25 April 09 was a day of question marks. I had not the faintest idea which train to catch, as I woke up at Consti's Bandra home @ 4:30 am. Or what time it departed. Not a clue which station to catch it from. Didn't bother to ask beforehand. Freedom tastes best when you don't know what to do with it .
What I did know was that the train was going to be my friend. In fact one of the many friends I would make that day. As it turned out, the ticket-vendor at Bandra was the first.
He guided me to Borivli station instead of Mumbai Central as I would miss Gujarat Express from there. My second friend - the Gujarat Express.
Not in bad meaning, but in an inter-state competition on creating maximum commotion without reason, Gujaratis would have the cake with the cherry on top. Funny how I've grown to just love it all these years.
As I stood there waiting on the platform, all the hitess-bhupess-jigness-kamless were "bake"in my life. Confusion born out of false rumours on the train finally approaching reigned supreme. Someone shouted that all standing here were fools and the general dibba would arrive at the front instead.
Babies cried and children screamed "mammi susu lagi chhe" and "icecream joiye chhe" to no heed from frantic parents.
I felt a unity in all the confusion, a one-ness I escaped everyday while sitting in silence in my bus, waiting for office to arrive. That bus could provide convenience, I thought ... but never comfort.
There came my third friend- the general dibba. With all the suitcases, rucksacks, farsaan-jalebi-gathiyas, children , men , women, Patelbhais and Nimishabens, it made a record-breaking number of friends in 5 minutes. Should surely make all the other dibbas madly jealous.
Thus began my journey, hanging out of the general dibba into India's arms with just one foot on the footboard and the fresh early morning wind in my face. I remembered Steve Jobs' Stanford Speech ... "You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." Steve Jobs was spot on. My heard told me this was the best way to travel . Probably Jobs must have tried travelling in an Indian general dibba someday, with only his shorts on.
The people hanging from the footboard were getting pissed off big time now ...their incessant complaints finally paid off. 8 people inside were forced into the toilets - 4 in each , to make way for us footboarders after much grumbling and arguing. I was very much in Gujarat Express now. Soon I'd be in Gujarat.
Quarrels are a part and parcel of general dibba life, specially at a station. New boarders broke into petty fights with other passengers, unwilling to let them in. Onlookers took active interest( with nothing better to do) , some of them adding fuel to the fire by shouting "maro ! pito !" from far away. Soon it became a question of survival of the fittest .. push you survive, get pushed you perish.
The chaiwala evoked an instant uproar with his arrival ... no place to stand, let alone drink tea.
I looked on as he managed to make his way in and sold tea to the same people who protested his entry. He must fight hardest everyday.. no wonder he's the fittest. Fight to be fit - what an invaluable lesson he had taught us that day.
That day I saw Indian hospitality at it's best where one would least expect it - a total stranger buying a foreigner a cup of Indian tea and asking him to taste Indian tea. No question of the tea being adulterated.
By now I had managed to get a seat. I looked up and saw a man gesturing towards his forehead, speaking but too weak for words to come out. He was about to faint. I offered him my seat. His enemy from a minute earlier, (both had had a heated argument) fished out a water bottle and poured some down his parched mouth. My last remaining hide-and-seek biscuit was thrust into his hand. I felt really guilty I'd already finished the rest. Once he got back to normal, the person insisted I get back to my seat.
Another lesson learnt - fights and quarrels not withstanding, in times of adversity people stand united.
I looked at the people around me and pride filled within me for being part of them. They would fight with you , push you, shove you, yet they would take your hand when you needed it. They had nothing to lose. You had nothing to lose.
I saw a totally different picture from the one normally painted - of corrupt , immoral, communally torn-apart India.
I saw a goodwill in India I had never seen before.
We had all taken a pledge ...
"All Indians are my brothers and sisters... "
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
cycle, aaj ho ya kal
10 December, 2 pm. Back from lunch. Drowsiness threatened to overcome me .. bad habit, I reminded myself sternly, eating too much rice for lunch. Never had that back in Ahmedabad. Even Chennai.
I stared at my screen: "Delinquent TICA Inputs-Action Required". Zzzz. Action at 2 pm was like the early morning jog at 6 am - both weren't meant to happen. I felt drowsier than ever. Action required . Wonder if I'm capable of any action at all. Wonder if I would live my dream any day. I thought of the graphics and video pipelines I used to blend for screen display . What if real life and dreams could be mixed the same !
