Crazy it may seem but I did one of the most unreasonable trip of my life in
Apr 2016. Just before I quit my job I wanted to relax my mind and I just asked
myself what makes me the happiest at this moment. The answer was The Ultimate
Frisbee (glance). With 15days leave in hand I sat a sleepless night, made this crazy plan
of touring the entire country and play a frisbee game with all the local teams across the country.
By morning I had a chart on my board and a schedule ready. It may seem no
rocket science but I had to have a point of contact in each team, synchronize with them for a game as per my schedule and ensure my all bookings and accommodation. And to play this intense sport alongside travel to and within
each city, I had to plan it very well so that I can get ample rest to be ready
for the next stop. Not to mention the heatwave that ran through the country
while I was on this trip.
After our chit-chat I went to their hostel and freshened up. The game was on as we head for NCBS campus on a shuttle bus. Another lush green campus and amazing ground. We had a lot of fun. It was a great day of frisbee playing with these amazing people.
After a good 1hr game, we started back. Another round of amazing food at Bagha’s place and a packed lunch of Rajma chawal (whoa!), I said goodbye to Bangalore. What next? Goaaaa.. The journey was good 16hr long, starting 2.30pm from Bangalore on Vasco express. As I had no sleep last night, I crashed on my berth just after boarding the train.
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I filled my 2ltr water sack and headed out of station. I couldn’t see any cab available and my phone’s network was also down. Then a unique taxi came. This was a motorcycle driven by Mr.Moiuddin, an old man very soft spoken. He said it will take some 30min and 150bucks to reach the college that was 10Km away. I was up for this unique ride during which we talked about goa and its tourist flow. He dropped me at the gate of college. My contact person here, Kartik, was happily sleeping in his hostel room when the gate security gave him a call. He slept very late completing his final year Project that reminded me of my college days. I wandered through the campus while going to hostel, the different call of bulbul took my attention. Then I realized these were all red-whiskered bulbuls that were around here (unlike the common red-vented ones).
With 15 people on field, it was a great game of frisbee. The temptation of laying out on such a ground was always there and we did that few times during the game. Post game I again talked about my initiatives and gave some of my visiting cards I printed before the trip.
A bath, a lot of water and some good food brought some of me back but I lacked sleep and tomorrows train leave for Ahmedabad at 6.40am. In short, screwed!
We made some pakodas (my brilliant idea). It was more or
less a failure, but the time was memorable. Me and Peter having beer after a
long time together, that too in Gujrat, supposedly a dry state. The show lasted
till 2 am and I was again worried about my journey next day to Udaipur!
It was 8am when I woke up. After a glass of lime and lot of water, I was quite normal and ready for the journey ahead. Peter on the other hand had a headache and wasn’t willing to drop me till bus station :P I made a cup of tea and convinced him. I was already north of Ahmedabad so no point going south again to get a direct bus.
At the Gandinagar bus station I got a bus to Himmatnagar which was 50km away. As per conductor I will get direct bus to Udaipur from there. An hour later we were there but no direct bus, I got a bus till shamlaji, another 60 Km away.
I got down at Shamlaji, a very small village with a scenic surrounding (the Aravali hills). I felt good but I was anxious for my journey ahead. It was 1.30pm, the game in Udaipur was at 4.30pm. I was 125Km away from Udaipur, and I didn’t wanted to change another bus. I talked with a young guy at a small stall while waiting for bus, this guy was too worried about his new phone whose battery was not performing well :P I asked him for next bus to Jodhpur (why!), he said it will come after 3pm. I was sure now the I will miss the game today only to realize later I was asking for wrong city (drinks :P). The next bus came at 2pm, a non AC sleeper (why the heck sleeper during the day!) and almost full. I just boarded and was about to climb up to a berth, the bus stopped for lunch (more delay!)
Not putting more details, the scenic journey through Aravali’s lasted for about 3hrs and I was finally at Mohanlal Sikhodia university of Udaipur with players waiting for me on the field! Team name: Flying Foxes.
