72-year-old sets the pace as Pune cycle expedition heads to Jammu

Our Correspondent
Abohar, January 3

Nirupama Shrikrishna Bhave (72) of Pune paddles about 120-km every day and is the eldest among 12 members participating in the 2,200-km Pune to Jammu cycling expedition, which was launched on December 21 under the Fit-India movement.

Bhave has a master’s degree in mathematics and statistics and is a MPhil and a PhD degree holder in the same subjects, respectively.

“Our team believes that cycling plays an important role in promoting the Fit-India movement. The expedition is unique on many fronts. The group consists of cycling enthusiasts, who come from diverse walks of life and with diverse qualifications. For instance, I am from the teaching field and others include homemakers, businessmen, retired bank officials and the ones employed in private jobs. In the past, most of us have participated in a number of cycling expeditions across the country. Our common interest is to promote the message of “Fit-India” through cycling,” said Nirupama at a reception organised by the Abohar Paddlers Club near the state highway today afternoon.

She retired on superannuation of services from Pune University in 2002 as the head of mathematics department. From the age of 50, she started taking interest in sports activities. “I participated in rock climbing, rappelling, trekking, running and cycling activities. I have cycled on world’s highest motorable road Khardungla. In December 2017, my friends, who love cycling, and I took a 18-day cycling tour from Pune to Kanyakumari with a mission to spread the message of “save environment, adopt cycling”. We covered about 1,850-km and thereafter we went on tours to Karnataka and Gujarat, ranging 600 to 700 kms each, Nirupama said.

Other members of the team include: Ekadashi Kolhatkar (54), Shashank Vaidya (51), Meera Vaidya (48), Iyyer Vishwanathan (70), Nayana Agharkar (56), Rasik Patel (56), Shailesh Gosain (62), Mohit Kantilal Parmar (26), Shailesh Patel (52), Jayant Laxman Deodhar (65) and AD Patel (69).

AD Patel, a retired AGM of the Union Bank of India, from Ahmedabad said, “We cover modest average distances of about 120-km daily and will cover a distance of 2,200-km in 18 days. On our way to Jammu and Kashmir, we travelled through states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan and entered Punjab today. We are taking a support vehicle with us to take care of our belongings and for help in case of emergencies. At each halt, we try to spread awareness about ‘Khelo India’ campaign launched by the Government of India and also motivate people to shun tobacco and drugs. People in every town showered us with affection and appreciation and we didn’t face any problem anywhere,” he added.

The team members responded warmly to the slogan of ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal, Sat Sri Akal’ when the Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh management was offering ‘siropas’.