And then there was Sanish. Standing in front of drowsy me. Trying to put something across. Was he a dream ? Real ?
Mixture ? I wondered. My brain protested : no action at 2 pm please.
I woke up with a start. "Bangalore To Goa. Cycle Trip. 23 Dec. NO MATTER WHAT."
I was wide awake. We were two men in our early twenties, going to hit the road on 23rd and conquer it by 29th.
83 kms in 1 day, 581 in 7. As simple as that. We went about doing it the engineer way- first simulate it (on Google maps), then test it out on hardware. Only the testing never happened.
Night halts in between were all planned. (Hassan, Mangalore , Udipi, Bhatkali .... ). We couldn't find anyone for company .. no-one willing for such a long cycle-trip. Only the two of us. It would be costly, I thought ... easily above 24000 per head. Plus only two guys. The Qualis (the woman behind us to-be-successful men), was to provide break-down support. The only way now was to go without it. Sanish's determination was still as strong as ever, mine faltered. The "no matter" was gone. It did matter. Without the Qualis, it did. For the first time, I succumbed to the risk factor.
Probably some day later. Definitely, one day.
24 Jan.
Our dream was now one month old. Not to be forgotten for a long, long time. The TI cycling club had been founded as an off-shoot of this dream, both of us at the forefront. And its first cycling trip began today at 6 am. As far as our stamina took us, across by-lanes, main roads, across green fields, muddy ponds, bridges, railway tracks and highways. Across the land, the countryside , across all barriers ... cycling it out on Nice Road. We felt free , felt like the spirit of cycling would never die. And our dream too.
NO MATTER WHAT.
Bangalore is THE place to be for cycling. Plenty of good, traffic-free roads in the periphery, scenic routes ( it gets more and more scenic as you travel away from Bangalore ) and excellent weather. You'd positively be missing something if you live in Bangalore and don't cycle outside it .
At dawn we started, in half an hour we were out of the city, on Hosur Road.. racing away to our next target , NICE road. As soon as you get to NICE road, it all gets bigger, wider and better. Worth all the effort put on Hosur Road. The road was almost empty. For the first time in my life, I whooshed past a toll booth without stopping. You're cyclists, don't bother :), they said !
Morning turned into day and we started to realize the finer aspects of cycling. The less evident ones to the outside world. Cycling was not exactly a merry picnic. Well not the uphills at least. That's where geared bikes have the advantage, you switch to lowest gear. And remember the third law of Cycling : For every uphill there is an equal and opposite downhill. Rejoice. You'd get tired out very fast on a normal bike after a few uphills and how cruel to have to stop and head back, missing all the scenery ahead !
After about two and a half hours, fatigue started to set in. First to start aching is the neck. Then shoulders. Then the lower back and thighs. If your saddle height's too low, your knees too. That's when you stop and stretch. Very basic but indispensable. Your partner too matters a lot, he effectively halves out your mental fatigue. I've been out cycling alone and it's much more exhausting.
It is now that the most exhilarating feeling of the entire trip sets in: the joy of overcoming your fatigue, and resuming. It gives you the confidence of a hundred Goa trips. You can't know it until you've felt it. Total bliss.
Villages are good for temporary relaxation, they slow down your momentum by putting a lot of speed breakers in series. The ultimate test for your cycle's shock absorber. Mine had none, unfortunately. We kept stretching every half an hour on the first trip. How long to stretch, how much, no-one but your body can tell you. On our later trips, our muscles demanded lesser stretching .It depends, person to person. But stretch one must.
Our first cycling trip taught us a lot. First, do NOT head to Goa without heading to Mysore first.
Second, do not head to Mysore , without cycling on Mysore Road first.
Third , you can fatigue out a bit , you can be out of breath for a while, but remember, it's all worth it.
Fourth, as we observed on the road, cycling is for everyone, children, youth, and old-aged people.
