Settling down one sleepy January evening two years ago for a lazy bed-time read, I never thought how one book would create a massive difference in my life by making these two interests come together. Lance Armstrong's auto-biography 'It's not about the bike' I realised was not the kind of book I can read myself to sleep with. It turned out to be just pure inspiration in every page. And by the time I had put the book down, I heard a calling from somewhere within. Somewhere deep in the recesses of my consciousness a spark was ignited with Lance's story of turning around his life after cancer - beating it, winning the Tour de France and using his fame to raise funds for cancer awareness and research. 

I had then dreamed of doing something similar - and doing a triathlon was the first thing that came to my mind. And after 2 years of intensive physical and mental training, last weekend I finished my first triathlon (the Bintan triathlon in Indonesia) for a social cause and raised more than SGD 1,700 of funds for school scholarships for children in Seam Reap province in rural Cambodia. Family, friends and colleagues came in full support and helped me reach and exceed my fund-raising target within two weeks, and that too just before the day of the competition.

The wheel now has been set in motion!

Ashwin