The countdown for A Level (12th grade) examinations is just 9 months. I used the Chinese New Year holidays to do some revision and I felt it was time to take my mind off studies for a bit. Therefore, I decided to attend the monthly morning walk. It had been quite some time since I attended the morning walk as I usually skipped the walk and went straight for brunch. Therefore even though I have attended many walks, this one was something relatively new and special.
It was a crisp Sunday morning at the Changi Beach Park. When I reached there, there was already a relatively large crowd of our society members. I was quite pleased that so many people turned up for the walk. I was stunned to have seen Mrs. Sonia Dyne. It has been a few years since she had come to Singapore and I was thrilled to realize that she would be joining us for the walk. Everyone was engaged in their small group conversations for a while to catch up on what had happened in the past month, while waiting for the other members to arrive to join us for the walk.
A while had passed and finally Ramanathan Uncle started gathering everyone for the pre-walk warm-up. Everyone stood in the circle, and confusion erupted on who should lead the warm-up. As always Ramanathan Uncle decided to come forward and lend a helping hand in leading the warm-ups. People had troubles with some of the stretches, but after all, warm-ups are meant to prepare your body for the walk ahead. When everyone had finished the warm-ups it was time to start the walk.
Instructions were given to everyone to start the walk and gather back by 10a.m. The walk was decided to be on the Changi Coastal boardwalk. It was my first time walking on the boardwalk and I was pleasantly surprised. I didnot know there was such a quiet and peaceful place alongside the bustling Changi Beach. It was a long and pleasant walk which everyone walked in their small groups enjoying the wonderful scenery of the Singapore coastline and its surrounding islands. One side was filled with jungle and the other with the coastline. The walk was so pleasant and beautiful that it was 10a.m. in a whisk of time. This was followed by a peaceful meditation with cool breeze by the beach and a scrumptious brunch by Venkat Uncle and family.
- Vishnuraj
The morning walk on 2nd February was at Changi beach. I was very excited as I saw a big playground while driving past to the car park. The weather was windy and cold. I saw lots of people camping out in tents. I also counted 8 aeroplanes flying above us that took off from Changi Airport. Many ships were sailing in the water.
There was a big structure with a big slide at the playground. I wanted to climb up but I was a little scared. But Aakash and Shiv guided me. I was very happy that I finished the climb and came down the slide. I had lots of fun at the walk.
- Ananya
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Kashyap, a sleek silver car transported Nisha and myself to Car Park 2. It was a beautiful a day, and as I made my way towards the beach the earliest memory from my childhood suddenly came back to me: my mother holding me up to see sunlight sparkling on the water, and I relived the thrill of wonder and enchantment that took hold of me then and remains with me still. It was a fitting prelude to a truly magical day.
Dhana was standing under the concrete shelter, keeping it safe for our later use. I joined her there and felt myself once again caught up and embraced within Nature’s changeless circle of skyline and shoreline filled with soft wind. More and more walkers, old friends and new, were arriving and would soon set out on their 6 km hike, something I thought I could not accomplish on my feet still swollen from the flight to Singapore. I decided to stay in the shelter where others would join me and together we would share our memories of other walks, other times.
But first there were the warm-up exercises which we performed standing in a circle on the beach. Looking around the circle a strange realization came on a carrier wave of truth: “But I know these people! We are one family here– we have been together many times and will be together again.” I had experienced that sudden spontaneous recognition of people only once before, when I was staying in the Ashram during my first visit to Pondicherry in 1978/79.
The events of the morning are not easy to recall, because everything seemed to happen as if by magic. In no time at all our concrete shelter was transformed into the Library room at SIFAS. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother presided there among flowers and incense and a beautifully presented Prasad of gold wrapped chocolates. A familiar music mingled with the sounds of Singapore on holiday, punctuated now and then by the roar of aircraft taking off from nearby Changi. But nothing disturbed the atmosphere of peace and joy as the ‘birthday’ prayers were read.
Meanwhile another miracle was taking place in the shelter next to ours – a smiling divinity who had taken the form of Jaishree was inviting us to a banquet of delicious home cooked dishes that had appeared, it seemed, out of nowhere with all necessary accompaniments, and this despite the fact that the gas supply at home had failed for a considerable part of the morning!
At one point Jayanthy came up and asked me if I would be willing to write down my impressions for the Newsletter. What can I say? Only that something was achieved for a few hours that is the true object of our Yoga: a collective soul-unity made up of the unique and essential contribution of everyone present. I can say that, and offer a special vote of thanks to our host and hostess for an unforgettable Morning Walk.
- Sonia Dyne
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