Walking for health — isn’t it such a chore? Most of us set the alarm, hit ‘snooze’, roll over and get back to sleep, and end up with an epic fail instead of an energised morning. For a bunch of Singapore walkers who meet up on Wednesday mornings, the scenario is very different. Led by Pawan Bhargava and Shijo George, the group has been growing and growing over the past year, with 400+ members now, and walking has never been more fun.
Pawan, a full-fledged Singapore citizen and a hiking enthusiast for the past two-and-a-half years, carried Shijo, a Singapore resident for 18 years now, through a 45km walk sometime in March 2024. It was a bond forged through a gruelling endeavour, some despair, much sweating, and a good deal of swearing. From that mission of pain and gain, the group Wednesday Walkers was born in May 2024.
It helps that both of them are alumni of IIM Bangalore, and have known each other for a long time through the IIM community. Pawan was “one of the biggest donors” for a few of the charity campaigns that Shijo was involved in.
But they only met in person last year for the 45km walk, “from Lakeside MRT station to Tuas and back”. This was inspired by the example of a Singapore-based individual named Girish Zond, who undertook a 100km walk across the island.
As Pawan and Shijo speak to Sanchita Guha, Consulting Editor, Connected to India, it becomes evident that their fitness goals and friendship go hand in hand. Nothing else could drive two senior professionals in Singapore to make time every Wednesday morning for a year to turn up on the dot at the specified starting point, rain or shine — and they aren’t slowing down at all.
Recalling how their joint initiative began, Pawan says, “So, one day, somebody sends me a message and says, ‘Pawan sir, will you walk 45 kilometres with me?’ I said, ‘Why did you ask me? Because I’ve never walked 45 kilometres in my life. The maximum I have done is 22km, which is, you know, two laps of MacRitchie (reservoir in Singapore).”
Responding to that, Shijo, who had sent this message, said he had heard from Trekkers@Heart — a Singapore-based adventure outfit founded by Vivek Vaidya — that “everybody says if you have to do something successfully, take Pawan along”.
Also read: Trekkers@Heart founder Vivek Vaidya helps people find their inner adventurer
This goal of 45km was a tough one for Pawan, as it was more than double his previous best; and it was even tougher for Shijo. “I said, ‘Dude, I have never done 45[km], but I’m happy to do it with you, if that’s the ask,’” says Pawan about that first request from Shijo. “And [Shijo] said, ‘I failed twice, but if I go with you… you know, let’s do it.’”
So, they did it. After 15km, Shijo had swollen feet and was ready to drop. But Pawan would not let him stop. Not only did he finish his own first 45km, but he also helped Shijo attain the goal, “carrying him mentally and physically by singing songs, by talking”. In fact, so garrulous was he that after 36km, Shijo sat down at a bus stop and threw some mild expletives at Pawan, “because I’ve had enough of your talks”.
Laughing for a bit at the memory, Pawan, a trading specialist and an “empty nester”, explains how Wednesday Walkers was formed out of that two-man cross-Singapore odyssey. His job, he says, affords him enough flexibility to take time out on a Wednesday morning, and the mid-week is also the productivity “hump” in the corporate world.
In the few weeks between their successful 45km walk and the forming of Wednesday Walkers, Shijo and Pawan walked together some more.
“So, we got so inspired that we basically started walking regularly,” says Shijo. “And now we have a WhatsApp group of more than 400 people. We walk every week. This year, we have done 26 walks, and 174 unique individuals have been part of our walks this year,” he adds.
Shijo keeps a detailed tracker of members walking each week. The record helps the group see the participation pattern and plan ahead.
“We also partner with organisations like Ray of Hope and the Institute of Neurodiversity. And we are looking at creating an impact,” says Shijo. “One of the things that I want to highlight is [Wednesday Walkers] is a not-for-profit entity. We are not looking to make money. We enjoy it. And me and Pawan, we are always looking at ways to create an impact.”
Their interest in making a positive impact is organically aligned with the aims of Ray of Hope, which caters to emerging and unmet needs in the community through charitable crowdfunding. Pawan, for instance, already uses his expertise to teach financial literacy to youngsters; and Shijo has organised book clubs and discussion forums to engage the community.
Shijo says, “Ray of Hope is a powerful initiative that addresses gaps not covered by traditional safety nets. The transparency and governance assurance due to their IPC (Institution of a Public Character) status is also one of the reasons why we are wholeheartedly supporting them.”
So, let’s do it on a weekday
Singapore is a highly pedestrian-friendly nation, but even so, covering eye-watering distances in a matter of hours is never easy. Pawan began building up his endurance after he realised — on a hike in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia — that his body needed work.
