Shall We Walk by Pura Santillan

I wrote an article some years ago on the benefits of walking. My automobiled friends
praised the article politely enough, they liked it (at least they said so); the points
were well taken; people should really walk more; it took someone like me to show in
such graphic terms what could have been clear to everyone before then they
went on their morning-till-night automobile rides, increasing the size of their
paunches and the number of their chins and illnesses
I must state, however, that I didnt start to sell the idea that walking is the panacea
of all earthy ills, not that one should walk from here to Tarlac if there is not truck
available, not that rain or shine, in sickness or in health one should walk or else. But
I did set out to claim that if milady has to give up once in a while her tricyle or
carromata ride, she wil;l be one none the worse for the little exercise she gives her
limbs.
Walking keeps the form fit. It obviates bay windows, inelegant in men, unsightly in
women. Walking puts into play painlessly and unconsciously, important body
muscles. The leg muscles,obviously, are the ones mostly affected. But when the
legs move they pull at the abdominal muscles, giving them the needed exercise
which prevents their getting flabby and the abdomens becoming big and
pendulous. The static muscles of the back, especially those around the spine, are
put into movement, too, and this is essential in the maintenance of good posture.
The arms also swing into motion as a natural accompaniment of walking.
There are all manners of walking. The ambling walking of the absorbed lovers, while
satisfactory from the point of views of giving opportunity for sentimental discourse,
is not so from the point of view of exercise. From the latter viewpoint, a brisk
morning walk is the thing. You need not even plan it as a formal program. It is a
relatively simple thing to walk to the office, or if that is too much because where
you work is quite distant from your home, walk part of the way. Either choice you
take, however, makes it worthwhile by deriving from it the exercise you need. Wallk
vigorously and enthusiastically. You can almost actually feel the blood circulating in
your body with a briskness equal to the vim and zest you put into your walking.
Some enthusiasts have it that a good habitual walker is also a good habitual thinker.
Perhaps the situation is a bit far-fecthed considered as direct cause and effect.
Clean thinking may come as a result of good blood-circulation an general body
health, to which may have contributed the exercise derived from walking improves
the eyesight. Although when the walks are done out in the country, where a person
has to look far into the distance most of the time, at hill-peaks and tree-tops or
upon green grass across the brooks, the farsight focusing affords rest and is good
for the eyes.

Walk and be healthy. Walk and save money. Why be a slave of His Excellency, the
cochero, when it is only a matter of a ten or a fifteen minute walk? Walk, instead,
and see the city sights at close range. Many things of varied interest will attract
you. Show-windows will engross you if you are an addicted window-shopper.
Perhaps you intend to buy a pair of shoes next pay-day. Or a ves, do, or a barong
tagalog for a friend or hubby, a bag for little Wifie. Window-shopping now will help
you later.
If you dont care particularly to shop merely with your eyes, if window-shopping only
gives you pain and longings you never hope to see fulfilled, there are other things
besides windows to make a walk interesting. People, for instance. What o mothey
crowned of interesting human beings a short walk can afford you. You see all types,
dressy fops with their uselessness written all over their persons, worried looking
fathers of families, frowsy dames with eyes that tell stories of hopes and frustration,
eager youths and pretty girls flirting with each other openly or subtly, but always
charmingly, because they are young. You see an old woman with her bundle of
knickknacks, and you wonder how many grtanchildren will shout for joy on her
arrival. There is a vicious-looking beggar whom you evade, because he appears
more as your-life-or your money type than a bonafide pauper who needs your help.
A loud-mouthed woman, with the market brand stramped on her face and bearing,
is haggling over the price of a ride with an equally tough cochero. Words are
exchange, voices become excited and shrill, but you are already out of hearing
distance. All your interest is now taken up by an old couple, worn-out and thin to
emaciating, but still with the light of love and adventure in their eyes. You see the
man gallantly giving his arms to his wife as they staggeringly cross the street. You
wipe the mist in your eyes, and it is good that you do so in time or you would not
see two little children, their attention centered upon some candy displayed on a
counter near the sidewalk, coming plump into your path. You step aside, watch the
eager hungriness of their look.
Maybe such city sights fatigue you as they do some people who prefer using a walk
for meditation purposes; then take to the wide open spaces. Dont protest too
soon. You need not leave the city nor your job; you can simply take a little time to
get out of the streetcar lines and busy-streets, and seek the fields or the less
trodden path of so called civilized life. Walk and think, allowing Nature to soothe
your bruised spirit. Let the swaying grass teach you the beautiful lesson of
resilience, of bending to the inevitable, the wind of circumtance. Let the flower
teach you the essential perpetuity of life, and the bird, the joy of existence. The
tree, symbol of dignity and serenity, indifference and aloofness, is to make you see,
with a sense of balance,trivialities for what they are; the little lakes, sometimes
mere puddles, full of tadpoles and fishes and insects, to show you that life sprouts
anywhere, that your own, for all its seeming importance to you, cannot mean so
very much in the big scheme of living.

