Day 3:

Today's route:

Weather:

Cycled:

Didn't cycle:

Ate & drank:

Highlight of the day:

Health Check:

Stayed at:

Day 15-16: Exploring Aurangabad

Today's route: Arrived at 8 am in the morning back in town and stayed nicely put after the long bus journey through the night. Didn’t get much chance for rest but at least time for shower, change and a hot lunch at the hotel as our new team member Vishakha had already organised a whole host of meetings for us including an interview and photo shooting with a local TV station, a visit to the Center of Gandhian Art of Living at MGM, meetings with the collector and CEO Zilla Parishad to get tips on which villages to visit and much more. Vishakha found the right cycle service to get Kalyan’s new side stand put onto the cycle and she also brought four more papers with her in which articles about us had been printed in the past days. She even manages to talk the Head of MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Department) into returning the 100 km he is away to Aurangabad in order to meet us because we mean to leave next morning. By the time he arrives with his kids at our hotel at 11 pm we’ve changed plans again and he seems slightly annoyed.

Weather: hot, hot, hot

Cycled: none

Didn't cycle: inner-city auto rikshaws

Ate & drank on Day 15:
We’ve become serious cookie monsters in the meantime. Whenever we’re missing out on a normal meal, we have cookies instead. Gotta change that!!!
12:30 pm: jeera alu (potato with cumin) and rice (W), roti, egg burghi, cashew curry and a cold Thums up (K), H2O
inbetween: more cookies, nuts, H2O
7 pm: sandwiches in the lobby of the hotel over a meeting, H2O, chai
9/11 pm: egg birianhi, buttermilk (W), roti, paneer butter masala, alu ghobi, thums up (K)

Ate & drank on Day 16:
10 am: egg burghi and butter toast
inbetween: Pepsi Cola and nuts
3 pm: the famous vegetable sandwich from MGM college parceled for us to eat on our way to the collector’s office, H2O
9:30 pm: beer, papads, peanuts

Highlight of the day: seeing how Sarees are traditionally made

Health Check: Wiebke’s cough is getting worse, fever comes back too.

Stayed at: back at Hotel Sahara for 900 rs/night

Today’s photos

Day 14, Sat Feb 12: Mumbai-Aurangabad

Today's route: Let go of our train tickets in favor of a sleeper bus leaving later as we wanted to make best use of our time at the conference and in Mumbai. There was things like Biotique Aloe Vera Sunscreen & Body Lotion to be stocked up on (we’re both addicted to it), a side stand for Kalyan to replace the broken one and more tubes to replace the punctured ones (thank you Faisal and dad) to be picked up, gifts like books collected, our Gandhi statues from the Journalists College or the shawls from Girish ji to be left behind (accompanied by a big sigh of sorrow) and our video and photo footage to be backed and as many people from the Caring Friends as possible to be met. We came all the way back from Aurangabad, so what’s a few hours more anyhow? Everyone we spoke to at TISS was very happy to support us when crossing ‘their’ territory and that will make our life on the road much, much easier.

Weather: perfect

Cycled: none

Didn't cycle: 375 km back to Aurangabad and our parked cycles on a sleeper bus. Much better than the sitting compartment of the train on the way here!!!

Ate & drank:
7:30 am: cookies, bananas (W) at Sarvi’s place, H2O
9:30 am: idlies with chutney and H2O
inbetween: chai, H2O, cookies, chai, cookies, H2O (cookie monsters????)
7:30-9:30 pm: dhal tadka and rice (W), roti, chanha masala and egg burghi (K)
on the bus: cookies, didn’t dare to drink too much water as the bus drivers don’t really appreciate if you make them stop because you have to pee...

Highlight of the day: The product manager of Google Apps India getting enthused about our mission and promising us to support whichever way he can, if necessary even by donating his very personal Android mobile with all Google apps pre-installed.

Health Check: all well

Stayed at: Sleeper berth in the AC Volvo bus, rather ok and both managed to sleep. Paid some 1.300 rs for both of us as we booked last minute.

Today’s photos

Day 13, Fri Feb 11: Tata Institute of Social Science

Today's route: Enjoying a couple of days back in the big town. Came for the annual meeting of the Caring Friends at Tata Institute, which also hosted a major social entrepreneurship conference at the same time. We were able to meet the founders and representatives of some of the finest NGO’s and social entrepreneurs and were very moved by their stories. One of them works as a Hindu and Non-Kashmiri in Kashmir, has been kidnapped some 19 times, threatened with his life so often he stopped counting and has never - not even once - thought of leaving. In the meantime, the local youth have joined forces and together, they help many children to get their lives back on track.

