Dreamers are Doer's, We Dreamt, Now We are doing it
In India though the annual countrywide sales of automotive two-wheelers have risen from 430,000 in 1991-92 to 7 million in 2005-06 (79.19 percent of all automobile sales), majority still use motorcycles as commuting tools. The country is slowly waking up to a new genre of easy riders who are passionate about zippy bikes (scooters are passé) and want to ride them on the new multi-laned highways. And it is a miniscule percentage among these who commute for a cause that could help mankind, we are one among those few who strongly feel like contributing something valuable to this everchanging world and its glorious communities and add value to people who are associated with us.
Our motivation for this ride is:
To meet people at their location & understand their culture, traditions and way of life
Personal enrichment
Promote India as an emerging global Tourist Destination
Promote the Spirit of Adventure
Interact with Communities, People, Cultures & Traditions etc.
Volunteer actively across diverse problems of mankind
This voyage across South Asian countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Srilanka) is a small part of our long cherished dream "to ride around the world on a motorcycle". This is one of the most dynamic regions of the world but also suffering due to lack of development, ill health, financial constraints, civil disturbances etc. We are more than convinced that a majority of the problems of this region could be solved if the children and youth of the region get the benefit of Quality Education.
One of the major goals of this tour is to spread and propagate the importance of imparting quality education to all children. For we believe if poor people of South Asia have to break this vicious poverty-illiteracy-poverty cycle, education is the only hope. We will engage with non-government organisations, governments and the stake holders of education (parents, students, teachers and the community) to discuss ways and means of providing this vital service to the children and youth of SAARC nations. All the nationsl have so much in common in terms of history, culture, languages, geography etc why not find commonalities and draw parallels in our education systems too. We will try in our own small way to set off education collaboration between the regions countries.
Coming back to our dream of riding around the world, we understand that it takes time, commitment and hard work to translate our dream into reality and we are willing to give whatever it needs. It is one dream that seems almost impossible to achieve and being Indians the hassles are many many times more. Getting visas, carnets, letters of support, sponsorships, financial support is virtually impossible unless you are well connected and or a celebrity in your own right. Hence we decided to shun this option and tread the hard path i.e. work hard, save and travel in parts.
As of now we have only product sponsors, which has come as a great boon and support to us. TVS Motor Company, Bangalore India's most innovative motorcycle company and the first company to release a 100 percent indigenous motorcycle (TVS Victor) kindly consented to provide us two brand new TVS Apache bikes and take care of servicing and repair of the bikes throughout the journey. A promise TVS has kept up so well that we have never felt alone in any city. TVS dealers have been extremely friendly and supportive. Some dealers even went ahead and sponsored two full tanks of petrol. Intel India has chipped in to support us in our technology needs. Intel has provided us an Ultra Mobile PC. As the name suggests the PC is highly company and unbelievably powerful and feature rich. All our updates, website design work has been done on this machine itself. Cramster Luggage, Bangalore India's only motorcycle luggage manufacturing company promoted by Kirti Jayasimha a biker himself and a good friend of ours has provided us soft panniers and tank bags which fit on the bikes so well that it feels as if the gear is original equipment.
Our financial needs are met by our savings of the past 5-6 years and of course the generosity of our family, friends, and well wishers we have met on the road. Without this help and support our dream would have probably remained so.
Visa to Pakistan and Myanmar refused
We have now completed travelling across 16,500 km in 18 states of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. As we were processing our visas in Delhi we are realising how hostile India's neighbours are and how little an Indian passport is valued. Everywhere we go there are hundreds of checks, identity proofs etc to be given and thousands of questions asked before we are granted visa. Moreover some of the countries ask for a clearance certificate from the Ministry of External Affairs if we are to travel by motorcycle and of course the MEA will never issue the letter to us. This is because several hundred thousand Indians have fled the country on bicycles, motorcycles and other means and absconded/ married locally and settled down in other countries. This has made visa officers of foreign missions in India look at every Indian, particularly the adventure traveller, as a potential illegal immigrant and ask for 100s of documents if we want to travel by any other mode apart from air. So sadly our tour in terms of number of countries has been halved to just five countries where Indians with bikes are allowed for limited periods of time.
Srinidhi is denied Visa to Bangladesh too
After travelling across three countries other than India I got a rude shock from the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner's office in Kolkata. My visa application was rejected because I am a journalist by profession. Currently "foreign journalists" are not allowed to enter their soil due to the Emergency (declared in December 2006) journalists are not given a visa.
Riding into Myanmar with special road permit
Thanks to the kindness of the GREF (General Reserve Engineering Force) and Border Roads Organisation's (BRO) Project Sevak chief engineer Brigadier Pandey we were able to get a motorcycle entry permit into Myanmar and travel upto Tamu where a small unit of GREF is located. Otherwise road entry into this military administered country is virtually impossible. We spent about 4-5 hours on Myanmar soil and enjoyed every moment of riding on the other side of the road. Getting confused at times and watching the simple way of life of the hardworking Myanmar people was an interesting visit. More about our visit and how things worked in our favour will be posted shortly. For now you could visit our Myanmar Picture Gallery.
Support us!
If you feel that we are doing something worthwhile and wish to be a part of our world tour and share our dreams, please extend your supporting hands and contribute your drop of oil which will enable us to travel that many kilometers further.
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