The Final Crescendo - Day 3 - Jaipur - India Gate:
“The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.” This is what is being said in Dan Millman's inspiration stirring book 'Way of the peaceful warrior'. This is one of many lessons which this book has to offer when you read it. I remembered these set of words arranged in a sentence from the book, as we were sitting on the stairs of the Hotel entrance. 1:30 AM it was on the clock as we have reached our destination for the day. While sitting on the cold marble floor of the hotel staircase, I remembered a day from the past when I used to be all eccentric and stupid. A group of friends; including me; belonging to the same clan of similar stupidity and eccentricity booked a cab to come down to Jaipur to check in a hotel to get high and wasted. I don't even remember my own thoughts and feelings at that time. I just remember being completely wasted, on the way I had vomited twice and was carried on two shaky shoulders to be shoved into a hotel room to be left alone to sleep off the booze, just to get ready to get wasted again. The destination was the same, a 4 star hotel in Jaipur, but the journey was different and the purpose was different. One journey was taken towards self-abnegation, destruction and complete annihilation of the mind while another was taken towards self cleansing, purification and complete catharsis of the mind. I could conspicuously see the contrast between my old self and the present self to understand the quote “The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination” in depth and with better clarity. This train of thoughts and realisations were broken by a sharp pang of hunger originating in my very stomach.
It had now been more than 12 hours since I had the last meal during that day. Thanks to the acute quality of my decision making capabilities mostly when it concerns myself. I should have had dinner some 3 hours ago. But as I rarely practise that acute quality of mine, I let someone else decide for me, that I would not be stopping for something as trifling as food and would only be eating after completing the ride. Last time when I visited Jaipur before this, I was high on Beer, Whiskey, Nicotine and Weed. This time I was super-high on sleep, hunger, tiredness, and a sweet pain in my whole body. Last time I was not in my senses, this time my senses could not let go of me and my aching and hungry body. With all this going on inside my head I walked towards my room with my luggage, looking forward towards ordering food from my room. I was sharing my room with Gaurav and Avadhesh who had already reached and were chilling in the room.
That very night there was acute shortage of food and utter lack of service in that 4 star hotel as I was informed the next day by my fellow riders. Some did not get food, some got very little food after waiting for hours. Luckily I had food delivered on time and in good quantity last night before sleeping. Next morning this shabby service experienced by others the previous night was not exhibited on our breakfast table. Our breakfast was sumptuous. I always wanted to use this word 'sumptuous' but never had chance until now. Because in no way you can call trek-food sumptuous, or the food I eat on my various other trips.
This was it! Last day of our Tour De Golden Triangle. We had already covered exactly 500 Km on cycle in 2 days. After spending more than 24 hours on a cycle saddle, we were all sleep deprived, high on exhaustion and intoxicated with bodily pain. Some, now even were food deprived due to last night's fiasco. Thanks to KK Royal Hotel's impeccable service! (Reading this will definitely make Mr. Mahendra Singh Bora happy. As he was fuming with anger the next morning about the services last night). In spite of all the bodily pain and discomfort experienced by the riders and Marshalls included, not a single rider or Marshall was low on spirit and enthusiasm. Everyone was looking forward towards riding that day. Even the riders who fell sick or were unable to ride the previous day were all geared up and looking determined. Ready to ride the final 250 Km, from Jaipur to India Gate.
It was a warm sunny day in Jaipur. Next to this epic day I was going to turn 30. Something similar to last year when I went to Triund to celebrate my birthday, this year I was here in Jaipur, riding my Scott Aspect 740 over my fears and insecurities stretched over a triangle of perimeter 750 Km. I was happy. "Happiness is only real when shared" - Into The Wild. This time I had 13 riders and 5 Marshalls to share; and a cake to celebrate; this happiness with. Again this cake was brought in by our star Marshall and Rockstar rider Kamal Bisht. My cake had 'Happy Anniversary' written on it. That was an error, but our Sanjeev Sir and other riders were quick enough to relate it with me being single and declare it as a sign of good omen and a mark of an end to the era of my bachelorhood; all in good jest. Filled with laughter, happiness, smile, love, good-humoured lightness and flippancy we all moved towards the pool side for my cake cutting ceremony. I was beaming with joyousness and gaiety of the 90's song Pehla Nasha. 29 years old Dilip was looking at 'about to turn 30' Dilip and was telling him quietly "Birthday well spent, buddy!"
