Bike Riding In Toronto

                                                                 Bluffers Park Trail (16KM)

Bike riding is a fun. When I get bored, I always find something to do to kill the boredom. bicycle riding is one of them. Bike routes are not easily accessible to all the communities. However, one can get access to the bike route in a few meters distance. I always do the same.

Bluffers Park waterfront trail is my favorite. I come out my home with a bottle of water and a few protein bars in the bag paddling City-2 bike. I always wear helmet and wrapped up in the seasonal clothing. As I enter Brimely road I, turn to the southeast towards Kingston Road. There is no bike trail up to Kingston road. There is one from the Thomson park along, but I prefer the main road which connects me quickly to the bluffers bike trail.

As soon as I hit the bike rote down the Brimely road, it is along the other traffic in the slope hill road. It is little scary to ride along with other vehicles. As I hit the bottom of the hill, there is a short loop from the along side the lake to the light house. I take a rest for a few minutes to wet the dry mouth and take a bite of crunchy bar. I can't stand taking the picture of the breathtaking view of the lake. In the evening, the reflection of the setting sun on the lake  makes me forget all the stress. White swan, lagoon, and Canadian geese can be seen on the route. The little forest standing on the edge of the lake makes the perfect habitat for the birds.

Onces I make a loop to the lower trail right by the light house, I return from the same trail to the other side of the park. The waterfront look out of the bluffer park is a peace of heaven. I make a loop of the park and climb the hill which strengthen the calf muscles. As I push the paddle, my chest expands giving enough room for the oxygen. At the top of the hill, I rest for a few minutes to relax the muscles and the lung. But my eyes never stops. The mesmerizing view of the bluffers park from the top, reminds me the P.B Shellys 'Ancient Mariner.' Dock of the bluffers beach looks full of motorboats parked in the line. Its reflection on the lake makes the view panoramic.

When returning from Bluffers park, I take the right from the Macwan park trail which goes along Bendale road unto Eglington road. The trail is like a green tunnel under the busy trees screening the houses on the both sides. In the middle of the trail, there is a park with all the amenities for children and the adults. Two large football grounds and the children park draws the attraction of the communities stretching along side of the trail. This is a short and beautiful bike trail in the middle of the community.
                                        Thomson Park Bike Trail 

Thomson Memorial Park has a short and quiet bike trail along the Birkdale ravine. Since this park is a minutes ride from my home, I often visit this park. There are multiple trails that connects the park. However, I prefer the bike trail that goes to the east of the Brimley road along the ravine. This park has more mature trees which are inhabited by different species of birds. There are short unpaved trails in the forest with obstacles which I find more adventurous to ride. Many squirrels and buddies live in the forests. The small sized gray swans, blue birds, robins, woodpecker are common birds I see in along the trail.

As I paddle along the ravin, the most annoying thing is the smell of the brook which is contaminated with the sewerage water that comes from the community. This trail connects different communities such as Bendale, Beleay Creascent, Macwan and the Danforth road with a short bridges over the ravine. Most of the riders of this trail are either novice or with children. If you want to speed up wheels, you need to be extra cautious. Due to the bush on the both side of the brook, and sharp turns under the bridges sometimes makes our judgements wrong.

I like ride two way of the trail and sit for a while at the park listening the birds. Due to the covid-19 park ban, only a few people are seen strolling in the park. Otherwise, this park is one of the busiest park in Scarborough as it is situated in the middle of different communities. People often gather here for picnicking and barbecue with the family. As it has two children's waterpark at middle of the park, it is the attraction of the families with multiple children. We can see the children riding their colorful bike in along the trail with their parents running after them.

                                          Lower Highland Creek Park 

Lower Highland Creek Park bike trail is one of the coolest trail in the east end of Scarborough. I often go to the highland creek park on my car carrying bike on the hood. I park the car at the top of the creek over on the right of the Lawerence Ave bridge. The bike trail begins from bridge down the hill. There is some parking on Beechgrove Drive and the trail to the bottom of the ravine enters from the south east corner at Lawerence. The trail goes down along the ravin to the waterfront of Lake Ontario.

