A solo bike ride across India - 115 days , 35 cities , 18000
kms.
How does that sound to you? Adventurous? Crazy? Risky? That
is the normal for Prashant - My first
meet-up buddy this year.
When I thought about meeting people in real, I was very sure
it is not going to be an easy task. It meant you are asking for commitment from
one more person and I was wondering how many will actually be interested in this exercise. However, there were few faces that came to my mind who I knew will
surely make it and he was on top of the list. And sure enough when I shared the
post about my intention, he was the first to comment and the first to show up on the very first week of the year as
well 😊
I first met this guy more than a decade ago though Chrysallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged, Bangalore (integrating children with and without challenges) which was a special part of
our lives for many many years. We were volunteering for this NGO and was part of the core group who lead the different events and also inducted other volunteers for the programmes. Later when the frequency of Chrysallis events came down, we all went different ways. But atleast a small bunch dedicatedly found reasons to meet though not as much as we did in the olden days and kept the friendship alive.
Prashant always stood out with his wackiness and sense of humor and also the unique decisions he made. He always loved exploring the untrodden paths. I still remember the shock I got when the Power Of One was announced and remember telling him the dangers of going to Leh-Ladakh and the northeast all alone in a motor bike. But he was unfazed and full of confidence. It is the same conviction and confidence that will make you admire him when he does Slacklining or when he quit corporate to be a stay at home dad (allowing his wife to pursue her career) or when he empowers his toddler to make her own choices and decisions or when he follow Keto without a single cheat day for more than 6 months and counting (esp with the fact that he is big foodie)
He is someone who shows you how to Live With Purpose, Conviction, Mindfulness, and Confidence and I am so glad I have these kind of unique friendships to cherish and learn from.
PS: After chatting on so many topics we forgot to take a pic of ourselves 😒 So I am flicking one pic of this lovely family from FB and look at those smiles 💖