Reality Check Reality Alert! The spell was broken, the celebrations were over, as we were making our way on our bikes towards Amer Fort. Everything came back again! The pain, and the whole task of building patience and acceptance with it. I have learnt this with time and struggle that every individual has to carry his/her own cross; there are no shortcuts to this and one has to go through his/her self created hell, consciously, to create a heaven inside. On the last leg of this tour all 13 riders were ready to bear their own crosses, to go through their own self-created hells, just to get the taste of that eternal heaven inside. 10:30 AM, Smriti and I were the first ones to start and lead the ride that day.
Jaipur to Delhi the roads are all wide and smooth. The first half of this last leg was like Sine or Cosine functions represented on a graph. Up and down! We were cruising slowly, me and Smriti. Chatting and talking frivolously for about 30 minutes when the Roadie group overtook us. Then came Nidhi and Druv, followed by the other members of MTB gang. Smriti joined the MTB group. I tagged along with Dhruv and Nidhi (Refer to Riders and Marshalls Introduction). I was talking to Nidhi. Asking about her journey and her decision to take cycling as career option. Also we talked about her mentor and coach Mark, how they met and all. I think she should start a blog of her own sharing her own story with everyone. I cannot narrate the whole story here, but I observed a beautiful and profound relationship of Coach/Teacher and Student; between her and Mark. These two were bonded by their love for a common sport, and sharing a common passion. There were no complications about it. The mere simplicity of this relationship was so saintly and spiritual. I had always longed for such relationships to exist in my life back in school or college, with my teachers and Basketball coaches. I expressed this thought to Nidhi that she is very lucky to have a mentor like Mark in the early and developing days of her cycling career, to which she gave me a nod of agreement and satisfaction at the same time, instantaneously. With this I told Dhruv and Nidhi to move ahead as the pain in my knee and ankle had started surging again, affecting my speed.
After Dhruv and Nidhi gone, I rode along with Gurleen Ma'am, Sarthak, Mohit and Rohit (RB) for a while. Eating roadside fruit and vegetable served with spices and drinking sugarcane juice. At the time all my senses were amplified to MAX. I could feel the taste of each fibre of the vegetable or fruit that I was eating, feel the chilliness running down my throat down to my stomach while drinking that glass of sugar cane juice. It was the best spicy fruit and vegetable salad I had. The best Sugarcane juice that had traversed this thirsty throat and dry food canal of my body. A feeling of thank-fullness and gratitude came unaffectedly and naturally towards everything right in that moment when we were sharing food and drinks on the road.
Fighting the headwinds and pain I, along with Gurleen Ma'am and the MTB gang made it to our first stop for Lunch. 80 Km done 170 still left! I again had to take that muscle relaxant tablet after food. After which shared a cup of tea along with a few moments of jest and gag with Sanjeev Sir before leaving for the 2nd phase of this last leg. It was 3:30 PM already and we were approximating our time of arrival at India Gate. Some suggested that we will reach by 1:00 AM, some 2:00 AM, I suggested, it would not be later than 4:00 AM.