Weather: fine, not too hot even for you know who...

Cycled: none

Didn't cycle: Just the usual - cabs in South Mumbai and auto riks in the northern suburbs. No roaming around other than inner-city but that’s more than enough. Every journey here is quickly tallying up to a bigger-than-fair share of time, every km can take up to 15 min. Just to get us to TATA Institute of Social Science (TISS) it took us over an hour.

Ate & drank:
8am: cookies and H2O in the cab
9 am: quick breakfast at TISS, don’t even remember what it was. There was pow bahji and omelette, wasn’t there?? Well, there was definitely chai, so much is safe to claim.
11:30 am: tea/coffee break with cookies
2:30 pm: beautiful buffet for the conference participants with dhal, mixed vegies, raita, some sweet dishes, water in small plastic cups
inbetween: cookies, chai, chai, H2O
8 pm: clams and rice (Wiebke), chicken kebab and rice (Kalyan), dhal, H2O

Highlight of the day: bumped into Prof. Madukhar Shukla from XLRI Jamshedpur who was also at TISS for the Social Entrepreneurship Conference and who recognised even Wiebke at first ‘real’ sight despite just having been in touch via Facebook. Remarkable and that’s definitely not the only remarkable thing about him. Check him out at Facebook!!!

Health Check: perfect

Stayed at: Yeah. Sarvi’s place including TV.

Today’s photos

Day 12. Thurs, Feb 10: Mumbai, we're back again

Today's route: Aurangabad - Mumbai. We got invited by Dr. Girish to attend the annual conference of the support structure they put together for some of the best Indian NGO’s. Caring Friends is their name, caring for one another their program.

Weather: too hot for someone on the team :)

Cycled: Not cycling back to Mumbai, no worries! We might be crazy but we ain’t that mad.

Didn't cycle: A morning excursion to Saleem’s stretch of land just outside of Aurgangabad, which he really wanted to show us. It’s a beautiful terrain with lots of trees, a couple of waterholes where the deer and  other animals of the area quench their thirst and a vision that ses a horse stable on top of its peak. After Saleem headed back to his office, we shared the remaining hours with our new team member Vishakha who showed us the main sights of Aurangabad all the while stopping here and there to hand out more of our Marathi press release. By the time we reached our train and were seen off by Pinku, Ravi and Vishakha, two articles in local newspapers were printed and another few in the making. We had lunch bags in our hands and it was only when the train finally arrived with 45 min delay at 3.15pm that we realised we’d have to make the entire journey sitting. No sleeper class on this one, no wonder why the tickets where so cheap. After some unexpected pleasure of playing with the baby of the Muslim lady next to us we arrived tired but well at 10pm in Mumbai Daddar. Only a short cab ride and we were “back home” in Mahalakshmi quarters where our friend Sarvi waited for us.

Ate & drank:
Left for Saleem’s property without breakfast. Only had 3 cookies and some H2O before a late breakfast at
1pm: shared egg burghi, puri bahji and omelette with Vishakha
on the train: heaps of bananas, some Kashmiri type of sandwiches, some really yummy idli from a station on the way, topped by icecream (which K. gave a miss) and of course, plenty of H2O
11pm: dhal, mixed veg and rice from our parceled lunch plus a cool beer and some series on Star World TV before dozing off

Highlight of the day: seeing some of the 52 gates of Aurangabad town, old palaces and mosques with a way of bringing water from the hills to them that remains a secret until today. Also amongst the sights: something like a miniature of the Taj Mahal, which got designed as the resting place for some queen (sorry guys, don’t remember more details and as I’m writing this I’m without internet access to research more thoroughly).

Health Check: K. with fever on and off, W. fine.

Stayed at: our pal’s Sarvi in Mumbai Mahalakshmi - lots of laughter included...

Today's photos

Day 11. Wed, Feb 9: Visit at Mahatma Ghandi Mission

Today's route: staying in Aurangabad

Weather: hot

Cycled: 0km

Didn't cycle: Switch between autos and private cars to do our shopping (finally find the right USB hub to work on the Macbook Air we carry), get Wiebke’s gear shifts fixed at a cycling workshop and visit the Arshak Kranti Institute to hear about their theory of economic change.

