DOES CITY SHAPE US OR WE SHAPE THE CITY

City is a place of opportunities. 

Every City has two existence - one is physical and the other one is it's soul. The soul of the city touches every city dweller and the physical entity houses them all. Now the soul of the city is a kind of eternal aspect which lends its warmth to us and the physical entity is ever changing by us. So in the process the city and we are always in a tussle to co-exist. Constant attempt to improve city does not mean keeping the original aura of the city intact at the same time. 

As I said at the beginning that city is a place of opportunities and that is the reason why it attracts so many people time to time. People come from suburb or satellite towns or peripheral rural zone to the city to touch the soul of it. Now what is the soul of a city ? 

If we look at the history, most of the prominent cities across the globe have evolved through - either cultural or political or economical or religious reformation. And the very base of these reformations are the people who have stirred the basic ingredients of numerous progressive movements. So these people are extraordinarily visionary. They have emerged from the lot and they have constantly been challenging the existence of many aspects which affect the life of citizens. Because of these people there have been many other people who got influenced. We find these visionary people among politicians, religious leaders, poets, musicians, performers, scientists, social leaders, sports personalities, artists etc. The city provokes many movements through the extra ordinary leaderships of few and that creates a spectrum of opportunities for others through collaboration and participation. At that level, city shapes our lives and at the same time it is upto us how do we react to those situations to shape up the city in order to create even larger dream for future. Very often it is seen that this process blurr the fine line between conservation and momentary greed which results in to a disaster. And most of the modern cities are the glaring examples of this fact. 

Perhaps I'm one among a handful few in Bangalore city who bisects the city everyday and see it up close - but that is the physical part of the city which we are responsible for. I can see the change very clearly as I'm seeing it through for last two decades. And a lot have changed. I still remember, almost 15 years back, after lunch at office, few of us used to go out for a walk and we had to wear warm jackets even in the afternoons of June. Which is unthinkable now. So we are shaping this city towards a temporary gain but actually slow poisoning the city. But that does not mean city has stopped giving us back. It is still accommodating new dwellers who are coming with high aspirations and settling down for betterment. And the city is still a place of hope and opportunities. The soul of the city is still pumping high on energy but we are failing to protect it from dying physically. Due to lack of vision. There is a common thread of similar problem across the global cities. But the deterioration rate differs due to the level of sensitivity of the citizens from city to city. 

The city has such a phenomenal hierarchical structuring of everything which can lead us to a sustainable pattern. City has a birth and naturally it would die also. But the soul of the city which carries a reflection of civilisation can have more meaningful life through our understanding of it's physicality. 

BHOLA APPU & MOWGLY

BHOLA attended the last race and was very happy. 

He went and told APPU about BBCH and APPU also got excited about it and he also decided to join for the coming race. 

On the way BHOLA & APPU met MOWGLY. After learning about BBCH, MOWGLY also decided to join. 

All the three of them are on the way to Hassan Road for the upcoming race. 

So what happens, when BHOLA, APPU & MOWGLY start going togeher towards the brand new BBCH race course on Hassan highway, they keep talking among themselves. 

And then MOWGLY says - " hey we are three now, don't you think it would be great to have many more folks joining us !"

BHOLA & APPU said - "yes brilliant idea ! Let's stop by and tell other friends also about this awesome BBCH race !"

As they thought, MOWGLY put up a base camp and started spreading the news about awesome BBCH races.

And there were lot of people who didn't know about awesome BBCH, started rushing towards the new race course. 

BHOLA, APPU & MOWGLY are so happy to see so many new friends preparing and going to BBCH upcoming race. 

So now be a little bit of 'Mowgly' and tell all your friends about BBCH and their awesome year long race calendar so that together we enjoy bicycling ! 

At BBCH !

www.bbch.in

BBCH ITT

I turned many eyeballs today. 

People asked me, why did you pay and register ! Yes as a part of the organising team, I could have dodged that with a backdoor entry to the race and have fun. But that was not the idea. I wanted to see how we are organising things at BBCH and is it worth what we are offering to our riders ! It is often observed that face value precedes over actual fact in many walks of life. So reality check is essential time to time. I just did that. And I'm glad that I did it. The whole perspective of racing is different for me. Frankly speaking, I'm not at all a racing material and on the outset, I don't even look like a cyclist with all those untoned muscles and not so desirable high BFP. But under all of those unwanted layers, there is a reasonably sized heart doing the duty. And who am I to ignore it ! So there I go. 

