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2016 Report Card: Karma activities at GOQii

 

Oxfam Trailwalk

GOQii has been working with Non-profit organizations as its Karma partners in promoting and spreading awareness for different causes. Karma activities are also based on the premise that doing Karma keeps you healthy. Just to reiterate inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s journey of 390 KM, for every 390 steps tracked through your GOQii activity tracker band, you earn one Karma point. These points are then converted into monetary donations that is donated to charity sponsored by our Karma partner.

It’s been two successful years now and we have charities listed on the GOQii app that are successfully funded by the Donor partners.

Here are two recent causes that we have contributed to.

Millions of children in India go to bed hungry because their parents/guardians are not able to purchase food for them. Most of them drop out from schools so that they can help their parents and supplement the family income.

Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust’s-Food for Education Program distributes free food prepared at our kitchens on a daily basis, to poor children if they attend any formal or non-formal educational class. It thus combines food with education-we now have a child who is educated and well fed also. The programme has been very effective in arresting the drop-out rate in schools.

Ratna Nidhi’s food has been treated by the beneficiaries as “Homely Balanced and Tasty”. Not for profit, the food has a flavour of compassion, and tender loving care.

As of today, the organisation feeds more than 4500 Children daily through its approximately 50 centres all over Mumbai including the suburbs. The Mid Day Meal is cooked at the Food Center by the special team of cooks under Ratna Nidhi’s representatives’ direct supervision.

The food partners are identified carefully and after the detailed need evaluation. These are generally Non-aided vernacular schools who do not qualify for the Govt. Mid-Day-Meal, Pre-schools in Urban Areas, Night schools who do not receive any of the welfare benefits and Street Children NGO’s who provide shelter.

The meals are packed for various partner schools and Balwadis. A special delivery system ensures that the food reaches the children by lunch time on a daily basis.

A simple meal for children each day that improves nourishment, increase weight, boosted attentiveness in class and ensures a healthy educated future.

Empowering Women against Violence:-

Moving from children let us now talk of women empowerment. After children, it’s the women who get abused the most and hence empowering women against violence is paramount.

How often have you come across a story in the newspapers or television about violence against women? Every day is the answer. Violence against women and girls is a bitter reality in India. As many as one-third of women and girls in the age group 15-49 have experienced physical violence, about one in 10 have experienced some form of sexual violence [Source: National Family Health Survey Round III (2005-2006)].

Yet, violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, is unavoidable. Many of us think and justify that violence by intimate partners is normal, and therefore acceptable. We need to change this very thinking that normalises violence against women and girls. We all have a role in preventing such violence.

The story of a 9 year old girl Mynah, who was married to a 20-year-old man, is an example to stand up against violence. Her husband repeatedly subjected her to intimate partner violence. After hearing of her experience, counsellors of Oxfam India advised Mynah to file a case under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Mynah took the brave decision to take control of her life. She continued with her studies, with the court’s intervention, she has got compensation. She has also remarried according to her own wish.

Oxfam India programmes are currently active in the six focus states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

Oxfam India has been working to reduce the acceptance of violence against women and girls. They have reached out to more than 42,000 women to end violence in their lives and established 23 support centres within formal and informal locations to provide psycho-social counselling and legal aid to women facing this issue in their lives.

Together, we need to make sure that perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls change so that gender-based discrimination comes to an end. With your help, this is what Oxfam India hopes to achieve in the future through supporting women like Mynah.

What has GOQii been doing in the Karma space in the last two years?

Here are some of the activities that we have conducted for players as well as our employees in the last two years…..

One of the biggest on ground Karma event that we are a part of is the 100 KM Oxfam Trailwalk where GOQii players and employees participate and walk 100 km to raise awareness and support a cause.

Part from this we have had regular activities in GOQii office. This year we had a session with Greensole, a social venture that collects discarded shoes, refurbishes them and makes comfortable footwear for the underprivileged.

We also did something interesting this Christmas. While last year we went to a home that housed children with Cancer and spent few hours with the kids by playing and dancing with them, this year we celebrated Christmas in the most unique way. GOQii employees played secret santa to orphaned children of an orphanage in Chembur and also employees pledged for various basic commodities like Rice, dal, wheat, Oil etc and donated to the orphanage.

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“This is not a trail walk… it’s a life’s journey”

 

Walking a 100 Km is no mean task and we at GOQii have been doing this for the last three years.

Every year the excitement for the 100 KM Oxfam trail walk begins 2 months in advance. This year was no different with several teams from GOQii participating with close to 50% being first timers. First timers to the event included both our players as well as GOQii employees.

