Walk the miles with your bestie, for your bestie!

One of my besties told me that she was going to walk to Siddhivinayak Temple in Dadar from her place in Orlem, Malad, Mumbai – a distance of 25 km. My first thought which unfortunately came out loud was “Are you crazy?” She told me that it was not that difficult; she had done the walk before. In fact, when she told her husband who was in Bangalore at the time he actually said “Oh, that is ok. Thank God, you did not promise to walk to Bangalore”.

Besides, it is just about the same distance that the runners of Mumbai Half Marathon had run just the week before. Easy to say! We have neither the same fitness level nor the preparation that these runners do. Of course, as a friend, I could not let my bestie do it alone either!

So, there I was, swathed in cotton clothing from head to toe with canvas shoes ready bright and early at 6:30 a.m. My backpack had everything from water to jacket and medicines; she was sceptical because she felt that walking with heavy object on your back can be strenuous. I just wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. She said it was cold though I did not feel it. We were on Link Road for most of the time. passed by Mahim church where I prayed that my legs would hold up through Cadell Road at the end of which was the temple.

I felt this sense of accomplishment as soon as I reached the heavily guarded temple; check out our selfie.

As we were queuing up to enter the temple after passing the metal scanners and frisking, I looked back to this walk. I realized that

1. We had talked like we used to when we were collegians – unabashed and non-stop with absolutely no distractions except of course the traffic;
2. We had walked 25 km which had sent my Fitbit into overdrive; I love it when my Fitbit buzzes saying I have aced my challenges;
3. I just felt spiritually advanced now that I had kept up my promise to God; translating to begging him to keep up his promise of always watching out for me. 

So, even though my feet fell asleep, my back hurt, my head was spinning because of the sun and my nose was running from the dust allergy, I still felt happy, content and at peace.

Yes, I am not kidding but you have to try it to feel the same way I did.

So much so, that I told my bestie that we should do this once a month which had her going “Are you crazy?”