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It was 2.30 am on some night of March when this idea struck
my mind. I had a schedule in place by 5 and bookings done by next evening. I was to announce this to my friends and on Ultimate Frisbee
India page, but I came across the women’s team campaign to raise funds for the
world championship in London in June. I came in contact with them to leverage
my campaign for their campaign, it worked out well and I made it official!
5 Apr: Hyderabad
8 Apr: Chennai
9 Apr: Bangalore
11 Apr: Goa
13 Apr: Pune
14 Apr: Mumbai
15 Apr: Ahmedabad
17 Apr: Udaipur
19 Apr: Delhi
Follow these links to jump to my story from each city (or just read through all below):
8 Apr: Chennai
9 Apr: Bangalore
11 Apr: Goa
13 Apr: Pune
14 Apr: Mumbai
15 Apr: Ahmedabad
17 Apr: Udaipur
19 Apr: Delhi
And BTW, you can still contribute to women's team here: https://www.ketto.org/firstever :)
Hyderabad
The fun started on 5th April at my home ground in
Hyderabad, the Microsoft’s lush green B3 ground. With few people from ISB
Hyderabad also visiting, we had a huge squad to play and we ended up in an
amazing game for 2 hrs.
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| hyderabad squad |
After resting for a day I packed my stuff for the journey. I
had a big checklist which included ORS solutions, first-aid, 2ltr water pack
and lot of clothes. I was worried about how often I’ll have to wash clothes
during the trip due to the games in heat, also where will I get a chance to do
so. But I was more worried about not falling sick, so I made 4 points of
discipline that I have to religiously follow every single day
- Hydration, atleast 8ltrs each day with ORS
- Proper rest and sleep (avoid sight-seeing in any city)
- Ensure hygienic and healthy food
- Massage your joints and muscles each day for quick recovery from fatigue
It was time to move. After a final hangout with my friends,
I left for Chennai on 7th evening on the Charminar express.
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Chennai
It took happily 12hrs to reach Chennai and I happily completed my sleep. It was a Friday morning and most people had office. My local friend Jawahar also had a busy day but thankfully he arranged for me stay at his friend’s place very near to the Besant nagar beach. This was great as I was familiar with this area due to my last 2 visits for frisbee tournaments and also the evening game was to happen here :)
I took an auto from station (OLA auto helped) and this very
nice driver dropped me to the destination. Jawahar’s friend Vinoth and his
brother are from Husur. Both work in Chennai and stay together
in this place. I was lucky to meet these very polite and hospitable guys.
After freshening-up, it was time for breakfast. My love for
Chennai starts from my stomach. I have been crazy about the local food chains
here. We went to Murugan’s idli which is my favorite, the best place I can say for south Indian
food. After a huge breakfast and coffee, I was at peace. I had rest of the day
to relax and check about my further schedule. It was hard to catch sleep in
humidity, I wondered how Vinoth managed to prepare lunch. It was
great to have home-made Chennai food.
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| amazing lunch! |
It was evening time and I strolled at Besant nagar beach
waiting for Sangee, the women’s team manager, to give me souvenir’s that I plan
to give to contributors later in my trip. I met two kids from fly-wild and come-back, which are
local frisbee teams here. Mostly these kids are from local slums. It was nice to see how frisbee is
changing their lives. I remember an aunty proudly telling me (in broken
english), “he is son of a fisherman and plays frisbee”.
While I waited, I met a couple from Mumbai who were throwing around with their frisbee disc. I helped them out with some tips and played with them for a while. It was a totally different experience of throwing disc in that wind. Finally Sangee was here and couple of other players.
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| fly-wild, come-back, disc-o-tech :) |
While I waited, I met a couple from Mumbai who were throwing around with their frisbee disc. I helped them out with some tips and played with them for a while. It was a totally different experience of throwing disc in that wind. Finally Sangee was here and couple of other players.
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| strangers then friends |
I met many interesting people like Manix (his NGO working
for slum kids and he created the come-back team), Chiai (from Japan, settled in
India now. Her NGO Pudiyadhor is also changing lives through frisbee) and Liz
Haynes (through her “Bridging the gap” initiative she is using frisbee as a
medium to teach gender equality and other ideals to kids across India). We had
some talks about my trip and the women’s team, and then we played a fun game
for sometime. Some really talented players here and the spirits of these
Chennai players has amazed me always.
