I have this bad habit of reading & 8216;arrear papers& 8217;. That is, I don& 8217;t read my newspapers with my morning cup of coffee, but two or three days later (some times even weeks), with my dinner. Naturally I didn& 8217;t know about the petrol price hike, though I knew it was in the offing.

So it was a surprise when one day I had to shell out more for the petrol. It got me thinking. I would need more money for the petrol. But I only had more weight on my person than in my purse. May be I should start burning calories instead of petrol. But how do I do that?

Ever-helpful husband suggested & 8216;going green& 8217; by getting a bicycle. A good idea, but for my office being at an uncyclable distance.

& 8220;How about using the cycle to pick up sonny from school?& 8221;

& 8220;Well, I& 8217;m not sure I& 8217;ll be able to balance him and his bag, which in fact weighs more than him& 8221;.

Just before the price hike, I& 8217;d started walking. And how! I& 8217;ll take my vehicle to the park, park (!) my vehicle there and walk around the park. Yeah, and you guessed right. The park is a ten-minute walk from my house.

I have always disliked the idea of walking on the streets. But now it seemed a necessity. Petrol price. A new-found desire to reduce my carbon footprint. And my weight. Husband started pointing out all that which usually put me off.

& 8220;What about the & 8216;thingummy& 8217;?& 8221;

& 8220;I won& 8217;t think of it as doggy poo but as organic manure& 8221;.

& 8220;The corner where men relieve themselves?& 8221;

& 8220;I will hold my breath and pull on a pair of blinkers& 8221;.

& 8220;Buying vegetables and provisions?& 8221;

& 8220;I& 8217;ll carry them in a backpack& 8221;.

Little son pitched in and offered his backpack.

(So, if you see a woman with a fluorescent pink Popeye backpack, that would be me!)

& 8220;The dust and smoke from vehicles?& 8221;

& 8220;I& 8217;ll cover my face with a scarf& 8221;.

Everything has worked out fine, except for the scarf. The street dogs that abound thought that I was a thief and started chasing me. The only downside is, my vehicle gathers dust with infrequent use.

But, I& 8217;ve saved on my petrol bill, my contribution to pollution is less and I& 8217;ve lost two hundred and twenty nine GRAMS ;-)