Riding for Kerala

Vishnudas' voice has a sense of pride. That proud feeling, which every patriotic young blood of a country has, when he is able to do something responsible for the place he belongs to. This gentleman has a story to narrate wherein he set out on a journey with his friend David Mammen that, in addition to providing the sense of satisfaction every traveller yearns for when he/she traverses long distances in search of adventure and experience, also helped them to educate the people of other parts of our country about the situation Kerala is facing after the devastating floods.

The duo went on a 32-day trip on their bikes traversing 9000 km; they started from Kerala and covering the entire Konkan stretch reached Kashmir. Explaining what finally prompted them to go on the dream ride, Vishnu says, “Both of us are not professional riders. It’s just that we love travelling and ever since college days, we wished to go on a road trip on our bikes. However, the dream had to take the back seat as the responsibilities of our careers needed more priority. But in August, when our state witnessed probably the most dreadful natural calamity in its history, we had a long break and took part in the relief operations. We also came to know that a group of people in other parts of the country were making nasty comments about Kerala. They said Malayalis were being punished for eating beef and for approaching the court seeking entry for women in Sabarimala temple. We thought some clarification was needed and therefore decided to go on the road trip, creating awareness about the real situation of Kerala and pooling funds to help rebuild the state.

The duo, who work in a leading agricultural business corporation, addsthat the support they received from their colleagues persuaded them to go ahead with the trip even without a detailed plan. What makes their trip different? Vishnu explains: “The trip was unplanned, but our confidence was high. We were unaware that we would have to encounter extremely bad roads and adverse climatic conditions. The only motive was to reach out to people and spread the message. I would say that on the whole, it was a great experience.”

Elaborating on the most adventurous path they crossed, Vishnu says that they had to cover an 80-km stretch through the dessert enroute Jaipur to Jaisalmer, which was really scary as there was no proper road because the wind was depositing sand on the road making it slippery.

“The only sign of human existence was some sign boards set by DRDO. We were also short of fuel and it was getting dark,” says Vishnu, adding that it was the best experience they had during their trip after the one where they took the old Mumbai-Goa route and had to literally off-road for almost 200km.

Vishnu adds that the posters about their campaign and the corporate background had helped them fix appointments with different organisations who wholeheartedly donated for Kerala.Ask about the most touching experience and Vishnu instantly says, “We know that our trip was a huge success, mainly because we received donations ranging from '5,000, which was given by a local tea seller, to '52 lakh, given by Harsh Goenka. Though we also met people who made absurd comments about beef eating and caste, the most encouraging part was that it was just a small group. Majority of the people cared about the situation we were facing and genuinely wanted to help us.”

The visit to the Kargil War Memorial was an eye-opener for them as it made them appreciate the freedom that the civilians of India enjoy. “For the first time in our lives, we understood that our freedom came at the cost of the lives of many soldiers who died fighting for our country.”