A woman named Silpa recently shared a video on Instagram that showed her walking home from her of- fice in Bengaluru. She had been doing it for two weeks and found that she had “way better energy than before” and could easily meet her step goals. The downside of walking home, she said, was that during her 3-kilometer walks she had spent 840 rupees on coconut water. (The coconutwala considers this an “upside.”)
Walking home from the office is apparently so rare that several Indian news outlets carried articles about Silpa’s feat. Her video received more than 500 likes and 45 comments on Instagram. Anyone who walks to and from work, or even just one way, deserves credit. Walking to work is not practical for most people, of course. They either live too far away from their workplaces or face other obstacles.The benefits of walking are numerous. One of the most underrated forms of exercise, walking offers you many health benefits, including helping you lose weight, reducing your stress, protecting you from certain diseases, and keeping your heart healthy. Studies have shown that walking can also improve your thinking and memory.
Unlike other forms of exercise, walking is something that most people can do at almost any age. Young people can generally walk faster than old people, but some 70-year-olds can walk incredibly fast—and not just when there’s a Black Friday deal on blood pressure monitors.
One of the best things about walking is that it can be done in many different places. You can go to a mall or large store and just walk around in circles—nobody will care. But if you start running, you might soon find yourself being questioned in the security office.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge. [Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.