Ate & drank:
10.30am: egg burghi (W), poha and fried veg cakes (K), coffee, chai, H2O
2:30pm: curd rice and chaaz (butter milk) (W), ????? (K)
9pm: wonderful dinner with a whole bunch from Journalism College and their friends at a nice terrace restaurant in town. Snacked on different entries, main courses, enjoyed a beer (or two?)

Highlight of the day: the enthusiastic students who fired one great question after another at us when we visited them in their college. They showed us their great facilities all equipped with their own media studio, library and much more. Part of one of the best universities of this country, we also get to learn about the history of this place.

Health Check: Wiebke weak-ish with tummy troubles returning and getting some extra rest at the hotel, Kalyan so-so.

Stayed at: Sahara Hotel. Still 900rs/night for the AC room.

Today's photos

Day 10. Tue, Feb 8: Welcome by journalist college

Today's route: Ahmednagar-Aurangabad.

Weather: Sunny, no wind.

Cycled: Left 11am from the city office of Snehalaya, accompanied to the highway by 2 of Girish’s staff. After some 20km of a very nice, flat and relatively new road we stop for lunch at a dhaba and quickly make friends with its owner and his family. As always, the questions are what, why, where to/from, followed by ‘wows’ and being asked for pictures. The boss - slightly drunk - is a very friendly fellow who makes Wiebke the owner of the dhaba for the time of our stay. We’re presented with ripe tamarind right from the garden tree whilst waiting for our orders to be prepared. Delicious stuff, these things.

Didn't cycle: The family of the dhaba negotiated with a lorry driver they know to take us the rest of the way for 100 rs.  Kalyan feels feverish and it’s the first time, he doesn’t feel up to riding the rest of the day. After all, we still have some 91km ahead of us and it would be nice if we arrived in Aurangabad as accommodation between the cities is said to be scarce. The lorry driver was very nice and despite being in a hurry, he stopped for one of our favourites - fresh sugar cane juice - as soon as we asked.
And back on the cycle again: The driver lets us out some 10km outside of Aurangabad. We call the people from the Journalist College we met at Snehalaya as promised and let them know we arrive soon. A meeting place at a busy crossroad is being fixed and shortly after our arrival Jaypal who we met previously and 2 other “youngsters” picked us up on one (1!!) motor bike to guide us the remaining 5km or so to a hotel outside their campus through Aurangabad’s crazy traffic. One of them has to jump of the bike at every major intersection where police monitor the traffic and are just too ready to hand out hefty fines for any wrong doing. Sure enough, they still get caught at one. When the officers see us on our bikes, with all the equipment and the journalists holding up their camera, we manage to charm our way out without much problems. Lucky again...

Ate & drank:
8:30am: A last meal at Snehalaya’s kitchen, a last meal prepared by women with HIV/Aids. Upma, chai and water, followed by Amino’s for the cycling and H2O.
inbetween: H2O mixed with the oral hydration solution kindly provided by Snehalaya’s hospital as we had run out of our favorite lemon-flavored Enersol.
1pm: dhal mogulai (dhal mixed with eggs, some sort of Mogul recipe), Alu mutter (potato something, roti, lots of H2O
7pm: chicken biryahni, lassi, thumbs up, H2O

Highlight of the day: Handover as in being accompanied by the Snehalaya team out of Ahmednagar and being received into Aurangabad by the journalist students. They checked us into a nice hotel, had all tips on where, what, how and organised everything we just mentioned for us.


Health Check: Kalyan feverish. Wiebke fine.

Stayed at: Sahara hotel kindly letting us stay in an AC room at the Non-AC rate of 900rs/night. Nice room, hot running water (if you let it run just for long enough), TV and clean sheets & towels.

Photos of today

Day 9. Mon, Feb 7: Our first press conference

Today's route: Ahmednagar and surroundings

Weather: at least 34 degrees for sure

Cycled: 0km

Didn't cycle: a few km in Snehalaya cars within A.

Ate & drank:
9.30am: Poha (crushed rice with vegies and lots of chili), chai, chai and more chai, H2O
2pm: thali with roti and rice on the shady terrace outside Snehalay’s kitchen
11.30pm: lavish non-veg dinner with prawns, chicken and more at a dhaba (roadside restaurant) just outside of A. and in the company of Girish ji, his wife and children and the grandson of Baba Amte who’s amazing work we’ll be able to see for ourselves later during this journey.

