Media Release
Mangaluru, Aug 15: On the 73rd Independence Day of our nation, Mangalore Bicycle Club organised a ride along with cycling guddies to pay tribute to the nation.
35 cyclists assembled at Mangalore City Corporation at 7 am. Dijaraj Nair, president of MbC welcomed and introduced the chief guest retired Colonel Sharath Bhandary (retired) to the group of riders. He also briefed about the club and its initiatives around national, social and environmental causes over the last eight years to the chief guest and the riders present. The colonel addressed the group with his short yet strong message and flagged off the ride.
He was very delighted to see such a gathering early in the morning despite heavy monsoon rain ready to pay respect to the nation, freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives and the armed forces who are continuously defending the nation’s security. The colonel’s message clearly stressed upon the responsibility of every citizen toward development and security of India. He was elated with the sight of all the bicycles adorned with National flags. Respect to the nation should be a continuous process and it should not be in just displaying the flags, all citizens should ensure proper usage and disposal of flags. The colonel advised on the right ways of disposing of the national flags respectfully. As per the flag code of India 2002, one way of disposing is by destroying it as a whole in private by burning it in consistent with the dignity of the flag, second way is by burying it in the soil ensuring no one will walk over it anytime maintaining the sanctity of the National flag.
Once the ride was flagged off, the cyclists covered a distance of 15 km within city limits and concluded the ride at Mangalore City Corporation post breakfast. The youngest rider was 9 years and the oldest of the riding members was 66 years. Pai, the 66 year old has been using a conventional bicycle for his daily commutation for the past few decades and was extremely happy participating in the club event.
This ride was a memorable moment for all the cyclists. Mangalore Bicycle Club pays tribute to all the nation builders and national heroes who helped secure Independence in 1947 and to all the heroes of the Indian Armed Forces who have been protecting, sacrificing their lives everyday.