On Walking
On Walking Walking and humans have a perpetual relationship. Millions of years ago our ancestors descended the trees to tread on grasslands thereby freeing their 'forelegs' to grasp stones, bring them closer to the eyes and make tools out of it. Those advanced apes, thus, started on the path to becoming humans. Later the abilities to walk erect and fast, run and travel long distances were acquired. The hunting-gathering communities that followed made their primal movements and humans ever since "walked into" different stages of advancement to reach the point where we are living today. Walking can take different forms- stroll, saunter, march, hike- the list goes on. Walking has got a long history: Certain walks in history clearly stand out. Aristotle had the habit of walking while teaching and no wonder his followers were christened as peripatetics. Hippocrates, father of modern medicine, saw walking as man's best medicine. Henry David Thoreau who proclaimed hi...