There are two kinds of New Year’s resolutions – those announced with a trumpet on January 1, and those quietly set aside like a private note, to be retrieved when conscience permits.
Mine, for 2026, belonged firmly to the second category. No declarations, no social media signalling – just a private pact to resume my earlier ritual of 10,000 steps a day.
A few years ago, that number was less a target and more a habit. The pedometer did not judge, nor did it applaud – it merely recorded. Somewhere along the way, that habit went missing.
By the time January 2026 tiptoed out, the truth had become difficult to ignore. The daily average had not merely slipped; it had collapsed to a modest 2,000 steps, give or take a few charitable hundreds. Even these, I must confess, were less a triumph of willpower and more an outcome of canine coercion.
Unofficial fitness coaches
Sam and Zoro — a Rottweiler and an enterprising crossbreed — are my unofficial fitness coaches. They do not believe in rest days, motivational quotes, or incremental goals. They believe in walks – early morning, mid-evening, and the unmissable late night. Their enthusiasm is unwavering; my compliance, less so. If steps were measured in intent, I would have been an Olympian by now.
The rest of my daily routine does little to redeem the deficit. Grocery runs, salon visits, and other errands are conducted with admirable efficiency on my scooty. This, despite repeated counsel from my wife and sons, who would prefer that I opt for the relative safety of a car. Their argument is sound. The city’s traffic, however, is not.
There is something about our roads – their cheerful indiscipline, their inventive potholes, their disregard for both lane and logic – that discourages any romantic notions of long drives. A short ride feels like a tactical manoeuvre; a longer one, an act of faith.
Time for a moral reset
But let us come back to the matter at hand – or rather, the matter underfoot. With the arrival of Ugadi – the Telugu New Year – comes not just festivity, but also an opportunity for a moral reset.
The Telugu calendar, with its elegant 60-year cycle, assigns each year a name and, by implication, a personality. It is a system that quietly suggests that time is not merely passing, but also character-building.
This year is Sri Parabhava nama samvatsaram. ‘Parabhava’ [defeat, embarrassment] is not the most encouraging of labels for a man attempting to revive a fitness routine. Yet, there is also something oddly motivating about it. If a year is destined to test resolve, one might as well participate meaningfully.
So here it is – a renewed resolution, this time aligned not with the Gregorian calendar’s fireworks, but with Ugadi’s understated wisdom. The goal remains unchanged: 10,000 steps a day. The method, ideally, is more disciplined. The intent is cautiously optimistic.