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| fun people from chennai |
Some more awesome food at dinner and then I napped for next
day morning’s early train. My next stop, Bangalore.
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Bangalore
A double decker train! Interesting view and journey till
Bangalore. I was observing this unique crowd around me (the Sardar from Punjab
definitely standing out :P). I was asleep for most part of it, but whenever I
woke up, the view outside was great.
I was in Bangalore by 1pm, damn it was hot here as well. I
headed straight to IIsc Bangalore campus where Navendu from the team 'slip-disc'
was waiting. He guided me straight to a restaurant where we and few other
interesting people sat around a table for lunch. The campus was mind blowing.
With huge trees everywhere, it was cooler and scenic. The people I sat with on
table were even more interesting. Navendu himself a ecology student in IISc
since 7 yrs, looking forward to submit his thesis soon. His trip to sikkim next
month for rhododendron forest sounded interesting. His friend Hrishikesh actually
inspired me. A cyclist who bicycled from Ahmedabad to Srinagar, wrote a book
about it, got a reward, bought a cattle with that, wrote another book on
raising cattle and two days back he just returned from Pondicherry on his
bicycle. Varun from a village in Uttrakhand, a civil engineer now doing his
masters, was another interesting chap.
After our chit-chat I went to their hostel and freshened up. The game was on as we head for NCBS campus on a shuttle bus. Another lush green campus and amazing ground. We had a lot of fun. It was a great day of frisbee playing with these amazing people.
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| IISc wale = slip disc! |
Later I headed towards HSR layout to meet my college friend Bagha
(Sidharth) , that was an hour away. I sipped the 2ltrs of ORS during my
journey in auto-rickshaw, that I filled before leaving IISc. An amazing dinner waited for me,
thanks to bhabhi ji. It was nice meeting an old friend after a long time. We went for a stroll to try some ice-cream. I had
another game tomorrow 6am for which Bagha was also willing to join. I needed
rest but the night was tough as I couldn’t sleep (there was a cockroach in my
room, damn I don’t like these creeps). I washed my clothes instead :P
We were up and reached the Loyola grounds where I met a
number of players from India’s team (women’s team, master’s team, U23 and mixed
team). It was a whole new level of frisbee playing with these folks. It took
some time for them to trust me and give me the disc during the game :P
After a good 1hr game, we started back. Another round of amazing food at Bagha’s place and a packed lunch of Rajma chawal (whoa!), I said goodbye to Bangalore. What next? Goaaaa.. The journey was good 16hr long, starting 2.30pm from Bangalore on Vasco express. As I had no sleep last night, I crashed on my berth just after boarding the train.
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Goa
It was 5am and I saw the entire train was empty. This was Vasco-Da-Gama, the last station of the train. I took my time as I knew to reach the BITS Pilani (goa) college I need to figure out and no engineer during college wakes up early.I filled my 2ltr water sack and headed out of station. I couldn’t see any cab available and my phone’s network was also down. Then a unique taxi came. This was a motorcycle driven by Mr.Moiuddin, an old man very soft spoken. He said it will take some 30min and 150bucks to reach the college that was 10Km away. I was up for this unique ride during which we talked about goa and its tourist flow. He dropped me at the gate of college. My contact person here, Kartik, was happily sleeping in his hostel room when the gate security gave him a call. He slept very late completing his final year Project that reminded me of my college days. I wandered through the campus while going to hostel, the different call of bulbul took my attention. Then I realized these were all red-whiskered bulbuls that were around here (unlike the common red-vented ones).
I knocked the room in hostel, Kartik opened the room and
went back to sleep. I also took a bath and later I slept on the floor :P My
next 2 days were the best of my trip.
I woke up but Karthik is still sleeping. I went around and chatted with a few people of hostel. Prabhat was doing some work on PIC microcontrollers, reminded me of my autonomous robots I used to make in college. While I chatted with him, Kaustubh and another guy also joined in. When I told them I work for Microsoft and about to quit my job, they were surprised and curious to hear my story. I shared my journey and advertised my upcoming initiatives.