Highlight of the day: The team of Snehalaya magicians headed by Dr. Girish ji have done it again. We only met them on Saturday night and by Monday they had organised a press conference with newspapers and TV, a 1000 business cards (or visiting cards as they’re called here) and a press release in Marathi. The day ended with what was supposed to be the NTV TV crew filming us on the bikes. Something had probably fallen onto Wiebke’s bike, so we couldn’t ride. So, the TV crew spent over an hour with Kalyan repairing the bike and Wiebke filming them for a change. Only possible in India, right?? Or would you figure a German camera man getting dirty instead of complaining how the shoot can’t take place and they’re wasting their time??

Health Check: all fine

Stayed at: another night at the hospitality of Snehalaya

Link to today's photos

Day 8: Sunday, Feb 6

Today's route:

Weather:

Cycled:

Didn't cycle:

Ate & drank:

Highlight of the day:

Health Check:

Stayed at:

Day 8. Sun, Feb 6: Snehalaya’s magic

Today's route: staying put in Ahmednagar, Maharasthra visiting the various projects of www.snehalaya.org


Weather: hot


Cycled: 0km


Didn't cycle: got driven around to and fro’ by Snehalaya cars along with Penny from an English university who came to A. to organise volunteers from her campus to work with Snehalaya for some 8-10 weeks from December. Incidentally, it turns out that this Scottish lady and Wiebke lived and worked in the same cities in Australia, in the same years. They even frequented the same places and never met. Or maybe, they did?? And now in A., they are asked by Snehalaya staff if they’re sisters. Nice one...


Ate & drank:
11.30am: fried veg noodles, Pow bajji, H2O, chai
2pm: thali with roti, veg rice, dhal and cauliflower
inbetween: power bar (W)
9pm: roti, veg rice, water

Highlight of the day: the children and women at Snehalaya’s various hostels and care centers most of them rescued out of prostitution, many of them diagnosed with HIV/Aids but certainly each and every one of them given dignity and the chance to live a life included in society


Health Check: all fine


Stayed at: Snehalaya’s premises, no cost.

Link to today's photos

Day 7: Saturday, Feb 5

Today's route: Kind of ‘slept in’ without setting the alarm. Had planned on visiting the village, conducting as many interviews and then staying another night. Our room was needed, however. So we had breakfast at the clerk’s home, stayed for a couple of hours and did a photo and video shoot with his         (very) extended family in their house, outside the house and later - at lunch at their farm - in the fields. Between breakfast and lunch we interviewed Povat Rao Power, who took his inspiration to develop         Hivare Bazar into a modell village from Anna Hazare just 36 km away.

At 4.30 pm we finally rode out of Hivare Bazar, with the number of Dr. Girish in our bags, the founder of Ahmednagar based NGO Snehalaya. Just after a beautiful sunset at the top of a bridge around 7 pm, we arrived at Ahmednagar, a city with some 400,000 inhabitants. Girish, a man ‘hard to catch” according to his team, came to pick us up himself. And not only that, he came on a cycle to honor our modus of traveling.

Weather: Sunny 34 degrees, little wind.

Cycled: 22 km on smaller roads out of the village, then a small detour due to some wrong turn and the last few km on a nice state highway. Stopped for an ice cold Pepsi cola quite early, then again to take pictures of the sunset. Just too tempting...

Didn't cycle: cycled all the way... the entire 22 km. including the bit when we took a wrong turn and a lorry driver voluntarily offered us a ride.


Ate & drank:
9 am: breakfast at Gaikwad’s consisting of roti, loads of chai and water. Fun and laughter included as women, men and children browsed in and out to “see” us and to ask if their pictures could be taken    .
2pm: 2 kinds of roti from different flours, yummy curry and water right on the fields owned by the Sarpanch (village head). Gaikwad’s family works on these fields and the yield coming from it is shared 50/50.
on the bike: 2l of water (no enersol left), Pepsi coke, chocolate wafer, bananas
11.30pm at Snehalaya’s premises: roti, rice, vegies, water

Highlight of the day: Girish picking us up on the bike and making us feel super special.

Health Check: Happy, chappy. Slept like logs after Kalyan finally made it to bed around midnight and Wiebke after a nightly internet session until 2.30 am.


Stayed at: The premises of Snehalaya's center for women and children rescued out of prostitution and often HIV-positive. Cost: none.

