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


View Larger Map

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!

Some Memories from my School Days and a Learning to Fight Fear!

I have always wished to perform.. To go on stage and sing a song, rock a performance, do some acting... and so on..

Right from when I was a kid, I saw various artists performing on small and big screen, Live Programs and some Stage Shows.

Till 6th Std, when I had been a part of a play called "Aasha-A Ray of Light", it was just something that could never be done. I still remember that day, it was a Thursday, our show was to begin, at 6PM and I was sweating like hell.. It was already 5:45PM, got the required make-up (for my required role, which was that of a Manager -- with around 55 years of age -- ) and my heart was pumping inside me with the greatest force it can! (I even felt it will come out you know!)

But behind it all, there was something in my mind, wasn't this the one that I had waited for?
And I said YES! I started remembering all those programs and award functions that I had seen on television and thought of these performances...
And slowly and steadily my restlessness was gone! I started feeling confident, enough  to take myself on stage and perform my role.

While all this was going on in my mind, suddenly our chief guest appeared there! NAYAN MONGIA -- the chief guest at the evening, came in when we were just behind the side curtains standing and waiting for our turn to come...
"Hello Young Guns!" he started.. and we were like O Man! its him!
"Hey Fellows, do perform well, and I will be watching you.. You guys look so cute really.. Oh Wow.. You have a kettle.. (he said to my friend Pranay Shah) hey that's nice are you playing the chaiwala?? , Hey Wow, You are wearing a Nice Suit! (He said to me) You guys are superb, continue it!"

Man.. we felt as if we were seeing some kind of dream.. and we literally screamed when he went on stage from there!!

And now we were encouraged by the then Wicket Keeper of the Indian Cricket Team..
So how can we let it go!

We performed our play, and you know what, I was the one that stood in the end with a mic introducing everyone.. with their names! (Got cheers for that from the crowd for that, and got my cheeks pulled from my teachers for that as this was their task that I did.. ;) )

But this incident, had got the fear off me, for going on stage and performing!

Till date, I must say, I never feel afraid of going on stage (well frankly speaking, sometimes I do, but I remember this day and its gone!)
  
I would like to conclude this article with a noble thought, "If you fear of something, fight it out by doing that thing! The maximum thing that can happen is that you will fail in that thing, but you will surely win your fear!"

My Grandfather - The Perfectionist!

Hello Friends,

In this article, I would like to tell you all about my grandfather. Believe me, till now, I have never found any person like him, or even near to him -- the qualities that he had and  his way of thinking, understanding and what not!

He was a type of a person, who always kept himself busy. Right from 4 AM when he got up, till 11 PM when he went to sleep, I can guarantee you would never find him loitering or sitting lazy. He was always Active!

He taught me (till my 12th Std) and my Sister (till her 9th Std), as his hobby, he used to read Mythological books, used to tell us and the whole family stories, used to be an anchor when it came to some celebration in the Family, remembered Birthdates, Anniversaries, and other imp dates like longest day and shortest day, along with the complete hindu mythological calendar along with the importance of almost each day and what not.. Well, I know one thing, that If I continue, I can go on and on and on and just never stop! So let me cut this short here, and come up to the main point.

What do you think that made him the way he was? Was it anything that forced him?

I would say it was his passion that got him what he wanted to and Learnability that helped him achieve it! Yes IT WAS HIS PASSION AND HARDWORK!
He always used to say, you wanna do something, do it whole-heartedly, else don't!
He did many things, had many things as his hobbies, and even if he was not very good at something, he was always ready to learn it from something, if he wished to do it!
The best example of this was, that he learnt how to operate a computer and use Microsoft Office for his own documentation work at the Age of 65. I mean, I have heard people lose their capability to learn something new, around at the age of 40-45 and this guy, he learnt something so new and so different, at the age of 65, just because he wanted to make his own work easy, and yes for sure, he wanted to say, I am a Father of a guy who was the first one to take Computers as his profession in Baroda.

I never heard the word "Feeling Tired" or "Lazy from his mouth. Always up for anything that comes up. As far as Mythological books are concerned, he had already read Ramayan, Mahabharat, Bhagwad Gita and some other books, which I don't even remember. And even at the age of around 68-69 he used to refer to some personality development books, and used to tell us, there's always a chance to improve yourself from what you are today!

He had led a very difficult life, supported his own education right from his school life, from around 5-6 std, by distributing newspapers, selling various things, and reading in street lights and lanterns! I am very sure he always remembered his past, and always thrived hard when it came to helping someone/anyone.

He went to heights because of his attitude, his way of working, his ethics and his education, and he made sure that he helped all those who were needy and suitable. He not only helped various people in their education, but even helped many in getting entry into the entry level interviews of some many government jobs and private firms.

Last but not the least, I think the best part to prove what great human he was, is that, when he expired.
He was not sick or anything, that morning he got a heart stroke, and second massive one at around 1:30-1:45, when he breathed his last. We gave news to some very close people, obviously the family was in shock and not many know how to act in such a situation. But, this news spread out like wild-fire, and by around 6:30 till when we took him for cremation, there were around 250-300 people standing at our residence, who had come up even from nearby cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and others, just to salute the Great Person!

From his life, I have learnt a lot, and today whenever I compare myself with him, I find myself, not even 10% the way he was! He is my Hero -- My role model for Life! And I will consider myself a successful if I can become like him in my life.

Bow to this Great Man! -- My GrandFather the Real Perfectionist!