Attention Kolkata: Why morning walking is the need of the hour

The infamously crowded Dum Dum Road, North Kolkata.
Yet, it's almost magical to see it this empty!

Even until a few months ago, I was among those who incessantly complain that Kolkata is an immensely populated and polluted city, an unplanned mess that is getting more and more unfit for living with the passage of time. So many people already live here, and more heads are turning up every day! Old houses are getting dazed in no time, and new apartment-type high-rises are taking their places, cramming more people in the city. And this also inadvertently leads to more pollution.

Yet, as Calcuttans, we have to live here. And the challenge for us is to adapt to these changing circumstances, while trying our best to come up with efficient solutions to handle the increasing burden on the city, such as more expansion along the planned north-eastern region (Rajarhat-Gopalpur) and an increasingly efficient and comfortable public transit system constituted by metros, light rails, BRTS and so on.

But then again, those are long term goals, right? What can we do immediately, to live happier and healthier? Well, one answer is to go for a daily morning walk routine.

Why morning walks? 

Morning walking is good for health, this has achieved the status of a sort of universal Fatwa, thanks to our friendly neighbourhood doctors and health-experts. And be it Kolkata or Mumbai or some remote village in central India, you can always find a few people who don't mind getting up early in the morning, and then get walking without much fuss.

It is true that morning walking is beneficial for everyone, no matter where you live, but I believe, in a fast-growing and polluted metropolis like Kolkata, it is more necessary than in most other regions. From around 7:00 in the morning, the daily transport drama starts in the life of Kolkata, when we can see the roads and highways getting crammed with more and more  people on a myriad variety of locomotives. Smoke, dust and sweat, and just SO MANY people make the scene horrible. How can anyone have a decent walk by then?

Yet, when I took to morning walking about a month ago, I discovered something splendid. IN the early hours of morning, the streets remain almost uncannily free of traffic. You can meet some other walkers (not the ones in The Walking Dead, mind you!), some with dogs, who've braved the chill of the winter morn to enjoy the pollution-free roads for a while. And indeed, that's when Kolkata regains her forgotten beauty.

An ordinary goli, a dirty blind-end. Yet, the magic
of sun's golden rays make it magical

When you don't have to turn a thousand times before crossing a street, one can naturally walk more relaxed. I always plug in my headset and listen to a podcast or two, or something the FM channels, while walking. Because it's almost certain that I won't be run down by some madly driven car at 5:30 AM in the morning, as long as I walk along the pedestrian zone anyway.

The sweet, sweet charm of the city 

As the golden rays of the early-rising sun bath the tall buildings and highways, birds flock together to sing a song or two. That's when Kolkata turns into a magical place, unlike anything you may have yet experienced. What's puzzling is, how the roads can get so lovely and alien, just because there's not a crowd in sight.

Sometimes I take a shot of two, with my phone, and later I relive those moments of ecstasy and serene splendour. In fact, all the photos coupled with this post were taken by me on my Android, and not some fancy dSLR. If you're a photography enthusiast, you can definitely see how beautiful the tones are, especially when an amateur like me is taking the shots anyway. This is why I am a big fan of morning walking.

Optimizing the process: grab these apps 

Socrates, one of my heroes, believed that man can always improve himself by understanding himself better, that is, by collecting more data on himself. If you've a weighing machine at home (you can grab one from Flipkart or Snapdeal for around Rs. 700, if you don't), it's especially helpful to record your weight each day. Now, I will be getting a bit tech-savvy here, so just ignore this column if you're not into tech.

So, I use a couple of apps to augment the process, the foremost of which is Google Fit. If you haven't already, you should download it from the Play Store for free. The beauty of this app is that, it runs in the background and still manages to count the approximate number of steps you take, and measure your active time. Set a daily goal (mine is 40 minutes), and you're good to go. It also records your weight, and can be paired with additional hardware trackers.

Download Google Fit: http://goo.gl/Ern3j4

Now, if you're a bit more serious, My Tracks can be a decent companion for your walks. It records your track on Google Maps, with the help of GPS, WiFi and mobile data, and spices it up with accurate measurement of distances covered, your walking speed, elevation, and even the calories you burn (approximately, of course). Be warned though, it consumes a lot of juice.

Download My Tracks: http://goo.gl/mF5EPh

Now, for music I guess the taste varies. I listen to podcasts usually, while walking, on serious topics such as science, philosophy and technology. For pure music enthusiasts, if the native FM channels don't serve your needs (I don't like them much, I admit), be sure to install Google Play Music if the native music app doesn't satisfy you. Other than gapless audio, it can be used to easily create playlists and sync them across your devices. And shuffling a nicely curated playlist can do wonders for music-fans.

Download Google Play Music: http://goo.gl/cZHBft

Obviously, this isn't a tech post, and I could just go on and on, about such apps. So, it's better to shut up here, and return to the topic.

Timing 

Gorabazar Lake, also called Durga Pukur

Yeah, this is important. Some people just wake up at 5:30, grab a cup of tea, skim through the daily news, watch some meditation session with Baba Ramdev and so on, and manage to get out NOT BEFORE 7:00. The roads are already crowded by then, with sellers and shoppers of all varieties. So, as a morning walker, it's important to avoid meeting the early shoppers.

To do that, it's important that you wake up at around 5:00 AM, and follow a set of activities before getting out. A checklist can be of immense help to get you started, because the brain automatically adapts itself to it after a few days. As for me, I just wake up at 5:00, immediately fill the tea pot up with water, and start the burner. Brushing follows next, and by the time I finish, the water is heated up. After helping myself to a cup, I leave it on the table for cooling, and hop on to my tracksuit and socks. And finally, after emptying the cup, I plug in my headset, put on my shoes and get out at around 5:15 AM.

Also, it's important to go to bed early, if you're to get up at 5:00 AM everyday. So, a regular sleep routine is important. Alarms can get your started, of course.

Summing it up... 

Well, you get the gist by now. The magic, of the early hours, turns even otherwise ordinary and familiar streets into things of alien beauty. The freshness of the air you breath in, coupled with a relaxed pace of walking (without a car chasing you, of course) is just golden. And as an added benefit, you get healthier, if that's not the primary incentive here. :)

So, fellow Calcuttans, it's time to put on the shoe, and get walking! And yeah, healthy Calcuttans can make a healthy Calcutta.