On the both side of the trail, we can see fiddle heads (we call निउरो ), common nettle (सिस्नु ) and other wild flowers. Although picking wild flowers including fiddle heads, many Nepalese go there to pick up the fiddle heads. Not only the Nepalese pick up the fiddle heads, but also other ethic people are seen picking the fiddle heads. I paddle the bike first to the riverfront. The lake view from the bridge looks breathtaking. The creek joins the lake right there. However, it looks like the water stopped flowing before it meets the lake. People go there for fishing and bird watching.

I stop by the bridge for a few minutes to smell the water of the lake and snap a couple of pictures. On the both sides of the creek where it joins the lake under the bridge, there are two sandy beaches. We can see the lovers sunbathing without caring the people standing right above on the bridge. In every fifteen minutes, Go train passes by that way. Running go train and high tides of the lake make the bike ride worth memorable. On the side of the lake, there are giant stone slabs which blocks the tides of the water protecting the bikers as well as the hikers.

Bitterns, Herons, Canada Gees, Tundra Swans, the common Goldeneye, the common Loon are some of the birds we can see in the water and on the beach. This birds ofter halt my ride on the way. I spend hours looking at the birds and taking their picture. The flat slabs of stone are perfect to sit and watch the blue water. Due to Covid-19, we hardly see the water activities such as boating, water gliding, fly boarding. The water front trail is stretched on the both direction of the lake.  Community Bike Trail Community bike ride is a different kind of fun experience. There are short bike trails in between communities which are often hidden beneath the fence line.  As I merge to Brimly road, I cross it and join the Arnprior road. I go straight down for about hundred meter and take the left turn Haileybury Dr. Then I paddle the bike for 500 meter and take the right turn at Hunter Glen's Junior Pu blic school. There is a short bike trail that links with Midland Ave. When I cross a ravine, I often stop for a while to look at the brook u under the bridge. Then I take left turn on the Midland Ave. I paddle for a kilometer through the sidewalk and enter into the Lord Roberts drive on the right. The house s on this community are spacious and often have well maintained front yards. In the month of May we can see different kinds of flowers blooming. Due to pandemic, I guess, many people are working on their yard.I go around the Lord Roberts drive as the road itself has a  square shape connected to the Midland ave on both side. I stop by Lord Roberts Junior Public School and enter into the woods. There are tall trees and cloves in the wood perfect for a short walk or a bike ride. Green leaves on the bough screen the sunlight. I enjoy the birds songs and wind blowing in the branches. There are many short trails like a cobweb in the woods. I like riding through all the trails which are interconnected. Logs on the ground make a natural chair for the nature lover. I like sitting on it for a while and lost in the imagination. I often remember the nature poets or romanticists while passing through this woods.Birkdale Ravine Bike TrailBirkdale Ravine Trail is one of the most beautiful bike trail. It is located in the watershed of the Highland Creek- the most advanced watershed in Toronto Region. As it  is connected to the Morningside Park, It is the most important corridor for the migration of the birds and other animals. Completely hidden in the woods on both sides this trail brings an enchanting experience to the bikers and also those who want to hike in the woods.As I live near Thompson Park, I often go for biking on this trail in the evening.  As I  go out of my home located at Belyea Crescent towards NE Lawrence Ave, I take left to Brimly Rd. After 200 meter paddling of my bike I turn left to the Birkdale Ravine Trail. Soon I enter into the trail, it enthralls me with chriping sounds of the birds and whistling sound of the wind passing through the trees. Although there are communities on the both side of the ravine, the trail looks completely away from the crowd. The beautiful soothing sound of the running water along the trails makes me relax as I am meditating in the middle of the forest. There are short connection trails on the both side of the route. This trails are connected by the wooden bridges. Standing on the bridge and looking at the flowing water with its gurgling sound gives anyone the heavenly pleasure. For bird lovers, this place perfect to watch Canada goose, Robins, sparrows, Blue Jays,  White Ducks, Black tails Hawks, Killdeer, Woodpeckers. There are also deers, foxes and coyotes wandering around the ravine. I stop to look at them on the way and click pictures for my collection. 