"Cycle Parking - Lunch Point"
This 2nd phase I was riding at last. Riding with head and eyes fixed in the front; as if meditating alternatively on the pain and the 2 feet patch of road in front. The pain in my knee and ankle now had increased tremendously as compared to day 2. I have always believed that God never gives a cross to bear larger than we can carry. No matter what, he wants us to be happy, not sad. birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we? On day 3 due to day 2 I had grown both in capacity and strength to bear this cross which had now billowed in its size. As I watched the beautiful sunset over the lush green paddy fields on the roadside, I thought that no pain or hurt can stop me from enjoying this sunset. I felt the power of choice. The power to choose between contradictions, options, feelings, situations demanding our action and inaction. Our life is a sum total of these choices we make in our moments of awareness or ignorance. As I was looking at the sunset I observed the moon emerging from behind. The rising moon was looking in the eyes of the setting sun and I was in the middle of these two thinking about the power of choice. It was like universe was setting up the stage for this realisation to come to me in that hour and space. It started to get dark as I pushed forward.
I had a quick stop in front of Hotel Highway King, Behror where I met Captain Kamal Bisht and KK (Kamal Kant) Sir. Bisht sir asked me if everything was alright with me. As I was the last rider and was riding exceptionally slow. I told him that there was some pain in my knee but it was nothing to worry about. Filled my water bottles, assured Bisht sir that I would catch up, I started again. 120 Km left, with 20 more for the next big stop for dinner. As I was riding I thought that the longer I will take to finish the ride the more are the chances that I will not be able to complete it because now the pain in my knee and ankle had entered the extreme mode. It was switching between uncomfortably numb to sensitively poignant, anyways it was tending to become unbearable no matter what adjective I use for it. So I decided to go all in, full speed these last 100-120 Kilometres was my plan to finish. Overtook RB (Rohit Bhuttan), Gurleen Ma'am, Smriti, Mohit (Sarthak due to his back problem was not riding from the halfway mark onwards) and dashed to reach the dinner point. Where I took off the bandages, socks and shoes. Ordered food, walked bare feet a little and stretched my body. As I was about to finish my food I saw the group of cyclists; whom I left behind; arriving.
I was thus informed by the Captain that group's speed is suffering because Smriti is riding slow. Slow speed at this point would have meant more time on the saddle, more chances of bodily pain and other complications getting escalated, and increased chances of everyone not able to finish the ride. It was not wise jeopardising the chances of 4-5 riders completing the ride. There was also a puncture detected in Smriti's cycle's back tyre, which was fixed by our Cyclofit's expert Technician there and then. I was asked if I could accompany Smriti. I was a bit reluctant, as I had different strategy and plan in mind for covering the remaining 100 KM. I told this to our Captain, to which he said that he will have to give up Marshalling and accompany her on Sarthak's idle bike which too was not an option as we cannot afford to lose our main support in the last stretch. Also there were a few attempts made to convince Smriti to sit in the backup vehicle. But she wanted to finish the ride and was adamant about it. Which I understood quite clearly, because of her health she had to give up the ride on day 2, and now she wanted to finish it on day 3. It was a very wise thing there to regroup and rethink our strategy on how to get the maximum out of available resources. Smriti wanted someone who would match her pace. I was actually keeping myself on a high horse thinking that I will be able to go full throttle on the last 100 Km. Kamal Sir did the 100% right thing in clubbing me and her. When Captain again asked me, if I can accompany Smriti, many thoughts were buzzing in my head. It was kind of noisy up there. There was a tug of war between the ambition to complete the ride and Leo Tolstoy's philosophy of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good. A thought of David Sharp (15 February 1972 – 15 May 2006) who was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest came to my mind from the book Into Thin Air. His death caused controversy and debate, because he was passed by a number of other climbers; drunk in ambition; heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying. This is how I think in the head when making decisions. On stories, fantasies, and legends. Quoting this story here is in no way a reflection on any other rider. They are purely my thoughts and way on how I am thinking when making decisions. This helped me in deciding and making up my mind to accompany Smriti and help her in finishing the ride for Day 3. Also if she will not have been able to improve her speed over next 20-30 KM I would have had strongly advised her to take the backup vehicle. I was just taking a controlled chance here.
