Never been a sportsman, but always keen to try new things, i booked up for a two-hour mountain biking in Coorg. The counter ego started its work, mentioning, why exert so much, rather have a morning walk with family etc. Thankfully, Nidhi advised that i must go. A family with a good mix of togetherness and personal space rocks 🙂 Later, when Fawaaz, my instructor mentioned how bad it felt when some people would just not turn up after booking, saying they over-slept, thus wasting their time, felt relieved not being one of the culprits 🙂
Jo sowat hai, so khowat hai. Seeing beautiful lotuses in the morning was one – another was decision that I would take kids zip lining, since Fawwaz, who became a friend recommended it highly.
Fawwaz belongs to a small town from Kerala. His friends who went to the Middle East are better off now, with cars and all, he says. But he has stuck to his passion, and as long as he has his bike (bicycle), he says he is happy. How many of us are able to do what we love ? When I share with him that my job is to tell people not to shit outside, he says, how lucky I am to serve the country and also earn a living ! He also encourages me to go ahead with my plan to take a sabattical and work with the people for a year.
Being with a male person is comfortable for those of us who did not learn since childhood to keep hormones aside while befriending a woman. Blessed are those who can maintain gender neutrality in making friends !
Fawwaz told me i did quite well – not stopping uphill, not fiddling while changing gears and not asking – aur kitna raasta bacha hai – he said i flowed with the flow 🙂 The secret was not high level of fitness – it was listening to the instructions he gave before we started – change gear before you pedal uphill, apply both brakes simultaneously and gently, apply brakes before you go downhill. Just these. Basics. On fitness too, i guess regular low key walk/jog kept me afloat : on this thanks to Ram/Lakshman, my kids- have to jog three km without panting or at least without letting them know that i am panting, so that they keep pace ! The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war !
Listening was easy – incentive was learning a new skill. Siddharth Shirole, a budding politician shared few days back that he gifts himself a new skill every birthday – bringing out his music album, or learning a new language or writing a book.
Biking per se was fun. It was no ordinary city biking with up/down slopes : we moved through kutcha rocky roads, with Fawwaz pointing out untouched evergreen forest on the sides, agriculture fields, with cows and calves either ignoring or getting scared, pond side, where I demonstrated triggering tools ( of no-shit) to Fawwaz, guava orchards, in front of a tribal temple , past an old man carrying a dead snake on his stick, besides a sacred grove – community forests where no one encroaches and Coorg special local cricket event – a healthy and happier entertainment instead of the city mall culture.
All in all, the bike tour was full of aha moments; endorphin flushes were a bonus.
