I bought my cycle from Bums on the Saddle, and if you’re considering cycling, I definitely recommend that you talk to them, they’re some of the most knowledgeable guys about cycling!

Many of my observations about cycling still hold true, but thanks to efforts such as Go Green, GoCycle and Namma Cycle, things are getting better.

For any errand or meeting people that is in the vicinity of my home, say 4-5 km, I tend to take the cycle, and this has made life much easier in the age of the vanishing parking spots, increasing petrol prices, decreasing health and increasing health costs.

On the other side of cycling, I already did a 55 km cycling ride to Sarjapur town and back with a couple of best friends. Never thought that a sport could bring us closer together.

Bottom line : Getting out of the four walls and away from the three screens is a good thing. Cycling is one of the best ways to explore the place around you. Bangalore has changed so much and I have realized that I have started to notice more things when I’m cycling, because you’re not zooming fast and because a bit of physical effort will cool down your hyperactive email/sms-hungry senses to be peaceful enough to listen and observe.

I did the 10 km running + 20 km cycling thing.

I was the last-but-one guy to finish and I did take twice the amount of time as the first guy to finish.

But I didn’t care about that. I expected to finish in 3 hours and I completed before that. And I finished strongly, not crawling to the end as I used to. I enjoyed the run, I enjoyed the cycling and I was satisfied.

Photos by Vikram:

It reminded me of the book “What I talk about when I talk about running” by Haruki Murakami that I read recently (borrowed from Varun).

I really liked the book, because Murakami puts into words the things I have felt as a runner but is almost impossible to truly explain it to somebody else.

Just to put things into perspective – Murakami started running in 1982 at the age of 30, running everyday since then for nearly 23 years. He has run at least one marathon every year, i.e., 23 marathons till date [when the book was published], and many more long-distance runs.

Some of my favorite passages from the book are below.

About the rhythm:

As long as I can run a certain distance, that’s all I care about. Sometimes I run fast when I feel like it, but if I increase the pace I shorten the amount of time I run, the point being to let the exhilaration I feel at the end of each run carry over to the next day. This is the same sort of tack I find necessary when writing a novel. I stop every day right at the ponit where I feel I can write more. Do that, and the next day’s work goes surprisingly smoothly. I think Ernest Hemingway did something like that. To keep on going, you have to keep up the rhythm. This is the important thing for long-term projects. Once you set the pace, the rest will follow. The problem is getting the flywheel to spin at a set speed – and to get to that point takes as much concentration and effort as you can manage.

About why we run:

Most ordinary runners are motivated by an individual goal, more than anything: namely, a time they want to beat. As long as he can beat that time, a runner will feel he’s accomplished what he set out to do, and if he can’t, then he’ll feel he hasn’t. Even if he doesn’t break the time he’d hoped for, as long as he has the sense of satisfaction at having done his very best – and, possibly, having made some significant discovery about himself in the process – then that in itself is an accomplishment, a positive feeling he can carry over to the next race.

… Marathon runners will understand what I mean. We don’t really care whether we beat any other particular runner. World-class runners, of course, want to outdo their closest rivals, but for your average, everyday runner, individual rivalry isn’t a major issue. I’m sure there are garden-variety runners whose desire to beat a particular rival spurs them on to train harder. But what happens if their rival, for whatever reason, drops out of the competition? Their motivation for running would disappear or at least diminish, and it’d be hard for them to remain runners for long.

For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary – or perhaps more like mediocre – level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.

About running as an outlet:

When I’m criticized unjustly (from my viewpoint, at least), or when someone I’m sure will understand me doesn’t, I go running for a little longer than usual. By running longer it’s like I can physically exhaust that portion of my discontent. It also makes me realize again how weak I am, how limited by abilities are. I become aware, physically, of these low points. And one of the results of running a little farther than usual is that I become that much stronger. If I’m angry, I direct that anger towards myself. If I have a frustrating experience, I used that to improve myself. That’s the way I’ve always lived. I quietly absorb the things I’m able to, releasing them later, and in as changed a form as possible, as part of the story line in a novel.

What do we think about when we run:

… The hour or so I spend running, maintaining my own silent, private time, is important to help me keep my mental well-being. When I’m running I don’t have to talk to anybody and don’t have to listen to anybody. All I need to do is gaze at the scenery passing by. This is a part of my day I can’t do without.

I’m often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I’m running? I don’t have a clue.

