coming for walks again; good quality cheekhus (Sapota plums) have arrived in the market)
Or, taste this imaginary talk between two Kharghar men:
Man1: “Ham jahaan jaate hain mar kha ke aate hain“. (Wherever I go, I get beaten)
Man2: “Ham jahan jaate hain mar ket lagate hain“. (Wherever I go, I start a market)
Mera Bharat Mahaan!
Overheard a Kharghar man telling another: “Subah walk ke bahut fayade hain: Aloo pyaaz market se do rupaiya saste milte hain aur apples to paanch rupaye saste. Hamaare pitaji kaha karte the: ‘morning walks are very healthy’. Pitaji ko kaise pata yahan market khulane waali hai?” (Morning walks are very useful: Potatoes and onions are all of Rupees two rupees (per kilo) cheaper than the market and apples are five rupees cheaper. My father used to tell me: ‘morning walks are very healthy. How did my father know here (in Kharghar) they are going to start a (fruits and vegetables) market on the pavement?
I told the above to a few of my friends. They made light of it by invoking multi-tasking. Oh yeah? It is the same multi-tasking that makes us busily talking on the cell phones and even sending sms and whatsapp messages whilst driving; or playing video games whilst watching a movie in a multiplex.
One of the Golf jokes is about a funeral procession with a Golf-bag kept on a cortege. A passer-by remarked that the deceased must have been a great aficionado of Golf. One of the mourners said, “It is the funeral of his wife; he has a foursome immediately after the match.” In the case of we, Indians, the funeral procession could have carried a shopping-bag for buying fruits and vegetables.
One of the Hagar the Horrible cartoon showed Hagar in his full battle armour leaving his house and proclaiming to Helga: “I am going to invade England. Glory, honour and riches await me.” And Helga telling him, “On your way out, can you take the garbage-pail for emptying in the drum?”
For the Normans it might have been just a cartoon. For us Indians, it is a way of life.
P.S. I am contemplating shifting to quiet and peace of the gym as opposed to walks in the open.
i prefer walking by the beach at marina in chennai-watch the sunrise, listen to M.S,Subbalakshmi’s bhajans on my headset. PRICELESS
I can imagine that! Whenever I have gone to Chennai, I never missed an opportunity to walk along Marina. In the Stories section you will find a story based on that.