Now BBCH is quite sophisticated. How easily one books a movie ticket or groceries or clothes or electronics through any device online, can book a ticket for BBCH races also in a similar way. A new thing is introduced which can give you a tracking option of registered participants online and I guess that will help to get in lot more competitiveness among the riders. Infact many people saw my name in that list and asked very surprisingly whether am I actually racing or not ! O dear yes I will. For the organisers and volunteers, race is not only the riders riding on course, there are 100 things to take care to make the event successful. That requires lot of energy and time which snatches the precious time of cycling for them and to come to a terms with that it requires tremendous amount of mental strength to suppress frustration and make peace with it. So be it. If there is a will, there is a way. I've been out of riding for a long time now for certain reason but since it's an ITT and one can choose a speed to their level of comfort, I happily calculated in my mind that if I can maintain my Randonneuring speed and push little more, I'll surely be able to finish the race within the cut off time. My whole target was to come back to the finish line before the podium starts and nothing more than that. See setting simple target makes life so easy. So me and my colleague Promise Gangani decided to start one after the other and do a chatty ride all through. But I had a little idea about how he will hammer the course on the drop bar for the entire length. After the startline formalities it was time to go and then I realised that I forgot to adjust my handlebar to a more comfortable position. This is why I said that I'm not a race material. One can do this for an endurance ride but not for a race. But again when you are in an organised event, things actually get taken care off. I was wearing a participant's hat ( read helmet ) now leaving behind organiser's socks. Good folks of BOTS had set up a last minute bike maintenance desk and they fixed my issue in no time and made me ready to leave from start line. Khuram and Marghoob flagged off and I was on the road to cover 33 kms in a fastest possible time. Training, understanding, skillset, planning, experience - these are the key things for a race and I had none of them with me. But how does it matter when you are not competing with anyone, not even with yourself. Take it easy was the mantra and I should not get any cramp on the way as I have to come back all on my own. Moderate traffic, lesser noise, lazy landscape around and riders passing by one by one endlessly. I'm out of riding my road bike almost for a year and half now and this was more like getting used to with it again and follow the sound of my legs. And that is what I did throughout. I didn't overtake a single rider who were ahead of me but the vice versa was the norm. At the start line I was chatting with Rushit Davda and he was jovially telling that he will be starting sometime in the middle of the pack and will be able to see the entire lineup when the faster guys will cross from the back. When it was happening with me, I remembered that and it was quite enjoyable as I could see every rider of our event and how good they are. Today BBCH saw a participation of 122 riders where as there were 134 registrations and this number is quite incredible at a domestic level. And I'm not quite aware off whether there is any bigger participation in an ITT anywhere in India apart from this. BBCH has come a long way. Where the seasoned masters riders consider BBCH as a favourite playfield, we as organisers think that it is a great breeding ground for the young riders who are the potential champions of tomorrow. Today that thought was reinforced where half of the participants were in amateur category. Time will say whether BBCH has contributed enough towards the advancement of the sports of cycling or not but the effort is straight from the honest hearts. 

After the U-turn the headwind became prominent and slowed down quite a bit. This was the stretch to have an eye on the opposite side of the track to watch out the pro guys coming over and in no time lapping me from behind and vanishing in the horizon. It was so cool to see the glamour around with all the lycra cladded folks on their super kits dazzling the tarmac with utmost grace and strength. It made me proud to think that what culture we are nourishing at BBCH. This race was supported by CrankMeister team and they have done a  very nice job on the course by marking it nicely keeping in mind how a rider will approach and read the signs on the road. One such marking which said '3 kms to go', kicked right at the centre of my head and I was delighted to think that I'm almost home. Lets hammer now. Started pushing it hard and a mild sign of right calf muscle cramp showed up and managed somehow to continue further. Last mile was probably the fastest for me at around 30 kmph or so which ended up little avove 22 kmph as an average.

I could see the finish line from the other side on top of a saddle for the first time and that made me ecstatic. Couldn't hide my joy and the fist went up to the sky. I finished my race in exactly 90 minutes which was estimated and then it was the celebration time. What energy was lost, gained double of that from candid chats with hundred of folks and touching lives warmly. First time BBCH had put up a big tent at the podium to get some shade  from the scorching sun and it made a great difference. It brought everybody under one roof literally. It was indeed festive. BBCH had got nice and healthy breakfast in a slick package which was also great after a hard ride. Podium was good with lot of prizes not only for the winners but for every participants. It was almost a lakh of rupees worth all put together. For a domestic racing platform it is not small by any measure. These are not from a perspective of an organiser but from an eye of a participant. I heard someone saying that BBCH is well organised, super fun and total value for money. That summarises quite a bit. 