In the pursuit of helping others many a times you get helped by others, not realising until that very moment that you too were in dire need for help. This is exactly what happened when I was riding with Smriti. I tried pushing her, motivating her into the first 60 Km of our remaining 100 Km ride. In the process of doing so, I had to keep my own disposition positive and strong both in mind and body. I could not have afforded to be negative as Smriti was feeling low and down at that time, so I had to remain positive to lift up her spirits and boost her morale. Initially I had to make sincere efforts in trying to keep all negative thoughts aside but later on it became my demeanour and I was naturally feeling motivated and positive. After 10-15 Km of initial struggle, we both were complementing each other beautifully. It didn't took her long in getting her lost confidence back. Once she was on top of her form, I had to purposely ask her to slow down and not be over ambitious. When I used to get slow she used to help me in pushing forward at a constant speed. In this whole process of creating positivism I had completely forgotten about my pains till we reached the iconic McDonald's of Manesar. We still had 44 Km left to cover in order to reach India Gate. This is where the pain it took a backdoor entry and started corroding my fortitude of positivism. I was still pushing on the pedals; inching closer and closer towards India Gate.
This wall of fortitude was about to collapse just before Hotel Radisson, Mahipalpur where I genuinely thought about giving up the ride and taking the backup vehicle. If I would have had been riding alone, I would have had definitely given up. But seeing Smriti riding confidently in front of me, activated the emergency reservoir of energy and kindled a sudden virility in my being like a Nitro boost package for the last mile rush. I met Bisht Sir and KK sir on the bridge opposite to Radisson. Informed them about my 'about to give up' thought; drank down the remainder with a can of Rio Energy Drink; and carried on.
After a few hiccups; getting lost from 12 Murti Statue; we finally reached India Gate at 3:00 AM. Smriti and I were last to reach. Half of our group had already left the scene. The first ones to reach were Nidhi and Dhruv as I was being informed by Gaurav. They made a crazy, insane; last 100 Km dash. I actually had already envisioned this happening in my mind and was really happy in knowing that they were the first ones to complete this Golden Triangle. If gold must be gold, it must pass through the furnace. That is what took place in these last 3 days. The process of Cupellation. After having treated under very high temperatures on this Triangular furnace, our minds had shed many impurities and was left with some pure gold in form of love, compassion and empathy for fellow human beings. I was overflowing with joy when I get to meet Gaurav, Gurleen Ma'am, both Kamal Sirs, Kamal Sundriyal Sir, Sanjeev Sir, Sarthak and Smriti on the finish line. My entire being was speaking these unspoken words in form of a silent whisper when we were hugging and congratulating each other "I understand and respect the battle in you; that you are fighting against your sufferings and fears".
This was the mark of new beginnings towards something very special. A new family was coming into existence under that moonlight, new relations of human compassion and love were being formed. In the gravitational presence of India Gate, the war memorial and standing witness to human valour and chivalry, we too were standing right there, upright; victorious in our individual battles to overcome pain and suffering; in defeating our own fears and insecurities. Here we were; yet again getting ready to take on life, wearing our new selves as badges of honour!
“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
“The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.” This is what is being said in Dan Millman's inspiration stirring book 'Way of the peaceful warrior'. This is one of many lessons which this book has to offer when you read it. I remembered these set of words arranged in a sentence from the book, as we were sitting on the stairs of the Hotel entrance. 1:30 AM it was on the clock as we have reached our destination for the day. While sitting on the cold marble floor of the hotel staircase, I remembered a day from the past when I used to be all eccentric and stupid. A group of friends; including me; belonging to the same clan of similar stupidity and eccentricity booked a cab to come down to Jaipur to check in a hotel to get high and wasted. I don't even remember my own thoughts and feelings at that time. I just remember being completely wasted, on the way I had vomited twice and was carried on two shaky shoulders to be shoved into a hotel room to be left alone to sleep off the booze, just to get ready to get wasted again. The destination was the same, a 4 star hotel in Jaipur, but the journey was different and the purpose was different. One journey was taken towards self-abnegation, destruction and complete annihilation of the mind while another was taken towards self cleansing, purification and complete catharsis of the mind. I could conspicuously see the contrast between my old self and the present self to understand the quote “The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination” in depth and with better clarity. This train of thoughts and realisations were broken by a sharp pang of hunger originating in my very stomach.