Covid-19 Pandemic and Hope

Hope is the driving force of every human being living all over the world. Many people around the globe are now struggling with an invisible enemy. It has rampaged the income source of the public shutting down the businesses and the office doors. Large scale business owners to the labors who rely on the day to day work have been  suffering  from insignificant loss of income to cover their daily living. Some rich countries have supported their citizens providing rations for the emergency period. However, there are many poor nations who have no sufficient resources to distribute their citizens, came under pressure of releasing the lockdown soon even the spread of the virus is on the pick. People have only hope to survive at the time of crisis.

The main responsibility of the government is to provide food and shelter to their citizens. Besides, public health and social security are major works to be maintained by the state. During the time of pandemic and natural calamities, the role of the government is crucial. The bacon of hope of the public relies on the action taken by the state. When the state orders millions of its public to stay home, the public needs must be taken care by the government. The state collects tax from the public to run the government, to build up infrastructures, to secure the border from the enemies.Besides, the government should look after the public health, their social security and protection of their rights. Rich countries have become successful to address the public needs at the time of lockdown. They carried out wide ranging testing and separating the infected one from the rest. It helped them the flat the curve sooner than they predicted. But those countries who have poor resources or have already been struggling with torn out economy can not provide emergency benefit to its citizen and also they lacked resources to carry out the wide ranging testing measure to the public. As a result, the ray of hope of the citizen of poor countries is gradually fading off than the citizen of the rich countries.

Why hope is significant at the time of pandemic? The answer is very obvious to many people, ' to survive.' Yes, we need hope to survive at the time of uncertainty of everything. Now, the world is facing hard time coping with economy, health and well-being of the overall population. Every nation is struggling to keep their public safe no matter how hard is it to run the state functional. The powerful nations of the world such as America, Australia, Germany, France, Italy suffered a tremendous loss of their citizens. Their state economy crippled with in a few months. They were forced to lift the lockdown before they actually flatten the curve of pandemic. They said,"their economy would be collapsed if they did not run the business. Millions of people claimed the unemployment benefit. Millions of people shut the doors of their business. Several people committed suicide when they lost  income to feed their family. However, there is still hope in the public that one day the scientists will discover the vaccine to cure the disease and the economy will bounce back. Businesses will be reopened and jobs will be back.

What about the people who are living in the country where the state economy is already collapsed? Do they have hope of getting support from the government? Of course 'yes'. They still have hope of getting better job, better profit from their business no matter how poor their country is. Hope is the driving force of every human being either rich or poor, healthy or sick, long or old. When the pandemic hit hard to the senior citizen, they also had the hope of getting cured and live some more years. There were millions of people in India who used to live in the street and railway station. Where have they been during the time of lockdown? How would they survive? How would they protect from  the disease? Although there are many questions unanswered, one thing is very certain. They are still living somewhere with hope that some day they will go back to the station and beg travelers to make living. They have hope that some day restaurants will reopened, and they will work as a dishwasher and make some money to buy food. They have hope that one day they will collect recycles to buy food for their dependents.

If people lose hope, they would not survive. Albert Camus wrote an essay "Myth of Sisyphus" having absurd character who disobeyed the God and was punished to carry a rock to the summit of the hill. Each time he comes closer to the summit, the rock rolls back to the bottom of the hill. He repeats the same action all his life. His repeated action looks absurd. However, the protagonist has hope to meet his goal. This story symbolizes the modern man. The modern man is living with hope of fulfilling his goal one day, but this never going to happen. Only thing that drives them is hope. During the time of crisis, natural disaster, pandemic, epidemic , the only medicine to survive is hope.

