My GATA Loop Conundrum

My last article was on my organization transformation experience in May 2022, and then I had promised myself that I would scribble a few more ??.

So finally, as another year comes to an end, here, I am penning down my experience of a cycling expedition that was no less transformational for me. I drew quite a few life lessons for myself, having finished this journey that pushed me hardest till date, on both, my physical and mental limits.

I am sure many are already aware that I am talking about the route from Manali to LEH which is one of the most challenging routes for any biking or cycling enthusiast.

“My Gata loop Conundrum” would be a very apt title to these life lessons that I draw for myself from this journey. The reason for this is that I realized post this journey that ones most difficult or most challenging part of any Journey can also be ones strongest depending on the decisions one makes in those moments. The satisfaction one derives from any life journey depends on how one solves his/her “Gata Loop conundrum”.

So, now without much ado let me dive into the “Gata Loop Conundrum”:

From Manali to LEH after cycling close to five demanding days I reached the most difficult stretch of the journey which are “The Gata Loops” – these are 21 loops covering 10 odd kms with gain of close to 2000 ft. If these Gata Loops where not enough to kill me, I realised that post Gata loops there were 11 more kms of steep Nakela pass to finish before I could hang up the boots for the day. When I was on this journey, I had lot of questions for myself that I had no answers and was thinking at every turn of simply quitting and giving up but somehow something kept me going. Finally when I reached the Dhaba at the end of Nakela pass, I had decided with few others that I would quit, and we would catch a bus the next morning. That night I slept the best and next morning I woke up in peaceful state of mind. To surprise of rest of the group I decided to continue the cycling journey.

So, what happened that night and how did I resolve my “Gata Loop Conundrum”?. When I refer back on the event here are my notes from my journal:

• During the Gata loops at one point when I had given up, the pickup truck was full to take any more cyclists and instead of waiting I cycled further on.
• One of co-riders Bhavin, with whom I spoke when I was experiencing giddiness, asked me to pop a tablet and move one, and I simply followed his advice.
• Till that point I was cycling with fear not to fail, but that night having decided to quit, I realised that I could simply enjoy the journey since I knew I can quit anytime.
• Having done the most difficult stretch and survived, I also realised I was stronger to survive anything further on in the journey.
• There were many other younger cyclists who had many BRMs behind them and who had quit and seeing this I realized that what matters is how one feels each day is important and since that morning after the most tough stretch I was fine I should continue.

Now when I lookback I see that there are for me, some of the lessons that go beyond this Journey. In life, there would be many such “Gata Loop” moments and its important how one resolves them to enjoy the true happiness and satisfaction.

Some life lessons that I draw for myself:

• In tough situations easy way out is not the best thing in the long haul (e.g., jumping on pickup truck esp. when u have 2 lifelines…)
• Being flexible in tough situations helps (e.g., for a person who thinks painkillers are bad but when colleague advised I simply popped it and that helped me to go on...)
• Fear of failure is biggest barrier for happiness. So, my mantra is to visualize what failure means and once one is fine with it, there is nothing to fear.
• In tough situations past success doesn’t mean anything, and any kind of prejudice based on the past is not a great thing, what is more important is attitude.
• The toughest stage in the challenge should not be the reason to quit and resilience matters.

I see that all of the above also hold true for challenging transformation changes and may be people who demonstrate many of the above traits do derive happiness and satisfaction facing those transformation challenges.

Important Disclaimer : I am not really an avid cyclist (no BRM, no 100,..) and the reason why I have been able to in past 3 years finish 3 Himalayan cycle routes is I am bitten by the mountains and see that the best to explore is simply to cycle. This particular Manali - LEH happened because I was inspired by some of our own Bosch cycling stalwarts : Arun Shankar Jacob Peter Subbaramu Gundurao Rohit Chandrashekhar