Walk of Life

Walking along the byways and streets of London because there is nothing else to do, I am holed up in London because my flight back got canceled due to weather conditions in Mumbai. So I head out to Hyde Park from Gloucester Road, and then begin walking all the way to Piccadilly Square gazing at the splendor and the grandeur of the British Empire. Aimless in my approach like a tourist would be and discreet lest I get mistaken for a terror creating manic entity. London is going through bad times and unfortunately for me I have a phobia prone guarantee color on my body that I cannot change, it’s hereditary you know.

Nevertheless my aimless walk continues. You may ask why do you need to walk, and I will tell you that it’s good for health and that I can choose to stopover whenever and wherever I want. But deep down I know that that is not entirely true, deep down I know I am cost cutting. Strange people we humans are, we are so good at justifying our actions to people and convincing them of the glory that is there in it.

There is however a certain charm in walking aimlessly without focus, with no stated agenda, with no milestones. You can walk and walk till your feet can’t take it anymore and then take some transport when the going gets bad to get back home. Along the way you meet people, you see places, you investigate based on your inquisitiveness, and you do things that you may not do if there was some agenda at hand. If you have nothing else to do this is great but if you look at it from a commercial stand point, well I think I needn't say it, that it takes time because you cover less distance in the time that you have, you see less, you meet less people, but who cares anyways.

Life is like that, more than half the time you walk aimlessly in search of fulfilling your birth vision on why you came on this planet, the rest of the time you convince yourself that you are doing the right thing by walking aimlessly. Sometimes you do find purpose along the way that you pursue, a purpose that you have successfully justified to yourself after long deliberations with friends and family. Still there is no guarantee that your aimlessness was the way to go or your purposeful existence is better.

Yet along the way you see or do something that brings a gust of emotion inside of you and you thank that power above for your existence. The photograph above is one such gust of emotion that came over me when out of the blue without expectation I saw the Big Ben. Strange as it may seem, mind you this is true for friends, successes, and places you come across along your journey, whether your journey is aimless or purposeful in nature.