On cold days I guess I think a little about how cold it is. And about the heat on hot days. When I’m sad I think a little about sadness. When I’m happy I think a little about happiness. As I mentioned before, random memories come to me too. And occasionally, hardly ever, really, I get an idea to use in a novel. But really as I run, I don’t think much of anything worth mentioning.

I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into this void. People’s minds can’t be a complete blank. Human beings’ emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum. What I mean is, the kinds of thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as I run remain subordinate to that void. Lacking content, they are just random thoughts that gather around that central void.

The thoughts that occur to me while I’m running are like clouds in the sky. Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky as always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky. They sky both exists and doesn’t exist. It has substance and at the same time doesn’t. And we merely accept that vast expanse and drink it in.

About the last 20%:

… Rereading the article I wrote at the time of this run in Greece, I’ve discovered that after twenty-some years, and as many marathons later, the feelings I have when I run twenty-six miles are the same as back then. Even now, whenever I run a marathon my mind goes through the same exact process. Up to nineteen miles I’m sure I can run a good time, but past twenty-two miles I run out of fuel and start to get upset at everything. And at the end I feel like a car that’s run out of gas. But after I finish and some time has passed, I forget all the pain and misery and am already planning how I can run an even better time in the next race. The funny thing is, no matter how much experience I have under my belt, no matter how old I get, it’s all just a repeat of what came before.

I think certain types of processes don’t allow for any variation. If you have to be part of that process, all you can do is transform – or perhaps distort – yourself through that persistent repetition, and make that process a part of your own personality.

About pain:

… Of course it was painful, and there were times when, emotionally, I just wanted to chuck it all. But pain seems to be a precondition for this kind of sport. If pain weren’t involved, who in the world would ever go to the trouble of taking part in sports like the triathlon or the marathon, which demand such an investment of time and energy? It’s precisely because of the pain, precisely because we want to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive – or at least a partial sense of it. Your quality of experience is based not on standards such as time or ranking, but on finally awakening to an awareness of the fluidity within action itself. If things go well, that is.

About the life lessons from running:

Most of what I know about writing I’ve learned through running every day. These are practical, physical lessons. How much can I push myself? How much rest is appropriate – and how much is too much? How far can I take something and still keep it decent and consistent? When does it become narrow-minded and inflexible? How much should I be aware of the world outside, and how much should I focus on my inner world? To what extent should I be confident in my abilities, and when should I start doubting myself? I know that if I hadn’t become a long-distance runner when I became a novelist, my work would have been vastly different. How different? Hard to say. But something would have definitely been different.

My time, the rank I attain, my outward appearance – all of these are secondary. For a runner like me, what’s really important is reaching the goal I set myself, under my own power. I give it everything I have, endure what needs enduring, and am able, in my own way, to be satisfied. From out of the failures and joys I always try to come away having grasped a concrete lesson. (It’s got to be concrete, no matter how small it is.) And I hope that, over time, as one race follows another, in the end I’ll reach a place I’m content with. Or maybe just catch a glimpse of it. (Yes, that’s a more appropriate way of putting it.)

Murakami explains beautifully on how running and life lessons are so intertwined. I like to think on the same lines too.

For example, if you find the concept of running boring – I can argue the same applies for life – get up, go to work, come back, watch TV for a few hours, repeat 5-6 times, then go out for a movie on the weekend. Most people follow the same routine every week. How boring, isn’t it?

If you find getting started with running difficult – the same applies for getting started with any new activity. Whether it is learning a new subject in school, learning a new technology or process at work, or learning how to become a good husband or wife – getting started is always difficult. But it doesn’t mean you give up, right?

If you think running is too much effort for nothing, the same applies for life – you struggle so hard to survive and keep moving forward in life… for what?

Running requires a certain rhythm to be achieved, only then you can truly enjoy it. Same applies for life. If you’re going fully strong, only then will there be a stride in your walk.

The last 20% is the really difficult part of any long-distance run. Same for any long-term project. Really taking things to completion will give you a high like nothing else will.

Running is about competing with yourself, not with others. Same applies for life. If all you care about is being in the top ten, then you’re not truly enjoying the run itself, your focus is on the finish. But every wise man has already said that it is about the journey, not the destination.

Running is most fun when you cross the finish line strongly and knowing that you could’ve done more. Same applies for life. It is depressing to have given up in life and just waiting for the end, it is much more invigorating and worthwhile to be moving strongly.

