Walking the walk: Tom Mackay comes face to face with a king cobra on his walk across India

AUSTRALIAN man Tom Mackay was halfway through his 900km walk across India when he came face-to-face with his worst nightmare: A king cobra.

SIX weeks ago I was ankle deep in the Arabian Sea, about to embark on a 900km walk across India.

The route was roughly planned — to walk from the west to east coast of India following the holy Kaveri River — travelling between villages, pulling along my cart, affectionately known as “Colin”. Finding that rhythm and balance of walking up and down hills and through small villages and different landscapes from dense jungle, lush green coffee and rubber plantations certainly brought its challenges. One of these was coming face to face with a king cobra. It was late in the day when I was walking along a dirt track with coffee plantations on either side — cruising along filming — thinking I was Martin Scorsese — not realising that I was only metres away from one of my biggest fears. I had just sat down on a tree stump, contemplating where I should pitch my tent for the night, when a slight movement caught my eye. I froze as a majestic six foot cobra slithered past me, stopping for a moment as it released its hood, which seemed like an eternity, before crossing into the dense forest. With no saliva, I gave myself 10 in the bin to cool down and was back on track. Coming face-to-face with a king cobra was one of the many challenges I met along the way — as I battled fatigue, dehydration, questionable bathroom facilities and the occasional racist dog. I was constantly asked during my walk, “Mr Tom, what is your purpose?” And as I walked kilometre after kilometre I sometimes asked myself the same question. I was facing my own mental health demons and I wanted to make a positive change from feeling stuck in a sleep walking routine of mediocrity, losing the momentum in my life. Sure I could have just done the Bondi to Bronte run but there is something empowering about escaping an enabling environment, being thrown into another world and left to fend for yourself. My aim is to inspire other people with similar anxiety and depression to step out and try to change things and to use the physical and emotional challenges of the walk to demonstrate a commitment to the significant challenge mental illness poses to young Australians. While language was always going to be a communication barrier in India, it was the actual ability to use body language that at times was the most humorous — a fun and frustrating game of charades. Action does speak louder than words and in a strange roundabout way of looking at things, this is essentially what ‘Walking the Walk’ was about — the power of action and body language. To make change, you have to make a commitment to follow through with your words and make the effort to do things differently in life. I have no special skills or talents. I stood ankle deep in the Bay of Bengal, having completed my adventure, realising that “anything is possible, if you put your mind to it”. Hopefully by sharing my experiences it will help inspire others to voice their pain and empower them to take control of their life and embrace the person they want to be. As AFL great John Kennedy Snr. once said, “Do something! Do! Don’t think, don’t hope, do!” Tom Mackay’s goal is to raise $50,000 for Beyond Blue. To donate visit www.walkingthewalk.com.au