Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 10: Sangareddy- Hyderabad (70 kms)

✪ Hyderabad ke logan
✪ No puncture- a wonder!
✪ Meeting with members of Vande Mataram Foundation
✪ Meeting with “Rajneesh” Ji
✪ Unprecedented connections- World is very small!
✪ Completed 785 kms in 9 days
✪ Difficult to hold mind in the present
✪ Half journey over, now tribal part calling

Hello all. Sharing joy and experience that I attained during this solo cycling expedition with you all through this blog. 9th day of the expedition, 2nd October. Today is Gandhi Jayanti as well as Sunday. After cycling across vast rural area with very few towns and hardly any cities, today I will reach to a significant Indian metro- Hyderabad! It is bound to be challenging- to see traffic jams, signals, waiting in traffic- after such a long highway ride! Today I will also complete half part and so now onward the end will be approaching. Faster and faster. Initially days are very slow, slowly day 1 of the expedition completes, then day 2 and so on. But now onward it will be psychologically so fast. Because, once I cross the half way mark, the mental work is as good as done. Mental monkeys are off the back (they were mostly off from day 1 actually). And I am short of words to say thank you to my cycle! What a great company it is giving me!

Sangareddy is very close to Hyderabad. Left as usual at 6.30 in the morning. As winter is approaching, I am going Eastwards, so there is sufficient light till 6.30 am and no issue of dogs till now! As usual continued pedaling. This has been too smooth actually. Not even a puncture! Not my puncture and not cycle’s puncture also! I am completing over 750 kms and overall more than 1800 kms on this cycle, but still there is no puncture! When my mind was wondering too much about it, just its chain got slipped! Gradually passed through suburbs of Hyderabad like Kukatpalli, Cyberabad etc and then Hyderabad! I have to ask roads on multiple times as I will be passing through the city itself. Hyderabad ke logan bahutich help karte hain! As it is Sunday morning, there was no much traffic. Smoothly crossed Secunderabad and then took the road as told. Due to road traffic and not wasting time in case of jams, I could not take a proper photograph of the city. Easily reached Nerapalli. Shri. Madhavji had suggested me to stay there, it is little outside of Hyderabad towards Warangal side. He was also told me to visit one organization in Hyderabad while coming, but could not contact with that organization.

I stayed with a friend of Madhavji Reddy- Pavan Kumar ji in Nerapalli. The area is so calm that hardly it seems to be in Hyderabad. But then I was desperate for some rest. Could take only some rest in the afternoon. But overall it was very calm environment. In the evening Madhavji Reddy- president of Vande Mataram Foundation and also a senior member of Bharat Vikas Sangam came to meet me. Vande Mataram Foundation is located at some other side. So I could not visit it. But their work is very interesting. They mainly work with youth, women and students. Creative learning, learning with fun, education and experiments is part of their activities. They also conduct cycling and sky watching activities!

Madhavji Reddy was accompanied by Rajneesh ji, member of Vande Mataram Foundation and their cycling patron. He leads cycling tours. It was great to meet this man. As he is from Bihar, he can speak Hindi very well and also a cyclist! As I had anticipated, his name was given by his grand father who was a lover of Shri Rajneesh (Osho). Being an Osho lover, it was emotional moment for me and I have to avoid arrival of tears in my eye.

Another unprecedented connection was revealed with Shri Pavan Kumar ji. When he came to know that I am from Parbhani, he just casually told that he had been to Parbhani. Then I asked him when and for what purpose. Then he told that many years ago he had gone to Parbhani, then a small town and he also told name of his relative. And oh, it is the name of my childhood friend! We both talked further and then I called my friend! And it revealed that my friend’s grandfather was relative of Pavan Kumarji’s mother! They talked with each other in awe! What a delight it is for all of us. Really, the world is so small. And what a coincidence this is! This made the day more memorable!

Today is also significant in that now half distance is over. After some cities like Warangal and Bhupalpally, I will be traveling towards remote and tribal part of Maharashtra- Gadchiroli! There are lots of speculations in my mind about this region. Google map shows that roads are very poor. Also I am not sure about hotels and facilities on the road. Gadchiroli district is also known for Naxal activities and dense forests. So this is going to be exciting! Cannot say anything for sure about this part of the ride. But I will take it when it will come and I have three more stays in Telangana before I reach there. But our mind just jumps and hovers. It cannot stay in the present. It is very difficult to hold the mind in the present. And the present is that only half the journey is complete! Exactly 9 days are remaining (may be extra days too would be needed)! Really cannot thank much my cycle. It is actually the cycle that is riding. Will soon get it checked once, it has been too long to be this smooth!
 

 

Next: Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 11: Hyderabad- Janagaon (76 kms)

(Thanks for reading! You can enjoy the photos on the blog link given above. You can also read about my experiences of trekking, cycling, running, meditation, sky watching etc. there. If you wish to get updates of such activities, you can contact me. Niranjan Welankar 09422108376)