West to East is in the wish list but as I said I am not a qualified biker. It needs a lot of dedication and discipline to be one. You will be surprised to know that after the completion of the trip I haven’ t cranked my bike once, it’ s going to be a year now! You can call me a‘ man maani’( whimsical) biker.
I am planning to hold an‘ Exhiperience’- exhibition of experience in the winters this year. Though this journey was initially a self funded project, but now I am looking forward to some sponsors and crowdfunding for the‘ Exhiperience’ as this would require a considerable amount of money. I am going to distribute the smiles I have collected to the people in need. Imagine this, when you are feeling exhausted, down and low or when you are pissed off and you suddenly notice that there are one hundred people smiling in your living room, they are smiling at you and smiling for you. Will there be any other better way to bring back the smile on your face?
In this journey of 5000 miles you might have certainly faced some challenges or came across some interesting people. Can you share some experiences?
I have met a lot of interesting and extraordinary people on my trip. I met an eatery owner who has lost all his brothers and a grown up son in an accident yet living a content life and spreads happiness around him. A doctor in Gokarna, a very noble soul, serves people 24x7, adn only charges Rs 20 as a consulting fee. Being the first medical graduate of that small temple town, he wanted to shift to Bangalore and open a multi-speciality hospital with two of his batchmates. But his father, a head priest of the town, ordered him to stay put and serve the people of Gokarna and now he is happy about that decision. As a widower, this doctor is nurturing his two young kids as his wife died of cancer two years ago. But that did not stop him on his strong mission. There was an engineer who left his lucrative MNC job and returned to his village to teach computer skills to underprivileged children and connect them to the mainstream cyber world.
Two elementary school teachers whom I met on a ferry in Chilka lake in Orissa took me to their home, offered me dinner and escorted me till the next town on their bikes. They explained to me how they organize and run an awareness program of personal hygiene for the slum children funded by a part of their monthly salary. It is just to mention a few of them. Once, I had to cross a hill route through a dense forest on my way to Harhareshwar. It was getting dark and I was riding all alone for about an hour when the road suddenly forked into two without any signs, no GPS or mobile network and no one around to ask for directions. I waited for quite some time with a lot of thoughts running through my mind. What if I get stuck here, in the middle of nowhere? How will I survive the night? What would you do when the feeling of helplessness creeps in? As for me, I just took out my wallet, tossed a coin and went ahead with it.
A message that you want to convey through your words that people might be missing in your actions?
I am not qualified enough to send out messages but one thing I can say with conviction is that travel teaches you a lot. What my life could not teach me in fifty years, roads have taught me in fifty days! Roads are like a library and they offer a lot if you are willing to learn. And learning is organic!
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