Obese Hong Kong food writer sheds a chin on India weight loss trek
The tape measure is fast becoming Mischa Moselle’s best friend as he manages to shed another 5cm from his waistline, braving some erratic driving as he walks off the kilos along the roads of southern India
I’ve been all over the place – I almost went round the bend. Perhaps I started to let conditions in India get to me.
Doing a lot of walking means spending a lot of time looking at pavements and there seem to be rivers of muck flowing under so many of them. You look through the many gaps between the broad concrete paving slabs and there is a flow of black water with oil floating on the top and a host of unidentifiable objects – perhaps that’s a good thing – and the odd dead rat.
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In Kovalam I discover the alternative is even worse. The area comprises a series of small towns and villages that is rapidly growing into an adjunct to the city of Trivandrum. With plans to build one of the world’s largest container ports there, Kovalam could get a whole lot bigger.
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I find it quite scary walking between the towns and villages. I walk against the oncoming traffic so I can see what is coming towards me, but in order not to jar my back I also look down about a metre ahead to avoid stepping into big holes in the ground. On top of this, I have to try to keep an ear open for what is happening behind me, as vehicles are often on the wrong side of the road in a country that believes overtaking is a competitive sport.
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It is quite difficult to predict how the drivers of the auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, scooters, cars, buses and trucks will behave except that if they can overtake they will. That probably explains why there is so much hooting.
Sometimes there is a 50cm-wide patch of ground on the side of the road I can walk on and sometimes only a white line less than the width of my shoe theoretically separates me from the traffic, leaving me 20cm of bitumen to walk on. I’m very lucky that I have always been able to find a patch of ground to stand on when a wide goods vehicle or bus has gone past.
I suppose it’s good to test your nerves every so often.