“I do not run to add days to my life — I run to add life to my days.”
– Ronald Rook

What was interesting was that nearly 35-40 people had shown up, which was quite unexpected.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes/trailer of the movie:

Rohan Kini and gang are basically running this cycle shop on Saturdays to encourage cycling and to help people buy and maintain their bikes. If you are interested in taking up cycling, you know whom to contact.

I had taken some photos of their “Bike shop on the Roof Top” the last time I visited:

including Rohan Kini unpacking and assembling a 40,000 rupees worth Trek 6000-series cycle!

Thanks to Bums on the Saddle for hosting the screening of the movie.

The idea by Pradeep to have it in the open area outside the cafeteria just after lunch was a brilliant marketing ploy, because people would just walk out of the cafeteria and then they would see all the cycles and then out of curiosity, they would come closer and end up chatting with the cyclists. It was nice to see people hopping on and going for rides just to check out the cycles.

The stars of the show were undoubtedly Vikram and Varun because of their cycling clothes and their advanced bikes which have features such as special shoes that lock into the pedals as well as ability to unhook the wheels for easy transportation.

We had a lot of fun talking to people and answering many questions from curious Barcampers and turned out to be a successful session. Among the curious people, there was also a reporter from the Bangalore Mirror. It turns out that we ended up in an article in their Sunday edition yesterday:

BANGALORE MIRROR, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008, Page 9 : Rising fuel costs, never-ending traffic jams, have made travelling quite a problem in Bangalore. So it came as no surprise that young techies, who cycle to work, created a stir at Barcamp 7 in IIM last Saturday – Renuka Phadnis

The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore was full of activity last weekend. The auditorium was the venue for an interactive session of Headstart, a group that supports entrepreneurship in the technology sector. In the corridors and break-out spaces of the management school, there were parallel discussion sessions going on of Barcamp 7. But the one group that attracted the most attention here was the one that pedals their way to work. Varun, Vikram and Swaroop, the three directors of Ion Lab, cycle to their workplace.

And when they are stuck in any of Bangalore’s infamous traffic jams, the trio simply lift the bikes and walk out of the jam. Vikram used to cycle to his office in Bosch earlier and is still cycling to his new workplace. He cycles up to 50 km a day and has even pedaled to Mysore. The cycle he uses is a ‘Giant’ that has as an accessory shoes that swivel into the pedals of the cycle.

Varun has been cycling in Bangalore for six months after he got hooked on to it in the US.”A lot of people complain about the traffic but I like it,” he says. Once in a jam, he lifted the cycle and a guy in a car told him, “Dude, I am here stuck in this traffic and you are getting away?” He likes the fact that cycling keeps him fit too.

When you ask Swaroop if he does not find cycling a challenge in Bangalore, he says,
-”Cycling isn’t, but driving a car is!” He says it is a lot safer and easier in the city. He has been cycling from Jayanagar to Domlur for the past two years.

… (see the picture for the full article)

Factual errors aside, it is a good article and really encourages non-cyclist skeptics to consider cycling. The other upshot is that the red bicycle you see on the top of the page is mine, so if I ever want to sell it, I just have to say “As featured in the Bangalore Mirror”, heh. And also, this is the first time ‘Ion Lab’ has been mentioned in the press.

Let’s reiterate over the benefits of cycling to work:

1. You do not need a separate time to exercise, because you’re cycling to work. You save one hour everyday.
2. Save on fuel costs, and in turn make the world less reliant on oil fuels.
3. Reach your workplace faster. It’s a myth that cycling is hard and slow and you’ll be late. On an average, I used to motorbike to my (ex-) Yahoo! office in Domlur in 45 minutes, but used to take 30 minutes on cycle.
4. Don’t get stuck in traffic jams. Just lift your cycle and push it along on the sidewalk. (Please do not cycle on the sidewalk, you’ll be annoying pedestrians)
5. A good exercise before you reach your workplace will really pump up the endorphins and put you in a positive mood to get lot of work done throughout the day.
6. And you’ll be a lot healthier!

Convinced yet?

More photos from the event:

The direction from Bangalore towards Thalagattapura was generally downhill and we started to enjoy the cycling when we saw good green fields on either side and surprisingly, lessening traffic. It’s always fun for me to cycle to the pounding music of The Chemical Brothers.

