There is a steady drizzle at 6.30am and when I look up, the skies are ominous. I am standing at the corner of Besant Avenue road, next to Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Park. There is a new addition to that corner — a towering arch in green and orange. A well-lit sign declares — ‘Healthwalk Start’ and on either side are silhouettes of two runners.
One of Chennai’s most idyllic stretches that delights pedestrians and motorists alike with a canopy of trees — Besant Avenue Road — is now part of a designated stretch for an eight kilometre Health Walk, an initiative by the Tamil Nadu Health Department. Inspired by walking tracks he saw on a trip to Tokyo, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian, himself a regular marathon runner, had announced the creation of these designated spaces across all districts. A list on the Directorate of Public Health website of these walking corridors across the State simply mentions the starting point of the walk. I decide to go where the quiet and calm path takes me.
