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| The GoMAD cycle tour from Bangalore to Gudalur, March 2012 |
The
Go MAD (Make A Difference) cycling tour to Gudalur is a charity ride to
raise funds for the Vidyodaya school in Gudalur. The idea is
that each rider would raise at least Rs. 25,000 from their family and
friends. The other aim of the ride is to provide a connection between
the people in the urban areas (such as the riders) and the rural
communities. This is done by visiting the communities on the route,
interacting with them, eating and staying with them where possible.
Overview
14
of us rode from Bangalore to Gudalur, about 250 kms over 4 days, along
with 7-8 support staff, interacting with different communities on the
way. Gudalur is on the route
from Mysore to Ooty. We cycled through Bandipur
and Mudumalai National Parks; both are Tiger Reserves as well, but we
didn't see any tigers, which is probably good news if you are on a
bicycle!
A
typical day started with a 5:30am alarm to get ready for the day. We
start riding at 6:30am, and ride for about 25-30kms, stop for breakfast
around 9am, and then ride some more, until we stop for lunch around 1pm.
We had a
special food crew (from Green Hotel, Mysore) who went ahead and set up
the food for us. The food was one of the highlights of the trip! We had
two support vehicles, one at the front and one at the back, with a
motorcycle going up and down, and providing riders with water, fruits,
etc.
It
was quite nice to see Stan and Mari (founders of ACCORD) in the lead
vehicle, full of energy, helping the riders right through the 4 days.
Overall, it was a nice and fun ride, and I got to see and learn a lot
during the ride.
Special thanks go to Nishita, for organizing the ride,
all the support staff who kept us supplied with food and drinks (Madhu,
Sophie, Joby, Stan, Mari and the Green Hotel staff).
About the Go MAD ride
When
I first read about it in January, I signed up immediately, as the idea
of a long ride combined with interaction with the communities on the way
appealed to me. I then forgot about it, as I got busy with my Origami
exhibition at Japan Habba on Feb 19th. And the day after the exhibition
got over, on 20th Feb, I got a call from Nishita, which set the ball
rolling again. I could not do any practice riding for some time, as I
had some severe allergy symptoms, but finally on Sunday, March 4th, I
rode on Magadi Road up to Thippegondanahalli (35 kms each way), which
made me feel that I could do the 250 kms over 3 days.
I
then took my trusted Bianchi to Pedals and Wheels, and had Sachin give
it a good overhaul. It was good to see the bike working so beautifully
even after 14 years.
Day 0, March 6th
Fireflies Ashram, Kanakapura Road. Bangalore
Fireflies Ashram on Kanakapura road was the starting point for the ride, and we were supposed to gather here on the 6th evening. Fireflies is an eco-friendly "resort" which is a center of a lot of activities, including an annual music festival. I and my wife drove there, and found the place after getting lost a bit. She dropped me and left on the long drive back home.
All the riders and support staff arrived over the evening, and we reassembled all the bicycles which came by the pickup truck from Bangalore. We had a briefing, and also got our GoMAD t-shirts. There were going to be 14 riders in all, and I was the only one who knew nothing about ACCORD and had to connection with Gudalur! The riders included 5 young adivasis from Gudalur, a couple from UK
who are volunteering at Gudalur, a couple of others from Bangalore and
the rest who are working at Gudalur. There was a fairly large support
staff as well, including a doctor from UK.
And I was the most experienced rider of the lot, which was new to me! We had dinner and went to bed, full of anticipation of the adventure to come.
Day 1, March 7th, 80kms
Fireflies to Malavalli
We left Fireflies Ashram just after dawn, after tea and fruits. We
stopped to see the brilliant reflection of the sun in one of the many
lakes by Kanakapura road.
The cool morning breeze made it quiet pleasant to ride. We saw some painted storks up on a tree right on the highway.
We stopped after riding for about 30 kms for a humongous breakfast of upma, omelettes, bread/butter/jam, fruits and coffee/tea.
After
that we went past Kanakapura, and stopped for lunch before noon, near
Sathanur. We had a long break and ate the fresh lunch prepared by the
staff of Green Hotel, Mysore who accompanied us for most of the trip. We
usually stopped at a farm and ate sitting under the shade of coconut
trees.
