Its all about Conquering our mind Barriers!

Friends,

This post is about a worthy moment of my life, the day I cycled to Kabirvad and back (almost!), travelling around 160+ Km on the road and that too on a Fixie (Non-Geared) Cycle.

Dec 22nd 2013: The day it began!
A few members of BCC (Baroda Cyclist Club), decide to go Kabirvad, over the next weekend. Luckily, I get to know about it. There are two car racks available, so in total, there is a capacity of 5 people to come by car. I start pondering can I do it? Can I go? Because, I have been out from majority of BCC rides since August (The Timbi lake ride). So first, I need to get prepared for it.

Dec 24th 2013: Confirming the Participation for the Kabirvad Ride!
There were 4 (Aakash Gupta, Manish Lakhani, Tripti Kathuria & Dr. Kinnari Patel) who had confirmed the participation for full ride, which they said was around 165+ Km. Two others (Milin Desai and Chandrakant Golani) had decided to come by car till Hotel Nyay Mandir and then ride till Kabirvad, which would be approximately 18-20 Km, one side. So there were 3 vacant places in the car rack. But, I had decided I am gonna do it -- Full 165 Km. Aakash said it would be difficult to do it on a Fixie (Non-geared) Bike -- as the avg speed needs to be around 22-25 km/h. (Poore week bed pe rahega!) A couple of well wishers said it will be impossible for me to do so. (Thanks, that was a challenge that motivated me!)

Dec 25th 2013: Merry Christmas.. The preparation Starts!
 Correct me if I am wrong, but we can't just dream and sit back silently and watch our dreams come true. There has to be a plan and then an action.
And as Bo Bennett has rightly said: "A Dream becomes a Goal, when Action is taken towards its achievement."
In that week, I tried doing 2 city circuits, (17 Km each) in as much less time as possible. And once, did around 45 Km at the avg. speed of 22 km/h.

Dec 28th 2013: The rest day!
A well wisher said, don't ride the previous day if you are planning a full ride till Kabirwad. So didn't ride that day. I was pretty sure I could do the full ride. As such, I had no other option because the 3 vacant positions in the car rack were full. So if I wanted to go, I had to ride. I serviced my bicycle at home and got a new gel seat cover to improve the cusion.
Sad news! Manish Lakhani is not accompanying, as he has something urgent on 29th Dec. Damn!
Aakash told me and Tripti "Make sure you arrange for lights tomorrow, to be safe on road". A dear friend, Milin Desai lended me his light (Oops, I still haven't returned it, Will do it soon Milin.. ;) ) and everything was set.

Dec 29th 2013: The day of the Adventurous Ride!
We were to meet from McDonald's OP Road at 4:45 AM. We all got up at around 3-3:30 AM and did some warm-up exercises. We had enough water, Electral sachets, dry fruits, some chocolates, glucose biscuits and 1.5 kg bananas as eatables along with puncture and maintenance kits.
The ride started with the four of us in alphabetical order -- Aakash Gupta,  Dr. Kinnari Patel, Tripti Kathuria and Varun Shringarpure.
The route for the ride is as follows:

Mcd OP Road -> Manjalpur -> Panasonic Makarpura -> Jambua Service Road -> BIT Edu Campus -> Varnama -> Karjan -> Hotel Darshan -> Hotel Nyay Mandir -> Kabirwad -> Hotel Nyay Mandir -> Hotel Sahyog -> BIT Edu Campus -> Makarpura-Jambua Service Road to Vadodara


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After around 32 Km, we took our first break, at Hotel Darshan for 10 mins, to grab a nice hot Tea and a Good Day. It was the onset of morning and a nice Orange sun was seen in the mist above the open fields. (The beauty and ambience can't be explained in words, so to experience it, join us the next time we go!)

Around 55 Km into the ride, Aakash started feeling a little exhausted, as he didn't have anything in the early morning. A strong person by heart, he grabbed a few dry fruits and some water and started riding with all his might. The next we stopped was only at our first destination -- Hotel Nyay Mandir on Bharuch Service road. We reached at an average speed of 22 Km/h and took around 3 hours 30 mins to reach. We got fresh, sprinkling cold water on our face, which felt hot as compared to our hands and faces. After having light breakfast and a couple of cutting chai, we waited for our friends coming by car.
Milin Desai, Chandrakant Golani, Deven Parekh, Mira Vora and Hitesh Divyeshwar reached and unloaded their cycles from the car racks, and we were set to leave for our destination - Kabirvad.