Day 6: Friday, Feb 4

Today's route: Ralegan Siddhi-Hivrebazar. Got up at 6.30am, packed and were outside
ready to cycle at 7.40am but got into conversations with people crowding around us as we packed. The usual started: photo with you, please. What's your country? Where you go? Etc, etc. Exchange of phone numbers for when we pass through their homes, a last good bye and off we are at 8.20am. We reached Hivrebazar, located only 34km from Ralegan Siddhi, at 4pm. There was another one of those stretches of hills but not quite as steep as previous ones.

Weather: Sunny with close to 40 degrees, at times nearly no wind at all. What a joy!!

Cycled: 34km on SH50, then on a smaller road and the last few km were just a         patchy gravel road covered with some tar or not. After around 20km we had the first flat tyre, a big thorn of one of the typical trees around here had gone right through the tyre and tube. It got Kalyan's bike, whic Wiebke was riding today. We had swapped bikes as the gears on Wiebke's bike kept playing up and the chain came off a few times as well. So Kalyan kind of test rode it meanwhile Wiebke punctured his tyre and managed to have the chain come off this one as well. At least that resulted in Wiebke learning how to put it back on herself.

So, Kalyan replaced the punctured tube in some 45min and after another 1km it was flat again. Luckily, we were just invited into a public school we passed. The kids got all excited about our bikes and the teachers followed suit. We spent some good 3 hours there with them showing us each of their 5 classrooms for their 169 students (of which 73 are girls). The teachers asked the kids to perform all sorts of songs and dances for us    and we had so much fun recording them all along. Then they made us eat & drink so much, even Kalyan gave up before finishing it all off!! After that Kalyan repaired the old tube, took out the new one which now was gone as well but beyond repair and off we went onto our last 10km stretch for the day.

Didn't cycle: None. Cycled all the way, no alternative transport today.


Ate & drank:
7:45am: 300ml Aminos and 1x meal replacement each, water
On the bike: nuts, 2l of water with enersol, 1x power bar each, ripe tamarind (Wiebke), sth similar to pies that the teachers had given us to         take along incl it's branches
12.30pm: roti, rice, curry, sambar, cookies, chai, water
4.45pm: nuts (Wiebke) to not fall off the bike, or chair, after arriving at Hivare Bazar
6:00pm: power bars as we were starving as we waited to hear back where we could stay and black tea with tons of sugar - to cope for the lack of milk, perhaps??
8:00pm: 2 kinds of roti, mixed veg, sambar prepared by the wife of the caretaker of the Panchayats office where we rested
9:00pm: chai (this time with milk) & water at Gaikwad’s, the caretaker’s home where family and neighbors encircled us within minutes of arrival :)

Highlight of the day: The warm welcome at the government school by kids and teachers alike. There was no better way to get over the punctures :) Or the tea at         Gaikwad’s house?? Both these bunches of people were making us feel so quickly as if we were dear friends, inviting us to their homes and sharing dinner, breakfast and lunch - the later at the field they farmed - with us.

Health Check: all well


Stayed at: Panchayat’s Office. Nice room, 1 bed, 1 sofa, bathroom incl. but with some other guests as well, which scared the hell out of Wiebke, namely mice (or rats?) and spiders of some unknown sort.  Cost: none. Alternative transport: none, yeah!!

Day 5: Thursday, Feb 3

Today's route: Zero, yeah!!! Staying put at Ralegan Siddhi to check out this model village. Interviews, photo and video shoots, learning from the masters... and a good rest for Wiebke...

Weather: Sunny with some 34 degrees, light wind.

Cycled: 3-5km through the village sites. Kalyan some more, Mr I-don't-get-tired

Didn't cycle: no alternative transport for today


Ate & drank:
8:30am: chai (W), mixed rice
2:15pm: dhal tadka, mix vegies, roti, water
9:00pm: dhal, veg curry, rice, roti, water

Highlight of the day: Kalyan: stealing yet another serving of mango pickle from the kitchen. Wiebke: chopping onions at the fields with a Ralegan village woman

Health Check: Wiebke getting over her heat stroke. Kalyan all excited.


Stayed at: Another night at the Principals House. Cost: all courtesy of the training center.

And the winner of the Ortlieb cycling bags is…

Susanna Krueger from good root in Berlin.  Congratulations, Susanna!!! You have won the waterproof cycling bags of the Ortlieb Greenpeace series valued at 99 Euro. And we are sure, you will love them as much as we love ours.

