A pact

Last week I made a pact (unsigned one though) with my daughter, aged 11, that I will pay more attention to fitness and will walk more. Daughters have a way to get their dad do the right things in life.

She (my daughter) and I go on most Sundays (when it is not raining) for an evening walk to our nearby park. Last Sunday, she mentioned that I am paying no attention to my health and am expanding in the middle. She said at least I should walk to railway station in the morning and evening instead of taking an auto rickshaw. Well, I tried to explain to her that it is quite difficult to avoid taking an auto in the morning as I do not want to miss my beloved 7:20 a.m. local train and the time seems to be flying the morning. Like a good daughter she understood but said what about evenings? Certainly in the evenings there is no hurry and I can certainly walk home. Well this stumped me. She is right. This set me thinking why I am taking an auto rickshaw in the evening and not walking from railway station. The distance is certainly walkable.

Next she asked me how much I pay per trip to and from railway station. Since I take a shared auto it comes to Rs. 5. She made a quick calculations and said if I walk from station to home every evening I will be saving Rs. 1300/- every year (5 x 5 = 25, 25 X 52 =1300), and every penny saved is a every penny earned. She said, or rather ordered me, that from tomorrow I will be walking from station to home every evening, and as a proof that I had walked I will deposit Rs. 5 with her every day, which she will be saving. Well, this seems to be quite good and practical suggestion. I readily agreed and since last Monday I am walking from station to home in the evenings. Now let us see if I am true to this unsigned pact in the coming days. I hope I will be. And I should be.