Perhaps you have a problem. Some would-be advisers walk it. Walk it and see it
from different angles. Walk it and see it for the first time against the background of
the whole universe. And while walking, says an expert on the subject, think tall,
pull your chin up and throw your chest forward no matter how heavy a burden you
carry on your shoulder.
With your sense of proportion restored by quiet deliberation and by the palpable
sympathy of Nature all around you, you strike at one solution, then another. Your
judgment, made clear by the classmates brought about by your walk and your
surroundings, becomes sound and wise. You reach a decision, and it is generally
good.
Walk and know yourself. You will be surprised to find out what an enjoyable
companion you can be to yourself. Dont be like the man who gets so bored being
left alone with his thoughts that he has to have a book with him all the time he is
not with people. Books have their place, too and an important place it is, but so
have walking and getting acquainted with yourself. Just thresh out the little doubts
you have regarding this and that, mull over remarks made by your friends or office
mates, study the personalities you have come across during the day. Its fascinating
pastime. And all this while you are taking your constitutional walk.

Pura Santillan-Castrence

begins the essay with a casual tone and

continues with a descriptive manner of enumerating the unmatched benefits of
walking. The words used all throughout were infallible in evoking a visual image in a
readers mind and thus, adding to the beauty of a gradual development of scenes.
At first glance, her work exemplifies a mundane composition exclusively suited for
health-conscious readers. However, an insightful ending thrashes initial judgements
as the author proves the relevance of a simple introduction to achieve her purpose
in writing the piece.
Shall We Walk? brilliantly incorporated purposeful essence into an extremely
ordinary actionwalking. From its advantages to mans health, to the different kinds
of people one sees, to the lessons you may learn along the way and finally, the
discovery of oneself. All of these are possible when one uses his feet to travel to his
destination. I distinctly appreciated the essays realistic approach, which allowed me
to relate with the text since I, myself, walk when commuting from Katipunan to my
beautiful abode in Makati. Likewise, I was awed by the realization that my
surrounding is an instrument which communicates life truths and lessons that can
strengthen ones character. The surrounding that most people take for granted is,
after all, a silent teacher that one will recognize only if he cares to open his eyes
and see beyond what is readily presented on the surface. It is also this surrounding
that serves as a serene place for stressed people, like me, to unwind and to think
clearly. On top of all of these, the essay added meaning to an action I perform only

because it is necessary. It left a lasting impact as it conveyed that walking is

tantamount to learning and discovering, not only my environment and society, but
more importantly, my individuality.
I was instantly attached to this essay, most especially because it paved the
way for me to see a bigger truth about life. It reminded me that every part of mans
journey here on earth is a learning experience and one has to immerse himself with
his surrounding in order to fully develop his character. From now on, Ill be looking
forward to walking the streets of Katipunan with utter excitement. Because the
world reveals itself to those who do so, I just cant wait to travel once again by foot.

