Odisha on Cycle
It was quite an incidental decision to tour Odisha on cycle; as a cycling enthusiast, a weeklong solo cycle tour was in the back of my mind for some time now. Odisha too, the only coastal state in India I have never been. “Odisha on Cycle” sounded me a perfect plan during the upcoming winter vacations. Le tour de Odisha! Then why not make it for a social cause? There I go, got a pair of placards with the slogans “I am doing this for you and our planet” in English at the pannier rack, and “Cycling for Health and Environment” written in Odia on the front handlebar (ଉତ୍ତମ ଶରୀର ଓ ପରିବେଶ ପାଇଁ ସାଇକେଲ ଚାଳନା)
Railroad Journey
Marred with long 5 hrs delay right from the onset, the train (Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani 20818) didn't give the best of the train experience I was looking foreword to. Besides, the delay affected the catering too, which came as a big surprise. Travellers were complaining “its already 4.30p, where is the soup, let alone lunch?” I reported the incident to IRCTC via phone-based logging system, yet no response or action.
I shared the AC3 coupe with folks from IFFCO, a fertilizer company based at Paradeep, Odisha. At times I would presume them to be on heated altercation with loud shouting, seemingly physical abuse (slapping on face) and so on, but it would turn out those were all part of their camaraderie. I noticed the so-called “personal space” was very less for Odia people; many times they would touch each other (and me too). Odia people have no problem eating from the same plate, as I would see throughout my trip. My co-travellers were chewing paan many times a day, a quintessential part of the Odia culture. They were watching movies on their phone, annoyingly on speaker mode (then I would don my Anker SoundCore noise-cancelling headphones, and listen evergreen songs of Akshaya Mohanty). Train traversed through some of the scenic areas in Jharkhand (my first ever visit), though intense fog and the fact that I was in an airconditioned coach (SL is my favourite, but no SL in Rajadhani) prevented me to enjoy the scenery.
Cycle Tour
The bike was Btwin Riverside 500 hybrid, the same cycle I use for my daily commute to university. This particular model I rented from 22bikes, a bike shop in Bhubaneshwar, had V brakes and 3 x 9 gears (minor difference from the newer version that I use). With a fully packed pannier, I set out on my first ever solo cycling tour from Bhubaneshwar on 23rd December- the journey would last next one week. The course I followed was popularly called the golden triangle, pretty touristy places in Odisha: Bhubaneshwar- Puri- Konark-Puri-Chillika Lake-Puri-Bhubaneshwar. A thoroughly scenic ride throughout, I was lucky that the weather was conducive with lots of sunshine and favourable winds. Advertisements of Dalmia Cement were everywhere; Dalmia sounded like dalma, the famous Odia dish. Perhaps Dalmia is an Odisha based company! I rode at comfortable 19kph speed on average, slowly relishing the scenic beauty of Odisha which included butterflies, migratory birds, water bodies with red waterlilies, rivers including the majestic Nua Nai River, and so on.
Puri-Konark route (“Marine Drive”) was the most picturesque section of the whole trip. Coincidentally I was riding to Konark, famous for its sun temple, on 26th December 2019, the day of the annular solar eclipse!
Noteworthy spoilsport was motorcyclists coming from the wrong direction, throughout my tour. I haven't seen this killjoy anywhere else in India; isn't honouring traffic rules responsibility of everyone who uses the road? Bhubaneshwar had pink bike lanes in many sections of the city (a good effort, Odisha govt!), but sad to see people blatantly abusing it; cars and motorcycles park there, vendors sell their stuff right on the lane and so on. The city had way too much traffic and too many violations (motorcyclists coming from the wrong direction), obviously, I didn't have a good time cycling in the city.
It was for the first time in my life I was riding a cycle with placards, an entirely new experience. Onlookers would carefully read the placard instead of looking on my face. In one sense, it was those two slogans touring the state, while me- a mere carrier. At times motorcyclists riding at the front would turn their head back to read the placard and stop after a few meters, signalling me to stop for their chitchat (which I never did, delivering a minor insult to them!) Many would then ride slowly next to me, and initiate the jabber, a more appropriate way to talk with cyclists, which I promptly welcomed. Mostly they wanted to know my route, how long I had been riding etc. Many asked my profession, a few were literally stunned that I am a university professor (one even commented “you are a class-A Gazetted officer, why can't you rent a cab?”). Many passengers from overtaking buses would also look at my placard, so as passengers sitting at the rear seat of cars. From Konark to Puri ride, I saw a girl sitting at the rear seat of 4x4 looking at my placard and keep on kissing me, “der Luftkuss”! That did bring a smile on my face :-)
I took breaks after every 1 hour of riding, mostly at “Betel” shops that can be seen everywhere in Odisha. At one shop while relishing ginger tea, the owner asked me the cost of my cycle. Hearing that it cost Rs. 25,000, his wife, a middle-aged lady, ridiculed, “if you have that much money, why can't you buy a motorcycle instead?” That's how our talks would begin. I would then explain the benefits of cycling for health and the environment. I would ask them to read the placard, which not many could read (at 73%, the literacy rate in Odisha isn't that high), so I would explain them in my broken Hindi.