It had now been more than 12 hours since I had the last meal during that day. Thanks to the acute quality of my decision making capabilities mostly when it concerns myself. I should have had dinner some 3 hours ago. But as I rarely practise that acute quality of mine, I let someone else decide for me, that I would not be stopping for something as trifling as food and would only be eating after completing the ride. Last time when I visited Jaipur before this, I was high on Beer, Whiskey, Nicotine and Weed. This time I was super-high on sleep, hunger, tiredness, and a sweet pain in my whole body. Last time I was not in my senses, this time my senses could not let go of me and my aching and hungry body. With all this going on inside my head I walked towards my room with my luggage, looking forward towards ordering food from my room. I was sharing my room with Gaurav and Avadhesh who had already reached and were chilling in the room.
That very night there was acute shortage of food and utter lack of service in that 4 star hotel as I was informed the next day by my fellow riders. Some did not get food, some got very little food after waiting for hours. Luckily I had food delivered on time and in good quantity last night before sleeping. Next morning this shabby service experienced by others the previous night was not exhibited on our breakfast table. Our breakfast was sumptuous. I always wanted to use this word 'sumptuous' but never had chance until now. Because in no way you can call trek-food sumptuous, or the food I eat on my various other trips.
"The Gang - Amer Fort - Jaipur"
"Pool side Birthday Celebrations"
It was a warm sunny day in Jaipur. Next to this epic day I was going to turn 30. Something similar to last year when I went to Triund to celebrate my birthday, this year I was here in Jaipur, riding my Scott Aspect 740 over my fears and insecurities stretched over a triangle of perimeter 750 Km. I was happy. "Happiness is only real when shared" - Into The Wild. This time I had 13 riders and 5 Marshalls to share; and a cake to celebrate; this happiness with. Again this cake was brought in by our star Marshall and Rockstar rider Kamal Bisht. My cake had 'Happy Anniversary' written on it. That was an error, but our Sanjeev Sir and other riders were quick enough to relate it with me being single and declare it as a sign of good omen and a mark of an end to the era of my bachelorhood; all in good jest. Filled with laughter, happiness, smile, love, good-humoured lightness and flippancy we all moved towards the pool side for my cake cutting ceremony. I was beaming with joyousness and gaiety of the 90's song Pehla Nasha. 29 years old Dilip was looking at 'about to turn 30' Dilip and was telling him quietly "Birthday well spent, buddy!"
"The Birthday Cake That Was Misunderstood"
Reality Check Reality Alert! The spell was broken, the celebrations were over, as we were making our way on our bikes towards Amer Fort. Everything came back again! The pain, and the whole task of building patience and acceptance with it. I have learnt this with time and struggle that every individual has to carry his/her own cross; there are no shortcuts to this and one has to go through his/her self created hell, consciously, to create a heaven inside. On the last leg of this tour all 13 riders were ready to bear their own crosses, to go through their own self-created hells, just to get the taste of that eternal heaven inside. 10:30 AM, Smriti and I were the first ones to start and lead the ride that day.
"Me and Smriti - The Early Starters and Late Finishers"
"Getting Expert In Being Overtaken By Fellow Rider"
After Dhruv and Nidhi gone, I rode along with Gurleen Ma'am, Sarthak, Mohit and Rohit (RB) for a while. Eating roadside fruit and vegetable served with spices and drinking sugarcane juice. At the time all my senses were amplified to MAX. I could feel the taste of each fibre of the vegetable or fruit that I was eating, feel the chilliness running down my throat down to my stomach while drinking that glass of sugar cane juice. It was the best spicy fruit and vegetable salad I had. The best Sugarcane juice that had traversed this thirsty throat and dry food canal of my body. A feeling of thank-fullness and gratitude came unaffectedly and naturally towards everything right in that moment when we were sharing food and drinks on the road.