It was a dumpy-bumpy road with more potholes then flatter roads. The best part about travelling through the road were the farms on either side of it. Multi-talented CG started clicking pics with his DSLR wherever he could find a nice scene thorough the fields. We reached the destination, but Milin's cycle had some issue on the way. So he, Aakash and Chandrakant had to go back from midway and come to Kabirvad in Car. The total one side distance we travelled was 87.8 ~ 88 Km. There, we got a bad news that Tripti will not be coming back on cycle. Aakash, too was not in the best of his condition to ride back, so ideally there were just two riders returning back on cycle -- Dr Kinnari Patel and myself.

After a much needed break at Kabirvad (a way to longer one rather!), we started off, in the afternoon to ride back, first the bumpy ride and then the good highway roads. Coming back was difficult, due to the heat of afternoon along with the fatigue of the 88 KM done while going. The result was, we took too many breaks while returning back. Infact, my coming back on cycle was mainly due to Dr. Kinnari, who constantly motivated me on the way -- "Well done Varun, credit goes to you for even thinking of doing it on a fixie; I know you will complete the ride; You have the guts to do it.." We had an ice cream on the way around 75 Km from Vadodara, and a chai at around 30 Km from Vadodara.

At 24 Km from Vadodara, I started feeling pertubed and had to stop. A pain in stomach made me very uneasy. I thought I won't be able to ride anymore and need some vehicle to take me thereon. I requested Dr. Kinnari to continue as she had to attend a function at around 6 and it was already 4:30. 15 mins later, I puked -- I am sure having chai in hot afternoon was a bad decision -- nevermind. After taking electral mixed water and resting for 20 mins on the road, I was sure now to continue my journey on cycle. I was out of water now and had no wish to stop anywhere even for a bottle of water. I started the ride by reciting Bajrangbali's name and regained strength to move on. The sun was setting now, so it was cooler. phew.. Felt good! At Makarpura-Jambua Service road, I took a left to enter Vadodara and felt uneasy in left leg. Yes, it was a cramp. Again, decision of not to get down for a bottle of water had paid off!

It was foolish to travel by cycle now, as I had one fly-over minimum. So finally I decided to give up my ride there. Best option was to take and auto return back and hence exercised it. Though happy to have covered a good amount of distance, I felt bad for two things: Leaving Kinnari ma'am alone on a highway to travel and second unable to complete the ride till home!

Sincere thanks Tripti and Aakash on the way towards Kabirvad you guys were superb inspiration Aakash, it was a priviledge travelling a long distance with a pro-rider like you!
And Kinnari Ma'am thank you so much for being a great motivator throughout the ride coming back -- else I am sure I would have given up at Kabirvad.

Conclusion:  
Two things specifically:

1. I am definitely sure now, that its not about the bike. Yes, I do believe that if I had a geared cycle, then the ride would have been smoother than what it had. Also, I might have completed my ride till home. 
2. Barriers are in our mind, once we conquer them, we can do it. I remember during the Tour-de-Pavagadh ride I was morally down even while going and hence coming back was quite difficult. But for this one, we all had decided we gonna do it, we all had prepared for it, and in fact, we did it!
3. Seeing the spirit with which Kinnari Ma'am was riding and completed the whole ride, I am sure even Age is not the barrier either in doing something, that you wish to do!

Brevet 200, you are on the list to be conquered Next!

Mr Positive Uncle

Dear all,

This article is about my good morning friend, Mr. Positive Uncle.

Give me a chance to introduce you with him.
I call him by that name, because I don't know his name.
He is a little short, medium built person, with age above 60 for sure.
He is a regular walker on my road, and he is very regular at it.
Oh, you have a question, that why do I call him friend? -- Well, I think age is never a barrier to make friends.

One more thing about him my dear friends, (which I feel bad for) he only has a left hand.

Do you want to know what makes this person Mr. Positive?
Its his attitude!
He gives a broad smile and waves to every passer-by  -- walker, jogger, runner, cyclist who are exercising like him, and even school children, who are on cycle or with parents or in auto-rickshaws and vans.

Wow!

Let me narrate a recent incident with him..
I was off all exercising some weeks back. No Cycling, No walking or jogging. I love the rains, and getting drenched, but somehow was getting tired and missed out on most of the action this year. But one day, when I was back on saddle, I met him on the road. I met him. He almost waved as if he had something to talk to me. I stopped and moved near him. He came near to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said: "Son, I saw you after so many days. Were you ill? Otherwise I normally see you daily, Hope you are ok? What made you take such a long break from your workout? Or did you join a Gym or something?"
Honestly speaking, I was taken aback for a moment. He touched my heart by showing the concern towards me. Who in the world other than our Family and Close Friends even have time to look and talk to people so simply and affectionately? Who actually cares? Well, I got an answer that day, there are many who don't but there are many like him who do.
I replied to him honestly: "I think its my laziness that deprived me of either riding a cycle or walking/jogging. No I haven't joined a gym, as I don't like it. But yes, even if I missed it, I will continue cycling, and be as much regular as possible".
He patted me on my back and laughed, take care and don't bunk..

