Day 19 Vazuthakad to Kanyakumari ( 87 Kilometres )

Dream Accomplished ...!

11 January 2016

It rained last night and that made way for clear skies today morning. This was a good start for the day. In the morning a few people cycled with me to flag me off. Today was the last day of my ride, the accomplishment of my dream! I was happy.

I faced a lot of traffic, headwind and side wind on the way. It troubled me a lot. Like always, the end was not simple. In the traffic, cars and bikes pushed me so much out of the road that I ended up falling once. Fortunately I was not hurt and I got up to pick my stuff and started pedalling again. Again a parallel to life.. you fall but you have to rise again to live!

I entered Tamil Nadu from Kerala. The fifth and final state of my ride.

The road in the end was very nice, with lot of turns but not much of traffic. There were no disturbing horns and it gave me peace of mind.

My destination was getting near but it was getting tougher to ride against the headwind. I met a media person on the way. He promised me to meet at Kanyakumari.

Now, it was the last stage my pride ride.. Last few kilometres, and hurray, I reached my destination and that too before the predicted time!

As soon as I reached shopkeepers of nearby shops flocked around me. I was overwhelmed by this reception. Everybody congratulated me for what I had managed to pull off.

Who says one needs a formal reception? Good wishes of such simple and common people is what makes us achieve such feats. I was searching for a good site to click pictures and finally I got it. The 'Triveni Sangam', where three different water bodies meet, The Arabian sea- The Indian Ocean-The Bay of Bengal. I felt it was an apt place to click a few final pictures as my pride ride, indeed, was a 'Triveni Sangam' in itself. My resolve, blessings of my family and help from my well wishers!

I clicked some pictures here. But there was a lot of disturbance while I was clicking pictures of myself. Seeing this some people helped me take my cycle to a clean and peaceful spot without any disturbance and also clicked my pictures with my cycle. Samiulla Bhai helped me a lot in all this.

By now the media person I met on the way had also arrived. He took a small shoot. We had a brief chat. By now all the people around were aware of me and my journey. Listening to my story a bookseller (Mr. Mani) gifted me a book on Swami Vivekananda, and that too in my mother tongue - Marathi.

I still had some time left on my hand so I decided to watch the sunset. I took my cycle and secured a calm and silent spot.

Many people were calling me and sending me messages. I took my time to watch the sunset, ignoring the thoughts in my mind and the messages and calls for a while.

Now I am staying at Vivekananda Kendra.

The calls and message are still on. But in this entire journey, I could give a lot of time to myself. And I accomplished my dream..!

Now, it is time for me to spend some time with my thoughts in solitude.