It all started when my Mom used to drop me to school on Bajaj Chetak which makes it obvious that she was my inspiration. Bajaj Avenger was my first Motorcycle, but Royal Enfield was my first love and I just wanted to have that motorcycle. To me the most difficult part was to persuade my family and change the” Girls cannot ride a Royal Enfield” stereotype because it’s too heavy. Yet I convinced my family to get me my desired motorcycle, somehow. Now that I had a Royal Enfield it was time to hit the big roads. Gradually I began with single breakfast rides of about 100-200kms. Only to brace myself, for the National Highways.
I started searching for the right set of people to do my first cross-state ride but with feeble attempts I eventually decided to do it myself, leading to my first Solo Ride (Mumbai – Goa- Mumbai) through which I gained a lot of confidence. I then went on a solo ride, covering the Konkan coastal range.
Eventually I planned an expedition every rider in India dreams of. Unlike most people who ship their bikes to north, I chose to start my ride from Mumbai. The weather was the most difficult part, because of storm Vayu. There had been heavy rains in Mumbai and storm in Chandigarh, extreme temperatures of 40+ to -10 degrees, rainfall in Spiti, sand storm in Nubra valley, landslides in Jammu. It was indeed a spine chilling experience. But instead of calling them hurdles, I’d say this was the best opportunity that helped me learn to tackle situations I had never been trained for. That’s how I travelled through 8 states, covering 6800kms in 24 days, and completing one of my dream journeys.
