When does one get old?

When does one get old?

1 June 2015 Off By Naginder Sehmi

My first view of Kilimanjaro before climbing it in August 1956

Competitive long-distance running or playing team games like rugby requiring maximal physical effort are not in the Indian culture. Physical competition especially after one retires is considered unnecessary and even harmful. The reasons one can give are many. The most evident is that the majority of the people are preoccupied in the effort of feeding the family leaving no time, means and strength to practise sports.

Another reason that stands out prominently is the cult of yoga and meditation which normally implies application of the minimum physical effort to achieve the maximum power of body and mind. It is an ingenious attraction that steers one towards laziness. For those who have the time and the means this approach to life has become a cultural trait that dissuades them from physical effort. Competitive physical effort even against “oneself” is considered dangerous.

From young age I was convinced that this cultural trait of laziness is the top origin of bad health. In order to verify and prove this dictum to myself I took up jogging just before retirement at the age of sixty. Fairly rapidly I progressed from running 5 km to half Marathons that empowered me to climb Kilimanjaro five years later – my fourth climb.

Other than wearing out many pairs of good shoes, running dozens of half-Marathons has cost me nothing. During the last 18 years my special bonus has been that I see my doctor only for the annual check-up.

The 2015 half Marathon of Geneva on 3 May started in rain that continued most of the time. Only the finisher can feel the thrill!