This adventure trail walk is no run of the mill trail walk, it comes with a purpose. 140 teams in total came together for a good cause-‘Walk for Equality’ and to physically challenge themselves to walk 100 kms within 48 hours on a route that included tar road, mud path, open fields, stones strewn roads and forest routes. Each team had to raise a minimum of Rs 80K for Oxfam.

Considered as the World’s 3 most difficult trail walks, the Mumbai trail walk is held every year amidst the lap of nature in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It starts from a place called Garudmachi in Tamhinighat and ends in Lonavala.

By now many would have realized that walking isn’t that taxing as much as it is to raise funds. Many come up with interesting and innovative ways to raise funds. Few teams in GOQii also came with innovative ways to raise funds such a selling lunch and snacks to their fellow colleagues at office. While some I know did some odd jobs for their friends in lieu for donation to Walk for Equality.

GOQii collectively with all its teams raised approximately Rs 16 lakh for Oxfam. That’s a great achievement for all of us at GOQii. It is not only about fund raising funds but, also all GOQii teams finished well within 48 hours the required time to complete the 100 km trailwalk.

 

If I have to describe what the trail walk is like, I would say it is a test of your endurance, physical fitness, mental strength, team spirit, leadership skills, crisis management and the power to make the right decisions. It is also a test of one’s own ability and confidence.

Manjot Singh from the business development team at GOQii and who was participating in the 100 km trail walk for the first time this year says, “I feel like a million bucks having completed the 100 km trail walk. I did this purely for myself and to test my own abilities. And, today I feel victorious and above all confident as an individual.”

Similarly, for Maaline D’Souza who is part of GOQii’s customer support team the 100 KM trail walk was a challenge that she took upon herself. She says, “I never thought, I could do it. But, yes with regular practice and the right kind of will power I completed it without much issues”.

She adds, “The 100 km journey cannot be stated as easy. It is a mind game where I truly needed my mind to be constantly pushing me than my body. In short, this was the best achievement of my life. It has made me more confident as a person”.

Clearly, most who I spoke to on the trail on why did they were doing the 100 km trail walk? 2 or 3 motives came out clear. For some veterans on the trail it was to overcome their fear and also a chance to get fit.  For people who were on the heavier side, it was to prove to themselves that they can do it. And, for some others who had already attempted this before once or twice, it was all about improving their timing.  Another observation I made on the trail was that older people pulled the feat much better than the younger individuals. Secondly, Women on the trail were more resilient than men.

For first timers it was a mental battle that they were trying to fight with themselves. For most their bodies are given away but, it was their mental strength that held them through the 100 km pushing them every inch to complete the race.  Some like Parth from the tech team of GOQii it was accountability. Accountability to his friends who had donated for the good cause that he was walking for.

At Check point 7 to 8 when Parth was almost on the verge of giving up due to pain, it’s his friends’ words that rang in his mind and pulled him through and of course the motivation that he got from Vishal Gondal, CEO, GOQii who walked with him a neat 10 km of the total 11.6 km trail. “A lot of my friends donated to the cause because I was walking. How could I let them down? I have to complete,” Parth said while on the trail and continued his journey. Like Vishal always says, “this is not a 100 km trail walk… it’s a life’s journey.”

Check point to 7-8 trail was also a grueling trail in the sun. The trail followed the old bullock cart path that village communities used earlier, up a gradual slope and down across a vast open pasture and scrub land. Some parts of the trail open up to spectacular valley views. And then ultimately getting on to tar road which was hot during the day.

For few other GOQii employees it was a great first time experience where most understood how to work in a team, take collective decisions and above all learn to heave patience.

None of this would have been possible without GOQii’s efficient support team led by Krishna Kumar aka KK who made sure that every participant was comfortable from the time we landed at Garudmachi on Dec 8, 2016.

Dr Ashwin Nanda, from GOQii’s team of doctors says, “It was quite gratifying for me to be of help to all GOQii participants”. It was Dr Nanda’s first trail walk experience. He says his biggest learning was do not ever give up on anyone. Help everyone get through.” For old timers   Sunny Rajani and RutaSatam, being support is always a pleasurable.

But, what had changed this year from last year, Rajani says, “This year we were more organized and prepared for all eventualities if any had to occur.” And honestly, the support crew plays the most important role in this entire 100 km journey.

Altitude Quest, on the trail support crew were a boon in disguise. The AQ team was there to provide massages and taping of the feet when required after a tired trail walk. .

Last but not the least kudos to three of our GOQii teams led by players performed wonderfully. ‘Go Spirited’- the team that comprised of all four women players- Bela Gupta, Anitha Rao, SuranjanaKumaresh and ReenaKansal was not only the fastest woman’s team completing 100 km in 34 hours but also the fastest veteran’s team. The two other GOQii teams that made it to top 10 was AnuragBiesn’sGOQii-Veer tum Badhechalo who completed in 24 hours and GOQii Alpha led by Kamal Karnatak with a completion time of 28 hours.