We crossed Thalagattapura and Kaggalipura and stopped at the lake immediately after Kaggalipura.

This was one of the best spots to stop at. A nice small lake. Some people on the other side were washing their cows, we were relaxing and our bikes resting beside us. After a few minutes, we sat under the shady trees and watched the beautiful water. I was amused at the contrasting situation with so many people just zipping by. Everybody’s in a hurry.

After 15 min of rest, we started cycling back to Bangalore. Since we enjoyed the downhill journey already, now it was time to face the uphill journey. It was a killer.

We stopped at Thalagattapura to have good vadas, bad dosas and refreshing maazas.

Eventually, we huffed and puffed and reached back at the Kanakapura junction at noon, making it a total of 4 hours and 30 km of cycling (which inevitably meant good sleep after I reached home).

All in all, a good Sunday. I hope I eventually become fit enough to join the Bangalore Bicycling Club on their adventures.

I always have my ol’ iPod Nano with me while I’m cycling. As usual, if I want to listen to a song again, I click the left button to repeat, if I don’t like a song, I click the right button to skip to the next song. But while cycling, I have to do this without looking at it. It is possible because I can feel the click-wheel and it has a good feedback so that I know when the press has worked.

Compare this with the touch-screen rage – can a person use the iPod Touch/iPhone without looking? From my limited usage of a friend’s iphone, I do not think it is possible.

It makes me wonder which is really the “Touch” – the one I can use without looking (using only sense of touch), or the one that has a touch-screen UI (requires both sense of touch and sense of sight)?

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width="180" height="240" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 023" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 038 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2008/2168691589_b7b3db22d6_m.jpg"
width="180" height="240" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 038" />

It was fun to see people of all ages, from families to large groups of
teenagers to avid cyclists all here for the same reason. It reminded
me of Cubbon Park on a Sunday evening.

The first thing you see on entering the island is shops on either side
to rent out cycles. We went in, took cycles and started pedaling, all
in a matter of a few minutes.

title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 042 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2168695307_cb34698693_m.jpg"
width="180" height="240" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 042" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 043 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2169490846_4efb10fce3_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 043" />

Those giant “Thailand coconuts” were simply fulfilling.

Next, we randomly cycled and ended up at Chek Jawa. We read about the
sea life conservation efforts that go on here. The highlight was the
bungalow, along with the view of the sea.

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width="500" height="375" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 051" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 074 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2169392475_3ebbc75694_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 074" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 056 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/2169369663_be4119cd4d_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 056" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 063 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2341/2170173676_8343f699c0_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 063" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 065 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2073/2169381849_c65a260028_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 065" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 076 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2169395499_737dec2ab5_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 076" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 075 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/2170189022_8c1dc29b8d.jpg"
width="500" height="375" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 075" />
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="500" height="375"/>
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="180" height="240"/>
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="180" height="240"/>
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="500" height="375"/>
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="180" height="240"/>
title="Pulau Ubin"> alt="Pulau Ubin" width="209" height="240"/>

The above few dark sunset photos are courtesy of Abishek Nair (just to
make it clear that the good photos here are not taken by me).

We had become obsessed with the view here and just enjoying the
sunset. Finally, we had to push ourselves to explore some more and
return back the bikes. We even did some bird-watching (seriously).

title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 085 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/2170202300_7d576bff11_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 085" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 088 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2090/2170206710_050ed54628_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 088" />
title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 089 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/2170208556_07f550ea6f_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 089" />

I was sad to take a bumboat to get back to the mainland, but I did get
to see the planes dive to land in the airport which is right next to
the beach.

title="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 102 by Swaroop C H, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2045/2170226234_a23736d3a0_m.jpg"
width="240" height="180" alt="Singapore Day 09 Pulau Ubin 102" />

This incident happened about three weeks ago when the preparations for ion were
in full swing, and Vikram and myself worked all day long to create the posters
for ion as well as the website itself. At one
point, we realized that we were spending most of our time in choosing just
the color and placement of text, and we spent some 20+ min just to decide
the font of the apostrophe in “plug ‘n play”!

At around 6 o’ clock, we were dead tired (at least I was, Vikram said he had
never seen so lazy before) and decided to go get the posters printed but I
didn’t want to, so he suggested instead to go for the new place that he went for
cycling to recently. We went by bike through a zig-zag maze of roads and after
3-4 km, suddenly ended up in a place which seemed to be deserted! It was a new
layout being formed by destroying the hill and the greenery, the signs of
urbanization marked by destruction, the green being replaced by the grey
(concrete).

