Keeps on walking...

He grows up in a dusty town in the western corner of India. As his father is struggling to make ends meet, the family cannot afford a bicycle. Leave alone a car. He learns to walk long distances relying on his thin but strong legs. There is no alternative.

His father takes him and his mother to Burma, as there is promise of a job in that far away land. He does not speak Burmese and that is fine as he is not much into making friends anyway. He finds that the solitary activity of walking is just fine under the circumstances. He keeps on walking.

Just when he is about to enter a medical college in that far away land, the Japanese come conquering with their airplanes and bombs. He, his mother and four siblings are sent back to the motherland. They come back as refuges, leaving the old life behind. Bright and ambitious, he gets enrolled in a medical college in Bombay. Penniless, there is not much he can afford to do in terms of entertainment in the big city. Walking costs nothing. Walking does not require making friends. Walking fits him fine. He keeps on walking.

He meets a fellow student, falls in love and marries her. They move back to a dusty old town close to his birthplace to raise a family. Prosperity comes, gradually. Even a car. Now, there is no need to walk, but walking is a good activity to do with the family. The fresh air---a chance to leave behind the din of the busy town. He keeps on walking.

The children fly away, one by one. They all end up in the distant land of USA. He and his wife decide to retire and move their to be with their children. Under their care.

The US is a prosperous land and children have done well. They all have cars, but driving is a problem. After trying a little bit, he gives up the idea of driving. There is not much he and his wife can do without driving in the prosperous new land. Walking does not require driving. They center their daily existence around walking. Two rounds a day.  

Time goes by. The wife dies. He grieves. The inner strength that took him through the rough parts of life returns. Walking as a couple becomes walking alone. Just like it was in the college days.

Time continues to go by. He stoops low. The strong gait becomes shuffling of feet. The steady walk becomes an unsteady meandering. He falls and is rescued by a passing neighbor. There is a medical investigation. Perhaps he has Parkinson’s. May be he has issues with his heart.

Nothing is found to be wrong with him. Just weakening muscles. He gets physical therapy. The therapist does the best he can. He is in his nineties after all. Children put restrictions on his walking. They are afraid of him breaking some bones the next time he falls.

He refuses to give up. Walking is his life. He is not about to give up on life.

He keeps on walking.