Page 28 - Seniors Today - July 2021 Issue

Life Lessons
Strangers on a Walk
Strangers can enrich your life or teach you a lesson of a lifetime, writes
Nagesh Alai
If you are an Alfred Hitchcock fan, some
of you may have seen his 1951 film called
‘Strangers on a Train’, a psychological
thriller about two strangers, one a tennis
star and the other a psychopath, meeting in
a train leading to a murder and a chilling
train of events with a classic Hitchcockian
denouement. It is scary enough to keep you
away from strangers in your life.
Celluloid imagination and storytelling
apart, each of us must have had our share
of experiences meeting strangers in our
routines. Some delectable, some unsavoury.
Of course, in comparison with the film
scripts, ours may not be as memorable, but
interesting nevertheless and insightful.
Over the past year and more of movement
restrictions and social distancing (which
many may see as a welcome relief, but loath
to admit), my morning walks and free hand
workouts on the shores of Prabhadevi/
Shivaji Park beaches in Mumbai have been
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de rigueur. The deserted stretches distinct
from the teeming sardines in the city, the
calming sound of waves crashing, the school
of crows and pigeons nibbling at feeds,
the delectable presence of the migratory
birds like egrets, gulls, herons, cormorants,
the wonderful play of the sunshine and
the skies, the imposing sea link and Taj
Lands End, the silhouettes of the distant
Versova and Madh skylines are all a feast
for the mind and soul, even as you walk
through plastic and garbage which the sea
throws back at the untidy us. The piece
de resistance, of course, is the fortuitous
meetings with strangers and the gratuitous
learnings.
Going by the oohs and ahs of many of my
pet-loving friends, I always thought they
would themselves set out with their pets for
their morning constitutional (unfortunately,
not just the for the pet ‘walks’ but for the
pet to ‘poop’ as well). Not so really, except