We still had about 15 kms left before we reached Malavalli, so we left at 3:30pm after a short nap. It was really hot riding in the afternoon, so we kept stopping to refill our water bottles from the support vehicle manned by Madhu and Sophie. Sophie is a doctor from UK, and is volunteering at the ASHWINI hospital at Gudalur.
We finally reached the village of Anchedoddi, just before Malavalli.
We immediately set off to see a Jaggery making unit and silk worm production in the village.
We were going to stay at the village marriage hall, next to the temple. After the village visit, most of had a bath outdoors and relaxed, waiting for dinner. The farmers' movement (KRRS) representatives arrived late, disrupting all the plans, but it was interesting to listen to the history of KRRS, and their problems. Stan Thekaekara, the founder of ACCORD, was a good friend of Prof. Nanjundaswamy, who founded KRRS in 1980.
After the late dinner, we tried to sleep inside the marriage hall, but it was too hot, and the mosquitoes were too many. I followed Stan to sleep outside, and then we figured out that we could go to the rooftop. So finally we went up and slept in the cool breeze there. Even here, I needed some mosquito repellent to get a few hours of sleep.
Jaggery Making
The sugarcane is crushed to release the juice, which is then boiled in
huge open containers.The crushed sugarcane is itself used as the fuel,
which is neat!
They
keep throwing some soda into the boiling juice to make the fibre and impurities come to the
top, which is then removed. After about two hours, the thick mush is
poured into long wooden moulds.
Once the jaggery solidifies, the moulds are turned upside down, and bludgeoned, releasing the jaggery.
The freshly made, golden jaggery was lovely to look at.
These jaggery cubes are packed in bunches of 50, using the sugarcane leaves, and apparently sell for about Rs 300 (7-8 kilos).
Silk Production
Nowadays farmers buy the "seeds" - which are bunches of silkworm eggs laid on paper, from the Govt. sericulture department. These are then fed tons of chopped mulberry leaves, and when the worms are ready, they are transferred to the "chandrika", which is a tray with circular slots for the worms to make the cocoons.
The cocoons are sold by farmers in auctions, and are boiled to kill the worm and to release the silk thread, which is spun into yarn.
The
whole process is very labour intensive, which makes it very relevant to
our villages. Silk production is means of livelihood for a large number
of people in Karnataka.
KRRS - Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha
I
had always associated the KRRS with protests, usually stopping traffic
in the city! KRRS members usually wear a distinctive green cloth over
their shoulder. The movement apparently started in 1980 when the
government allowed banks to take away farmer's assets if they defaulted
on their loans, Over the years, it has become one of the largest
farmers' organizations, and has links with similar movements in other
countries.
One
of the issues that came across is that cities are attracting the youth
away from farming, so it is difficult to get any labour for farming. The
KRRS rep mentioned how he saw many vehicles which were dropping workers
off after work, driving them about 50 kms to and from their homes, to
work in garment factories.
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| Meeting with KRRS representatives |
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Read More
Day 1, Fireflies to Malavalli
Non-Profit Organizations working at Gudalur
VIDYODAYA
The Vidyodaya school currently caters to about 100 children in Gudalur, which is a small town. They have an option now to build a school much closer to some of the villages, which would make it possible to reach many more children. The funds we are raising go towards purchase of the land for the new school.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
It was quite inspiring to see all the people who are working on various issues at Gudalur. These are some of the non-profit organizations, all working together in the Gudalur area. I did not have enough time to really understand a lot about each of them during my short time at Gudalur.
ACCORD - the umbrella organization at Gudalur, working on Adivasi issues.
AMS (adivasi munnetra sangham) - the main organization of the adivasis themselves, which runs most of the organizations.
Ashwini - runs the hospital at Gudalur.
Just Change - produces tea, spices, soap, etc. and sells them direct to consumers such as fisherfolk at Nagapattinam. Also provides support and training for similar community initiatives.
Shola Trust - works on environmental issues in Nilgiris, including wildlife.
Go MAD - Go Make a Difference, set up to organize the cycle ride.
Photos
More photos can be seen on
Picasa . There are 5 albums, arranged by day.
Meanwhile a couple of other bikes too had punctures, so we all had to wait for them to get ready.
There
was also a little water in the stream, where we could see lots of
birds, including the Paradise Flycatcher. We also found a dead bird,
which turned out to be a juvenile woodpecker.
On the way back, we heard that a large tusker and a gaur were sighted in Chikyelchatti, so we had to be very careful. 