 

That’s GOQii #betheforce…..

Route Snapshot:

Over all 100 km within 48 hours that included tar road, mud path, open fields, stones strewn roads and forest routes.

 

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My First 100 km- The lessons I learnt

ranveer-trailwalk

A week ago, 100km was just a number in my head. A number that I had to overcome in 48 hours but a number that I WOULD overcome. I am a power lifter who enjoys the process of bodybuilding. I lift heavy barbells and dumbbells and I enjoy every bit of the big muscles I’ve created over the years.

I’d never taken part in marathons leave alone endurance walks. Hell, I never even took part in any 100m+ races in school.  I’m a fitness blogger and I believe that fitness should not be limited to a single domain. What I believe is that the ultimate goal of fitness is becoming ‘THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF’. And, if your endurance stats don’t match up to your strength levels, you are stopping yourself from reaching that ultimate goal.

So with no prior endurance training experience, I readily agreed to challenge myself and signed up for the Oxfam 100km trail walk.

A bit of a pre story – I didn’t practice much for the trail walk. Endurance training is known to deplete your muscles in terms of size. My muscles are my brand and I couldn’t let go of them. So I chose a midway path and decided to go for 10-15km jogs every week. These jogs may or may not have helped me, I don’t know for sure. 

In saying that, I do not recommend that you don’t practice for the walk. I have been a strength and fitness coach for 4-5 years. My body has reached a level of fitness where I was capable of executing the walk without much hassle. But, it may not be the same case for everyone.

After I completed the walk, I realized that practice IS crucial for an average person. Especially those for whom fitness isn’t the central theme of their life. Make sure you go for a few practice walks if you don’t want to end up injuring yourself!

ranveer-blisters

Coming to what I learnt. The lessons – 

Firstly, you need to understand the MAGNITUDE of a 100km. Most people who live in cities aren’t even used to walking 1km at a stretch.

The day before the walk, I had a word with a 53 year old lady who was participating with me. She told me that this was her 3rd trail walk and the biggest advice she gave me was “DO NOT GIVE UP”. I was told that the trail walk is entirely a mind game. And, as we progressed, I came to learn that exactly.

This was psychologically THE MOST testing activity I’ve ever done in my life. Most participants’  bodies break down at the 30 km mark. This largely happens due to non-practice and not realizing how your body reacts to an extreme strenuous activity.

Post 30km most end up having knee issues, ankle pain and blisters on their feet. Irrespective of your fitness levels, the game is to constantly fight off the pain you’re feeling, and move FORWARD. As I continued my walk, I realized that I’d never done something so grueling in my life.

There were some stretches in the trail walk that were SO intense, that I was almost sleepwalking. My mind had switched off entirely, it was the middle of the night, my hands were numb and frozen. But, my legs kept moving forward. My legs were the only entities active in my entire body.

And this was just ONE of the many testing moments.

Every trail had its own challenges. There was a trail that was an entirely upward climb. There was a trail conquered in lava-esque afternoon heat. There was a trail conquered on an open, ice-cold tar-road in the middle of the night. But, more than anything there were countless instances of pain and challenge. I can’t stress on how big the psychological aspect of the walk is. Training from an endurance standpoint will only get you so far. The real test was conquering the pain, the heat, the cold and your dead lower body.

What I honestly believe as a weight training coach is that weights do not only help you look good. Barbells and dumbbells are making you a STRONGER HUMAN BEING. Your muscles, your nervous system AND your grit is getting worked with every set you perform in the gym. My concern before the walk was “would I be too stiff or too bulky to complete the race.”

But, if anything, I believe that weight training played a role in helping me overcome the pain barrier. And, when we’re talking about a 100km trail walk, pain is your biggest enemy. There were countless fellow walkers with me who had to take breaks, had to rest at check points and had to get physiotherapy done on themselves. Of course I had instances like this. But, my instances were relatively fewer than my fellow conquerors.

This is where I feel like my elevated strength levels paid off. Despite not practicing much from an endurance standpoint, I was able to complete the entire walk in 36 hours. 12 short of the time limit. A great achievement for my first trail walk. But, this achievement was nowhere close to the REAL prize.

The trail walk showed me a new form of fitness. Yes, the endurance training is something new, from a physical perspective. Endurance walks like these make your mind and focus ROCK SOLID. 100km is not a number for me anymore. It’s a trophy.

When you actually overcome ONE HUNDRED kilometers, it is indeed a ‘Big Deal’. Your feet will be blistered up, your knees will be jammed solid, and your ankles will feel like they’re 150 years old, but your mind – Your mind will feel like its limits have been expanded.

