The Explorers | Cycling & Sunrises

Vandita Bajaj, Class of 2020

Cycling enthusiasts Srinidhi (UG’ 20) and Manasa (UG’20) have chosen to ditch the shuttle from campus to Jahangirpuri in exchange for cycles. Instead of heading to Delhi on the weekends, they cycle to uncharted terrains and, in the process, discover the hidden gems in our vicinity.

Srinidhi’s passion for cycling and the outdoors goes back to his school days. The no-cycles policy at Ashoka did not deter him from sneaking his cycle onto campus. While he has done his share of solo trips and plans to do more interesting expeditions in the near future, he believes cycling is a great community-building activity as well. Manasa rediscovered her love for cycling and found that the area around campus is not so bad after all. She has been made to feel welcome by the locals as well had her moments of anxiety and fear that Haryana can induce.

But both of them feel Ashoka could do with a regular dose of positivity and, according to them, cycling is the way to go!

Vandita: How did you come up with the Weekend Cycling initiative?

Srinidhi: I, along with my friends Rithvik (UG ‘20) and Ayush (UG ‘20), went on a crazy cycling trip. It ended with Ayush chipping his front two teeth and Rithvik landing on both his knees. But they both came back and still wanted to do it again. It’s magical, in a sense, what cycling can do.

Vandita: Where did you guys go?

Srinidhi: We went to Kerala for a cycling trip. And then in the mid-semester break of last semester, we went to Pune, back to my old school. They have an amazing outdoor education program there; I wanted to see how they do it so that we can somewhat emulate it here. We were blown away, but we didn’t know where to begin. They gave us some great advice: “just start!” They said just take people and go out there, the rest will happen on its own. That led us to find a cycle shop in Sonepat, which gave us brand new bikes on rent. We started last semester for a few weeks, and there was a farewell ride for the batches graduating at the time. At that time it was just word of mouth because we didn’t know how it was going to go. We wanted to do a test run and see whether it was actually feasible before sending any mass emails and having people injure themselves. So we did it slowly. And we got to know that this isn’t just a dusty industrial place. It’s a beautiful farmland with amazing sunrises and sunsets, and rivers, ponds, and irrigation. We slowly discovered this area and realised that people here aren’t as scary as we thought. We now know what’s a safe time, safe places to go. We have become more familiar with the surroundings.

Vandita: You plan on becoming an official club this year. What happens from that point onward?

Srinidhi: The first and foremost thing is that we want to make more people as enthusiastic as us. We just want to infect people with the cycling fever. Initially, we’re just going to get people together who feel like they’d like to participate. The idea isn’t just to have rides every weekend but also help more people bring their bikes to campus, help them buy bikes and gear because renting isn’t really sustainable. Then, with the group that we have, we want to go on more trips, explore the area, instill enough confidence that they can go out on their own on solo trips or as group leaders. I just want more people to come and try it out for themselves.

Manasa: It is a great way to socialise. You are essentially on a trip with strangers. But you are out somewhere, and you are vulnerable together. Honestly, it is a really relaxing way to meet new people. At the end of the trip, you are just great friends. There is a barrier that breaks down.

Vandita: What has the response been like so far?

Manasa: We are used to doing rides with undergraduate students. There is a certain familiarity there because we are undergrads as well. But I did this ride with YIFs, and in the beginning, I was like “I don’t know any of these people; this is gonna be so odd.” I think that in the beginning, even they didn’t know each other. The ride happened at the beginning of their orientation week so it was really early in the YIF academic year. When we went out, it was a sizable group. Now, we still these people together, which makes me really happy! Like, I see these familiar YIF faces and I see them interact with each other, and I think, “That’s where it started.”

Srinidhi: Yeah, I see a lot of this.

Manasa: There have been people who’ve been like, “Last time I rode a cycle was when I was in school”. I like to see people break out of that inertia. I think that I had it as well. I used to cycle a lot two years ago, but then this helped me get back into it. The first weekend I went cycling, I was like “I can’t believe how much I missed this!” There is something to cycling, especially with other people. Even in my first year, I would cycle around the Ashoka campus. But that doesn’t compare to going outside where there’s this new terrain.

Srinidhi: It’s really personal.

Manasa: It has a physical effect on you.

Srinidhi: It’s so different than being on the shuttle and travelling between Jahangirpuri and campus. The space in between is just a question mark, its left unexplored.

Manasa: One of the things that cycling did is make me see the surroundings, like Asawarpur and Rai, as a place that I could visit for the heck of it. Earlier it was only if I absolutely needed to go out, to get my sim card checked or something mundane like that. Mostly, when I stepped out of Ashoka it was to go to Delhi. But the area so close by, I wouldn’t have considered going out there in the beginning because I thought of it as a dry and dusty place, but there’s so much more!

Vandita: What are the trips you guys have taken so far?

Srinidhi: I’ve been taking people to the Yamuna and to Murthal. We did one long trip to Murthal and went around Sonepat. It was a big group. We found this beautiful canal and a road that follows it. We discovered it on the map and really wanted to check it out, it was absolutely worth it!