I woke up but Karthik is still sleeping. I went around and chatted with a few people of hostel. Prabhat was doing some work on PIC microcontrollers, reminded me of my autonomous robots I used to make in college. While I chatted with him, Kaustubh and another guy also joined in. When I told them I work for Microsoft and about to quit my job, they were surprised and curious to hear my story. I shared my journey and advertised my upcoming initiatives.
Kartik was up now and I was damn hungry. Yash, another
frisbee player, also joined and we headed for a breakfast in canteen (amazing
poha, paranthe and tea). My endless talks about my trip and quitting of job
continued which kept things interesting on the table. Then we went to a lush
lawn near college library where Prateek (Kacho!) also joined in. Some throws around and some
chit-chatting, I was kind of feeling at home here. These guys had their classes
and I wanted to relax before the evening game. They had a vacant room which
they gave me (as this guy had gone home). It was an interesting room,
walls full of quotes.
More interesting people during lunch, engineers with a lot
to discuss and talk about, and the beautiful girls of Goa campus (hard to keep
your eyes away :P). And can’t forget to mention about the food which was delicious
(every single meal). All in all, I was re-living my college life and this was
just a start.
I roamed around the campus alone for a while. It was well
designed and huge, but not peaceful. Every now and then an aircraft will fly
over it. The airport is just in vicinity so lot of commercial planes and a lot
of army jets as well whose noise will just shake you.
I met Ankit, it was easy to recognize another frisbee player
with his jersey on. After a chat, I went back to “my” room and relaxed. Evening
I was searching for my tea but didn’t find company. We headed to the cricket
ground where we set-up the field. This was by-far the best ground where I
played frisbee in recent past. Just shy of coast, with a sunset in view and
lush green. While I praised this heaven, these guys said “football ground is
even better than this” (I almost cried :P).
With 15 people on field, it was a great game of frisbee. The temptation of laying out on such a ground was always there and we did that few times during the game. Post game I again talked about my initiatives and gave some of my visiting cards I printed before the trip.
The evening fun continued as Yash and Ankit showed me around
the gymkhana, college style; with gym, badminton and squash courts.
The dinner that followed was again nice and I was up for a beer (it’s Goa afterall!). But it didn’t happen as there are strict rules in campus.
In fact I attended an all
student’s meeting in the amphitheater as there was some student issue. This was
fun! The classes got cancelled for next day :P
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| Ankit, yash and me at gymkhana! |
The dinner that followed was again nice and I was up for a beer (it’s Goa afterall!). But it didn’t happen as there are strict rules in campus.
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| delicious mess food! |
Day 2 was like I was in my college. I woke up at 9,
breakfast in college mess, washed my clothes and took bath, then lot of bakar
with people around. The lunch was amazing too and later I packed my stuff as I
had another game to play in Panaji with Gnash team in evening. The memorable
time in college campus got over. After a quick photo session, I left the campus
towards Panaji. Kartik and Yash were kind enough to drop me till the campus
gate.
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| time I said bye.. |
It was hard to reach the bus stop but thankfully I got a
lift from Mr.SB Sawant, a retired air-force pilot settled here now.
A scenic ride through the backwaters and I reached the Don-Bosco school ground where Chirag and Praveen waited for me. The game was cancelled as other’s could not make it on Tuesday but we enjoyed our throws and talks.
After some lime soda, I boarded my sleeper bus to Pune (lot of confusion and it was hard to travel after game without taking shower).
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| Mr. Sawant |
A scenic ride through the backwaters and I reached the Don-Bosco school ground where Chirag and Praveen waited for me. The game was cancelled as other’s could not make it on Tuesday but we enjoyed our throws and talks.
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| Praveen, Chirag and other kids.. |
After some lime soda, I boarded my sleeper bus to Pune (lot of confusion and it was hard to travel after game without taking shower).
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Pune
Pune it was at 06:00 on 13thApr 2016 (Wednesday).
