This Mother’s Day, take out the rusty cycle and hop on the seat for a pedalling adventure with this 48-year-old mother, Sucheta Khatri, who chose to renew an age-old passion. She was earlier a teacher at The British School, she now offers consultancy to other teachers, gives tuition and when she is not juggling her household chores with all of the above-mentioned activities, you can find her on a bicycle seat, encouraging other women to hop on. She cycles with children, Air Force officers, and other mothers and has become an inspiration for all those mothers who are unsure of what to do with their spare time at hand.
The daughter of a World War 2 soldier, Sucheta was inspired by her father who managed to cycle every day at the age of 89 years old without a knee cap. Her son, Captain Rohan Khatri, was another stimulus for her new found faith in her abilities. When asked what drove her to this bicycle expedition she recounted, “My father had a brain hemorrhage while he was cycling, something he had inculcated in his everyday routine. If he can do it, then what was stopping me. My son, Rohan, who is part of the Indian Army, was no less an inspiration. They climb a number of mountains and the temperatures they do it in. I believe my work was laid out for me. I just had to hop onto the bicycle.”
What Sucheta did not know when she was embarking on the tiny seat of a cycle after years was that it would become her life. Her cycling routine includes her hitting the roads by 3:30 or 4:00 AM. “The biggest challenge was convincing my children that I was in no danger and I could handle myself, basically making them comfortable with the idea of cycling, that too in Delhi. As a diabetic patient, this was the best way to control my fluctuating sugar levels.”
Sucheta begins her day at 3:30 AM.
Sucheta began by walking 12 to 13 kilometers every day and eventually it translated to pedaling the same amount each day. Today, she cycles upto 40 kms everyday. Her latest pedaling adventure was to Damdama Lake in Haryana, covering a distance of 103 kilometers.
Sucheta Khatri on a recent cycling tour.
“I don’t think I was ever a gym person, I have always been an outdoor person,” she admits. Sucheta plans to train for a cycling trip to Leh- Ladakh and believes that nothing is impossible.
While many of her friends tend to take a U-turn, Sucheta is determined. She says, “Delhi and maids don’t go together. Even though Delhi’s temperatures can be quite sapping, I have learnt to balance things out. In fact, after a cycling trip, my entire day gets boosted automatically.”
Sucheta started off from a pedalthon to raise awareness for environment protection with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She has also cycled to many of Delhi’s hotspots like Sanjay Van, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, etc.
Sucheta (second from right) on an offroading cycle trip through the forest of Sanjay Van in Delhi
Sucheta with her cycling group at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi.
The mother of two and teacher for many is unstoppable. She says, “I don’t think there is any age for learning and trying new things. That is one reason I enjoy riding the bike more than a car. You can miss out so much in traffic, but a cycling tour which takes you off the road can teach you so much. You can really see your surroundings and appreciate nature. I think that is what we need more than anything else today.”
This story is an inUth Original.
