Navratri 2024: This cycling group in Mira-Bhayandar will celebrate the festival with a ride and garba

While garba enthusiasts across the city will find it a challenge to wake up after their long nights at Durga Puja pandals community Mira Bhayandar Cycling Association MBCA will awaken before sunrise ride out in matching jerseys and bicycles and welcome each day of Navaratri with an energetic garba sessionDay one commenced at 530 am yesterday where twenty cyclists sporting yellow jerseys gathered at Golden Nest Circle in Mira Bhayandar ldquoIt yellow was the colour of the day We started cycling before sunrise and rode all the way to JP Road At 630 am we formed a circle on the side of the road with our cycles in the centre turned on the Bluetooth speakers and started performing garbardquo shares below Irfan Shaikh founder MBCAThe cyclists will begin the ride at 530 am every day and explore heritage sites en route before reaching a destination to perform garbaPlaying garba at the break of dawn might sound odd to most people but the cyclists have a reason Community member and bicycle mayor Amar Nadgeri believes that cycling in Mira Bhayandar in the early hours helps one view the neighbourhoodrsquos underrated sites better ldquoWe are blessed with a beautiful coastline featuring Uttan Velankanni and Gorai As morning people it made sense for us to celebrate the festival in the early hours of the day when the air is fresh and there is less traffic on the roadsrdquo he explains To this end Shaikh a fulltime auditor adds ldquoMost of us are working professionals and begin our day by 830 am Meeting up early ensures that we donrsquot have to rush our gatherings We can enjoy a peaceful ride and play garba without having to worry about starting work laterdquoThe community was born in 2020 after Shaikh felt the need for a cycling group in Mira Bhayandar ldquoAlmost all other parts of the city had cycling groups As someone whose preferred mode of transport is cycling due the economic and environmental benefits I decided to start a community hererdquo he sharesThe cyclists will wear apparel according to the different colours of the day for Navaratri On Dussehra they will sport traditional outfitsThe idea to merge festivals and cycling was a natural choice ldquoBoth festivals and sports bring together people and communities We first began with Diwali rides in 2020 We would get cyclists to come together during the festival and share farsan that they would bring from their homesrdquo Shaikh adds The idea to perform garba for Navaratri was more spontaneous he adds ldquoIn 2022 we had simply planned to wear the same colour on the ride Our community administrator Vaishali Pawar was carrying a portable speaker She started playing songs and we decided to stop and dance to celebrate right there The videos of our dance went viral in Mira Bhayandar with many people requesting us to host more such events Last year we went on rides across Mira Bhayandar on all nine days for the first time This year we are ending each Navaratri ride with a garba sessionrdquo he revealsIrfan ShaikhWhile the turnout on weekdays is less the count shoots up on weekends ldquoOn the Dussehra weekend October 12 and October 13 when we also have our mega event we expect more than 50 people to join in on each dayrdquo he reveals On these days cyclists ditch their jerseys to turn up in their best traditional attires The ride will include stops at heritage locations of Mira Bhayandar a visit to a pandal in Kanakia Park and much longer garba sessions followed by a Gujarati feast featuring jalebi and fafdaAmar NadgerildquoOn weekends our stops include Manori Church Dongri Dargah Ghodbunder Fort and Dharavi Devi mandir Anyone can join us even if they donrsquot wish to cycle They can accompany us on a two wheeler on foot or meet us directly at the garba destinationrdquo he revealsTill October 13Meeting time 530 amMeeting point Golden Nest Circle Qamar Park Bhayandar East Mira BhayandarMessage 7400321772 for itinerary and themeLog on to mirabhayandercyclists for event updates