It’s a small world” goes the saying.

With waistlines worldwide showing strong inflationary trends, the saying seems hardly true when judged by people’s size. Unfortunately, obesity (or “globesity”) is a blatantly visible international epidemic. Consider also the continuing increase in the number of diabetics expected to climb to 366 million in 20 years from the figure of 170 million only ten years ago. And all over the world, the number one cause of premature death is heart disease.

Is it time to examine Mahatma Gandhi’s exercise habits as a possible answer to these public health challenges?

A read of his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth and an examination of his life convince me that the answer is a definite ‘yes’. Sprinkled in his autobiography, there are small --and overlooked gems of his thoughts—that show walking as Gandhi’s preferred form of exercise for staying healthy. These passages need to be dusted off and introduced to the Facebook and iPod generation (i.e. all of us). It turns out that the apostle of peace was also a man of health.

Let’s extract a few random data points from Gandhi’s life on how he merged walking as part of a healthy lifestyle. In his high school days, Gandhi developed a liking for walking to compensate for his distaste of gymnastics and other sports. As a student in London, he merged frugality and a healthy style by renting a room so situated to give him a daily walk of five miles to his place of work. In Durban, South Africa,he walked and taught his sons so combining education with exercise. On his return to Bombay and working as a lawyer, he commuted by foot 45 minutes each way. He knew these walks kept him healthy by noting that while “many of my friends in Bombay used to fall ill, I do not remember having once had an illness.” Neither did the fierce Indian summer deter him as he had “inured” himself “to the heat of the sun.” And reflect that Gandhi’s leadership of the momentous Dandi Salt March had an inescapable physical dimension. It was because he had the capacity to walk long distances without getting tired that he covered the distance 241 miles at the not-so-young age of 61(life expectancy was much lower then). Some fellow walkers even griped about his fast tempo.

Interestingly, in his autobiography, he records how he inwardly dissented with his political guru—Gopal Krishna Gokhale--on the subject of exercise. When Gandhi enquired from an ailing Gokhale why he did not go for walks and receiving the response of lack of time, he kept silent but recorded in his autobiography, “no matter what amount of work one has, one should always find some time for exercise. Far from taking away from one’s capacity for work, it adds to it.”

How’s that for a thumbs up for exercise from the apostle of non-violence? Characteristically, Gandhi’s health goal was to keep the body healthy “to practice the ideal of service” and not—as most of us would like—to look better by New Year’s eve (Don’t get me wrong--no harm in that either). He believed that our physical beings housed something precious and consequently, “we cannot take too much pains over keeping in a fit condition the temple of the spirit—the human body.”

And finally, if you would like to accept the challenge of what I call the Mahatma Gandhi standard of health, here it is: “A man should be able to walk 10 to 12 miles a day and perform ordinary physical labour without getting tired.” (My apologies to the ladies for his reference only to ‘men,’ but in his defense, Gandhi was writing long before the onset of the gender sensitive grammar ended the reign of the masculine pronoun as inclusive of the female).

In brief, Gandhi’s way of keeping healthy was the same simple and elegant act that our earliest ancestors used when they spread out across the globe. You know it as walking. But for now, let’s get back to the future.

With diabetes, heart disease and obesity emerging as major global public health threats everywhere, we need cost effective and sustainable solutions that make good health easily available to all. Waking regularly like Gandhi is an important part of the solution. And best of all, its fully in your control. Walking is subtle magic that requires no elaborate equipment. You take it where you go. A ductile activity that obligingly changes shape to suit your personality, you can walk alone in contemplation if you are an introvert or walk with a crowd if you classify yourself as a backslapping extrovert.

Walking has more uses than a Swiss army knife. Walk to demolish problems, to calm a stormy mind, connect, laugh and save money. Walk to build a healthy appetite. Walk to gain perspective. Walk to forgive and forget. Walk with those precious to you. Walk to downsize. Walk to maintain the temple of the spirit—the human body. Walk to enhance your wellness, fight against diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Walk as we count down to the Mahatma Gandhi Health and Peace Walk scheduled on October 2, 2010 in the Marcus Garvey Park., Manhattan, New York.  Read my next post on how Gandhi rented a room in London as a student and its relevance to your health.

“In His Footsteps—For Your Health.”

rahul@ariseindiafoundation.org