The only way to expand your limits is to push yourself to their edges. And that was what this trail walk was for me. It was a test, a foe and most of all a teacher. Remember your biggest challenges are your biggest gurus. In my entire fitness-life, there hasn’t been a challenge of this magnitude. There hasn’t been an experience that has toughened me up so much.

This is the beauty of fitness. I am one step closer to being the BEST VERSION OF MYSELF – thank you for the opportunity GOQii and Oxfam India.

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Finally, we did it. Yes, Team Goqii Alpha completed 100KM in 28 hrs

kamal-start

We were attempting something unimaginable for the first time in our lives –a 100 km trail walk….

When I had decided to take part in the Oxfam Trail walker, I was aware that this is not going to be easy. But, when we were starting our trail walk, there was no doubt in our mind about the completion of 100KM. We were targeting the time of 30 Hrs but, as it turned out that due to some technical mismatch we could not start at scheduled 6.00 AM (and we were tensed/nervous/helpless). We could start our walk only at 6.24.42 AM (to be precise). By this time most of the teams had taken off and would have covered 1.5 to 2 KM ….but we were not perturbed and continued our journey.

kamal-on the trail

By the end of checkpoint 2 (23 KM), our bodies had started giving early warning of stress and blisters and we were also lacking in pace. 55 teams had already left when we checked in at Checkpoint 2. We used the excellent services of physiotherapist there and continued at a faster pace in scorching heat but the walk only got eased due to the amazing picturesque landscape. The view of the Mulshi lake was therapeutic.

When we reached CP 4 we had completed (43.8 KM) and when we decided to leave from here we found that 45 teams were already ahead of us. The walk from CP 4 was pleasant as the scorching sun had hit the sack and near full moon was in sight. Cool winds blew across our ears and with a slight nip in the air, our pace automatically increased. It was almost meditative to do the brisk walk in dark. We were walking fast but, silently.

We walked through the night as was decided earlier. When we left CP7 (75 KM) at around 4.20 AM our entire body was under tremendous pain and exhaustion largely due to lack of sleep. We were awake for more than 24 hrs by now ….but, we felt high and our determination to finish fast only grew stronger. By this time 22 Teams were ahead of us.

CP7 to CP8 was the best walk as we sang all along the trail, cracked jokes, pulled each other’s leg and passed 3-4 teams ahead of us. We reached CP8 (86.6 KM) by dawn.

We were in a very bad shape. My left knee was in tremendous pain but mind was determined to do better. We took the physio service, Umesh my teammate popped a combiflam (pain killer) and we left. By now we realized there were only 12 teams ahead of us. This fact got us charged up and we now wanted to be among the top 10 teams.

The idea of being in top 10 crossed our minds but we were still 7 KMs away when we reached CP9 (93.7km) only 11 teams were ahead of us. The gap had considerably reduced and we are now more determined to finish within the top 10 teams. Hence we skipped taking a break at CP 9 and just continue faster. At 96 KM, my teammate Naresh and me were limping but Balwant and Umesh -With renewed energy of combiflam were stronger. The gap between us was increasing.

I thought with this limping I will not be able to cover the gap so I started jogging and passed Balwant and Umesh. The idea was to move ahead and create a long gap and then rest for a while. Suddenly, I saw another team ahead. We as a team got together and decided that let’s attempt to cross them by running and try to be in top 10.

I could not believe myself and my eyes that we had actually started running. Naresh began with his limping but soon picked up pace. So last 4 Km were fun, we not only crossed the team ahead but, also got the 9th place overall with a timing of 28hrs:11Min:9 sec. We danced to the tune of the Bhangra music playing at the finish line and danced our way to the podium to collect our medals and certificates.

This journey could not have been complete without the support of many people. First and Foremost…the biggest support is our family. No words of thanks can do a justice to this.

We were also lucky to get two amazing guys, marathon runners and experienced Oxfam trail walkers Vishal Mahajan and Suresh Sharma as our support crew. Their smile/high fives/motivating words at every intersection and checkpoint kept us going. Their knowledge of the trail helped us a lot. How much ever we say thanks to them it is still not enough words of thanks are enough for them.

Also to be able to do this we had practiced for close to over 2 months. Since we are runners we used to do 7 to 8 km run daily and 12 to 18 km run on weekends. We did 2 practice walks one of 40 km one of 29 km by walking over 10-20 km and more every week.

Thanks to GOQii for support and motivating us and arranging many small, small things… Special thanks to Krishna Kumar and Vishal Gondal and above all thanks to all our donors who contributed towards the cause that we were walking for and without the donors this walk could not have been possible. Last but not the least a big thank you to my GOQii coach Kruti for supporting me with all the right advice for me to be able to complete this 100 km trailwalk.

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