This event increased my respect for him.

A Trip that has got us all friends closer to each other in the journey of Life!

Hello Friends,

Well, this in post I would like to share a very nice and touching instance of my life, that I spent with some of the most awesome people I have ever met in my life.
In this post, I would like to name them first, they are, Hardeep Bhamra, Urvesh Vekariya, Kiran Patil, Yogesh Patel, Vinayak Chauhan, Ramesh Babu, Darshak Shah, Nimit Patel, Muktesh Mehta, Bhavesh Maniya.

We all 11 made a very runtime plan and went to Abu-Ambaji just to chill out and enjoy.All of us got Tatkaal reservation and went by Train, while coming 4 of us came back  by train and the rest by Bus.
We relished each others company there! We roamed around together, went to the Ambaji Temple in the morning at 5:15, then went to Abu stayed at a Hotel called Maharaja, went to all the tourist spots, played some Games like Air Hockey, shooting and Racing at the game parlour, went to the Haunted House (I still remember I was on Nimit, He(Nimit) was on Ramesh and then He(Ramesh) was on Hardeep, but we still enjoyed it inspite of Hardeep got his goggles broken).. Man! It was an awesome trip!

But I think the best part of the trip was not this fun. It was one hour that evening, Saturday evening that we all spent together in that room chitchatting and knowing more about each other. We actually got together in that room to pull each other's leg, specially Darshak's I suppose, but it came to be such that at the end of that one hour, we all got so emotional! I think that one hour was the best one hour of my life till now.

I not only got to know how others are, I even gotto know myself much more than what I knew myself. For some people like Ramesh and Yogesh, which we thought to be fun loving and tension free come what may, we  even found that even they have an emotional side of theirs, which they never come out with in public. Even a person like Nimit, who is so strong, got emotional, while telling his life story, when at a point of life, he got upset thinking his parents were worried for him and his future, and how he covered it up; relieved them from this pressure. There were some very shocking things revealed in front of us, specifically the ones like Vinayak and Muktesh don't have their father, and Vinayak still misses him and wants to secure his family in a way so that they don't feel the loneliness that he has felt in his childhood.

We only knew Darshak as a source of Fun, but in this trip, we even got to know that he feels the pain when someone teases him, he is too introvert to say that to others, but he does. And with Bhavesh, a very kind guy, who seems to take care of even his seniors, has learnt a lot from his past experiences and thinks of his family as his first responsibility. Urvesh, who is a happy-go-lucky guy, the most tension free person I have ever seen, is also a very family minded person and respects his elders like anything.

This trip, also told us, that things are not always the way we see it.
Ramesh, whom so far we have only seen cursing his father, has his father as his role model, and he still repents on the thing that he had told his father, when he was a child. Also, he is so proud of his father! I already respected him for what he was, but sometimes, I personally didn't like when he used to say something bad about him. But I think this instance, changed it all. I respect him from my heart now!

I knew Hardeep Sir and Kiran Sir very well, many of their thoughts, their views, their stories, how they have come up to this level, and I think the best part of their life is that they haven't forgotten their past, and even today, they make their best to help every kid/younger one in their own way so that he/she can succeed/sustain/be happy. I must say I am a part of this-- the younger one who has got the privilege to work with such masters, and gotto know life more, and succeed!


Sometimes, somethings really have a imprints on your life. I think this trip was one such!

It will always be remembered for its beauty and the reason it took all of us so closer!

Cheers,
Varun 

My friends got engaged. aawww the cutest couple!

Hello friends..

You already know them! They are here Mr. Murthi and Miss B -- Oh... I must say to be Mrs. Krishnamurthi!

Wow! They just got engaged yesterday! And I can't explain how happy I am for them.. The best part of their engagement ceremony was the song by Mr Murthi, which covered their complete life.. rite from their school thru college and the present! Awesome..

I am really happy for my sister got such an amazing life partner.


So they are no longer two but one now. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate!

Happy Happy Times!

Cheers to Miss B and Mr Murthi! --- WoooooHooooo!

A Special Friend that I met along the way of Life!

Hello Friends,

This article is for my cute little friend and a special one for sure.. Miss B!

Oh yes, as always, I will not mention the name directly.. You may find her name somewhere in the article. (depends! not sure will write it or not)

Well, I learnt one thing after meeting her, that the strength of a friendship, or rather be any relationship does not depend upon the time you spend! We became friends around 5 months back, in October 2011 and you know what, we have get along so nicely now, that we can't miss a day without messaging each other a single day! (except the weekends!)

Before we go ahead, let me tell you all very frankly please DO NOT consider this friendship or relationship as a boyfriend-girlfriend one! Let me tell you, this one is much above it! (And actually I am not learned enough to define my current expressions and feelings in words, about what this friendship or what this person is for me!)