He Never Returned from the Army Camp

One day Krishna Bahadur was working in his corn field in a remote part of the country with his family. His father was at home making the barn for cows. His sister was in the pasture grazing the goats. The sky was gray with black clusters and some silver lines on the eastern side. In the meantime, he heard a gunshot near the ravine. He knew that his sister was in the pasture right above the ravine and goats were scattered all over the forest for food. "This is not the hunter's fire", he sighed wiping his forehead with the index finger of his right hand.
His father was already at the edge of the yard looking towards the field. He asked Krishna if he heard the gunshot. Krishna confirmed with his father and asked him to call Chameli on her cell phone. His father tried calling several times, but there was no response. Then Krishna, leaving his work, went to the pasture to look for his sister. He was worried because there was a Nepal army in the village hunting the hiding shelters of the Maoist. There was also an encounter between the army and the Maoist rebels last night in the same village where five Maoist cadets and two militia were killed.
When he arrived on the other side of the pasture, he saw several men and women in spotted uniforms, holding guns in their hands. His sister was in the middle of them with a blindfold over her eyes. Krishna Bahadur ran towards the group and pleaded with them to release her. But a lanky boy spat in his face and kicked him with his boots. Krishna fell to the ground. Then he rose up from the ground like a soldier in the war zone. Krishna was a muscular man with strong muscles built up with the fieldwork every day. He grabbed two boys in the neck and dragged them to the ground. In the meantime, someone from the Maiost side opened fire and a bullet passed through his right arm. He saw the blood oozing from the hole. An undernourished man called himself the commander of the group and asked to surrender and follow them to their camp. Krishna saw no hope of escaping from them. Then he followed them into the forest. One of the cadets put a bandage over his wound and also he was blindfolded.
There was no marked trail in the forest where they were walking all day without food and water. In the evening, they arrived at the bank of the Kaligandaki river. Krishna did not know if he was with his sister in the group because they did not allow them to talk. The commander was heard talking on his radio with another commander in some other place in the forest. That night they stayed on the bank of the river. Krishna was offered some morsel of rice with lentil soup. They removed his blindfold while eating, but at that time he was he saw two cadets standing beside him. It was dark. He heard some other boys talking in the distance but could not see due to the thickness of the dark. When he finished eating with his left hand, he asked one of the cadets where his sister was. But they said he was not allowed to speak. Soon they put on the blindfold and asked him to walk with them. They used to remove his blindfold when there was difficult to walk only for a moment.
The next day morning they arrived at the top of the mountain. They could not see a single house in the far far distance.
Krishna asked why they had brought him to the forest and where was his sister. They did not give a straight answer, but they always scolded him with coarse language. In the afternoon there came other three groups of Maoist rebels bringing five more civilians. They said another group of fifteen people coming that evening. There was a large shelter made up of logs and branches. It was surrounded by the Maoist cadets who were fully armed. The civilians who were brought there looked like teachers, shopkeepers, and social workers. They were not allowed to speak to each other. Those who tried to speak were intimidated by the armed rebels and often got spanked. By the evening, another group of rebels arrived in the camp with ten to fifteen people of all ages.
They were all kept together in the same shelter and offered rice and lentil soup with two pieces of unidentifiable meat each. Some of them refused to eat the food blaming them that they gave them the cow meat. Cow meat was not eaten by the majority of Hindus and was banned by the government to slaughter the cows. Krishna was one of them who refused the food. A tall rebel, who earlier introduced Krishna as a commander, came to the shelter and asked them to be prepared for the class from their District In charge of the Maoist rebels. After an hour, the district in charge of the Maoist rebel showed up. He was a tiny man with a long beard and bushy mustache. He cleared his throat and spat on the wall and looked at the group like a spy. Then he started his speech by introducing himself as comrade Badal. He said that the purpose of taking them was to tell them the purpose of their revolution and how they could assist them. They also said that they needed some strong men to fight their enemy.
Then they took Krishna along with other fifteen young civilians to another shelter. There were already more than twenty people packed up in a small room. He saw his sister in the corner with her hair upheaval and eyes swollen and red. The commander asked them to stay there for the rest of the night as they were going to start the training the next morning. Krishna met his sister and asked what had happened to her on the way. She could not talk with her brother as the steam of tears was already sliding down her cheeks. Later he came to know that they tortured them on the way as she could not walk with the blindfold. After some time most of them fell asleep in their own places since they were all tired from walking for long days and nights.
The next morning, the commander came to wake them up and asked them to be prepared for the training as they were going to attack the army headquarter of Myagdi, next month. He also informed them that nobody could attempt escape which could be resulted in an encounter and death. Nobody was allowed to ask questions. If anybody raised a question would be spanked with the nozzle of the gun.  That afternoon, they were all given AK-47 rifles and taught how to hold them properly and aim at the enemy. They took them downhill in the open field and train them to shoot. Anyone who refused to follow the command would be beaten up by the commander. They were also told that they had a group of doctors with them to help the wounded in the battle. Everyone had a strict routine to be followed by everyone. Every morning, they had to climb the trees and the steep hills with fifty pounds on their back. There were girls and boys ranging from twelve years old to thirty years old. Some of them were sick housewives who spent the whole day and night crying. But as the commander noticed them, they would be intimidated by any kind of misbehavior.