Thank you everyone for participating in this fundraising event. A total of 2,048 km have been purchased so far and we are currently seeking a sponsor for the next prize. So, keep checking in every now and then or better even, subscribe to our posts via RSS, email, Facebook or Twitter.

With much love from day 8 of our cycling journey in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
Kalyan + Wiebke

Day 4: Wednesday, Feb 2

Today's route: 7:45am from Takli without water & just a meal replacement each in our tummies. Arrived at 1pm at Ralegan Siddhi, the first of the model villages we were keen to visit and learn as much as possible from.

Weather: Sunny, light wind coming from the front. Surely must have been around 40    degrees, at least around noon.

Cycled: Hills, hills, hills. Were they ever going to end?? Yes, of course but not soon enough. We only had 30km ahead of us but they seemed the longest ever. After a lenghty break, a good cry and wise words from Mr. K-ji just a few kilometres down, uhm, up the road even Wiebke found the energy to continue. The sun was high up again and Wiebke still in short sleeves. We swapped her into a long-sleeve Adidas shirt of Kalyan and eventually got to the fun bit: a stretch of some km just downhill, some of it really         steep with breathtaking views. Before we knew it we arrived at Ralegon Siddhi, the model village developed by Anan Hazare and visited by thousands of Indians (and some foreigners) to learn from for their regions.

Didn't cycle: Zero, zilch, nada, nothing. Cycled all the way, yeah!!


Ate & drank:
7:30am: 1x meal replacement with H2O each
On the bike: nuts, power bars and after a couple of hours without water, our beloved Enersol was back in the hydration pack
3:30pm: rice, roti, dhal and veg curry, plenty of H2O
8:45pm: rice, roti, dhal and veg curry, plenty of H2O

Highlight of the day: 1,5 hrs. interview with the guru himself: Anna Hazare, admired and loved by most Indians, hated by a few, e.g. for introducing the RTO (Right to   Information) act in India. Whilst he usually remains silent even during the visits of the thousands of people coming here, he not only gave us the honor of offering an interview but he spoke for 1,5hrs and we were even allowed to film and photograph him. See also separate blog post on this to come.

Health Check: Wiebke with serious heat stroke, dizzy and tired. Kalyan full of energy over the prospect to Anna Ji himself in person.


Stayed at: Principals House with 3 bedrooms just for us at the Training Center for         government officials & NGO’s being trained in Watershed Development. Cost: none.

The Mumbai Post

As we rode out of Mumbai, we thought of all the people we met there, and here's an effort to get you to know these people (some we know from many years), and what we take away from them besides their love and good wishes.

People at the Bombay Hub (Pooja and Rohini, Ben, Richard, Guncha): You guys have created an amazing space there and it’s incredibly vibrant and full of energy. I am told, it’s a legend as to how people somehow end up meeting ‘compellingly relevant’ people at the hub. I have seen it myself – and it’s in spaces like these and amongst people like you that we find the inspiration to believe that it’s simply too late to be pessimist! A happy planet is indeed in sight :)

Vipin - It was wonderful catching up with you at Richard's place! And I look forward to our conversations when we ride together in the North East!

Aaron - you're one amazing guy and I (Wiebke) will forever be grateful for the way you received me into your home and knew just the perfect things to say and to do. I thought we were strangers, I left feeling none of that and in the process it turned out, some of the most amazing people I met are mutual friends. I am cherishing the organic soap every single day and will come back for more of the soap, the hugs and the calming effect you had on me. Love you, man!!!

Vaibhav Bhandari and Neville Wadia - Kudos to both of you, for having done and for continuing to do what you believe in. It was wonderful sharing the space with you at Bombay Hub, and listening to your cycling stories. Way to go guys, and we’ll meet again!

Pankaj Trivedi – The man who taught us the basics of film making, and gave me several immensely useful perspectives on life, from his own journeys across the world in search of beautiful stories. Thanks for being there, Pankaj Bhai!

Prakriti Kamalakara – Amongst many things I (Kalyan) have to thank you for, there’s one thing particularly that I wish to talk about. Thanks for thinking along and helping us with the draft of the questionnaire that will go with us on this journey, and of course the internet stick :). If there’s anything else I have forgotten, just know that I love you!

Brijesh Majali and Varun Bhardwaj – Guys, thanks for keeping the faith and investing in the rural enterprise that promises clean drinking water to about 500 families in the three village cluster of Tekulodu. And Brijesh, thanks for the line - “Responsibility” is the single biggest take-away from the Mahabharata.