My friend (Prasanna’s) place was 15km away so I had to take an auto, but the
irritating auto guys near bus stop sucked my blood. I escaped from them and walked for a Km
or so. I found a better driver (no bullshit, goes by meter) who dropped me at
my destination. My friend and his family were sleeping when I reached. I was
super excited to meet my 4yr old friend Nitya who came running from her bed
when she heard my voice. After that it was me and Nitya playing till her time
for school :P Phew that was tiring after an overnight journey in Bus. Prasanna
and bhabhiji left for their work after our update talks. My game was in evening so I had ample time to
relax (priority!).
3PM I left to play at SP college, again 15Km away. There I
met kids of local Pune team, the flying spirit. Only 7 of them so we did some
throws sessions, shared some talks and later played a BOX game (a simpler version to practice frisbee). I never had that much fun ever playing the BOX and also learnt quite
a few skills. It was hot and humid, a sugarcane juice rescued me post the game.
It was a long journey back so I started talking with the auto-driver. He was a 45yr old man, driving since he was 22. He mentioned how 15yrs back, Pune was a small city with no traffic or any IT companies. Most of the outskirts were green and no water problems. When I asked about him, he had never gone beyond Mumbai in his life. More than 20yrs he has been driving auto so that his kids could study and he could buy his own house. He was successful in that manner.
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| With flying spirits |
It was a long journey back so I started talking with the auto-driver. He was a 45yr old man, driving since he was 22. He mentioned how 15yrs back, Pune was a small city with no traffic or any IT companies. Most of the outskirts were green and no water problems. When I asked about him, he had never gone beyond Mumbai in his life. More than 20yrs he has been driving auto so that his kids could study and he could buy his own house. He was successful in that manner.
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| Prabhakar, The autowala |
Time to play with Nitya again! I was here for another couple
of hours as I had to head for Mumbai for an early morning game at Juhu beach.
We played non-stop for an hour or so and then she was all mood off when she realized I was leaving. It took me
some time to cheer her up, and I promised her I’ll come again specially to meet
her. I left to catch bus to Mumbai where my dear friend Ashvini was waiting.
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| Prassana, Pallavi and my friend Nitya! |
I was lucky to get a bus right away. It was a comfortable
Volvo and since I had a tiring day so again I slept in no time.
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Mumbai
When I woke up, there was no one in the bus :P It was 11.30pm and I was at Dadar. It took me another 1.5hrs to travel back towards Mulund where Ashvini stayed with her family.
Ashvini never played frisbee since she left Hyderabad in
Jan, so she was quite excited. And as we met after long time, we chatted till
3am (offcourse a tea) and then woke up at 5am to reach Juhu by 6.45am. The
journey was unique. The early morning birds chirping kept us excited (we both
are bird lovers). We spotted many magpie robins while we walked towards local
station, then 30min journey in local, then another 30min in metro train and
then another 20min in auto. We were finally at Juhu, in time!
We saw few people throwing disc so it wasn’t hard for us to find the team. I loved the way Mumbai people welcomed me. Most of them were really friendly and really professional as well. The warm up to drills and then the game, all were disciplined and high standard. We did a round of introduction before starting the play, which also went very well. After the game I gave a brief talk about my trip and my future plans and initiatives. It was good see their interest and encouragement for the same. I also made a call for women’s team contribution. One frisbee player (a student in TIFR) told me they have a game in evening as well which I can join. I asked myself, “A frisbee game each day since last 7 days and there is a game in Ahmedabad tomorrow evening, Damn!”. But TIFR will be closer for me to catch train tomorrow 6.40am to Ahmedabad, so I said yes again :P
We saw few people throwing disc so it wasn’t hard for us to find the team. I loved the way Mumbai people welcomed me. Most of them were really friendly and really professional as well. The warm up to drills and then the game, all were disciplined and high standard. We did a round of introduction before starting the play, which also went very well. After the game I gave a brief talk about my trip and my future plans and initiatives. It was good see their interest and encouragement for the same. I also made a call for women’s team contribution. One frisbee player (a student in TIFR) told me they have a game in evening as well which I can join. I asked myself, “A frisbee game each day since last 7 days and there is a game in Ahmedabad tomorrow evening, Damn!”. But TIFR will be closer for me to catch train tomorrow 6.40am to Ahmedabad, so I said yes again :P
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| Dhinchak Mumbai janta! |
Rest of the day was great as it was Vishu festival day.
