Somewhere in the Hills, Time Still Knows How to Walk Slowly…

There is something about the hills that I have never quite been able to explain.

Every time I go there, I find myself looking at my watch,strangely, the more I look at the watch, the more I feel that time has almost stopped. Not because the clock has ceased to move, but because, for once, I am not in a hurry to catch up with it.

We live in a world where everyone seems to be running towards something — a destination, a deadline, an achievement, a better tomorrow. Our moments of rest are also often squeezed between responsibilities.

And then there are the hills.

There, life seems to follow a different rhythm. The morning arrives without an alarm demanding attention. The clouds take their own time to move across the mountains. The wind passes through the trees without appearing to have anywhere particular to go. Roads wind through landscapes that have probably witnessed generations come and go. People carry on with their lives, perhaps unaware that somewhere beyond those mountains, the world is moving at an extraordinary pace.

I love the hills. And sometimes, I go there for no particular reason other than to experience that difference in pace. Perhaps it is my way of filling the gap between the speed at which we live and the slower rhythm that I sometimes long for.

It is in those quiet moments that I begin to notice things I might otherwise overlook. I think about how much life has changed, how rapidly the world around us is changing. Some changes make us proud, some leave us thoughtful, and some remind us of how much more there is still to do.

Perhaps growing older also means learning to appreciate these pauses. We begin to understand that not every moment needs to be productive, not every journey needs to be hurried and not every beautiful thing needs to be captured or explained. Some experiences are simply meant to be lived.

I often feel fortunate to be a Public Health Engineer. It is a profession that allows us to witness change beyond reports, drawings, estimates and project files. We get to see ideas take shape, infrastructure become reality and development reach the lives of ordinary people. A water supply scheme becoming functional, a household receiving safe drinking water, a community experiencing better sanitation — these are not merely engineering achievements. They are moments when our work becomes meaningful in someone's everyday life.

There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that what we do today can make life a little better for someone tomorrow. Perhaps that is one of the most beautiful parts of our profession: we are privileged to be part of changes that people can actually see, experience and benefit from.

But somewhere along the way, while trying to make things happen, we must also remember to live our own lives.

We must make time for the things that make us happy, for the places that bring us peace, for the people who matter and for the little experiences that remind us how beautiful life can be. We should not become so occupied with changing the world around us that we forget to experience it ourselves.

As I return from the hills, I know the pace of life will pick up again.But perhaps I will carry a little of that stillness with me.

And maybe that is enough.

A wish to all my fellow colleagues : May we continue to find happiness in the work we do, pride in the changes we bring and, equally importantly, time for the things that make us feel alive. Let us keep contributing to a better society, one meaningful effort at a time, without losing the simple joys that make life worth living.

After all, we do not always have to slow down the world. Sometimes, we only need to slow ourselves down enough to notice how beautiful it already is.