Indian Association Shanghai conducted Cycling event as part of the Fit India initiative on 7th March 2021 at Pudong side riverfront.
What an exciting moment for us, Shanghai Kannadigaru team as most of the volunteers of the event were from our own volunteer’s team. It all started when Manjunath Mysore volunteered himself at the beginning, when IA team didn’t even call for it. After a while, when the number of participants started to grow, IA team called for additional volunteers. It was at that moment, we (Mohini Vikas, Reena Mayur, Vivek Achar, Sathish Kumar and Jayanthi Nayak) enrolled as a volunteer.
On the event day, Manjunath reached the venue early in the morning to update all the group members about the weather conditions as few of them raised a concern that it might rain hence might be windy so will be difficult for cycling. But sooner Manjunath started to post the update of weather conditions and everyone were geared up for the event.
Rest of the volunteer’s team reach the venue around 12pm that day. Once the organising team arrived, they started distributing windcheater, head band, cap and wrist band and also a coupon for samosa and hot tea.
With great enthusiasm we volunteers called for a taxi to reach our designated venue with the whistle and flag. There were 4 teams of volunteers, each team being given a point at which we had to stand:
-2 volunteers at South Wall turning point – Manjunath, Sathish
-2 volunteers at Nanpu bride turning point – Vivek, Jayanthi
-2 volunteers at midway point of 20 kms route; Reena, Mohini
-2 volunteers at midway point of 10 kms route; Tushar, Shilpa
Volunteers were responsible for assisting with first aid or if there’s any bike breakdown, taking photos/group photo with riders at turning points etc.
Among the participants we had Shruthi KL, Vikas Laxman, Vittal Mallya, Girish Baddur, Sathish Kumar, Manjunath Mysore, Mayur Chabbi and our little champ Pranavi from the Shanghai Kannadigaru.
Once the participants reached the final destination, they were honoured with trophy. Hot tea and Samosa were served at the end to enjoy the memorable day in a cloudy weather.
Consulate General of India, Shanghai, Mr. Nanda Kumar addressed the gathering at the end and congratulated the participants. Volunteers were appreciated for their efforts during the vote of thanks.
Author: Mohini Vikas