We climbed up the rocks, just sat down there in the darkness and we had a long
discussion about random things and sometimes deep things. Then, we noticed there
was a huge reddish moon in the sky. Simply beautiful. I was taking photographs.

Then, we discovered the ‘frames’ option in my phone which adds frames around a
person’s head and we have varieties of options to choose. It was fun.

Then, we heard a shout from below “yaaradu, keLagade banni.” It was cops. I had
the light of the mobile phone switched on to take photographs and that light had
attracted them. Uh oh. Vikram said we’re gonna have a little trouble but said
nothing to be afraid about since we haven’t done anything illegal or wrong. The
cop who talking to us was drunk and was smoking a cigarette. The other cop was
on the bike and was silent.

The first cop started abusing us on why we have parked the bike here and settled
on top of a hill. Vikram said sir please look there. The cop thought something
serious and started looking around. Again, same thing. Third time, Vikram said
“chandra noDi saar.” I was thinking “Dude, you’re asking a drunk furious cop to
‘see the moon’!”

The cop got enraged and shouted why we can’t watch it from our homes instead.
Vikram said that we’re tired from working all day and we wanted to get some
fresh air, so we came here. Cop said go to parks. Inspired by Vikram, I said
“saar, all benches are full, so many people, that’s why we came here.” Following
his cue, I was also laughing and smiling, so the cops didn’t think we were
pulling their legs but simply that’s how we were. Vikram said he was ready to go
to the police station because we’ve done nothing wrong. The second cop realized
that we meant no harm and when he asked not to come this side again and stay
here after 6.30 pm, we said we didn’t know it was such an unsafe area, so agreed
to not come this side again except for mornings.

The first cop was not satisfied, and wrote down my bike’s number. He asked
Vikram for his mobile number and home number and he gave completely false
numbers. Later, he said that you should never give your correct details to such
drunk cops, if we were at the police station, then give correct details but not
in other situations, you never know what these drunk cops would do. He went on
to explain that you should never be afraid of cops, that is a wrong notion that
we have. He said the cop was right in what he was doing because if there were
actual thugs in the hill, then such way of addressing will push them to reveal
what they were actually doing or at least shake them. He said that it is wrong
for us to teach kids to stay away from cops because in a real emergency, they’ll
hesitate to approach the cops whereas they shouldn’t.

At any point, we meant no disrespect to the cop, he was just doing his job and
rightly so, it’s just that we had to show that we meant no harm.

Then the first cop asked Vikram to call up his home to talk to his dad, the cop
told his dad that we’re on top of a hill and in an area where there is no
civilization for 2 km around, and his dad said that he’s always on top of hills,
the cop advised not to come by again and said there have been murders in this
area before.

Finally, the cop let us go. We had a long laugh on the way back.

Some observations :

• People who drive in Bangalore have no respect for cyclists.
• The assumption is that the only reason you’re on a cycle is because you can’t afford a bike.
• Traffic is so dangerous for slow-movers like cyclists.
• People find it funny to see a guy riding a cycle listening to his iPod while most people are in formals on bikes.
• When most people my age are planning to buy a car, mom is wondering why I’m buying a cycle.
• It takes 45 min to travel the 8 km on cycle, just 10-15 min more than my bike (mainly because of the traffic)
• After I reach office, I feel energised and have noticed a positive effect in the concentration at work.
• No traffic cop trouble. They never bother cyclists.
• It’s dangerous to be on a cycle at night. It doesn’t have a headlight.
• Never park your cycle just about anywhere, it’ll easily get stolen.
• I save on petrol.
• I feel like I save an hour everyday because I don’t need to exercise separately now.
• Cycling is fun.
• 8 km is turning out to be easy now. Shree, when do we do a long one?

It’s december, and I am bitten by the travel bug again. This time, I intend to cover the areas on the western coast of India on my cycle. The trip would cover 2000+ kms of gruelling terrain and span 21 days !

From Mangalore, I am cycling to Goa. From there, I will go to Hubli and then to Pune over Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal, Gokak and Mahabaleshwar. After Pune, it will be Mumbai. After Mumbai, I will be off to see Shirdi(?), Ajanta, Ellora, and Lonar (yes, you haven’t heard of it yet). From there, I hope to end triumphantly in Ahmedabad.