Lets wrap up until the next as a participant as well as a volunteer. Whoever have shown encouragement towards my participation, I'm very grateful to them for their support, love and good wishes. 

How can I forget to tell that today Bhola accompanied me and enjoyed the ride too. 

LIFE IN A TRAIN

My school was little far from home. I used to take a local train everyday to commute. It used to be quite uncomfortable ride in the peak hours. But surprisingly it never felt as a deterrent to go on the next day. It went on day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. At the back of my mind, it created an impression which I never questioned. Or rathar never realised it. What is that ? It is difficult to answer. It is something like if someone asks you to define life. It is difficult. Isn't it. Yes ofcourse it is. 

In the tropical climate, you sweat in summer. You shiver in the winter. You get wet in the rain. All these happen in the local train. All the feel of different seasons come directly on you in a local train. There is no question of sophistication. It is just bare minimum. There are windows to protect rain splashes but it leaks. There are fans but it still makes you sweat. The doors are wide open to allow the winter air come in and shiver you. But the local train is glorious. It is enigmatic. It is loud. It is chaotic. It is over crowded. But it is full of life. 

Very few Indian cities have this lifeline as a mass commuting system and those cities are blessed. Kolkata is one such place. Coming back to the topic. I never questioned myself, why I never disliked to travel by a local train ?

Today when I was travelling by a local train after a long time, suddenly opened up a vista in front of me.

 

One thrilling aspect is certainly this everchanging perspective through the small window.

 

 

This makes one connected with all the 'panchabhuta' - air, water, sun, earth & sky. 

The very structure of a local train is so invigorating. There is a central aisle which opens out on either side through doorways and branches out for seats. This arrangement creates a seemingly endless layered spaces which are animated by the passengers. 

Some passengers just contemplate. 

And the same person gets involved in something of his interest. 

Some enjoy a new found common interest. 

Some share a common vision. 

They travel and they leave at their destination. 

But the drama goes on. 

There are plenty of options for nutrition. 

Galore of colours. 

Hydration option is also equally good. 

Natural option is also available. 

Cafe on the wheel. 

Quick bites at every now and then. 

Options are available to buy some fabric too. 

Time just fly by in a local train compartment. There are passengers. There are hawkers. There are vendors. Lot of discussions. Lot of fun. Lot of sharing of ideas. Lot of business. There is cricket. There is football. There is local politics. There is global politics. There is Satyajit Ray. There is Rabindranath. There is Kareena Kapoor. There is Justin Bieber. There is rich. There is poor. There is querty. There is touchpad. There is silence. There is loudness. There is cooperation. There is discomfort. There is crowd. There is emptyness. There are everything. Under one shelter. All are moving. Above all - there is a synergy. There is life at different stages. Life touches each other. Life hear each other. Train compartment is like an extended living room for every passenger.

I guess that is the reason why I never denied to travel by a local train. It is indeed a lifeline. For one and all. 

Good that me and Bhola took the local train ride today. 

L.I.F.E.

This is not a story. 

This is real. 

I've pondered over it many many times but still it is somewhat unbelievable.

L.I.F.E. 

Little Indian Family of Explorers.

Anand and Punita, a lovely jolly couple in their mid thirties. Their two children, 10 years old Yash and 7 years old Dhriti, more popular as Jia in the family.

I did not know them personally until recent time when I met them. But following them started quite sometime back when I first heard about them on radio. It was accidental and it was a matter of 'right place at right time'. That day I reached office parking lot and about to turn off the car. The radio jockey was announcing that there is a couple in their studio and they are embarking into an epic journey of their dream and announced their social media contact information. Until this whole conversation was over, I could not switch off the radio for few minutes. The first thing after logging in that morning, it was the search for the web-link which I just heard in radio. It opened and it blew me off. It still does so whenever I think about it. I really can not figure out, no wait, better I say that I'm quite sure that it is an utmost daring attempt in a lifetime. The question is how did this happen. To figure that out to a certain extent, I had to patiently wait for couple of months with an adrenaline rush throughout this period.

