CHENNAI: The Golden Quadrilateral is many a biker’s dream. A 5,846-km circuit with the cities of Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai as its markers. For Rotarian Kalaivani and racer A Soundari aka Sindy, this dream came with a couple of mighty addons. They were setting out to not just break the group record for the gruelling route, they were also out to raise awareness for Rotary District 3232’s latest initiative Project Orange.
While road construction work and endless city traffic may have extended their 100- hour ride by a good 22 hours, stealing them of a chance at breaking the record, but there’s plenty that came from it. The plan was to do it in April 2020, begins Kalaivani. While Limca Book of Records had approved the ride then, Rotary had not been in the picture.
All was well till the pandemic broke out and Kalaivani had to push her plans. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it before March this year. So, I started planning for it again in January. Last year, I did not reach out for any sponsors and I wasn’t a Rotarian then. This time, when I spoke to my president (S Muthu Palaniappan) about it, he came forward with sponsorship and asked us to promote the district’s flagship project,” she recounts.
Tapping on experiences
Sindy had done this before. An all-India ride that covered every state and union territory; that’s 16,210 kilometres in 42 days in 2018 for the cause of prevention of sexual harassment and violence against women. This fetched her a place in the India Book of Records. When she was asked to join Kalaivani on this venture, she was all in. It was just a matter of figuring out the logistics.
“My experience from the all-India ride helped at several places in this journey. I had already sampled the different food cultures, climatic conditions and terrain across the country.
So, I knew how to handle the journey this time; from what kind of hydration I should take, how to supplement for energy when we couldn’t spend much time on food. We were equipped with ORS, water bags and the food we packed for us,” she narrates. While the virus had not been a primary concern, given that they barely stopped anywhere, refrained from eating outside food/drinks and were on the road continuously, there were certainly other concerns on the road. But, the women were prepared for it. “Being a rider, we’re used to all kinds of threats and problems that could arise.
From my end, I was also responsible to make sure that I ride safely and cautiously. I am responsible for my co-rider’s safety as well. So, one precaution I take is that I don’t stop anywhere on the road except at the fuel station; especially during the night time. We also had updates from riders across India about area-wise safety,” shares Kalaivani, who is also a record-holder. Fuel stations especially Shell and Indian Oil stations that come with well-maintained dorms turned out to be the perfect place for a pit stop and power nap. This went a long way in keeping up their spirits, particularly by day three when the lack of proper food and sleep begins to take a toll on the body, says Sindy.
Spreading the message
Amid all these practical concerns, it’s utter belief in the cause that had them push the extra mile. For Kalaivani, who has seen first hand what delayed attention to eye health can result in, there was no questioning the need for Project Orange. “My father-in-law had cataract in one eye. He ignored it and by the time he went for treatment, they couldn’t do anything about it. And he lost vision in that eye. When it comes to pain, we give it a lot of attention and go to the doctor. But, the problems in the body that come without pain, we choose to ignore.
Project Orange is trying to address this kind of ignorance. They do a door-to-door check-up for a minimum cost and try to find out the issues at the early stage, ” says Kalaivani. It’s with word-of-mouth messages and social media buzz that they tried to raise awareness for this project, instead of the stop-and-share ride system. And this is sure to have taken the cause to a good number of people, suggests Sindy. The idea of Project Orange is to address avoidable blindness. For people who do not have access to hybrid vision centres, this would offer many services and almost for free, says Anshul Aggarwal of Rotary Club of Chennai Galaxy.
“The idea is to have 200 vision centres in and around Tamil Nadu; many of them will be in Chennai. We plan to do this by end of June. So far, 10 centres a few in Chennai, a few on the outskirts and one in Thiruthani — have already been inaugurated,” he details. While Kalaivani and Sindy may have not managed to break the current record of of 108 hours and 35 minutes, they do stand to establish a brand new benchmark under Limca Book of Records’ recently introduced women’s category for this particular challenge. While Kalaivani would prefer not to take the win just by the advantage of her gender, it’s an honour that may still befall the team. We’ll know soon.
Previous ride
Sindy had done an all-India ride that covered every state and union territory; that’s 16,210 kilometres in 42 days in 2018 for the cause of prevention of sexual harassment and violence against women.