It was a beautiful cool and windy
morning when we all assembled at Punggol Point for our penultimate walk of 2018
at Coney Island. It was also a very special walk as it marked our 400th walk uninterrupted
over the many years we have been organizing it.
With all the fast development
happening in Singapore, it affected our arrival at the meeting point slightly,
as the original Punggol Road was closed to traffic and those driving had to
take a new road to get there delaying them by 10 -15 mins. No problems with
those taking the bus and taxi there as the bus routes were changed and the taxi
drivers probably knew about it. How quickly change is happening here in
Singapore but Punggol Point and Coney Island still look the same as before,
preserving some of the memories we have of the place.
We started off with a decent
sized group of walkers of around 17 and more joined later on making it close to
25. It was indeed gratifying for our walk commander, Uncle Ramanathan to see
this given the great effort he puts into making sure these walks happen. We did
some warmups led by Uncle Sheel and took the mandatory pictures and wefies.
As we headed out onto Coney
Island, we were ably led by our walk leaders of the day, Ananya and Deepika who
showed us the way to walk along the various paths. I remember Coney Island also
known as Pulau Serangoon as a youth when we had to canoe from Pulau Ubin to
this deserted island for a quick rest stop and then canoe back. Nothing here
then but white sands to lay on and trees to give us the much needed shade from
the harsh sun. Over the years, it has been transformed into a park where people
can walk, run or cycle onto it through two bridges on either side of the island
linking it to Singapore.
During the walk, Venkat
interviewed Uncle Krishnamurthy about his experience with the walks, as he had
been in Singapore since Walk No. 16 I believe and recorded it for all of us to
hear. Something truly great to listen to his experiences and definitely one for
our archives.
It was a good and interesting
walk in the nature and we returned back to Punggol Point to assemble again for
organizing the transportation to Ritesh and Upali's place for meditation and
brunch.
The atmosphere was befitting a
400th walk. We had our normal meditation and announcements but also had added
special items like a poem recitation by Kiran Sule's sister, mantrams from
Sudha who was visiting from Pondicherry, Jayshree, Uncle Krishnamurthy and Uncle
Ramanathan, ending with the Om Choir lead by Preethi. Of course, not
forgetting the sumptuous brunch arranged by the hosts, Ritesh and Upali for all
of us.
All in all a wonderful 400th walk
and we have to thank the participants on this walk and especially the hosts
Ritesh and Upali for making it such a memorable one for all of us. Looking
forward to our walks in 2019. Wishing one and all a happy and prosperous New
Year ahead.
- Sanjay Mehta
This
year’s December walk, was the 400th walk of the Sri Aurobindo Society
Singapore. Despite it being the beginning of the school holidays, many people
turned up for the walk. The walk started at Punggol Settlement. The weather was
perfect with a breezy atmosphere during our warm up exercises. It was a great
start to the 400th walk.
My
sister, Deepika and I were very energetic as we were assigned leaders for the
walk. Deepika led the way along the boardwalk towards Coney Island. While
taking pictures of the surroundings, I was enjoying the view of the South China
Sea. Behind us, our grandfather, Mr. C. Krishnamurthy, was giving an account on
his experiences on his first walk after he arrived in Singapore in 1980. This
was recorded by Mr. S. Venkat and was circulated in our SAS WhatsApp group.
We entered Coney Island through
the West Entrance . We took a group photo before entering the Island.
Deepika decided to take the path
towards Beach Area A. The path was sandy, rocky and lined with Casuarina trees.
It was a breathtaking sight to see the sunlight filter through the trees.
We arrived at Beach Area A, and
took a few minutes to take a break and enjoy the view of Pulau Ubin.
After
we admired the scenery, we thought of going to the Promenade to see the other
end of Coney Island and we were greeted by the sight of huge ships. As I saw
the beauty of nature and the calm sea, love for it engulfed over me. Coney
island was so huge that we could have got lost. Luckily none of us got marooned
on the Island.
We then headed back to our
hosts’ house for meditation. There was a special offering to commemorate the
400th walk which was followed by a scrumptious brunch.
The 400th walk was a very
special walk that I will always remember.
- Ananya Kiran
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