In our office, CnT Architects ( www.cnt.co.in ), we have something called 'Katte'. It is a platform in the office which is organised once in a month and we invite people of different walks of life to share their experiences with us. When I coined this idea to Anand, he readily accepted it. And I was all set to meet them. Infact the whole office was very excited about this. We fixed 30th october 2015 as the date. I was travelling overseas around that time but made  sure that no matter what, I be present for the gathering as Anand also had already altered one of his family commitment. All fell in place and finally we met. 

Anand, Yash and Dhriti arived in the evening. Punita could not make it on that day. The whole office came out to greet them and we did a photoshoot with everybody encircling them. After settling down a bit, the sharing started. It gave a special feel to it when Anand said that this is their first public presentation after they accomplished their dream journey.

Anand used to work with Dreamworks Animation studio in Bangalore until he started establishing his own setup to seek something else in life where Punita also joined him. Yash and Dhriti go to school. Since their ancestral home is in Rajasthan, the whole family went for a road trip from Bangalore to Rajasthan and back which covered around 5000 kilometers in 2014. On the way they discussed that if this could be the warm up trip then they should do a much larger trip in sometime. When Anand was planning to leave his job, he thought of a longer road trip and candidly proposed that to the entire family over the dinner table and as a first impression, everybody agreed to it. The search began from there. Slowly Anand started realising the magnitude of the task of taking up something real big. Big, because, the trip was going to be from Bangalore to Paris by road. 

Bangalore to Paris. By road. Driving all the way in a car.

Exciting. Very very thrilling. Indeed by all means. But it is a mammoth task to accomplish. Anand started working on it silently. He made several iterations to the route. Had to study the social and political status of the countries which come on the way. Carefully Anand picked up the route which seemed to be comparatively safer. Just to avoid the shortest but unsafe route through middle eastern countries, Anand had to re-route it with a longer travel path which shot up the overall distance by couple of thousand of kilometers. Finally the route was finalised and it appeared to be around 18000 kilometers cutting across 11 countries. 

So after finalising the course of journey, Anand had to look out for permits. Now here they would need visas for every individual country separately along with the car-net to drive on foreign land. The relentless persuation started to follow up with different embassies. After a couple of months' hard work, thousands of e-mail exchange, numerous phone calls, Anand could put all the permits in place. At this juncture he explained the whole idea of the journey to Punita, Yash and Dhriti. Quite naturally it was a zapping moment for all the family members. Slowly it sank in. Everybody started understanding the magnitude of the journey and the associated factors with it. Next thing was to select a suitable time. The estimated time was coming around 101 days. So getting school holidays was a challenge. Anand and Punita talked to the school authority and managed to convince them to get additional days off after the regular school holiday. So another big hurddle was crossed. And that time Anand also will be out of his regular routine job to cope with the time. Route map, permits and time frame were sorted out. 

Next question was which car to take for this journey. For various obvious reasons keeping in mind the unknown terrains and road conditions, SUV would be the best bet. Anand tried to pull in various automobile maker to provide with a SUV for the cause. But when he saw not so optimistic response, he decided to take his trusted one and half year old Fiat Linea Turbo-jet machine itself for the trip. Punita being a good driver, she also agreed to drive as much as possible. Now started the preparation for the journey. What to wear, what to eat, where to stay, what medicine to carry, what equipment to  use for navigation etc. At this point they came up with the idea of naming themselves as 'L.I.F.E.' - Little Indian Family of Explorers. So LIFE started fixing few items to their car. First was the THULE carrier on top of the car roof which would carry their clothes sufficient enough to reduce laundry work. It would carry a good amount of warm cloths as well. As the whole family is vegetarian, they would carry the car boot full of home made food which would give good support in case of need. Then they fixed a GPS Navigation equipment from Garmin in the car. This device would require coordinates to feed in to get the route map. Lots of car body stickers were designed and made for the bonnet, fenders, door walls as well as boot cover. 

Once the car was decked up then they designed their T-shirts in different colours which would be a suitable attire for the entire journey. 

Time just flew by when they finished all these preparations and the date of start of the journey arrived. LIFE were featured in Bangalore FM radio stations and national daily newspapers in many occasions. They were posting all the happenings in their website to keep everyone aware. I was completely glued to it every single day. A sense of excitement built up. 

Then the 'Day' came on 8th April 2015 and they were flagged off from Marriot Hotel Bangalore with lots of good wishes. 