Of all the places I went, a small town by the name Brahmapuri was quite notable. Cycle density in the town was exceptionally high. I saw cyclists on doubles so many times, even middle-aged ladies with nice handbags on cycle doubles (obviously they were commuting to the workplace). Like carpooling, they were cycle-pooling. I have seen such a widespread cycling culture at Varanasi as well. Wish rest of India follows these cities.
By the time I finished the tour, the app Strava that I use to log the biking statistics informed me that I have cycled 3498 kilometres in 2019. That means on average I cycled 9.58 km every single day in 2019. Not a big deal, anyone can do it. So please do, for your health, and our planet
Beach Cleanup Drive
It was way back in 2014 when I visited Varkala beach, Kerala as part of my sampling expedition that I saw a group of foreign tourists picking up the trash there. It literally carried me away, they were mere visitors touring my state, and look at what were they doing? Aren’t they giving Malayali onlookers a message to pick up the rubbish? I followed them and joined their efforts that day.
In this trip at Puri, 10 of my past and present students (Ashutosh, Suman, Rikina, Bibhu, Deepak, Nishibala, Archana, Debashish, Avijit, and Rashmi) joined me for the beach cleanup drive, bringing a new meaning to my Odisha trip. We spent the entire Christmas afternoon picking up plastic trashes from Puri Beach. This drive hopefully sent a strong message to the onlookers why it is a collective responsibility to pick up the trash. We were surprised to see the extent of diapers that people litter at the beach. Why can't we promote to use reusable cloth diapers instead? I am happy to see my friends in Kerala promoting the use of reusable silicone menstrual cups instead of disposable sanitary pads. m-cups are getting hugely popular in many villages, especially at Mayyil, Kannur. Kudos to their efforts. Let us do this elsewhere in the country too.
On a sad note, we saw a large number of dead olive Riddley turtles washed ashore at Puri beach. Both adults and juveniles looked perfectly healthy otherwise. Perhaps some kind of environmental contamination, a dire issue that needs to be addressed.
Rest of Odisha
Besides obviously enjoying my rides, I did see a few places as well, which included the tribal museum, Institute of Life Sciences- Bhubaneswar, Khandagiri caves, Puri Jagannath temple, Konark Sun temple and Chilika Lake.
I was mostly eating street foods that Odisha has plenty to offer; I never had any stomach problems. I have fallen in love with Odia culinary; especially if you are a vegetarian the state has plenty to offer, like Kanika, Dalma, Kosala saga bhaja, Besara, Dahi baigana, Kalama saga bhaja, Kadali manza pitha and so on. I also enjoyed Spice-Up, Odisha's own soft drink.
I stayed at lodges mostly. “Labanya Lodge”, Konark came as a big surprise, as the owner was a Japanese lady (who fell in love with an Odia man decade ago and relocated to Konark). I refreshed my Japanese skills with the family. 日本人に会って日本語を話すのはいつも幸せ. “Hotel E-Taj”, Puri was so bad (on a positive note, GoIbibo refunded the whole expense after my complaint). Stay at “Collection O Sun City”, Puri didn't go that well though; somebody at night broke my placard holder, bike electric bell and derailed the chain. That incident was the only bad memory in my entire Odisha trip. Stay at “Vastukar Retreat”, Bhubaneshwar was super comfortable.
In summary, I loved Cycling in Odisha experience. I love Odisha, and would definitely come back to this beautiful state. Kind people, delicious food, sunshine days…what more a cyclist need? Thanks to my students who tremendously supported this trip from planning to execution, especially Rikina, Ashutosh, and Aseema. Thanks Ashutosh, Nishibala, Bibhu and Avijit for your fantastic guided tour of Jagannath Temple, Puri and absolutely delicious mahaprasad treat. Thanks Rikina for Puri-Khaja treat. Big thanks to all of you. ଧନ୍ୟବାଦ୍ dhanyabaad. ありがとうございました. Danke.
Times of India covered this story, accessible here.
