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METRO WORKOUT

iPlod, therefore I am

Photos: Serish Nanisetti

Breathing nature Run, jog, walk and climb pack everything into the workout at the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Park

I don’t have to call any phone number, fix an appointment, pay a fee to start this workout. Wear your fave sneakers, a loose T-shirt, loose trousers and you are on. We are talking about the sylvan Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Park in Banjara Hills.

There are three options: One you can walk on the outer periphery of the park on the broad footpaths, or you can opt for the free walkway where there are multiple entries and exits, the gates are shut by 8.30 a.m. and 10 pm., or you can opt for the paying entry into the park and walk the inner walkway which has shorter distance is buffeted from the noises of the civilisation and the views are natural and awesome.

No sissy, I take the free walkway that is supposed to put you in real touch with the Deccan plateau. Entering from the Apollo Hospital side, the jog is hardly begun that I encounter a climb. The sand is soft and loamy cushioning the feet (a delight compared to the hard tarmac that jogging on the roads or inside apartment blocks implies). As the jog slows to a brisk walk, the wind whips the leaves of the trees that shower me with the raindrops from overnight rain. Then it is an almost a vertical climb on the steps. No puffing and panting (bluffing, I had just started). I remove the iPod buds from my ears and am instantly rewarded with the mating calls of peacocks (almost like a crow’s caw but more full throated and longer). If you are lucky, you might even be rewarded with the sight of a peacock in flight.

This is a workout and not bird watching. As I climb, the muscles in the thighs and hamstring become taut and as I come down the sharp descent towards the Indo-American Cancer Hospital, the gastrocnemius and soleus tendons (okay, calf musles) kick in and I can feel a quiver. Then it is brisk walk before acceleration. The outer walkway is nearly 3 km (a portion of the park is now gone to make way for an building) and as I run the rocks in the path, the sand, the pathway without plastic packets and leaves show that I’m at one with nature in the middle of Hyderabad.

Bottomline: A workout that rejuvenates your mind, body and soul.

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