The starting point of this
month’s walk at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park was located a short distance away from
Bright hill columbarium. Visitors were pouring in that Sunday to the complex
because of the Qingming festival. On this day, members of the Chinese community
visit the gravesites of their ancestors to clean them and make ritual
offerings. As expected, this resulted in a lot of traffic along Sin Ming
Avenue. Having successfully gathered at the meeting point, we commenced with
the warmup and proceeded on with the walk.
Redeveloped at a cost of
approximately $76 million, the park has become a beautiful green space for the
community with numerous playing spaces, ponds, gardens and cafes. Evidently, it
was a popular spot among residents in the area. The most prominent feature of
the park is the Kallang river, which meanders along the park flanked by green
riverbanks. It was converted at a great cost from a concrete canal to a
beautiful river as part of the redevelopment.
Walking along the western
section of the park, we caught up with fellow regulars at the walk as well as
two guests visiting from Pondicherry. There were numerous cyclists and runners
all around us, as well as families enjoying a day out on Easter Sunday.
Admittedly, I did not converse much with anyone else, choosing to be with my
thoughts and walking mindfully instead. This was indeed a pleasant experience
as I took in the various scenes that presented themselves before me, be it
couples running, siblings playing or groups of senior citizens partaking in
group exercises. I even got to observe various features of the park that I
would have otherwise missed had I been deep in conversation with someone else.
I noticed large sculptures in the distance, lotus ponds hidden away from the
main walking and cycling paths and park benches with no legs that looked like
deck chairs along a swimming pool. It was definitely a refreshing experience to
walk around with a stream of thoughts and observations acting as my companion
Having walked through both
sections of the park and crossing marymount road back to the western section,
we ended our walk promptly at 9:50am just like Mr Ramanathan wanted us to. We
were soon joined at the meeting point by a couple of our younger members like
Anjali, Sophia and Anushna who had chosen not to walk and opted to move around
on a skateboard, inline skates and a scooter, respectively.
We were joined by the remaining
members at Mr Krishnamurthy’s residence, most notably by Mr Shashi Lal Kashyap
who had been unable to attend previous walks & brunches. Mr Ramanathan and
Mr Krishnamurthy chanted Bhu Suktham before the closing meditation, with Mr
Krishnamurthy making sure to patiently explain the profound meaning behind the
verses that were chanted. This was followed by a sumptuous brunch that was
prepared by Jayalakshmi aunty. The brunch was enjoyed by everyone.
Pranav Venkat
No comments:
Post a Comment