Ashvini showed me the market around her house and the railway station wall she
will be painting soon (artist!), but she wasn’t realizing I needed some rest :P
After a bath, we were now heading for a special Vishu lunch which her father
prepared (the tastiest Kerala special lunch in Mumbai :) After that finally I
got an hour to nap before heading to TIFR in evening.
TIFR had a small ground but a lot of frisbee enthusiasts.
(Repeat alert!) It was another tiring game :/ One thing I realized, once I step
into a field it’s very hard for me to stop myself from sprinting and jumping
around, tiring myself hell in the end. Profusely sweating, not enough sleep and
paining muscles, that was what was left of me today.
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| Amazing Vishu lunch |
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| TIFR, full energy |
A bath, a lot of water and some good food brought some of me back but I lacked sleep and tomorrows train leave for Ahmedabad at 6.40am. In short, screwed!
I slept at 2 and woke up at 5. Thankfully Uttkarsh gave me
company till station in morning. Finding taxi was hard but we got one finally.
I was aboard the quick Shatabdi train to Ahmedabad. After the breakfast was
served, I snored away for next hours into a dreamland hardly realizing a world exists
out of my dreams!
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Ahmedabad
My first visit to Gujarat. I was quite excited about it but
it was really really hot here, hotter than any place I visited earlier. And I
wasn’t so compelled by the surrounding, it was a filthy and clumsy place as I
stepped out of station. Had to wait a while to get a bus to Gandhinagar where
my college friend Peter (Harsh Gupta) stays. An old lady in the bus fought with
conductor over some issue with her monthly pass, for which the bus was halted.
This was ridiculous in that hot weather, but I kept myself calm. An hour later
I was at Gandhinagar bus stop, a much better place, more green but still very
hot. Peter came on his Enfield to pick me up. Thankfully it was a holiday for
him so I had no problem. We went to his house and as I wasn’t much interested
to eat outside we cooked a quick pulav for lunch. I rested till evening and
washed some clothes. My game today was at 9PM near Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad.
Peter was also interested to try hands on it so I got a good company.
We reached Abhay ghat at 9pm. My local Ultimate frisbee
friend Shubam ensured we have a good game today. I was overwhelmed by the number
of people came for the game, they were more than 25. These were 3 teams: Abhay
ghat, Dream catchers and Silent voices. We had a league today among the 3
teams. Me and Peter played from DC squad.
I came to know the journey of frisbee in India, it all
started here some 12 yrs back. It was introduced by some foreign players and
then Jaidip patel (UPAI president) and another local captain (pardon me I don’t
remember names) carried the legacy forward. Abhay ghat was among the first
teams to play frisbee in India. They won a tournament few months back and won
today’s league as well. Their unorthodox style is hard to read and beat, and
the energy levels are sky rocketing. Other teams were no less on energy. I felt
a noob playing here but then fun factor was great and also their spirit. I gave
away some souvenirs to the good players of the day (btw, I was doing this in
all the cities I went) and also encouraged them to continue playing as they are
really good at it.
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| Huge sqad at Ahmedabad |
It was 12 when we started back for Gandhinagar. Tomorrow was
no game day! Finally after 10 days I was getting a rest day in my trip.
At 9am we explored around Peter’s house for breakfast. I was eager to try something local (some dhokla and fafada for breakfast!) but as Peter cursed, nothing opens before 10 and everything closes after 8 in Gandhinagar! We finally located a Parantha/dosa shop which were below ordinary. Peter went to office after a cup of tea and I had full day to prepare some lunch and take plenty of sleep. In evening we planned an adventure, drinking beer in Gujrat! It’s simple, you have to have a ticket and local address proof, Gujrat govt. gives you permit to drink 10 beer bottles ;P
At 9am we explored around Peter’s house for breakfast. I was eager to try something local (some dhokla and fafada for breakfast!) but as Peter cursed, nothing opens before 10 and everything closes after 8 in Gandhinagar! We finally located a Parantha/dosa shop which were below ordinary. Peter went to office after a cup of tea and I had full day to prepare some lunch and take plenty of sleep. In evening we planned an adventure, drinking beer in Gujrat! It’s simple, you have to have a ticket and local address proof, Gujrat govt. gives you permit to drink 10 beer bottles ;P
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| Ironical! |
It was 8am when I woke up. After a glass of lime and lot of water, I was quite normal and ready for the journey ahead. Peter on the other hand had a headache and wasn’t willing to drop me till bus station :P I made a cup of tea and convinced him. I was already north of Ahmedabad so no point going south again to get a direct bus.
