The god complex

From 3rd February until 18th March 2020, I will be taking on the epic challenge of cycling 4,500km across the entire length of India. Starting on the very southernmost tip in the city of Kanyakumari, I will end up 45 days later in Kashmir, almost in the foothills of the Himalayas!

My goal is to raise $450,000 for the Loomba Foundation. Each cent I raise will help to empower widows in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Day 35 (8th March 2020) From Vrindavan to Vrindavan – 3,500 km completed (1,000 km left)

My name is Sachin Mali and I am writing today’s blog. I am a professional physiotherapist, specialising in muscular, skeletal and sports injuries. Right now I’m working for the sports authority of Karnataka which is run by the local government in Bangalore. I am from Sullia where I was born and bred, and where my parents live. I live and work in Bangalore with my wife, Ashmi.

The ‘magic hands’ nickname is dead

When I did the 30 marathons in 30 days with Chris in 2015 I was known as Sachin ‘magic hands’ Mali. This name has changed as they now call me ‘god complex’, as I decide, I lead, I dominate and I expect the others to follow! I have many roles but my main responsibility is to act as a physiotherapist for Chris. Apart from that I’m also working as a fitness trainer, a nutritionist, a cycle mechanic and I also try to be a good team member.

How I got involved in Cycle for Widows

Chris emailed me 2 years ago saying he was thinking of cycling across India for the Loomba Foundation. He didn’t say which month and asked if I was interested in helping him like I did before. I didn’t actually respond to Chris’ email. After 2 years I got a call from Atul to say that it was definitely on and he asked if I was interested. I said I wasn’t sure. The main reason is that my wife is an engineer and she works for a US based corporate company. She is a network engineer and works in the evening from 5pm till 5am in the morning.

India is not safe for women at night

India is not safe for women at night and my wife works all night. Sometimes she is asked to work until 2 or 4 in the morning so coming back home is a challenge. She is new to Bangalore and it is a challenge for her as a woman to be working at night. Therefore, I was not sure if I could spare the time for this event. A month later I decided to ask my wife to see what she thought. She agreed with the difficult situation we faced. Also, she’s not completely independent as she was pampered by her parents so I had some concerns on how she would cope on her own for 45 days with the house, work and so on.

We decided I could go

After discussing it for 3 days with my wife we agreed I could go. I informed Atul and I was really happy to be a part of Cycle for Widows. It’s a great experience working as a team and facing a big challenge, and cycling will be easier than walking.

Learning how to look after bicycles

I realised that Atul had arranged for Chris to use two bicycles and that he was ordering them from Bangalore, which is my home city. I told Atul I could help with the bicycles seeing that the bikes were being supplied in my home city. He didn’t need any help but he told me I could help with looking after the bikes once we are on the road. I went to the bicycle store to get training on how to service bikes, fix them, change wheels, adjust seat height, how to handle them and what to do in the event of an accident. It was really useful to learn all these skills

Chris is a…

Chris is a very kind and humble person. As a person, Chris is open to anything and is very flexible. If I ask him anything he will happily accept it and he hardly says no to me, which is the best part! For any doctor or any for someone in the medical profession, they always want a good patient. A good patient is someone who communicates well, behaves well and who understands and cooperates. Chris in that regard is outstanding. He makes my job easy.

He is respectful

Chris works in India and has traveled the country widely so he understands the Indian mentality. He is respectful too in spite of some of the things we (here in India) don’t get right, which I really admire. He never looks down on or underestimates anyone because of their religion or culture. He is curious and keen to understand Indian people even if they are sometimes mischievous. He is always interested in the why.

Chris, the dancer & full time entertainer

Our team is very lively and happy and it’s mainly because Chris is always happy and smiling throughout the day. He entertains us by laughing and cracking jokes. He sings songs, dances on the road, dances while cycling and he even dances on his breaks. He makes us smile and I would say he’s a full time entertainer. I have cycled with Chris many times and I enjoy our conversations.

Atul is a close friend

Atul is a wonderful man. He is so friendly and I feel so comfortable with him. I think of him as a close friend and he knows what Chris wants and what the team expects. Atul was also with us in the previous 30 marathons fundraising so its very easy to work with him day to day. He knows what time to start, where to find hotels, how to book the hotels and he’s very good at communicating with people.

We all missed Atul but Chris especially

We missed Atul when he went back to Delhi for 15 days. When he wasn’t there Chris felt very lonely and he was going into a sort of depression. When he came back, I could see a charm in his face and the best thing about Atul is that he keeps talking to Chris. As a physio, I talk to Chris about things like his knee, his wrist and his back. I ask if hes OK but when Atul speaks to him it is different. They speak about his family, his friends, hotel, accommodation, food, the Loomba Foundation, the blog and so on which helps to divert Chris’ mind. He also makes Chris laugh a lot and he understands his humour.