We first met during the rehearsals of the Annual Day Celebration at our Company with some group of people and just as like-minded people come together and share their views and thoughts, we went on sharing some really good moments..

We (as a group) performed on stage during the Annual Function.. and majority of us dispersed into our own daily chores of work! But as I rightly said above, some like-minded people come along and stay together for life! I, B and a couple more are still very close friends, share our thoughts and sorrows, have fun, discuss things give some beautiful names to each other and much much more!!

Tell you guys, she gave me a beautiful name "Santa" just before Christmas of 2011. Well, I really don't know whether I am worth it, but I try to keep up to it!

And my friends, you know what? No friendship is perfect without a fight.. Yes, indeed, even we had a small Fight! It was at the end of the year and we said bye-bye to that with 2011!

Blossoming and Bubbly B!

Everybody have their good and bad days, and not all days are same and that's why you feel happy during the Good ones.. Once even she had some really pathetic days and I tried my best to comfort her by playing some pranks and some self jokes. I thank god I was successful and I got this in return!

I got to say, that appreciation is always delightful and when it comes from the person you admire the most, it feels like Heaven!

We celebrated the colorful festival together with some more besties! Enjoyed like anything..

Now along with our work daily, we play pranks with each other, and some other people in our group, have fun, enjoy, take care of each, are always ready when anyone of us needs the other and what more do I say! I can just go on and on and on... and never stop!


Concluding this article (I would not say I kept it short), today, as I sit on my chair, writing this Article for you Miss B, I must tell you that you are the Best Person I have ever met in my life!!! And maybe, I will never meet anyone as good as you are or maybe there will be anyone as special as you are to me! Its really very hard to believe how someone out of my family could start understanding me so well in so less time!

You ROCK as you are!!! Please be yourself!
And keep on sharing your fragrance as you usually do!

Some Happy Friendship Moments

Recent Instance:

Today, i met one of my best friend's fiance. I met him previously a couple of times maybe.... But today.. When there were talks about some specific topics we both are interested in, it seemed to me like we are dear old friends chit-chatting!

Strange are some situations and cool are some people that turn so good friends in so less time.

And i gonna call him KK...

"Murthi" as my friend calls him..

Well, to tell you guys, we share some common interests like bikes -- specifically Bullet and Java the antiques -- and Blogging.

Believe me, he puts his heart out on paper (not literally) when he writes...

Oh man! I have become a fan of his articles..

And yes one more thing that we have in common.. We both are Fat... (Just that i am a bit more)

To summarize the above, i would say that,

Everyone of you might have come across such a situation, wherein you met someone had just an aquaintance and suddenly, you become good friends... (with one thing in both's mind, hey you like it?? Me too), and that's where the fun begins!

And till now, I have always seen one thing, that even from a big crowd, likeminded people always come together and stay buddies...

Wish you all such Happy Friendship Moments! :-)

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When the Going gets Tough, the Tough gets Going!

This is an article about a person whom I admire a lot -- HB!

I met him for the first time during my induction. And man, must say, what attitude, what personality he had.. We all started talking about him after he left!

Next, from my first day at work, I have always found him to be the Fun-Loving, Workaholic and Bold  He-Man at Investis.

Well, now let me explain why I added all these adjectives to this person. He and his team works under a tremendous work load.. (Many a times, it seems that they have keyboards even at their feet!) And yet, I find him and his team mates always cracking jokes and having fun.. And neither does it affect their speed nor the quality of work they do!

As far as his work is concerned, I would say for him its like if there is any way to do the work, it only one.. "The Right Way" -- The Perfect Way!
We have always noticed perfection in his work.

Our team and his team work very closely -- must say hand in hand with each other. And once, during an annual event in our company, I gotta chance to talk to him something about his personal life -- The tough times that he has faced, the hard life that he has lived, the failures that he has had, and yet he is happy with what he has and whatever has happened to him!

Basically, after what I knew what all he had faced in his life, my respect for him actually increased, because there are people who get unhappy with life and stop trying once they face some hardships and failures in life, and he, was one of those few who bounce back and not just that, one of those who is on a roll!
I recollect a quote from William Arthur Ward at this point in time -- Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records! And he is the second kind of guy-- Truly Exceptional!

He is a person as I know, who has no fear to tell anything to anyone, come what may! -- whatever that person is, if he thinks he gotta say it and its right, he will never think of the consequences, he will speak it out!

And I think he follows this -- Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can!

Currently, after sharing a nice period of almost 1 year and 6 months together, we are really good friends and for him, I just got one thing to say -- Not all pebbles can become a Diamonds. Its just the ones that can bear the Heat, do well under Pressure and have the most edges cut to perfection that shine the most! -- And this one is of a special Kind!

You Rock HB!!