Fighting the headwinds and pain I, along with Gurleen Ma'am and the MTB gang made it to our first stop for Lunch. 80 Km done 170 still left! I again had to take that muscle relaxant tablet after food. After which shared a cup of tea along with a few moments of jest and gag with Sanjeev Sir before leaving for the 2nd phase of this last leg. It was 3:30 PM already and we were approximating our time of arrival at India Gate. Some suggested that we will reach by 1:00 AM, some 2:00 AM, I suggested, it would not be later than 4:00 AM.
"Cycle Parking - Lunch Point"
This 2nd phase I was riding at last. Riding with head and eyes fixed in the front; as if meditating alternatively on the pain and the 2 feet patch of road in front. The pain in my knee and ankle now had increased tremendously as compared to day 2. I have always believed that God never gives a cross to bear larger than we can carry. No matter what, he wants us to be happy, not sad. birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we? On day 3 due to day 2 I had grown both in capacity and strength to bear this cross which had now billowed in its size. As I watched the beautiful sunset over the lush green paddy fields on the roadside, I thought that no pain or hurt can stop me from enjoying this sunset. I felt the power of choice. The power to choose between contradictions, options, feelings, situations demanding our action and inaction. Our life is a sum total of these choices we make in our moments of awareness or ignorance. As I was looking at the sunset I observed the moon emerging from behind. The rising moon was looking in the eyes of the setting sun and I was in the middle of these two thinking about the power of choice. It was like universe was setting up the stage for this realisation to come to me in that hour and space. It started to get dark as I pushed forward.
I had a quick stop in front of Hotel Highway King, Behror where I met Captain Kamal Bisht and KK (Kamal Kant) Sir. Bisht sir asked me if everything was alright with me. As I was the last rider and was riding exceptionally slow. I told him that there was some pain in my knee but it was nothing to worry about. Filled my water bottles, assured Bisht sir that I would catch up, I started again. 120 Km left, with 20 more for the next big stop for dinner. As I was riding I thought that the longer I will take to finish the ride the more are the chances that I will not be able to complete it because now the pain in my knee and ankle had entered the extreme mode. It was switching between uncomfortably numb to sensitively poignant, anyways it was tending to become unbearable no matter what adjective I use for it. So I decided to go all in, full speed these last 100-120 Kilometres was my plan to finish. Overtook RB (Rohit Bhuttan), Gurleen Ma'am, Smriti, Mohit (Sarthak due to his back problem was not riding from the halfway mark onwards) and dashed to reach the dinner point. Where I took off the bandages, socks and shoes. Ordered food, walked bare feet a little and stretched my body. As I was about to finish my food I saw the group of cyclists; whom I left behind; arriving.
