Tired

I'd exercised quite a bit yesterday. I ate well and slept well and the morning ride was interesting. Since I was already running late and I knew that there was no way I'd reach IMTECH on bicycle on time to mark my attendance, I took it easy and clicked it few pictures of whatever I found interesting on the way there. I could see the moon in the broad daylight and while crossing the mosque in Sector-45, I thought it would make a great shot to click the moon in between the minarets of the mosque but something stopped me and I moved on.

In this picture I captured the support that the workers made for the newly installed park-railings in sector 44. The more I look at it, the more I feel that I could've done a better job with the composition but then there's this in inhibition that I still feel when the passersby look on with curiosity.

I found this tree trunk pretty interesting in sector 43, especially that the dead tree was still supporting the growth of creepers on it.

Ah! Saw this yesterday and wanted to click it but I thought people might think of it as disrespect but today I argued that disrespect came from the people who threw it after worshiping it, not me. I clicked it thinking that it didn't matter, the idols are probably, in themselves, don't matter, what matters is the thoughts and prayers (and possibly reverence to god in your heart). Whatever it maybe, some people like me are there to just log, not reason. This picture could bring a thousand thoughts to mind, good or bad, I'd keep myself neutral and present it.

So it's been nice easy ride today but the ride back home was pretty tiring. I was tired and sleepy by the evening. I even exercise and made matters worse, then I had to cycle 9kms back home. Feel tired but happy. I see motorists whiz past and feel nice to think that I'm tuning down my carbon footprint, getting healthier internally, getting to see the sights that I normally whiz past, reflecting on satire as a way of life and not to mention saving money (not left with any anyway!).

Happy cycling.

spit and blow

Hi, now although the weather is cooling down, the sun is holding on. By 9am, it's kinda hot to cycle but not very. The traffic on the roads is outrageous at some places and with many a car driver busy on his cell-phones, you gotta watch out. Generally speaking, Chandigarh is a clean Indian city, however it's not like it doesn't get dusty, and especially so when the cleaners are out brooming the roads and burning the dry leaves at every corner, the deluge of vehicles moving to their designated office parking area, and the DULEVO road-cleaning truck dusting the roads and sucking the dust thus raised, in vain,.

For a motorists, the vehicular pollution and the dust might not be too much of a problem but for a heavily breathing cyclist, it is as unpleasant as it is (possibly) unhealthy. Now the nose is a great machine itself, it has a moist membranous lining covered with hair. This functions to moisten the air you breathe. this is necessary else your lungs would start to dry quickly, also you might know that this inhaled air is gonna donate all the oxygen to your blood that is networked very profusely in the lungs. The hair in the nose act like a sieve and filter the  air you breathe. You might not think of it as efficient but it sure is. So here's the suggestion, if you're cycling in a particularly dusty, dirty area, have no compunctions about blowing your nose (in a handkerchief of course) to constantly keep your sieve clean. Quite a bit of the dirt will still enter your nose, much of it will get adsorbed on the mucous secreted in your nose. This mucous collects and you have the option of spitting it out.

Spitting is a very bad habit, as gross as it looks, it can even spread disease but the part of the world I live it, I guess it comes under good manners; why else would people be spitting left, right and center all the time, rich and poor alike. At times you have to dodge through the projectiles emanating through the mouths of the citizens. So I have imbibed the virtue. Time to time, though not too frequently, I do donate back to the city what it shoves down my nose, along with some contribution of my own (mucous). Even as I type this, it sounds evil to me but trust me, doing it is quite a release. Besides, people might even smile at you seeing you do it; if you wish them Good Morning, they'll glare you down. On second thought, they'll abuse you anyway. Everybody on the roads in my city is hypertensive and in a hurry, earning money to pay for the inevitable heart-diseases they'll contract by these habits.

Cheers! Cycle on and hey before I forget, keep drinking water through the way.

Epilogue: Buying a face mask filter might be a great idea but you'll probably get gawked at by everyone that passes you and it might be difficult to breathe through it anyway, considering that breathing can become heavy when you push those pedals.

maintenance free

Here's and interesting link I found on FB. http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678778/a-maintenance-free-bike-to-give-africans-some-mobility. In a growing economy like India, we look towards bigger things, more money, bigger cars, trendier attires and the likes. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that work like this also goes around in the world and that some people who are very well placed are thinking about the less fortunate ones. To think that a well designed bicycle could be a boon for so many people somewhere in the world really gives me a reality check about being a human. Today I respect my bicycle a wee bit more as a simple, useful machine that instills humility in me. Wouldn't it be such an oxymoron to say that "I'm proud of my humility", so I won't...wow! that's another one-liner generated...hmmm! I'm loving it.
By the way winters are here and I'm back to commuting on my bicycle. It's been four days in the roughly 20km to&fro commute. I'm loving it. My Enfield is resting it's ass.