Sarvmeet Singh Oberoi – I am always inspired by the ease with which you smile and make others happy. It’s a seriously important omen that the pigeon reappeared, the day after Gokul! You are the chosen one , but seriously man, you are a bundle of joy... isn’t that how they describe a chubby (read: healthy) Labrador? Keep flowing  my friend! Thank you for being there and for supporting our project in so many ways – including, connecting us to some amazing people.

AP Parigi: It’s always an experience meeting you Mr Parigi! How you pack those nuggets of wisdom in the few minutes one gets with you. Thanks for endorsing our project and for promising to support. Means a lot to us!!

Indira Rangarajan: Meeting you was such a beautiful experience Indira. Thank you for all the support promised on behalf of Radio Mirchi! Please take care of yourself and I look forward to meeting you again!

Michael Norton – When we discussed what I felt was the biggest challenge – that of finding a way to disseminate the information we collect during our ride, to the world at large – you casually suggested “You should do something like the Farmville”. Our direction for the next 7 months on the road and beyond will be driven by an idea broadly inspired by your ‘casual’ suggestion!  Thank you!

Mayank Sekhsaria – It was super meeting you Mayank! We will spread the word about the great work you guys at GreenLightPlanet are doing, in all the villages we pass through. Keep spreading the light!!

Akshay Tandon, Danesh Narang, Arjun Rastogi, Faiz Rizmi and Parvez Kaleem – I am simply amazed at how similar our thought processes have been, and how we are attempting to serve the same goal with mostly similar means. Makes great case for collaborations! Thank you so much guys for offering to manage our data logistics. We are super excited about the possibilities of working together during and post the ride! bethekey.in and you guys rock! Faiz and Parvez, thank you for your patience during the video shoot!

Faisal Thakur and Zubair Lodi – Inspired by the American Choppers, Faisal and Zubair started the custom bicycle building workshop. When we met them, to get our front racks built, the way they went about it reminded me of the following line from the movie, TheLastSamurai: “They are intriguing people. From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.” It was lovely meeting Faisal’s dad, he promised
us a special sea food dinner the next time we are in Mumbai. We had such a lovely time interacting with all of you, sipping on the endless supply of masala chai from next door, and occasionally munching on the amazing bajjis. People who love bikes – if you are in Mumbai, get in touch with these guys, if you are elsewhere in India, get connected to them on Facebook or email them. Trust us, they are awesome and will have a lot to share with you!

And the UP Taxi wallahs: Everyone of them has given his number to us, asking us to call them when we get to UP, promising that they will help us arrange for our stay there. Thank you! More important than that, they have been extremely patient with our bikes denting the tops of their cabs. Thank you guys! You are probably amongst the first set of people, strangers to Mumbai meet, and you have just such a lovely way of telling them how good the city can be!

Day 1: Sunday, January 30

Today's route: Excited mood, happy to finally take off at 1.30pm from Mumbai Mahalakshmi. Finished at 6pm in goal destination Murbad, Maharashtra.

Weather: sunny with approx. 35 degrees

Cycled: 30km on a very busy highway with lorries passing very close to us and new cars nearly pushing us off the road during their highly risky overtaking manouvres.

Didn't cycle: for the 40km from Mumbai-Mahalakshmi to the NH222 we took a cab for our cycles and Kalyan's friend Sarvi saw us out of this "Maximum City". 

We ate & drank:
8:30am: 1/2x meal replacement (choccie flavor) ‘at home’ at Sarvi’s apartment
10:30am: 2 eggs on breadroll called Pav, pronounced Pow, water, milk for Mr. Kji at Sarvi’s apartment
3:00pm: Veg. fried rice (W), Dahl Fry, Paneer Burghi (K), Masala buttermilk, 2l water at a roadside Dhaba
On the bike: mixed nuts, 1l water with Enersol (hydration powder mixed         with water)
7:00pm: Egg Hakka Noodles (W), dhal, egg burghi (Indian version of scrambled eggs, usually with a lot of chillies), rice (K), masala buttermilk & water, B12 vitamins at the hotel

Highlight of the day: Finally getting started on the journey

Body check: sleepy (K), ok (W)


Stayed at: Sarika Family Hotel just outside Murbad. Clean, friendly staff, hot water brought to the room, TV, nice restaurant just downstairs. Cost 800 rs.