Bike Farm : Cycling for Health

Manipal Institute of Technology has always had a penchant for being a pioneer in myriad fields. The introduction of a bicycle store within the MIT campus sponsored by the University is definitely an addition to the list in more ways than one.

This move, aptly named ‘Cycling for Health’, is a step towards the Go Green on Campus initiative undertaken by MIT and spearheaded by MIT’s director, Dr. G.K. Prabhu. The inaugural ceremony took place at 5:30 pm in front of the new Bike Farm, which is located at what was previously D-22 (Hostel Block D) right in front of Apoorva restaurant. The MC for the event was Mr. B.S. Maddodi, who introduced and congratulated the owners of the Bike Farm, Mr. Allen Lewis and Mr. Shane Machado on bringing their efforts to fruition. Among the other dignitaries present at the event were the director of MIT, Dr. G.K. Prabhu, SP (Udupi) Mr. Annamalai, Chief Warden Col. C.M.S. Kalakoti, Mr. Ratnakar, who helped with setting the place up; and Mr. Narayan Shenoy.

The owners of Bike Farm, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Machado started the company in December 2014 selling and repairing bicycles in Manipal. Over the course of 2015, they became the official dealers of Firefox bicycles, and they also have their own bike racing team. They subsequently got invited by Dr. Prabhu to open an outlet within the campus for the convenience of student bikers. The results were nothing short of immediate, seeing as how within a few hours of Bike Farm being set up before the official inauguration, over 50 bikes had already been repaired!

Since MIT happens to be an engineering college, and one that’s brimming with students with a propensity for innovation and experimentation, the Bike Farm will provide the students with the tools required to repair or modify their own bikes to suit their respective needs and satisfy their mechanical curiosities. In order to further promote biking in MIT, the director said that there will remain no place within the campus that shall remain inaccessible on a bicycle, and that the roads are being smoothed and cleaned to make biking much easier.

As an epitome of leading by example, the very first customer of a Firebox bike from the Bike Farm in the campus was none other than the director Dr. Prabhu himself! He went on to state humorously that despite it being a bicycle, he’s going to call it a ‘bike’ since it feels like riding no less than one, and even said that he hopes to ride the bike frequently within campus amidst his students. Among the other advocates of bicycling were Mr. Annamalai, who proudly stated that he owns a 21-gear bicycle and that he rides it whenever he can. He even went on to say that it helps him feel much closer to nature and to his surroundings than any other mode of transportation ever does, and that a habit as good as this should be inculcated to people our age due to the numerous health benefits that accompany it. As if to exemplify Mr. Annamalai’s statement, an 87 year old gentleman, Mr. Venkatrama was invited up on the dais and felicitated. Mr. Venkatrama cycles at least 5 kms everyday to this very day and has never so much as been admitted to a hospital for any health related ailment. A faculty from the Instrumentation and Control Department, Mr. Ganesh Nayak, cycled up to the Himalayas and back over a course of 7 months. To him, it was an incredibly exhilarating experience and cycling keeps him fit as a fiddle.

Mr. Machado and Mr. Allen are very excited to start this new journey of theirs with Bike Farm on campus and they hope the students keep supporting them as enthusiastically as they currently are. Bike Farm is MIT’s gift to its students; an initiative to make their lives healthier and easier. It’s a move that’s symbolically reminiscent of the director’s current plans to make MIT increasingly progressive in every which way, be it academic or otherwise.

– Rahul Basu for MTTN