The end of our first cycling trip was to be the beginning of many more cycling adventures. Await next posts for that :)
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” - Lance Armstrong
I stared at my screen: "Delinquent TICA Inputs-Action Required". Zzzz. Action at 2 pm was like the early morning jog at 6 am - both weren't meant to happen. I felt drowsier than ever. Action required . Wonder if I'm capable of any action at all. Wonder if I would live my dream any day. I thought of the graphics and video pipelines I used to blend for screen display . What if real life and dreams could be mixed the same !
And then there was Sanish. Standing in front of drowsy me. Trying to put something across. Was he a dream ? Real ?
Mixture ? I wondered. My brain protested : no action at 2 pm please.
I woke up with a start. "Bangalore To Goa. Cycle Trip. 23 Dec. NO MATTER WHAT."
I was wide awake. We were two men in our early twenties, going to hit the road on 23rd and conquer it by 29th.
83 kms in 1 day, 581 in 7. As simple as that. We went about doing it the engineer way- first simulate it (on Google maps), then test it out on hardware. Only the testing never happened.
Night halts in between were all planned. (Hassan, Mangalore , Udipi, Bhatkali .... ). We couldn't find anyone for company .. no-one willing for such a long cycle-trip. Only the two of us. It would be costly, I thought ... easily above 24000 per head. Plus only two guys. The Qualis (the woman behind us to-be-successful men), was to provide break-down support. The only way now was to go without it. Sanish's determination was still as strong as ever, mine faltered. The "no matter" was gone. It did matter. Without the Qualis, it did. For the first time, I succumbed to the risk factor.
Probably some day later. Definitely, one day.
24 Jan.
Our dream was now one month old. Not to be forgotten for a long, long time. The TI cycling club had been founded as an off-shoot of this dream, both of us at the forefront. And its first cycling trip began today at 6 am. As far as our stamina took us, across by-lanes, main roads, across green fields, muddy ponds, bridges, railway tracks and highways. Across the land, the countryside , across all barriers ... cycling it out on Nice Road. We felt free , felt like the spirit of cycling would never die. And our dream too.
NO MATTER WHAT.
Bangalore is THE place to be for cycling. Plenty of good, traffic-free roads in the periphery, scenic routes ( it gets more and more scenic as you travel away from Bangalore ) and excellent weather. You'd positively be missing something if you live in Bangalore and don't cycle outside it .
At dawn we started, in half an hour we were out of the city, on Hosur Road.. racing away to our next target , NICE road. As soon as you get to NICE road, it all gets bigger, wider and better. Worth all the effort put on Hosur Road. The road was almost empty. For the first time in my life, I whooshed past a toll booth without stopping. You're cyclists, don't bother :), they said !
Morning turned into day and we started to realize the finer aspects of cycling. The less evident ones to the outside world. Cycling was not exactly a merry picnic. Well not the uphills at least. That's where geared bikes have the advantage, you switch to lowest gear. And remember the third law of Cycling : For every uphill there is an equal and opposite downhill. Rejoice. You'd get tired out very fast on a normal bike after a few uphills and how cruel to have to stop and head back, missing all the scenery ahead !
After about two and a half hours, fatigue started to set in. First to start aching is the neck. Then shoulders. Then the lower back and thighs. If your saddle height's too low, your knees too. That's when you stop and stretch. Very basic but indispensable. Your partner too matters a lot, he effectively halves out your mental fatigue. I've been out cycling alone and it's much more exhausting.
It is now that the most exhilarating feeling of the entire trip sets in: the joy of overcoming your fatigue, and resuming. It gives you the confidence of a hundred Goa trips. You can't know it until you've felt it. Total bliss.
Villages are good for temporary relaxation, they slow down your momentum by putting a lot of speed breakers in series. The ultimate test for your cycle's shock absorber. Mine had none, unfortunately. We kept stretching every half an hour on the first trip. How long to stretch, how much, no-one but your body can tell you. On our later trips, our muscles demanded lesser stretching .It depends, person to person. But stretch one must.
Our first cycling trip taught us a lot. First, do NOT head to Goa without heading to Mysore first.
Second, do not head to Mysore , without cycling on Mysore Road first.
Third , you can fatigue out a bit , you can be out of breath for a while, but remember, it's all worth it.
Fourth, as we observed on the road, cycling is for everyone, children, youth, and old-aged people.
The end of our first cycling trip was to be the beginning of many more cycling adventures. Await next posts for that :)
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” - Lance Armstrong
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