[bblost]

The discussion here kind of reminded me of a scene from the movie Truman Show.

Young Truman: I want to be an explorer, like the Great Magellan.
Teacher: [indicating a map of the world] Oh, you're too late! There's nothing left to explore!

[hellletloose]

During my school days at lekhapani,arunachal, i recall a so called "patriotic" sikh guy who came to our school, all the way from "punjab" on a bicycle,he was all set to tour the whole of india, he told us that there were times during his rides that locals misunderstood him for a "massage wala" or a "surma seller",nevertheless he carried on with his"national unification" ride, we all grew in awe of the man ,he was jelling well with all the kids, until he brought an anticlimax & premature end to the ongoing chat,by asking for alms from us all.{then we all began doubting his claims & i felt that he probably took a lift from some truck driver, along with his cycle.}
& in contrast to the above ,i recall another such incident, while we were studying at dav college jalandhar & were all hostelers ,there was an article on our notice boards,ordering the mess to prepare snacks for a team of 5 cyclists setting off for a tour of some religious places in the Himalayas,& there we all stood waiting at the college gates, with trays of snacks for these 5 rambos to arrive,after an hour long wait the team came, with a makeshift 2 in 1 player, tied to one of the cycle.they were on their old atlas cycles &wearing worn out slippers,they had the uncertainty on their faces & shine in their eyes, & it was a special thing for all of them,& with time i have seen this cycle touring thing grow as a subculture in punjab & i always respect these guys, to me they are real men going berserk,for faith.well in both the cases there would've been adventures of sorts,but a planned ,routine & easy thing always sucks as in case-1 & i feel that "cougar" resembles the guys i met in the 2nd incident.