Biography
Ambassador Pura Santillan-Castrence, a Filipino literary giant and columnist of the Manila Mail for
many years, died in her sleep January 15 in her home base in Sydney , Australia.
Born in Sta. Mesa, Manila on March 24, 1905, Castrence was a prolific essayist, journalist,
columnist, critic, linguist and translator. She was a Barbour Scholar, a pioneer diplomat, and a
university professor.
She was among the early masters of the newly introduced English language in the 1920s, writing
essays that would serve as a mold for the Filipino tradition of social commentary in this literary form.
"Nanay Pura," - as she was known among friends and admirers in Australia, was set to receive the
Dangal ng Haraya Lifetime Achievement Award for Cultural Promotions during the third Gawad Alab
ng Haraya award ceremonies on Feb. 23, 2007. Dangal Haraya is one of the highest recognitions
from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. Two weeks before her death, Castrence said
of her nomination: "I am very happy and honored to accept the 2006 Dangal ang Haraya Award for
Cultural Promotions from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines. I wish
to thank the Bayanihan News of Sydney, Australia, which nominated me for such a prestigious award
recognizing my contribution to our country. I am very grateful too, to the Board of Judges for
considering me a worthy recipient of this award." Despite her age and blindness, she continued to
write regularly for numerous publications such as the Bayanihan News in Australia and The Manila
Mail, a weekly Filipino American paper, in Washington, D.C. She started writing her column "As I
See It" in the early 90s while she was still residing with her son in Maryland. She continued to do so
even after she relocated to Australia to join her daughter. In one of her columns she airmailed from
Australia a few years ago, Mrs. Castrence complained about her failing eyesight. She said she was
just dictating her column to a volunteer who wrote it down and mailed it. When she started writing for
a local Filipino Australian paper in Melbourne, she often asked the staff of that paper to forward

copies of her column to the Manila Mail. Most of her columns in the Mail were very critical of dictator
Ferdinand Marcos and other subsequent Filipino leaders who tried to curtail basic freedoms in the
Philippines. A fervent nationalist, Mrs. Castrence was also critical of leaders who blindly followed the
foreign policy of the United States and who did not pay any attention to the sufferings of the poor. Her
writing career was highlighted with the recent release of the book "As I See It: Filipinos and the
Philippines, "a compilation of essays on subjects ranging from history to nostalgia. Earlier
publications included "Women's Sense" and "The Women Characters in Rizal's Novels." Castrence
is survived by her four daughters Lina, Leti, Olivia, Sylvia, and sons Jose, Roberto and Ricardo, and
several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She passed away in her sleep peacefully in the
presence of her loving daughters, grandchildren and close friends. Santillan-Castrence's numerous
essays found in required textbooks in high schools and colleges in the Philippines had made her
name a household word. Students would pore over the meanings of her works and turn them into
popular class discussions. Her earlier publications include Women's Sense" and "The Women
Characters in Rizal's Novels," a study on the women who inhabited "Noli me Tangere" and "El
Filibusterismo." Along with other pioneers, Castrence is credited with helping to develop the Filipino
essay in English as a potent medium for social change from the 1920s to the present. Prof. Randy
David notes Pura Santillan-Castrence's "powerful memory and unerring insight. She writes about the
Philippines with the nostalgia of a native who has known a gentler time, and with the wisdom of a
seer who has glimpsed the future." (She) has spent a lifetime promoting the Filipino national
tradition. We are a richer people because of her. I am very happy to know that the NCCA is giving
her the Dangal ng Haraya Award for Cultural Promotion. No recognition can be more appropriate and
timely." Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of the
Philippines says of "As I See It": there can be no better tribute to Pura Santillan-Castrence,
pioneering feminist and respected writer, than the publication of her most recent columns, many of
which are valuable eyewitness accounts of events and personalities decisive in Philippine history.' Dr.
Tiongson agreed that the NCCA award is a recognition of the important legacy of the deceased. Dr.
Mina Roces, historian and scholar at the University of New South Wales in Sydney considers this
book "rare and valuable for historians and Filipinos interested in narratives of the past. She deserves
this latest recognition awarded by the NCCA."