More than just tequila

There comes a point in a man's life when he decides he has to do something crazy. Like when Kumar Gaurav decided to get into acting, Altaf Raja became a singer or when Jayalalitha decided to become a politician. Crazy has its boundaries and when crossed it could easily turn into something embarrassingly stupid, like above. The crazy I'm referring to is the crazy others classify it as, but for the person concerned it is a life changing aspiration he has been nurturing for a long time but has not been able to take action about it. Either because he hasn't got the opportunity to or it is not "normal" in the great Indian middle class culture where being "normal" is the in-thing. (Normal and notions of normality would require another article!!). I plan to do something which is not only close to my heart but which is also a dream I am pursuing for more reasons than one. It's a dream an unassuming 12 year old had noted in his 'list of things to do before I grow old'.
I've decided to cycle 600 kms across the breadth of Mexico, from the East coast to the West to raise money for Asthma patients. End to end I will be cycling 13 consecutive days with about 55 kms a day on average with 2 days for flying in and out of the country and of course beach cocktails at the sunset of the ride. Although the distance is minuscule; as compared to the distance covered by cyclists in the Tour de France, the endurance and strength required for this challenge is considerable. The most I have cycled is the 5 kms to and fro from school and I am nowhere even remotely close to being a seasoned cyclist. So for me it is a challenge indeed and the victory I'm sure will be as sweet.
Strangely however it's not the distance for which I am doing the expedition. It is something deeper, spiritual, and more meaningful. At school and through college I was a long distance runner. It happened by chance my discovery of this talent which I am generally quite modest about. What I loved was not just running but running into the wild unexplored hills behind our school. I would go for long runs just to escape from all the pressures my young brittle mind had to cope with. Pressures like Principal Fernandes, chemistry lessons and Mrs Rao's homework. It was exhilarating stuff and I would run into the hills every lunch break with friends to catch tadpoles in the monsoons and dirty dark insects in the summer. Nature in a way does bring me in tune with myself and has opened me to the beautiful enormity in which I live in. As a schoolboy and as an adult, I have always marvelled at nature's precise exact mechanisms so that a human being, the tadpoles, and those dirty dark insects, have all lived in co existence for so many thousands of years. Nature has given us the chance to survive well, with the exact humidity and air density, the perfect atmospheric pressure and gravitational force, the purest soil and the brightest sun and even the right size of pebbles (for all those noisy dogs)! And we call ourselves intelligent!
Anyways later when I started training I realised I had more energy than I could admit and this developed into what my coach called talent and hence put me through a terrible grind which he called practice. I stopped training as the years went by but the curiosity of the unexplored remained. This translated into an interest in trekking and travelling. As part of the IMDR exchange programme I went to France, then worked in Germany for 3 months and finally landed up in the UK where I studied and am currently working. In all these travels I have learnt much more than in any book or from any teacher. Conversations with strangers, including the French, are far more enlightening than History or Geography lessons at school or National Geographic editions. Not only do you open yourself to a global business perspective the likes of which you will never learn from Porter or case studies but also practices, cultures, and styles of people from all over the world many of which you'll never have heard of. And if at all most Indian businesses are lacking in anything today, it is that vision and perspective of a global scenario and the opportunities that go with them. In my small and undistinguished career, my conversations with business people about India, has always led to, apart from some ovations, the lack of global vision Indian business entities have.
Coming back to the point, Mexico has a mystique, which has attracted me in more ways than one. This was the perfect opportunity and coupled with the magnitude of the challenge and the pleasures of cycling, had me hooked immediately.
There was another thing however that brought me closer to this challenge than anything else. Now not only does there come a point in man's life when he wants to do something crazy but when he also feels he has done nothing much useful in this world other than help a few pretty women pick their purses up, and wants a chance to do something more worthwhile. Why Asthma? For long now a number of today's 'front page' concerns like Aids and Africa have been given continual support and attention what with large scale music festivals and high profile meetings in Scotland. I wanted to do something, which was important but not as recognised, and give attention to so that I in my own small way can give some prominence to it. Asthma as a disease is one of the most widespread, preventable diseases today and although not as much of a crisis as AIDS or hepatitis, asthma is a matter of serious concern. There are almost 300 million suffering from asthma today globally with more than 3000 deaths in UK alone. In fact 1 person dies every 7 hours, so it is more serious than you imagine. Why I feel a special concern is these figures quoted above are those for a disease, which is preventable. (For more information and links to asthma you could visit the organisation i am helping at http://www.asthma.org.uk/index.php).
All in all I am sure this will take more sacrifices than one but in the end if I can contribute a little more to society than just my presence, I will surely live as a more contented man. I will definitely not stop here but as for now I have to train and am off for my daily cycling routine. I'll catch you on the west coast of Mexico with a dark tan and a tequila sunrise. Until then, explore.

To contribute to my quest and for Asthma Patients you could log on to http://www.justgiving.com/itsachallenge and sponsor me online.