“Two-and-a-half years ago, I went for a hike in Kota Kinabalu with zero practice and I struggled. When we came back, I decided that I’d practise for my next hike,” he says. Joining the Trekkers@Heart community got him that valuable practice, and his reward six months later was a climb up Mt Rinjani in Indonesia. “In the six months, I realised that practice makes a lot of difference.”
Pawan’s mountaineering achievements include a trek to the Everest Base Camp, just short of the ultimate prize for the climbing community.
After that Indonesia expedition, he took up mentoring people in the Singapore community who wanted to hike and get fit, and also became a volunteer for Trekkers@Heart, helping them run their Saturday programme and leading some day trips.
The seed of Wednesday Walkers was planted after his epic all-night walk with Shijo, which took 12-odd hours to finish.
“This idea came into my mind that we take people out for walks and exercise only on weekends, but why not [on a] weekday? So, Wednesday is called a ‘hump day’ in corporate life. That’s where your weekend starts, you know,” says Pawan. “I said, why don’t we do a mid-week plan? And I was told, people have office, people have commitments, you won’t be able to have a sustainable crowd.”
Shijo, who is dedicated to getting fitter — he plays squash and does strength training regularly — was open to trying out the weekday walk idea, however, and a tiny group was formed.
The first Wednesday Walkers day out started with 10 people in May 2024. Shijo helped Pawan spread the word and gather members. Now, the group has some 420 members, and every Wednesday sees a turnout of 30-40 people.
“Sometimes, we do a recce to map the route and we try to take people to new places so that they can experience [more],” says Pawan.
No walker is left behind
Though not-for-profit, the Wednesday Walkers group benefits from the professional skills and discipline of Pawan and Shijo. A “poll” is created every week in the Wednesday Walkers WhatsApp group, specifying the starting point. Interested members “vote” as a way of confirmation of attendance.
The time is always 6.50am sharp, and the walk always starts punctually. It is over by 9.20am, so that the members can get to work on time.
To the question of how they ensure that no walker is left behind — not everyone can move at the same pace — Pawan says that he has some “tricks” for it.
He elaborates, “Considering that different people have different capabilities, we started organising in such a way that we could keep up with everybody. So, you know, some of those walks would be 9 kilometres, 10 kilometres. And we pace it so that we keep everybody together. We would not let people fall behind. So sometimes, you have to basically manage people at the front to walk a little slower, or make them stop somewhere.”
Then he reveals his strategy: “One of the tricks is, let’s say, we’re going in a straight line. And now this turn comes. I will take my fast walkers 500 metres on that turn and bring them back. By that time, all the others behind would’ve caught up. And we will always have one person, one of our volunteers, at the back to make sure that nobody is left behind. We call [this person] a ‘sweeper’, as he sweeps the entire group and stays at the back.”
It sounds like an incredible expenditure of energy to organise such long walks every week and then to keep all the group members together by engaging the walkers in front “with some small, small, small extra things”, so that those at the back are able to keep up.
For Shijo, on his first 45km journey, Pawan pulled out all the stops by belting out his full repertoire of Bollywood retro songs. “His musical skills were so amazing that the stray dogs of Singapore emerged from nowhere,” Shijo quips. “We were kind of accosted by some 15-20 dogs around Singapore.” And they even have a picture to prove it!
All the positive impacts
The story of that night hike demonstrates that Pawan is a determined mentor — “a drill master”, jokes Shijo — and their joint investment of time, planning, and energy has made Wednesday Walkers a force of good in Singapore.
The “impact” of Wednesday Walkers that Shijo speaks of begins with the positive impact on a walker’s health. That was also the main motivation for Pawan.
Shijo himself is a prime example of how much of a difference regular walks can make. The 45km walk in March 2024 had taken its toll on him, but just four months later, he was able to cover 59km with much greater ease.
The 59km walk was organised to mark the Singapore National Day Parade (NDP), the year 2024 being the 59th anniversary of the island nation. For #SG60, a 60km walk on 8 August 2025 is being planned by Wednesday Walkers.
Then there are other points of impact, such as the possibilities of more adventurous treks opening up for the participants, as their capability increases; and the camaraderie between the walkers, who find these Wednesday morning hours to be a “safe space” for sharing thoughts.
Camaraderie is very important for success in group trips, especially on a mountain climb. “When you go to the Everest Base Camp, and you have a group of 10 people, whether all 10 will do it or 8 will do it, a lot depends on your mental makeup and how you gel,” says Pawan. “I tell people, if you are to go anywhere for a multi-day trek, make them your friends first.”
Therefore, these Wednesdays in Singapore are about so much more than leaving footprints on the pavements and tracking heart rates on the smartwatch. They are about filling one’s soul with new sights and sounds, seeing parts of the island one might not have seen otherwise, and making friends — perhaps, lifelong friends — with people one might never have met otherwise. All it takes are two-and-a-half hours of a weekday morning and a pair of sturdy walking shoes.
