The grocery boy who pedaled to his dream

From the heartland of UAE comes yet another story of grit, perseverance and the persistence of chasing a dream and achieving it.

The Brew Team came across a story of hope; an extraordinary grocery delivery boy who turned his day job into his dream.

We met Murshid KV, a resident of Ras Al Khaimah. A grocery boy who came to UAE in 2008 from Kerala, Murshid began his journey by joining his father who ran a modest grocery in Ras Al Khaimah.

His father entrusted him the responsibility of delivering groceries on an old rickety bicycle. Murshid did his job diligently without a complaint in his mind. He started his morning with a single goal in mind – to help his father by making as many deliveries as possible. Little did he know that it was this attitude that would create the steppingstone to success.

Murshid’s grocery was located near the foothills of Jabal Jais, the highest peak in the UAE. A popular destination for the residents of UAE, Jabal Jais towered at 1,934m above sea level and is a part of the spectacular Hajar mountains. The peak was also the famous endpoint for many professional cyclists who would find the daunting slopes of Hajar, a target of their weekend cycling challenge. As luck would have it, their usual stopover was at Murshid’s grocery.

Murshid was keen to learn more about their passion for cycling and struck up a genuine rapport with many. It was not long before the passion for cycling seeped into this humble grocery boy.

Motivated by his “cyclist friends”, Murshid set his eyes on cycling to the peak himself on a used cycle that he bought for AED 150. He decided to take up the challenge himself and set on for the trip. His old worn-out cycle unfortunately did not share his passion and gave up on its loyalty just after they started their trip. The cycle got a flat tyre 19kms away from the starting point and he had to drag his cycle back. Murshid was not ready to take on the Jabal Jais, yet.

Although he was not lucky in his first attempt, Murshid’s resolve to cycle to the peak became stronger. Learning from experience, he practiced daily and prepared himself for his next attempt. He had learned the hard way why preparation was as imperative as the actual journey. On the 8^th of February 2019, Murshid finally realized his dream. It was a Friday morning when he packed food and water for the journey and checked his cycle for the hundredth time. Jabal Jais was beckoning and Murshid was not giving up this time. Murshid covered the distance of 55km to the peak in no time. He delivered on his dream.

Noticing his serious passion, his uncle gifted him a new bicycle. It helped him immensely and instilled a sense of professionalism for his hobby. Such was his passion for cycling that he packed his bicycle for his vacation to Kerala. He raised curiosity within the cycling community when he cycled 200kms for 2 days along the hills of Wayanad to meet his relatives. This was the start of another journey that Murshid had not considered.

He was approached by Kerala Riders in Dubai who were keen to groom this promising cyclist. They assisted him in participating in a bicycle rally, the BRM Ride which only 200kms. It was an achievable target for Murshid, and he won a medal for it.

He soon saved enough to buy a professional bicycle worth AED 2,000 which gave him the confidence to ride long distances and take part in more competitions.

The next milestone in his growing riding graph was when he rode to Jabal Jais again but with a different goal. He rode 3 times to Jabal Jais and back within 24 hours! Murshid had arrived.

In 2020 he rode for 6,600kms in the whole year where he participated in the RAK marathon too. Recently in January 2021, he joined the KTS challenge in UAE where he rode 1,000kms in one week and 300kms in 12 hours.

His next dream is to ride across the 7 Emirates in the UAE and then to ride across India from Kerala to Kashmir if he gets the support and sponsorship. If all goes according to plan, he also has wishes to ride all the way from UAE to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. We hope his prayers get answered.

Until he pedals off to another destination, we are left with his words to ponder upon “I love cycling and I am living my passion.”