Indian Coastal Cycling Expedition


Chasing Dreams!


As I take to pen this article, I remember the words of Langston Hughes who said, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly”.


When I swallowed the anchor after 15 years of naval service, way back in early 1998, I had a dream!


Having sailed around the Indian Subcontinent and having seen many a shore from the seas, having braved the occasional stormy seas and the cyclones, having enjoyed rounds of Rum along with fellow seafarers along the docks, having seen many sunrises and sunsets from the seas, it was my dream to walk along the entire coast of the Indian Peninsula - about 7,500 kilometres of it in total - including the Islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar, and to see every kilometre of it and watch the sea from the shores! Such a wonderful dream it was!


Back in 1998 (as any young 30 something would do) I set off to work towards my dream. I was working hard to make enough money to put food on the table and partially support a family of 5 then. Times were good, luck was on my side - I was working longer and longer hours.


As any aspiring and hardworking young man, I was climbing the rungs of the so called “Corporate Ladder”. Success of one assignment leading to another challenging assignment. From being an Assistant to someone to managing an SBU of the firm (working for a pay cheque) …. to setting up my own little enterprise…. saw me gain ‘Social Status’.


86 | The Report • June 2022 • Issue 100


A house of my own followed, then another one and then an office premises of my own. A Scooter that was switched for a hatch back car – then a sedan and an SUV, countless personal possessions, dining at the best restaurants. I was realising small materialistic dreams. I was being honoured and felicitated at the best of the Institutions. Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs was working perfectly!


Roll forwards to New Year’s Eve 2019. I suddenly realised I could not hide the salt and pepper beard. The hourglass was turned and I was close to start the second innings of my life - the ONLY life I had.


2020 started with a bang on the personal front - and then COVID happened. Depressing news all over India and the world of people succumbing to COVID. With a hospital opposite my home, the low-pressure alarms of the Medical Oxygen Bank were a constant reminder that more and more people were having a tough time, who did not manage to be fit and immune enough.


That was a ‘Warning Bell’. I was not going to be a part of the game called COVID. I needed to work on my overall fitness levels and be as agile and fit as possible (not that I was not fit, but just that I needed to work on going a notch higher). As an avid trekker I opted for a winter trek along with three of my friends to a Himalayan high-altitude lake at Bramhatal. That required me to undergo a workout regime to give objective evidence of my fitness.


By Milind Tambe HonFIIMS


At the flag off ceremony at Goa


Displaying the sponsors branding


At INS Vishwakarma


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