I’m in the car with Abdul

I am in Abdul’s car when we are on the road so I know him well. He is a humble man. He is not just a driver as he’s also very social. He is a very good friend and he likes to play around a lot. Abdul is a very good driver and respects the highway code. He’s great at estimating our arrival time when we have to travel to the hotel or elsewhere.

📱 Mehedev is great looking after Chris 📱

Mehedev is a nice person but I don’t know him as well. Firstly, he’s on his phone a lot and when he’s not, he’s helping Chris. He cleans his shoes, the bike or he’s helping Chris with something else. We don’t therefore get much of an opportunity to bond. He’s always giving Chris a massage and when its a break he wipes his body and the sweat from his face. When we take a break Mehedev is always the one who removes all the gear from his body and packs everything into the car.

I wasnt expecting the sore butt!

We have come across a couple of problems in terms of my physio work. The first problem was the sore butt on the 3rd or 4th day, which surprised me as he said he’d already been training for a couple of months. It took a week to heal and he got new shorts so he was more comfortable. He then fell off his bike, bruising his knee and damaging his wrist. As a team we’ve managed to deal with his knee well but the wrist is taking longer to heal as there is deep soft tissue damage. Its not healing quicker because he keeps his wrist extended all the time.

Neuropraxia

In the first week he also had a problem with his finger as it started going numb and feeling tingly because of a trapped nerve. Trapped nerves are common amongst cyclists. He developed a condition called neuropraxia but I’m sure it is temporary and when he finishes the cycling it will be fine

Today’s cycling… we did a loop

We started cycling a bit late today, it was 7:45am rather than 7.15am. The temperature was very cold and it was completely foggy outside. Chris was feeling very cold, he wore full length cycling pants, thermals, a t-shirt and a wind/waterproof jacket. He wore full hand gloves, a head cap and winter socks to keep warm. Chris hates cycling in cold weather. On this trip we have seen all sorts of weather like extreme heat, hot and humid, hot and dry, very cold, cold and misty, foggy, rainy, a thunderstorm and yesterday we had a hailstorm.

🌻 Chris is a sunflower 🌻

Chris is like a sunflower. He’s charmed when the sun kisses him as he opens up. He flies like a dragon fly and as the day ends, his mood slowly goes down. As soon as the sun has set, he is completely tired and exhausted.

The first 15 km today

The first 15 km today was a big challenge because the roads in Vrindavan weren’t very good. There were lots of potholes, mini cobbles, people honking unnecessarily and people shouting for no reason. It was very noisy and the traffic was heavy so it was difficult to complete the first 15 km. The remaining sessions were easy because we entered the highway. Chris gets really exhausted when he hits the cobbles at speed because his wrist and shoulders suffer. It was cold too so he didn’t enjoy the morning session. After breakfast and tea he came out of the restaurant and the sun was out so he was happy and wanted to cycle.

After breakfast we headed towards Agra. Chris was in luck today as we visited Soor Savora which is a bird sanctuary near Agra. We also visited a wildlife SOS bear sanctuary. The latter is a centre where they rescue bears from all over India who have been found, abandoned or ill-treated.

The Kalandars & bears

In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh there is a tribal community called Kalandar (Kalandar means bear entertainer). They catch and use bears to earn money by travelling to different towns and cities, using them as entertainment. So these centres take bears from the Kalandar communities to rehabilitate them. The centres pay the Kalandars money to help them gain employment and earn money in other ways.

The wildlife centre also had a huge pond where we saw some big fish. We saw many bears, as well as langurs and macaque monkeys. A volunteer who worked at centre explained how they treat the animals. He said there were a couple of bears who were blind, there were twin bears and one was in quarantine because it had tuberculosis. A couple of bears had been rescued from the Kalandar community. The best aspect of this place is that the bears are free to roam and are not in cages.

That’s all from me.

Sachin

🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️ Why I’m cycling across India 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️

Unfortunately, many widows in India are very badly treated when they lose their husbands. As well as facing verbal and physical abuse, rape and the threat of being evicted from their homes, they often have no income whatsoever after their husband dies. 

This is where the Loomba Foundation comes in. Through their empowerment programmes, the charity provides skills training and other support to help widows become self-sufficient so that they can support themselves and their families. 

I’d like to ask for your support I am already more than half way towards raising $450,000 – I’d love it if you could help me smash my target. Your support would mean the world to me and would help to change the lives of thousands of widows and their families. 

If you are in India, you can make a donation here: 

⏩ Ketto (India) ⏪

If you are in the UK or elsewhere in the world, you can make a donation here:  

⏩ JustGiving ⏪

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