Travelling with a purpose

Sprightly and purposeful, the youngest speaker at MTM jumped up to take his spot to tell us about his journey within India. What was unique? The fact that the then 19 year old and his senior accomplice of 29 years had traversed through India, but with a purpose! A young Ashish shared his story with MTM to bring home a strong message.

While adrenalin pumping trips to Leh and around have been part of itineraries, how about adding a touch of conscious travels to the rides? It was planning for one such trip with Asim of Bangalore Motoring Club, that the duo decided to take up a widespread issue, close to their hearts. Tigers!

What lay ahead was a daunting journey, not only where the kilometres and riding & fixing expertise was concerned, but the buy in of family, friends, funding and making the trip worth it. Asim and Ashish started out their journey of 14000kms, covering almost 3/4th of the vast country, riding to the national parks and tiger reserves of the country. Fifteen states, thirty-four cities and seven tiger reserves later, the duo had to take a small break back in Bangalore, after which Asim covered three more reserves on his own, notching the number upto ten.

In turn they learnt how the communities living close to the jungle were equally engaged in the topic of conservation and realised the importance of anti-poaching activities and the financial significance of promoting these areas as tourism spots. As luck would have it, the wonderful beast also bestowed them with many sightings. On asking which was the most memorable Tiger Reserve through the journey, pat came the reply – Ranthambore.

In turn they learnt how the communities living close to the jungle were equally engaged in the topic of conservation and realised the importance of anti-poaching activities and the financial significance of promoting these areas as tourism spots. As luck would have it, the wonderful beast also bestowed them with many sightings. On asking which was the most memorable Tiger Reserve through the journey, pat came the reply – Ranthambore.

This gives them an audience of willing listeners – A great ploy to spread the message! It also gives other riders to make their miles count. Associate with an integral issue of your choice and raise awareness. Because when you are sitting on that bike, taking the challenges of the road head on, there will be listeners.