"MTB Gang ahead - Touch Point Hotel Highway King"
I was thus informed by the Captain that group's speed is suffering because Smriti is riding slow. Slow speed at this point would have meant more time on the saddle, more chances of bodily pain and other complications getting escalated, and increased chances of everyone not able to finish the ride. It was not wise jeopardising the chances of 4-5 riders completing the ride. There was also a puncture detected in Smriti's cycle's back tyre, which was fixed by our Cyclofit's expert Technician there and then. I was asked if I could accompany Smriti. I was a bit reluctant, as I had different strategy and plan in mind for covering the remaining 100 KM. I told this to our Captain, to which he said that he will have to give up Marshalling and accompany her on Sarthak's idle bike which too was not an option as we cannot afford to lose our main support in the last stretch. Also there were a few attempts made to convince Smriti to sit in the backup vehicle. But she wanted to finish the ride and was adamant about it. Which I understood quite clearly, because of her health she had to give up the ride on day 2, and now she wanted to finish it on day 3. It was a very wise thing there to regroup and rethink our strategy on how to get the maximum out of available resources. Smriti wanted someone who would match her pace. I was actually keeping myself on a high horse thinking that I will be able to go full throttle on the last 100 Km. Kamal Sir did the 100% right thing in clubbing me and her. When Captain again asked me, if I can accompany Smriti, many thoughts were buzzing in my head. It was kind of noisy up there. There was a tug of war between the ambition to complete the ride and Leo Tolstoy's philosophy of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good. A thought of David Sharp (15 February 1972 – 15 May 2006) who was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest came to my mind from the book Into Thin Air. His death caused controversy and debate, because he was passed by a number of other climbers; drunk in ambition; heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying. This is how I think in the head when making decisions. On stories, fantasies, and legends. Quoting this story here is in no way a reflection on any other rider. They are purely my thoughts and way on how I am thinking when making decisions. This helped me in deciding and making up my mind to accompany Smriti and help her in finishing the ride for Day 3. Also if she will not have been able to improve her speed over next 20-30 KM I would have had strongly advised her to take the backup vehicle. I was just taking a controlled chance here.
In the pursuit of helping others many a times you get helped by others, not realising until that very moment that you too were in dire need for help. This is exactly what happened when I was riding with Smriti. I tried pushing her, motivating her into the first 60 Km of our remaining 100 Km ride. In the process of doing so, I had to keep my own disposition positive and strong both in mind and body. I could not have afforded to be negative as Smriti was feeling low and down at that time, so I had to remain positive to lift up her spirits and boost her morale. Initially I had to make sincere efforts in trying to keep all negative thoughts aside but later on it became my demeanour and I was naturally feeling motivated and positive. After 10-15 Km of initial struggle, we both were complementing each other beautifully. It didn't took her long in getting her lost confidence back. Once she was on top of her form, I had to purposely ask her to slow down and not be over ambitious. When I used to get slow she used to help me in pushing forward at a constant speed. In this whole process of creating positivism I had completely forgotten about my pains till we reached the iconic McDonald's of Manesar. We still had 44 Km left to cover in order to reach India Gate. This is where the pain it took a backdoor entry and started corroding my fortitude of positivism. I was still pushing on the pedals; inching closer and closer towards India Gate.
This wall of fortitude was about to collapse just before Hotel Radisson, Mahipalpur where I genuinely thought about giving up the ride and taking the backup vehicle. If I would have had been riding alone, I would have had definitely given up. But seeing Smriti riding confidently in front of me, activated the emergency reservoir of energy and kindled a sudden virility in my being like a Nitro boost package for the last mile rush. I met Bisht Sir and KK sir on the bridge opposite to Radisson. Informed them about my 'about to give up' thought; drank down the remainder with a can of Rio Energy Drink; and carried on.
After a few hiccups; getting lost from 12 Murti Statue; we finally reached India Gate at 3:00 AM. Smriti and I were last to reach. Half of our group had already left the scene. The first ones to reach were Nidhi and Dhruv as I was being informed by Gaurav. They made a crazy, insane; last 100 Km dash. I actually had already envisioned this happening in my mind and was really happy in knowing that they were the first ones to complete this Golden Triangle. If gold must be gold, it must pass through the furnace. That is what took place in these last 3 days. The process of Cupellation. After having treated under very high temperatures on this Triangular furnace, our minds had shed many impurities and was left with some pure gold in form of love, compassion and empathy for fellow human beings. I was overflowing with joy when I get to meet Gaurav, Gurleen Ma'am, both Kamal Sirs, Kamal Sundriyal Sir, Sanjeev Sir, Sarthak and Smriti on the finish line. My entire being was speaking these unspoken words in form of a silent whisper when we were hugging and congratulating each other "I understand and respect the battle in you; that you are fighting against your sufferings and fears".
"The Gang At Finish Line with The Last Man Pedalling"
“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
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