The venue for
this walk was Mac Ritchie Reservoir.
Mention Mac Ritchie to any Singaporean and the talk
will certainly turn to cross-country runs, nature trails and the Treetop Walk. Anchored
by Singapore’s largest reservoir - part of a water catchment system that
captures rain water - the park and nature reserve at the very heart of
Singapore is a popular destination for runners, water sports enthusiasts, and
of course, nature lovers.
There were 8 of
us assembled at around 8am. With Mr Ramanathan leading the warming up exercises,
we paid our salutations to Surya Bhagavan with Sri Aurobindo’s mantra. “Om Namo
Bagavathe Sri Aurobindaya Sharanam mama.” This is the mantra for Peace,
Protection, Purity, Perfection and Progress. It means "Om, I offer my
obeisance to the Divine Personality of Sri Aurobindo."
At 8am the whole
place was bursting with energy. The people in Singapore really go to great
lengths to keep their physical fitness topping high! Interacting with a person
doing yoga kind of exercises, we learnt that that person walks and jogs 10
miles around the reservoir and does yoga stretches with his friends four times
a week!
What discipline!
Just amazing and inspiring!
The path we
chose was very stony and rugged! Ramanathan’s force of speed took his friends
to the finishing line in no time. My friend Manjula and Prithi and I had a very
interesting conversation with our eyes fixed on the ground to avoid any
breakage of bones. We could finish only half the distance before returning to
the meeting point.
At our host’s,
Mr KV Rao and Shailja’s 17th floor, Mandale Heights home, every beautiful
display kept me absorbed!
The whole
atmosphere was reverberating with joy and the variety of food was very
delightful!
Our Sincere
thanks to Raos’ family for the beautiful self-forgetting experience!
-
Jayalakshmi
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