The first stop was at Hyderabad where LIFE took rest for two days with lots of fun at Marriot Hyderabad. 

The next stop was at Nagpur and from there they headed towards Varanasi via Katni. 

The path continued to Nepal. 

There they camped. 

And then the first blow came as a devastating Nepal earthquake from 25 th to 29th April 2015. At that time they were just around 100 kilometres away from the quake epicentre. The white dot in the photo was there location. 

Anand had posted from this location - "After being held up for 5 days at he Zhangmu checkpoint, the Army-incharge advised us immediate evacuation from the place - 'on foot', as the roads were completely unmotorable. We were told to pack complete essentials and hike to the nearest town, from where we would further be driven to a safe spot by the army. Our vehicle keys were handed to the Army Officer and we left on foot. Its been there now since we left on the 29th. We are working with the army and other officials including help from Indian Embassy to find a way to get the vehicle back. We trust these guys with everything as they have been more than helpful, more like guardians to us, esp. the Chinese Army. Our further journey much depends in news in this regards in coming days."

And LIFE could move ahead into China safely after a halt at Kathmandu.

The beautiful terrain of this region made it a pleasurable drive.

This is the spot where Anand went nuts and spent good amount of time just in the middle of nowhere. 

The gigantic sand dunes of Dunhuang made the kids to go up all the way to the top. 

Yash playing with the local folks by the highway enroute to Kyrgizstan from Kashgar, which is the last big town west of China. 

LIFE experienced the magical change in landscape within a short span when they crossed border of China and entered into Kyrgizstan. It got lot better and scenic. The place where they camped, got changed overnight. 

What a lovely monument to visit ! Gur-E-Amir in Samarqand which has a mausoleum of a reputed ruler Amir Timur. And it is said that this monument has inspired many other great monuments including Humayun's tomb and Taj Mahal. 

Uzbekystan has a lot of natural surprises throughout the contry. 

Turkmenistan became a highlight of their trip as it changes it's appearance time to time. A live crater which is there for last 45 years - 'Darwaze or Door to Hell' is a sight to behold. 

Ashgabad city centre is somewhat amazing with its mirror polished roads. 

Iran touched LIFE with their warm hospitality. 

When they reached Turkey, they asked rhetorically - 'how a country can be so simple, clean & gorgeously beautiful at the same time'. 

Bursa was kind of a homecoming for the car as the Linea is designed and built at Bursa Fiat Manufacturing Plant and LIFE got lucky to have a tour around it. 

LIFE entered into Greece at the peak of it's economic turmoil but eventually they survived and enjoyed the entire country. 

They did lot of driving in Greece to cover many places. 

And Anand & Punita celebrated their 15th anniversary also in Greece - couldn't have been any more romantic otherwise. 

LIFE crossed the Mediterranean safely and landed up in Italy. 

As Yash was insistent on meeting Neimer, they had to divert to Spain and visit Barcelona. 

And then finally the euphoric moment came into being. 

Nobody else than LIFE can explain this moment better :

"On 22.07.2015, approximately 21.30 hours, vessel number KA53 MB 0702 with four members namely Dhriti, Yash, Punita and Anand Baid on-board their Fiat Linea TJET, reached the foothills of the majestic Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

After setting sail from Bangalore By-Road on April 8th, their journey lasted for 111 days, travelling 22780 kms in 11 countries and over 50 cities. 

Reaching the destination has always been less euphoric than the journey itself. And for the experiences the jouney entailed, we feel fortunate and blessed !

Although when we reached Paris and had no further destination to drive to, is when we realized that the journey has come to an end. We screamed, we sang - we talked - wow people fly down to Paris for a holiday and we drove down. This feels cool and weird. Haha !"

After the satisfaction of completing this 'dream drive' the entire LIFE team came back home with a warm welcome by the family members and friends. 

Ofcourse the fifth member of the LIFE team came back home after a month of shipping. 

A journey of this magnitude and courage, simply can not be captured in a small blog post. 

It needs to be felt through the stories they have earned, the memories they share and the passion they emit. 

I was fortunate enough along with my colleagues at CnT Architects to get LIFE amidst us to learn about their incredible experience. 

From deepest part of my heart, I wish LIFE many more happy and encouraging journeys like this in the time to come. This epic journey was priceless and to know more about it, will wait eagerly to see their documentation which will be out in due course of time as Anand ascertained.