Manasa: I take people around the education city. There are universities that surround this paddy field area. We go around that. There are these tractor-like paths. There’s a dirt track that snakes into the paddy fields. These fields are at the base, and you have cliffs circling the roads on which we cycle. I saw irrigation systems which I had never heard of before. And the dirt track is so much fun! Especially after the rain. Everyone was trying to clean themselves, and the farmers were just talking, engaging with us. It was so nice. I thought they would treat us like outsiders but they were really welcoming.

Srinidhi: It’s a tradition to stop at a tubewell and just jump in and cool off.

Vandita: And the farmers let you?

Srinidhi: Sometimes, there’s nobody to ask. Sometimes there were people who were treating it like a hot tub, just sitting and chilling.

Vandita: Have you’ve done this distance cycling before?

Manasa: I haven’t done long distance. But I used to do it years ago, and after that, I kind of stopped.

Srinidhi: I have been doing it since school, so it’s been a long time.

Vandita: What was your first cycling experience at Ashoka like?

Srinidhi: The first time was after the mid-semester break in the first semester because that was when I brought my folding bike. There was a no-cycle policy on campus at the time, and I snuck it in a box. I would keep it in my cupboard because it was foldable. If anyone I asked, I would say it was a wheelchair. Then I’d just go and explore, before bringing people I wanted to see it myself. I’m from the South, and this is my first time living anywhere North of Pune. I was genuinely scared. My perception was that this whole place is going to be full of crime and terror and whatnot. I was genuinely terrified. And I still am, to a slight extent, wary but then people are generally nice. I’ve noticed that if you have a smile and you are laughing, people have no reason to doubt you.

Manasa: For me, every night from midnight to 1 AM, I would just ride around the campus and listen to music. It was in the summer semester this year when I went out to cycle. When I did, it was so fun. We even made friends with two or three little boys riding their little cycles; they would come along with us. We began to have this friendship as well.

Vandita: All of us think that Ashoka is isolated, that we’re in the middle of nowhere. But with you guys going out, has that changed your relationship with the area around?

Manasa: I am not gonna hide the fact that I thought everyone outside this campus would really be really stern and have this animosity towards us because we imposed ourselves in this place. But then, you go out and everyone is smiling, laughing. This weekend, we stopped somewhere because we were really tired. There was this whole panchayat setting, and there was a hookah in the middle. And all of them were sitting and laughing. And they see me just standing and they pull out a chair and invite me to sit with them. That was really sweet! All the time, while I was there, I was thinking, “Are they not going to like me standing here? Do they like seeing women outside cycling and all that? Are my pants too short?” But then it turns out they pull out a chair and go, “come sit with us.”

Srinidhi: I have noticed that the older generation is most welcoming. Generally, people are very sweet. But that’s not to say that we haven’t ever felt uncomfortable. I have asked people about their experiences and they have been upfront about the fact that they felt unsafe. I can see why. We have gotten our fair share of glares and stares.

Manasa: I think it’s the younger men, around the 20–30 year age group. They’re on their bikes and they make no secret of the fact that they are staring at you. What helps is that when we’re in a group, I am less bothered by it. But I know if I was out there alone, I would be terrified.

Vandita: Is that a concern that both of you face? You feel there is safety in numbers?

Srinidhi: Yeah, a group is always safer. In the morning, it’s fewer people and no one really bothers you because it’s really early. In the evenings we have to be more wary. I do go out on my own in the evening sometimes, but I am extra cautious. You can see the sun is setting, people start drinking and settling for cards.

Manasa: You can see the women flocking to their houses. It’s very clear that it’s not safe anymore. You better keep off the street, regardless of gender. There was this time we were circling the paddy fields on these roads, and then we see this black car. Instead of a number plate, it had some caste-pride related message. No numbers, just a red plate. They were not even going at a normal place. They’re slowly going past us. I was so scared! And then they stopped a little ahead of us, they got out of the car. That was it — we turned around and went in the opposite direction.

Vandita: Have you had other encounters? Have there been moments where you thought “what am I doing?”

Srinidhi: There was a group of young bikers being really loud. I don’t know; I just went around that place. We’re always cautious about these things.

Manasa: At least it’s not overpopulated, so in that sense, there’s not an overload of sensory information. It’s easy to be cautious. It’s not that you don’t have to be anxious at all, but it’s easy to be cautious. The roads are so empty, especially in this area. If someone’s afraid of getting out on the roads of Delhi, it’s a nice way to get used to driving on roads.

Vandita: In what ways do you think your initiative contributes to the culture at Ashoka?

Srinidhi: I feel like there is a lack of things on campus that create positivity. There are very few things that generate a sense of belonging. Frisbee does a great job of it! I definitely hope we can do more in that regard through cycling. Also, Ashoka is new and that means we can really mold the space. I don’t want to leave without having put a nice brick in the wall.

Manasa: I hope it does not become a cult! I hope it never happens with cycling. I hope it holds its appeal and positivity. I haven’t done nearly as much cycling as some of the other people have, but I feel comfortable. It’s a welcoming space, and I like that.

Vandita: What is the one piece of advice that you want to give to people who are intimidated by cycling?

Srinidhi: I always tell people this: they should think about the time they had the most fun in their life and multiply that by ten because that’s what cycling is!

Manasa: Just try it! It’s cliched but don’t worry about falling. Don’t worry about getting embarrassed, no one is going to laugh at you. Rather, we will give you something to laugh about!

The author is an Arts & Culture staff writer for The Edict.