Lulu, my parrot, flew and circled above my head, finally settling on my shoulder. I was taking my morning walk.

“Just as we take a morning walk, you must be taking a morning flight,” I said.

“Ha ha! We parrots don’t suffer obesity like you so we do not need morning flights like your morning walks. It is so pleasant to fly in the cool early morning breeze, the world looks beautiful in the golden light of dawn.”

“Oh, that’s a bird’s eye view! We have to go to the terrace of our building to get a semblance of a morning view which you get.”

“Mornings are about looking at the world with new eyes”

“Oh Lulu, you are getting philosophical!”

“Tell me, what do you talk to yourself when you take a walk?” Lulu, my parrot, asked me. Lulu bent down to make eye contact.

“Awww. Hmmm …. Sometimes negative thoughts come to my mind first” I said as I kicked a small stone out of the way. “Then I realize that it is not the best way to begin my day. It is difficult to throw them out. They chase you like street dogs”

“I understand what you say, but it is important to stay positive. Morning walks, they say, is a kind of creativity catalyst”

“That’s so true! I get the best ideas about writing blogs when I walk. When you walk, your mind also begins to work.”

“Does the place where you walk make a difference?”

“It does. A quiet walk in the club house garden is the best. Particularly early in the morning. There is a walking track around a lawn. Greenery brings freshness to mind.”

“I saw you going for early morning walks on the streets of the city”

“True. City looks different early in the morning. People are getting ready for the day’s work. You notice some things you would normally miss.”

“Like what?”

“I saw two young children sleeping on temple steps. No blanket. Life is difficult for some people.”

“Yes. The unfortunate ones.”

“There are also many situations for ‘street photography’. I click them. But otherwise, streets are not the best places for morning walks.”

“Why?”

“You are thinking about an exciting idea and a truck blows a deafening horn or a motorcyclist speeds past making a big noise. They blow away the interesting and creative thoughts which morning walks bring to you.”

“I have seen you walking in the malls. Ha ha! That’s a brilliant idea.”

“Yes, malls are good places to walk. They open at 11 in the morning, so it is not really an early morning walk. The good point of a Mall-Walk is that you walk in an air conditioned atmosphere. Away from heat and humidity.”

“But there are many distractions there”

“Oh yes, but once you get in the groove of thinking you become oblivious to them. It isn’t like walking on a street. I often walk three kilometers in a mall.”

“And do you write down your thoughts which occur there?”

“No, I just make mental notes. It invariably begins with making a to-do list. I have to do this, I must do that …”

“Interesting”

“What do you mean? What’s interesting about a to-do list?”

“To do lists are okay, but you are not making the most important list”

“What’s that?”

“A ‘To-Be’ list.”

“That requires walking on a different path.” I lightly touched Lulu’s wings. “The path which is unique. No footprints are left on it!”

Vivek S Patwardhan

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”

PS: Feature Photo Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay, Parrot photo Annette Meyer from Pixabay