So we received an email before leaving, asking us whether we wanted to be featured on a Major Worldwide Rickshaw Run TV Show on BBC. Um, does a bear shit in the woods? I think he does! So we sent an email to Joolz introducing ourselves as perfect candidates to be stars.
Hola Joolz!
My fellow men and I won’t be meeting till we are in India next week (coming from different parts of the States till then), at which time we’ll do a bang up job putting our limited camera skills to use and get you a video for this. First off, yes – we were born for TV and we want to be on TV, especially BritTV.
For your reading pleasure, we have however, answered your questions and written the following to introduce ourselves. Embedded into the text are links to videos we’ve already created. Have a gander, and let us know what you think; and what else we need to do for you to make us stars.
Who are you? Who are your team-mates?
I am Cecil Puvathingal. On occasion, I am The Dark Knight. My teammate is Derek Layne. On occasion depending upon altitude and humidity, he goes by Rollo. Back in October 2015, Derek & his dog Tucker drove up to Sausalito from Santa Monica to join my dog Taylor & I on a week searching for Zen. It was an epic week. And we came to a few decisions on adventuring, traveling and living.
One of the things we decided was to enter ourselves in The Rickshaw Run in April 2016. Adventurers at heart, having been in Thailand earlier in the year and in India the previous year, it only made sense for us to join the Rickshaw madness.
We posed to each other the question, “If you could have any person – living or dead, historical or contemporary, famous or no – who would that person be?” The more we talked about it, the more we knew there was only one person on the planet that needed to join us on this epic and daft adventure. He was indeed alive, quite the contemporary, not at all famous, though he should be. He is the man who…
- Once jumped out of an airplane with just a coat-hanger, and made it down with nary a broken bone
- JJ Abrams consulted with about the TV show Lost, which he quickly dismissed as highly improbable because he would never get lost.
- Once got a brick wall to talk back. Realizing that’s just ridiculous, he decided to stop talking to brick walls.
- Inspired Roger Waters to write “Another Brick in the Wall” though Waters quickly realized he wasn’t just another brick, he was the wall.
- Took the blue pill, and lived the never-ending story.
- Took the red pill, and told Wonderland its rabbit hole was only three feet deep, enough for a Center for Ants.
- Built a Center for Ants that could also fit children so they could read good.
- Told Alice what it was like to be ten feet tall.
- Taught Ron Burgundy Spanish.
- The Most Interesting Man in the World finds most interesting.
He goes by two names, one word.
DaveRisner
Depending upon the day, DaveRisner could be This Guy or That Guy. Speaking of, the entire USA is wondering where DaveRisner is? Wouldn’t they be surprised to find him in The Rickshaw Run?
Why are you teammates good/bad company for this adventure? What would they say about you?
Well, the first thing we need to figure out is where’s DaveRisner? We have the entire USA wondering where is he? He’s not in Venice or Santa Monica or San Francisco or Sausalito or Steamboat Springs or Denver or Fort Collins or Chicago. Or is he? #WheresDaveRisner
Anyways, hoping that we #FindDaveRisner and, that being said, Team AlwaysBeEpicis perfect for this adventure. Why? At AlwaysBeEpic, we are all about living an epic life. Best friends for almost twenty years, Derek and Cecil met through their mutual good buddy DaveRisner, and have traveled around the globe living one adventure after the other connecting local artists and supporting their charitable causes. Our aim is to promote a community that connects people through creativity and thereby change the world for the better. We speak to adventurous people who want to leave their stamp on the world by lifting others up and embodying philanthropic ideals. We wholly realize the adventure has only begun. There are places to see and places to be. Come join us on our epic adventures.
This just in. Got a note from DaveRisner…. “I want us to be the guys known to hug people. Even if no one in India was willing to hug, we would. We may not be the best huggers ever to visit India, but we’re leaving that place with credentials as ‘the hug guys’, or ‘the guys that give a lot of hugs!’. That’s us, or I want that to be us.
Nothing says you care like a hug. In fact, I don’t think anything even compares. Young and old, rich and poor…everyone loves a hug. I think we can say a lot without saying anything…by just giving hugs.
But, to answer your question…”Where is DaveRisner?” Well, he’s probably out somewhere hugging someone…and, in truth, I’m actually getting good at it, and I think you guys will be, too.
BTW, I don’t really think ‘She’s Always A Woman To Me’ is Billy Joel’s best song…I just thought it would get me a hug, and it did. I win.”
So there you have it.
Why the Rickshaw Run?
In India, we have a saying – “If not now, when? If not us, who?” I heard that in a movie once. That about sums it up, wouldn’t you agree?
What have you done like this? (adventure, travel, endurance)
Quite honestly, we’ve experienced a ton of adventures, done a lot of things, and been to many places all over the world, but have never ever done anything even remotely like this. Some people think we are doing the Cannonball Run Indian-style. Some people think we are absolutely mad. There’s no doubt we are, but that has nothing to do with the Rickshaw Run. Derek did complete the marathon in Chicago a number of years ago. Does that count as similar?
What are you most looking forward to/ worried about?
Without a doubt, I am most looking forward to hanging with my best mates, traveling through my homeland in a way that no one else in my family, let alone most Indians themselves have ever done. I am looking forward to the various cities we will be visiting from Kolkata to Varanasi to Mumbai to Udaipur to Jaisalmer to Jodhpur to Jaipur to Agra to Kanpur to Lucknow to Bodh Gaya to Darjeeling to Shillong. I am looking forward to spending a couple nights in the Thar Desert. I am even looking forward to our rickshaw breaking down; and perhaps because I am looking forward to it, I won’t be upset when it happens and even get a laugh out of it. Yes, that’s what I’m looking forward to – a laugh. With Derek and DaveRisner, there are bound to be plenty of laughs. And we’ll have enough to go around.
What do you predict will happen?
Of course, we will win! No wait, we will at least finish! Hang on, we will… hmmm, perhaps Gloria Gaynor said it best? We “will survive”; yup that’s the goal. Survive. No wait, we will do much more than survive. Who are we? We are DaveRisner, Derek Layne and Cecil Puvathingal. We are That Guy, Rollo and The Dark Knight. That’s who we are! And we are gonna have a great time!
“Don’t stop me now I’m having such a good time
I’m having a ball
Don’t stop me now
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don’t stop me now (‘Cause I’m having a good time)
Don’t stop me now (Yes I’m havin’ a good time)
I don’t want to stop at all.”
Cheers,
Cecil
aka The Dark Knight
Secret of My SucCecil 
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