We cycled to Alandi and stopped on the way back at Vishrantwadi to catch up with Sachin Kher, who had cycled from Baner to have breakfast. (First round for him, second round for us.) As we were chatting up at Vishrantwadi, a guy in a yellow shirt stepped down from a PMPML bus. We recognised him from our Alandi hotel, where he was seated on the adjacent table. 

Anil said hi to him – and he got talking. He was working with the Ordnance Factory in Kirkee – and had just been transferred from Nagpur. What made the chat longer was when he realised that he was also an avid cyclist – but his cycle had yet to be shipped from Nagpur along with his luggage. 

So what got DP into cycling? Funnily, it was insulin. DPis about 5ft 8 inch and weighed 108 kg in 2017. His sugar levels crossed 500 in May 2021 – and he was put on 3 injections of insulin everyday. He remembered his doctor counselling him that diabetes is a disease which has no cure. The only things that you have to do for stayin’ alive – discipline and medicine. 

DP then picked up cycling. What did he have to lose? He started cycling 10 km a day, then started going to work on cycle. (Btw, cycles are allowed in Ordnance factories, phones aren’t.) Every Sunday, much to the chagrin of his wife, he would cycle 30 km away to the Adasa Ganesh temple on a hill, have his darshan and cycle back. 

His doc – the same discipline and medicine type – was flummoxed. Sugar levels were dropping. The insulin injection frequency was reduced – and then stopped. By Sep 21, the medicines were stopped too. DP has been off medicine for the last 10 months. His weight is now a steady 84 kg. And yes, he does credit Ganesh for the recovery too. He thanks the Lord in a very different way. When most folks go to temples to offer something to the Gods – DP goes to the Ganesh temple and cleans up the garbage generated by the other disciples. DP knows more about health now than most doctors – A living God! 

Hope to have him in our cycling group once his cycle arrives from Nagpur.