At the Gandinagar bus station I got a bus to Himmatnagar which was 50km away. As per conductor I will get direct bus to Udaipur from there. An hour later we were there but no direct bus, I got a bus till shamlaji, another 60 Km away.
I got down at Shamlaji, a very small village with a scenic surrounding (the Aravali hills). I felt good but I was anxious for my journey ahead. It was 1.30pm, the game in Udaipur was at 4.30pm. I was 125Km away from Udaipur, and I didn’t wanted to change another bus. I talked with a young guy at a small stall while waiting for bus, this guy was too worried about his new phone whose battery was not performing well :P I asked him for next bus to Jodhpur (why!), he said it will come after 3pm. I was sure now the I will miss the game today only to realize later I was asking for wrong city (drinks :P). The next bus came at 2pm, a non AC sleeper (why the heck sleeper during the day!) and almost full. I just boarded and was about to climb up to a berth, the bus stopped for lunch (more delay!)
Not putting more details, the scenic journey through Aravali’s lasted for about 3hrs and I was finally at Mohanlal Sikhodia university of Udaipur with players waiting for me on the field! Team name: Flying Foxes.
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Udaipur
It was a scenic field surrounded by Aravali mountain range
of Rajasthan, reminded me of my childhood when I visited Udaipur 16years ago!
The city of lakes as it is known as, was hot and the hills were very dry unlike
my last visit. These guys told me how it turns lush green during monsoon. I
made a note to myself to visit here again that time.
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| College again with flying foxes, Udaipur! |
Most of the players were new so they expected me to share some
drills and tips. I didn’t let them down, a good warm-up and then a black-jack
drill was to start with. Somehow I felt the people were very formal, the fun
factor was missing. I tried to encourage them to cheer up and later gave a
feedback as well. Nevertheless, the game happened. It was a smaller ground so
it was a very agile game. The players here were quick, some work needed on
strategy and skill. For me but the hangover, lack of sleep and the tiredness
from journey (beware of all these if you are a player), it directly reflected
in my game. I fully embarrassed myself (nowhere in spirit though) as I made
shit throws and dropped easy catches.
Game ended and again it was college mahaul with all these 3rd
year engineers. Stories were similar to Goa when I shared my vision to quit my
job and work for environment. It was good to see that many of these folks were
aspiring to work for their passion rather than just money.
It all felt living the nostalgic college times as we ate food at dhaba, enjoyed some tea/samosa at local stalls, the endless talks in the room and the late night walk at 2am (I was tired, see :P).
It all felt living the nostalgic college times as we ate food at dhaba, enjoyed some tea/samosa at local stalls, the endless talks in the room and the late night walk at 2am (I was tired, see :P).
Next day was great again. No game day again, I woke up at
12:00pm (phew), but everyone around me was still sleeping (some attended
morning classes and landed back to their beds again :). I washed my clothes as
the bright hot sun outside made a perfect sense for it. After a stroll for lunch at
Dhaba, we played some cards for a while and then I left off for station after
another evening walk and tea.
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| patte! |
The Rana Pratap station of Udaipur was very peaceful, very
few people and lot of trees around. I waited for my train to Delhi which was
about 40min late. Finally it arrived and opposite my berth was an Irish mathematics
teacher, Dan, sitting solving his Sudoku puzzles. He was a young guy in his
20s, just wearing his shorts which looked odd for a while but can’t blame, it
was really hot. He was quite friendly, the Sudoku he was solving was a
different one without any numbers but only clues on it. He was going to Pushkar
and then Delhi to buy an ambassador car which he wanted to drive from Iran to
London where he lives. I couldn’t help much about his queries of transporting a
car to Iran.
