7 Sept 2013

Last days and a lonely ride 5

Day 3 : The lost piece...

A "Paanch Samosa Pineapple Pastry"... after an exotic snack as that, the junta disperses in bits and pieces. For the two earlybirds that left without a taste of it, parcels are prepared, but end up dumped in a bin., courtesy, the shadow on a bicycle that frightens the delivery-girl. (Aparna, I never thought I'm so frightening...):

Day 4,5,6,7 : Adventure is out there!

A 0730Hrs departure plan gets me saddled up by 0650Hrs. A wait for breakfast company till 0830Hrs, Suri is finally there, and we have breakfast till 0925Hrs. The next 35 minutes are for the Three Musketeers. All of what was spoken shall remain unspoken, and a lot that had to be spoken remains unspoken. It's 1000Hrs., finally and an adieu for the moment.

A few minutes into the journey, the cellphone and watch are dumped deep within the backpack. "Dear world, I'm not a part of you until I'm back home, and I shall live the moments that shall come by at my own pace."

A few starting glitches, loose nuts, all fixed, the journey has begun. It's a whole new world out there. Ups, downs, sweaty brows... I'm getting exhausted faster than I thought I will... packs of re-hydration stuff, quick calories, they're becoming more essential. My first pit-stop is sooner than I thought.
Barely 20km into my journey and about two and a half hours of non-stop cycling, and I'm physically giving up... there's a tree near one school, and kids playing nearby. I stop for a while, where one of them, I make friends with. He gives me the most profound lesson of the journey. "Take more short breaks instead of few long breaks."
Next, it's a stream, and the sun's blaze suggests it's around 1300Hrs. A good time to spend in the cool waters. Another break, and the journey continues.

My greatest challenge shows itself up by 1600Hrs. Agumbe-ghat takes me over four hours with three long breaks to gain the 550-odd meters of altitude. The security at the checkpoint is fancied by my adventure and lets me pass, despite his hunch that a pack of glucose could be drugs... :D
Here on, I don't want to keep track of the journey either... just to live the moment.

The eighty four hours and six minutes of cycling that take me from the MIT campus in Manipal to my home in Bangalore... those few hours of my life teach me more than I could have ever imagined... a lot of them coming from enlightened minds I meet along my journey.
"Don't just love your family! Care for them. Don't just care for the 'Green' of the Earth, learn to love it."
"Money is the last thing needed for someone to be happy."
"Don't be irreplaceable. You will be stuck in the same place forever, like a tree."
Think simple... like the school kid. Greater challenges become trifles.
I'm willing to chase a dream. A lot of people can't sleep.
Be carefree about what people think.
*wants* should come only after *needs*, and *cans*.
...

Oh! This list could go on, all the way to death. "Lectures on philosophy", I'll title the book if I write any about it.

It's 2206Hrs on Saturday, when I unlock the doors and enter 'home sweet home'.
Wow! I've actually cycled all the way back home. It's a sense of amazement about what a little frustration and *mind over matter* can do together...

I'm unable to understand what emotions I'm going through. I'm not tired, or excited, or happy... or maybe I'm experiencing all of them together... maybe, it's just those three sleepless nights and I'm hallucinating... just again, maybe, the pack of glucose was indeed drugs... :P
I leave a message for those whom I'd promised I would. I've had a long shower and the last of my left-over chocolates... staple diet in all my journeys.

I think I should be off to bed... a good sleep is what I need... I'm lying on bare ground, recalling every moment of the past week as they unfurled and decide to put it up on my blog. I'll want this recorded... just for me, and not anyone else. But I guess the mind finally gave in to the body sooner than usual.