Wanderlust

Hey there. It was the 20th of July’16 when I had left for my ride  from Chennai. The tour had begun with a ride to Shillong (North-East of India) in which my parents too were a part off.

Why & How this? It was my dad’s business meet in Shillong and were about to buy tickets for the same (that is for himself and mom). That’s when an idea came up to him and decided to drive across nation of to get there instead of the flight. Enthusiastic and stirred with the same, prepping started to make this into reality. In action, dates –routes etc. were decided and we were off for the road trip. Me on my motorbike and my parents in the car; we left Chennai on the 29th of July’16. Our plan was to relish, savour, lap up, explore, capture the happy moments and enjoy our travel as much as we could. The route –

29th Jul’16 – Left from Chennai. 30th Jul’16 – Vijayawada 31st Jul’16 – Vijayawada to Puri

1st Aug’16 – Puri 2nd Aug’16 – Puri to Bubaneswar 3rd Aug’16 – Bubanewar to Kolkatta 4th Aug’16 – Kolkatta 5th Aug’16 – Kolkatta to Malda (The deroute) 6th Aug’16 – Malda to Silluguri 7th Aug’16 – Silliguri to Shillong 8th Aug’16 – Shillong Royal Enfield Workshop 9th Aug’16 – Shillong** 10th Aug’16 – Shillong** 11th Aug’16 – Shillong to Guwahati 12th Aug’16 – Guwahati 13th Aug’16 – Guwahati to Silliguri 14th Aug’16 – Silliguri to Begusarai 15th Aug’16 – Begusarai to Gaya (halt at Nalanda) 16th Aug’16 – Gaya 17th Aug’16 – Gaya to Varanasi (10K km) 18th Aug’16 – Varanasi 19th Aug’16 – Varanasi to Kanpur 20th Aug’16 – Kanpur to Delhi 21st Aug’16 – Delhi hu bhai

There is a lot we saw and learnt in this trip. Things became more certain. I could easily now conclude that my parents would now let me go for my National trip with much more confidence and relying on the fact that I can indeed take care of myself (w.r.t health) now that they have seen me on road. This let me augment my basic skills as a rider, taking care of finances and much more. I have a lot and loads of stories to share (of what occurred in this trip of mine). Would be putting it up as memories made with family or rather the “Trip to Shillong”. A beautiful time and indeed the best way to kick-start action on my present possibility. A small glimpse or rather a teaser of my (family) Pre - Ride to my All India Tour.

Hey there !  So yes, I did need that, a test ride. I’d started my riding with the Royal Enfield - Electra 350 which was the 2001 model. It was the one with the AVL engine; one with the compressor (started only with a kick); the right shift ( with it’s gear and the brake on the right and the left resp.) which is the other way around the usual bikes. One beautiful one.  It’s beauty and the thump is just inimitable. It was now time to shift over to the new bullet rolled out by the Royal Enfield which I found is more of the commercial one. The change was of course the sides of the gear system and felt completely different. Also, this test was also to test my health at the time. 

The ride was to Ooty, Karnataka. 14th - 20th July’16 On Road : Chennai - Coimbatore - Ooty -(via Mysore road) Bangalore - Chennai. 14th July Chennai to Coimbatore A good ride, stayed in R.K. Lodge.  15th July Coimbatore to Ooty I remember visiting the office (business branch of my dad’s in Coimbatore) the next morning. Woke up to a beautiful day, an amazing weather, a pleasant one.  The route was from the office to Coonoor to Ooty.  It was the first time in my life I had ever ridden incline. My first stop was at a small cafe where TBH, had stopped to use the washroom. There I met a rider with whom I had a wonderful conversation with. I was during the sunset and almost had reached  Ooty when a stranger (John Boy as called by his friends) got my attention; by who’s lead got me a wonderful place to stay at. Hotel Maharaja. A peace sleep. 

16th July A Day in Ooty 17th July Ooty to Bangalore My Best Ride Ever. (As of then)  The route was via the Mysore. One of the most scenic roads I had  ridden at the time. The drive was through the forests. Happened to see elephants and other wild animals. Real beauty.

Made friends with two  biker groups too. That was the first time I had ever made rider friends and when I understood brotherhood.  Downhill faced for the first time, much scarier that I thought it would be. That was when my first fear  came out. On road difficulties as you call it.  18th - 19th July Bangalore Fun time here with Nishu, an old friend and Rochit, my brother; It was amazing to see how crowded Bangalore is.  Also, had spent time with Akshay, a school friend and his friends   The most happening place to be a bliss with them and such great weather.  20th July Back to Chennai 

Why the wheels ? How the rider ?  It is photography, I’d use to show the beauty in  what I see in what I explore.  Slowly, as I went ahead exploring and travelling more and more; wheels made an entry to this. Made me mobile.  The only bike that we had was the Royal Enfield that my dad owned. It was my third year in my college in Vellore when I’d moved out of my hostel and needed a vehicle.  A little bit of the learning for a few days with my dad and with his amazing way of teaching my how to ride, I was off to my first ride ever. To Vellore.(130 km) The ride was a beauty and a memorable one. 

5 states. Over 20, 000 km. Started off from Chennai, India, went all the way to Shillong, then to Delhi … (completely quite a few states in this journey).. Brought the state count to 0. A fresh start.   Completed over 5 states. Have finished the Himalayas where I was for around a little more than 3 months. The states being Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana - Punjab, Delhi. Entered Rajasthan. 24 states to go. It's been over 4 months since I have started my journey across India. 9 or more months to go. Expecting over 60k km.

Have  many photos and stories to share.

India.  Taken a year off to live my passion of travelling the world. 2016 pass out from VIT University, Vellore. Left my placements and my plans for higher studies. Fought against all odds w.r.t health. Travelling solo. A solo rider. 

Visiting Each and Every place in India. Not just an All India Tour but it’s the travel photography, living & connecting to the place, capturing the lifestyle, language, folk, food, dance, smiles, beauty, nature and the uniqueness of each place. Gets as diverse as it can get. In fact even the skin. The diversity keeps me exploring. Exploring keeps me moving. Travelling keeps me riding. Riding me keeps feel alive.

My first post. I’d like to share what the meaning of my blog name is. “Lume Casa”; Lume being a Romanian word for World and Casa being the Spanish word for Home.  World is my home. I believe I am not born in a particular place (city/village/ town) being my home; but born on this Earth, it being my home; And to explore every part of it is what intrigues me. First the World; then may be the whole Universe. Why not? Yes? Doing and making this possibility into existence - quite - keeps my alive from the inside.  Well, here’s the start to the personal; open to public blog. I am here to just let out what my heart has to pour out.  A new beginning. Peace.