He later gave me a puzzle to solve: ”Arrange all numbers from 1-9 in a 9X9 matrix, it’s all rows/columns/diagonals should sum to 15”. It took me few minutes to solve it, and he was quite impressed. I then gave him one “A person travelled from a point 1000miles south, 1000miles east, then 1000miles north. What was his starting point and how many such points exist?” He was also quite smart to solve it but got tricked at second part (I helped him out). The journey remained interesting till he left the train at Ajmer at 10pm. I remember his struggle with the spicy dinner he bought. He din’t had any water left and he also didn’t want to waste food. I had to rescue him on both :P
He later gave me a puzzle to solve: ”Arrange all numbers from 1-9 in a 9X9 matrix, it’s all rows/columns/diagonals should sum to 15”. It took me few minutes to solve it, and he was quite impressed. I then gave him one “A person travelled from a point 1000miles south, 1000miles east, then 1000miles north. What was his starting point and how many such points exist?” He was also quite smart to solve it but got tricked at second part (I helped him out). The journey remained interesting till he left the train at Ajmer at 10pm. I remember his struggle with the spicy dinner he bought. He din’t had any water left and he also didn’t want to waste food. I had to rescue him on both :P
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Delhi
Delhi it was finally! my city number 9 in list. I couldn’t believe my journey was nearing its final step (and I was still in one piece :P). I had a long day today as it was a priority meeting that morning in Gurgaon with my friend and expedition leader from Gobal Himalayan Expedition, Mr. Paras Loomba. I was with him last year in August when we with a team of 20 trekked for 6 days to give solar electricity to a remote village in Ladakh (my blog). The game is getting bigger as I plan to quit my job in 2 months to join them for their other electrification projects they are carrying out. The meeting was about my role there and how I can plan my upcoming months of 2016. I had to miss the morning game with Delhi team for this meeting (but there was another one was in evening).
Paras was kind enough to pick me up from railway station
early morning at 5am. We reached his house in no time where I first took a
shower, then a tea and then it was time to talk. It was good to discuss out our
visions and plan our steps accordingly. It boiled down to me designing
itineraries for treks and cultural expeditions in Ladakh and leading them. Also
I will be working on creating homestays in these remote villages to empower
local communities by giving alternate incomes through eco-tourism, handicraft sales
and organic farm produce. I am quite excited about it.
It was game time again at Ashoka University, Sonepat, some
50Km from Delhi. I met Jaidip patel at metro station from where we boarded a
shuttle bus to the college. Jaidip is coaching Ultimate Frisbee to the students
of Ashoka university since a year now. We had a good chat while we traveled. He also connected
me to the chandigarh team where I plan to play next.
The campus of Ashoka was beyond my imagination. Very new,
architecturally very well designed, amazing facilities and the crowd was
marvelous. These were all young, energetic, students of liberal arts (philosophy, history, anthrology, humanitarians).
I felt great to be among these scholars
and Jaidip’s coaching added a whole new level to my learnings today. We learnt
9 things about how to catch a disc, then warm-up, 2 practice drills and then
finally a game for an hour. I also got a good platform to talk about my trip,
give away souvenir to best player, call out for support for women’s team and
also spread message about my initiatives in the end.
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| at Ashoka university |
More friends added to my list. A very quick dinner and
set-off to Punjab to visit my family. I reached my home at 3.30am. I took a
bath and then my sweet Mom made a tea. We talked for a while about my journey
before I crashed on my bed.
The Chandigarh game never happened. I spent a good 5 days in
Punjab playing with my 4yr old niece every single day (and calming my family
down about my decision of quitting my job :P).
It was over now! A unique experience I added to my life. My
last 14 days were just about Frisbee food water and sleep. I look back I see
the different cultures I saw in those days, the perspectives I learnt, the
skills I learnt and how one sport connected me to these numerous people from
different backgrounds, upbringing and culture. A single wave runs through all
called Ultimate frisbee. Am proudly associated with this sport and it seems a commitment
for life.