On the third day, Krishna saw his sister pass out while climbing the hill. He requested the commander to release her from the captive promising that he would stay with them to fight with the army. But he did not listen to his. He took her to the shelter and left them with a nurse. After fifteen days after their kidnap, Krishna asked his sister to be prepared to escape in the middle of the night when everyone fell asleep. He told his plan of how they could get out of the shelter without letting the rebels know who was guarding the area. He secretly made the hole hardly noticeable which led them to a raspberry bush on the other side. He also told her that it is better to die in the encounter rather than dying in the battle with the army.
On the seventeenth day, after the long days of training, they went to the shelter to sleep. Due to the hard training of climbing, jumping, and shooting, all of them fell asleep immediately. Chameli sneaked into his brother's cabin like a cat entering the attic to steal milk. A rebel at the sentry was already dozed off. Krishna asked his sister to get out of the hole first while he was watching other people in the room. As soon as Chameli was out, he pushed himself out of the hole and ran down the hill. They did not look back until they arrived at a ravine a kilometer away from the shelter. They heard multiple gunshots on the way. They did not stop there. The next morning, they found themselves in the thick forest. They could not navigate the way back home easily. They continued walking avoiding the clearing for two days. On the third day, as they arrived at a small village, they met with some people and asked their way back to their home. They also got some food to eat on the way. Most of the time they kept themselves alive by eating the wild berries.
After three days, they arrived home. It was completely empty with the doors shut. The cattle were hungrily and tethered on the rope with some day grass in front. Krishna went to a neighbor's house and asked whereabouts of his father. He came to know that the very same day the army came to the house ad arrested his father accusing him that he sent his son ad daughter to the Maoist army. It was a big shock for him. On the one hand, he and his sister were the victims of the Maoist rebels, on the other hand, his father was arrested by the army. The villagers did not know where they took him. The whole village was terrified from both sides. Later that day he came to know other three villagers were also captured by the army. Nobody knew where were they.
He went to the municipal office to get more information about his father, but nobody was willing to talk with him. Most of the villagers hid when they saw him after he returned from the camp. He felt strange. All of the villagers' once friends have become strangers. After Krishna and Chameli disappeared from the village the army entered the village multiple time and interviewed people if they saw the Maoists or if they were the helpers of the Maoists providing them food and shelter. The home was no more home now. It was a dark cave that can be hunted anytime either by the army or by the Maoist rebels.
One day, Krishna and Chameli left the village at the dawn releasing the cattle from the tether. He walked a whole day with his sister. They were inquired about multiple times by the police on the way to Ridi Bazar. When they arrived at Ridi bazaar, there they rode on the night bus to Sunauli. The next morning they crossed the border of Nepal to India. At the border, border security asked if he was taking the girl to sell in India. He was taken to a small lock-up room and left for an hour. After an hour, police came with two females and interviewed them if they were involved in girl trafficking. Once they were confirmed as brother and sister and also how they were victimized by the Maoist rebels, they were released. Then they went to Mumbai via Gorakhpur.
Krishna had been to Mumbai in the past and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. He also had some friends from the same village living in Bandra. He went directly to one of his friend's homes. He stayed with him for a few days and searched for jobs for himself and also his sister. Once he got a job in a hotel, he rented a new apartment near his workplace and moved in with his sister. After a month his sister also got a job as a domestic helper in Boriwoli. Krishna started living alone.
One day he met a customer who was from Italy for business purposes. As a room service steward, Krishna was serving him for a month. While talking with him, Krishna shared his past with him. Krishna also pleaded with the guest to take him to a foreign country. The gentleman was nice and kind. He asked him to make a passport and sent it to him at his address: so that he would follow up and start the process as an employee for his own restaurant there in Verona.
Krishna went back to Nepal to make his passport. However, it was really difficult to get the required documents from the VDC since the government officials were living in the district headquarters. He went to Tamghas, the district headquarter of Gulmi to meet the VDC secretary. When he was in a hotel, some unknown people came to meet him. They asked him to come out of the hotel room to chat with them about his father. As soon as he was out of the hotel lobby, they lifted him and put him in the van. They also blindfolded him and drove for about an hour. After they stopped in the middle of the forest, two boys grabbed his arm and dragged him into the forest.  They asked him where his father and sister were. Krishna told them that he did not know about his father after he was abducted by the Maoist rebels from the farm. He also told them that his villagers told him that he was arrested by the army. They tortured him the whole day blaming that he was a spy of the Maoist since he escaped from the camp. Krishna told them that he was not spying on anyone since he had been living in India.
At the midnight, two of the rebels slept removing their AK-47 rifle and storing them on the pillow. Krishna, remember how he learned to open up the fire when he was doing training at the moist shelter before he went to India after escaping from them. As they started snoring, he lifted the rifle and opened up fire. He killed them both shooting them multiple times in the head and ditching them in the near river. He ran away from there. The next morning he arrived at the village at the top of the hill. He has bloodstains all over his body. When the villagers saw him, they thought that he was a Maoist rebel; so one of the villagers informed the army. Krishna couldn't decide where to go. He removed his outer shirt and washed his hand on the tap. Then he walked down the other side of the hill to catch a bus to Butwal. As soon as he arrived at the station, he was already surrounded by more than fifty armies. One of them asked him to surrender immediately. Krishna rose his hands up and followed the command of the army. Soon the army captured him.
That night the villagers heard a gun shut in the army camp. The next day morning, the villagers looked at each other's faces and remembered how many Maoists were taken to the army camp and never see them back down the same way. On another side of the camp, there was a steep rocky slope where even goats could not walk.

हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने छ

हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने  छ

हिऊ र तुषारोले कक्रक पारेको माटोमा
रापिलो घाँमका किरणहरुले
चुम्ने छन्
प्रेमको वर्षा हुनेछ
अनि आमा हजुरका कोखबाट
सयपत्री, गोदावरी र मखमली
लालुपाते, सूर्यमुखी र चमेलीहरु
फुल्ने छन्
हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने  छ।

अशिनाले झटारेका रुखहरुमा
फुल, भमरा र चराहरुले छोडेका हाँगाहरुमा
नयाँ नयाँ पालुवाहरू
गर्बमै बसेका कोपिलाहरू
निस्कनेछन्
 नयाँ बिहानी हेर्नलाई
डाँफे, मुनाल र मयुरहरु
कुर्ले र तामे ढुकुरहरु
फेरी एकपल्ट
उफ्री उफ्री नाच्ने छन्
हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने  छ।

डरले गर्दा अन्डाभित्रै बसेका चल्लाहरु
गुड नछाडेका माउहरु
दुलाभित्रै बसेका सर्प र मुसाहरु
गुफाभित्रै बसेका सिंहहरू
ओडारभित्र लुकेका बाघहरु
वसिलो घाँस भित्र लुकेका अजिङ्गरहरु
कमिला र धमिराहरु
फेरी एकपल्ट
आहारको खोजीमा निस्कनेछन
हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने  छ।

भूकम्पले तर्सेका मनहरु
हावाहुरीले उडेका छानाहरू
बाडि पहिरोले बगाएका घरखेत
बन्दुकले छेडेका छातीहरु
युध्द्दले रित्तिएका काखहरु
भ्रस्टाचारिले लुटेका भकारिहरु
महामारीले रित्याएका बस्तीहरु
फेरी एकपल्ट
जोडिनेछन र भरिनेछन्
हो आँमा भोलि बिहान घाँम झुल्किने छ।