✪ Great warmth in the so called backward district
✪ Incredible India!
✪ Warmth of an auto riskha person
✪ Meditative forest and nature
✪ “Mental health is our issue also as we have much mental stress”
✪ Wonderful village Repanpally
Hello. Currently the harsh Summer is going on and I am still writing about my solo cycling expedition that was completed in last October. The experience and the memories are so rich that I feel I must share with all. 14th day of the expedition, 7th October 2022. Yesterday I stayed in Swami Vivekanand hostel just beside Pranhita river. What a great region I am passing through! Today will be one more hugely exciting day. The weather has been great. This is historically significant village. It is a block headquarter from the British times. One friend from Sironcha hesitantly told me that he wanted to contribute some money for my expedition. I rejected this and told him that he could contribute this money for any organization. But he insisted that he found my cause so important that he wanted to contribute for this only. So I had to accept his money. Left Sironcha with such memories....
After leaving Sironcha, the thrilling ride began. The road for today’s ride is like a broken road. I was told that even four wheelers and trucks badly struggle on this section! Today’s ride will not be about speed or time. It will be more like a test match innings. Spending time on the crease will matter more than scoring runs quickly. And I am happy to finally come across such road! Dense forests and even though the monsoon is over, there are signs of the heavy rainfall. Initially the road does not look that bad. Of course, for four wheelers it will be nightmarish! Because the road is actually like a trail lost in potholes and soil! But for cycle, there is no much difficulty. After all, a cycle just needs around 2 inch region to pass!
I am also seeing small villages on the road. I also found one tea stall. Incidentally the owner of the tea shop was the student of the same hostel in Sironcha! He also knew many persons whom I had met last evening. Without much hiccups on the road, I continued further. Not the road, but the scenario is forcing me to stop for photographs! Here there are no monkeys. But the forest is equally serene and vast. And I am seeing very few vehicles. And the persons get startled to see me! They also inquire about my journey! One auto riksha person saw me riding and told me to stop. He also stopped. I thought he wants a selfie with me like many people had wanted! He did not ask me other things. He just inquired whether I had my breakfast. And I told him that I had. Then he gave me a 100 Rs note. I politely refused saying that I had my breakfast. But he told me to take it for next time! And his warmth defeated me and I took the money with gratitude. What can you do in such a situation!
Gadchiroli district is known for extreme backwardness and also for naxalism. But what I experienced was richness of heart and also a normal peaceful life. Of course, there were some paramilitary vehicles on the roads and even during my meeting with officers in Sironcha, vigil was strict. But still “they” (naxalites) were not to be seen. Even local people told me that they too have never seen “naxalites”! What a confrontation with reality this has been!
Very comfortably I reached Repanpally village. Wonderful 63 km ride it is. Here RSS karyakartas were arranged for my stay in one villager’s house. My runner friend Khushal Kumar belongs to Gadchiroli district and he had also worked in Repanpally. So he had told me about his friend in Repanpally- Shrinivas ji. And the house I was told to stay was his house! As villages are small, people know everyone! My friend’s friend Shrinivas was not in Repanpally, but his brother Raju and father warmly welcomed me and treated me as their family member. It is difficult to describe these things in words... But the cycle helped me connect to people. And I am continuously experiencing incredible India! The real India and not the India of rumours.
One more coincident was two police officers located in Repanpally were from Parbhani, my home town. So officers whom I had met in Sironcha had given me their number and also had informed them about my ride! I met them in the evening. When I told that I am riding this for mental health awareness, one officer told that this issue is our issue also as we are undergoing through much mental stress. I talked with them for some time and also shared my meditation recording with them. So glad that I am doing this!
Next: Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 16: Repanpally to Ashti (81 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)
खुप छान भारत माता की जय
ReplyDelete