Cycling

Three months back I bought a six-geared light-weight bicycle with a thought to save on fuel use and physical fitness. Also I wanted to test if motorcycles can be replaced by bicycles.

The two main fears I had were that of stamina and Time.

Stamina: The results of the experiment are astonishing. Now, I regularly cycle upto 20 km and I hardly even feel a bit of tiredness. Rather it energises me. Taking cue from me, a cousin of mine, who is apparantly quite fat is cycling regularly for exercise and he also has no issues with stamina. I wish to cycle more one-day to test further.

TIME: With motorcycle I usually need 1.5 to 2 min/km in city, whereas a small poll suggested that most people have noticed they need 3-4 min per km. (My brother takes 50 min to ride 16 km). Tell me how much time you need on your way back from office (in comments).

On the bicycle I am needing around 3 min/km, in good driving conditions.
I have found the most crucial factors for time is Minimum Braking and Smooth Roads, even if they are not tarred. (Keep your tyre pressures right).

Unlike motorcycles the max speeds of cycles is quite lower, so it is not difficult to minimise braking with some practice and clever driving.

The main problems I am facing are
1. You cannot be very fast if roads are not safe for cycling.
2. You cannot be fast on steeper roads. (I think using front gears can make driving on steeper roads easier.)

Last but the greatest fact is that, since I have started using a cycle, I have started hating riding a motorcycle. One cannot understand this untill he tries it.

Cycle for distances upto 10 km, coupled with use of public transport for longer distances, have almost reduced my use of motorcycle to just 20%.

Cycling is fun! Try it to believe!

Gandhism

Gandhism no more seems to be referred by the same term by young India... It is Gandhigiri in new terms. Though impression of Gandhigiri is just as a problem solving technique, which is the last thing in gandhism.

Filled with negative Feeds about Gandhi from childhood, I began admiring Gandhi when I started to think 'why was he appreciated so much?' so many great leaders must not be fools!

But active involvement and thoughts with it started only after watching this movie and then being made moderator of Gandhi Community on Orkut (as it needed me to visit there often).

Keeping company of many new age gandhian thinkers (www.mk-gandhi.blogspot.com) I am sure to learn this to more depth

First Experiment with Gandhigiri

A small incident that taught me the biggest lesson of my life.

I was on a train back home. As usual, I had walked down from my seat to the door. (I love standing in the door in a train) I noticed a fellow standing in the common area nearby with a packet of baked groundnuts. He was throwing the nut covers on the floor, littering the area.

A supporter of railway's cleanliness drive, I asked him (in a bit stronger voice) not to do it. The fellow was surely unimpressed and backfired saying "What do you have to do with that?"

Defeated, I left the matter on its own, and turned back towards the door to enjoy my time, singing a song. I realised the song I was singing was 'Bande me that dum' from the same movie (Lage Raho Munnabhai) that coined the term Gandhigiri. Remembering a scene from
the movie, where the fellow is told to clean the littered wall, I decided to give it a try.

Committed to keep the floor clean, I turned back and started throwing those covers out of the train without any aversion or hatred towards the fellow.(There was no dustbin) I later realised that what had worked was not my act but the fact that I had shown no aversion. Even a slight aversion towards him or a try to make him feel guilty would have evoked his ego and he might not have had an open mind to understand and correct his mistake. Neutrality is the key.

Our effort to make others accept mistakes is usually to satisfy our own ego of supremacy.

After cleaning the floor, I was back in the door. After few minutes, the same fellow came to me, with a paper packet in which he had collected all covers. He threw all covers out of the door, and gave a smile suggesting his realisation of mistake.

Soon after I found him along with his 1-year old daughter at my seat. I had a good time playing with the child and chatting with this fellow, who told me he was a trader from a small town, though neither of us found a need to discuss the event.

I was quite sure that he shall never litter public places again.

Water is Really Cool!

It's summer and everybody starts preaching "Drink a lot of water!" "2 Litres/8 glassful per day". Almost everybody agrees, but not all follow. Even I had the same problem.

A quick look its usefulness and some tricks may help to improve commitment.

Though Water is a quick respite from heat, there are more benefits. A clean and healthy body, Clear Glowing Skin(Naturopathy) - Rather this is more effective than any cosmetics for skin. [ There are other natural methods, like use of Lemon, use of juicy fruits, Regular bath with a cold water.. needs separate topic].

Quick indicator of water Shortage: Colored Urine. Urine gets diluted (and thus clear) if you drink sufficient water (You can experiment this very easily). This ensures a perfect cleaning. If you drink less, solids in very very small quantities start depositing in the urinary system(due to non-flushing), which over time become some the most painful and harmful diseases. Though there can be other reasons for this, in case you are not well.

"OK Agreed! But I just Don't feel enough thirsty to drink that much water. Does My body need that much water!"
Usually we get thirsty only when the need for water reaches critical condition (Dehydration/Fainting is very critical).
We got to make a forceful habit to drink required water. Do this for a month or two, and you would notice that you automatically start feeling thirsty. The intake will continue on its own. It took me around 1 month to put it in Habit.

To Force yourselves for some days, here are some Quick Tricks.
A friend of mine, keeps a water bottle filled with him at work table at visible place. You unknowingly tend to sip-in at regular intervals.
Some people make a schedule like 2 glass warm water when we get up, 1 glass (half hour) before meal, 2 glass (2 hours) after meal etc. (Needs lot of Discipline!)
I made a decision to drink water whenever I get reminded may be by seeing a water bottle or vessel, Or whenever I remember - Irrespective of whether I feel thirsty or not!

This is Only about Drinking of water.. There are many more ways water can be useful to body.. Keep watching this space!

What's this About?

"Simplicity is the most difficult thing in life." Heard it long ago, but experiencing it now.

We present here implemented experiments and no 'Airy Theory' - And so we name it 'Experiments' with Simplicity. And even when we debate on solutions to problems, we talk on implementation.

Expect to read on any topic, right from health to environment, to psychology to spirituality(my favorite topic) to Community life to Social Life to simple innovations -- In short all Constituents of our life.

The experiments can be from daily life of any of us: Mine, yours (do share with us), famous personalities, or may be anybody.....