How walking, cycling and public transport could save us and the country

Using the luxury of one’s own two feet to get about to some locations as stamina and practicality would allow, has many dividends

By Surya Vishwa

Recently the topic of walking surfaced in a dinnertime conservation of some acquaintances. They felt that it was not their good karma in this life to have the opportunity to walk. Another in that gathering who diligently dons expensive walking shoes and first drives some 3 to 5 kilometres and then treads the manicured walking paths of Colombo felt that time should be allocated towards this noble task. Walking. Enabling the non-rusted state of the body. Walking back to my home, in the rather honourably tattered plastic shoes which does not merit the christening of any special stature but certainly gets from A to B, I was reflecting on the kind of nonsense that we indulge in. Such as say drive for 8 kilometres and then walk for quarter of that stretch. 

One of the best opportunities of ridding ourselves of this mindset was the fuel crisis time when we saw the nakedness of the prosperity of all those luxury vehicles being used for ‘official duties.’ We had ample opportunity to pay penance for our foolishness such as appointing incompetence to govern our lives and walk wherever we had to get to. But no most of us stayed put in one place, nurturing our cholesterol.

Talking about driving and walking is probably suitable right now when we have eyesore of seeing so much of four-wheeled luxury which seem to have only driven to debt. There are many ways to get to debt. One is idiocy in managing a space called a country and the other is in managing our body. If both are done in an inane manner we have to suffer the consequences. We have all been suffering the after effects of the first and now that we seem to be operating upon that cancer, we may have the time to think of how obsolete luxury could cost an arm, a leg, a heart and of course an entire nation. 

Obsolete luxury

Obsolete luxury means ostentatiousness that is fruitless and unnecessary for any worthwhile progress. 

Obsolete luxury is shunned by people of most nations who have lived their lives in a manner that affords them to help others. For example, politicians of nations that countries such as Sri Lanka borrow money from are known to be very stringent in use of taxpayers’ money and for the personal habit of cycling. Prime Ministers are known to cycle to work and to the grocery store, which of course enables those nations to give loans and grants to countries such as ours where up to now we were known for overweight politicians and a sick economy.

So, now we can probably see how using the luxury of one’s own two feet to get about to some locations as stamina and practicality would allow, has many dividends. Investing in a cycle could be better, of course and if we are a government servant (not a king or queen), we could be all the better if we invested in a sturdy cycle and save this nation pollution by exercising our knees. A year of this and our physical and economical health would have improved and probably as a nation we would not have to be running around with the begging bowl. Personally, with the fuel money we save we can also be a little generous with ourselves and dedicate some finances for the sustenance of our minds, say by purchasing books. Health of the mind also has to be attended to and exercised regularly. 

If we ever visited houses of citizens in countries we term as developed we would find they are not pre-occupied with collecting large brick structures and automobiles. They are rather pre-occupied with sensibility. 

Largest clean-up of our lives

Thus, as we look about us maybe we can prepare for the largest clean-up of our lives, developing thinking mind and a body which does not gather disease and invest in happiness and meaning rather than accumulation of pettiness.

This would be food for thought if we ever have a chance to step into public transport in these ‘developed’ nations. Public transport means where we travel with fellow humans. Most nations have now progressed to the point that these public transportation does not resemble sardine tins. Buses are clean, have ample space (where one does not have to hang like bats on an electricity pole). One can sit comfortably and work on a portable computer without any hustle. Public buses or train or the metro is the luxury for a walker or a cyclist in these nations which we are in debt from. 

Indebtedness has many forms. One form is to have a paucity of self-worth. When this happens we will measure ourselves solely by the material wealth we have judged by comfort we have gathered. The world’s best intellectuals and humanists were known to be rich in what they have thought and carried out in the world. Abdul Kalam was known to have only few sets of clothing and no bank balance. Men such as these were not misers of their limitations but rather the masters of their unlimited horizons and maybe these kinds of examples can appeal to our collective consciousness to enable us to live a life that is wise in thought and deed that impacts our mental, physical and spiritual life.