Day 4 - Nagpur

Here's an article from Mr. Ranjit Deshmukh | TNN (Times of India)

Nagpur: All modified bikes worth their salt, or rather engine oil, signal their arrival with an unmistakably piercing noise. But what sets these two mean machines apart is that they are making noise for all the right reasons — tiger conservation.

Instead of logos of reputed companies or graffiti that betrays a rebellious streak, these motorcycles have cutouts of tiger pug marks and ‘Save Tiger’ posters.That’s because the two bikers — M Aseem (30) and Ashish Jain (20) — are on a 13,000-km expedition across the country, especially villages, to spread awareness to save the big cat from extinction. Aseem is a real estate businessman and a member of an NGO called Chikmagalure Wildlife and Adventure Society. Ashish, a bio-tech student,is associated with another NGO Purlieus. The duo from Bangalore, started their journey
on June 5, World Environment Day and would be completing it in 60 days. The two passed through Nagpur on Tuesday.

The adventure Aseem and Ashish have embarked upon has given them some invaluable experiences. For instance, on June 6, the second day of their expedition which also happened to be Aseem’s birthday, the two had a morale-boosting encounter with some villagers near Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh. Says Aseem: “My bike’s tyre got punctured that day and we had to haul it for close to 2 kms to the nearest village. When we reached there, the villagers were so helpful that the mechanic didn’t charge a single rupee for his services but we were also offered food free of cost. But the best part,” he adds with emotion, “was that elders in the village picked up our ‘Save Tiger’ message and passed it on to the youths of the village who had gathered in large number to check out our bikes.”

The two usually travel 300-400 kms a day, provided they start at 5am. Ashish says,
“We stop at a tea stall at a prominent place in the village. Curious people gather around to see our modified bikes — a Yamaha RX 100 and a Bajaj Pulsar. "Two bikes, two men, one mission "

Nagpur: Two motorcyle riders hailing from Bangalore are on a mission to spread awareness about protecting tigers. Sharing their experiences with TOI, the duo said, “When we pass through villages a good number of people gather around. We tell them about our mission and how they can play a part in tiger conservation. “The reason we have a special inclination towards tribals and villagers is that it is them whom poachers lure with money as they are the ones who know the forest in and out. For a pittance, the poor villagers help poachers who are out to rob us of our big cat.”

Aseem and Ashish have a strange way of touching people’s hearts with their passion.
Wherever they go, they seem to turn strangers into friends and inspire them to do
something for a social cause. In the Orange City, the two bikers met with biking
enthusiast Rinkesh Badwaik and wildlife lover Udayan Patil. A visible impressed
Rinkesh said: “I have always wandered around on bikes but it was never for a cause.
Now, I have a reason.” Shanu Khan, a bike mechanic and a biker himself who conducted small repairs to the ‘tiger’ bikes, said even he would now take up such cause
and like to tour India.

The Bangalore boys have also made some virtual connections via the internet with
like-minded people who would join the two for a leg of the expedition. Dr Dinesh
Thakar and Aneesh Awasthi, who are professional bikers from Himachal Pradesh, will
participate in the expedition in the mountainous state.

In fact,a message on their biking gear sums it up perfectly: “Give your future to see tigers.”

Day 3 - Wildlife park visit in Hyd...

1000 hrs on 7th-June-08, press folks had gathered at Aashish's uncle house to get a glimse of our K2K riders and to take notes about their ride. Reports from E-NAADU, a TV channel from Hyd were at the spot ready for an interview. Once the interviews were through, Aseem and Aashish departed on their planned ride to PLANET Theatre where they again had media and crowd waiting to click a few pics and have a chat ! Our next way point was Karuna International Wildlife Park, where the rangers were supposed to meet the riders at 1100 hrs. As planned, the park rangers met our riders and were given posters, banners and stickers, prepared by team BMC reflecting the message intended to be spread to save the big cats from extinction. These were later taken by the rangers and posted around the park perimeter so that people would take note of the message !

With this, it was time to move on... Enroute, as planned, Team RED BULL had their representatives meet up with Aashish and Aseem and gave away Energy drinks enough to last through their journey to the next waypoint - NAGPUR. Again, we appreciate RED BULL's prompt actions in tracking our riders through their journey.

It was lunch time and our K2K riders headed back to Aashish's auncle's place. Post lunch, at 1500 hrs both the riders started off towards their next waypoint - NAGPUR.
Just a couple of minutes into the rider, Aseem notices a problem in his brake drums. They aren't functioning efficiently ! So, the duo immediately head to a garage nearby called Nirmal Autos. This garage apparently, is owned by one of the local political leaders and he pooled in a group of local media folks to publisize the event ! It was 1700 hrs now and with the 400+ kms to cover, our bikers hit the road again. Enroute, at Adilabadh district of AP, a beautiful stretch of ghat section welcomed our riders. I remember an ecstatic Aseem narrating this to me over the phone as they enjoyed the jungle ride ! They were well past into the evening and then, rear tyre on Aashish's bike went flat ! It was 1830 hrs now by the time they fixed the tyre and started riding again... As per plan, Mr. Harpal Singh (an editor or Hindu Times newspaper) was waiting at a jungle Check post near Adilabadh. Along with him were a group of AP forest department officials waiting for a photo shoot. Post photo session and chat, the ride continued.

Considering the long distance they had to cover to reach Nagpur, Aseem and Aashish came to a conclusion to ride quick and reach overnight. It was around about 0000 hrs by the time the duo entered Nagpur ! Tired and Hungry, both of them stepped into one of the 24 hour Cafe Coffee Day at Nagpur to grab a bit and sip hot coffee. As usual, a crowd collected around the bikes, curious to know what was happening !
Sitting in the opposite table at CCD were two guys (Ashish & Ritesh) who were localites of Napur and apparently had their own bikers club there ! They owned and run a Royal Enfield Bullet club in their city ! The elated duo met our K2K riders and spoke for a while about the trip and other general stuff. Next, they took our riders to a nearby lodging hotel called "Hotel Chidambaram" for their overnight stay.

0900 hrs on 8th-June-08, both Ashish and Ritesh came to the hotel and met up with our K2K riders and took them to a well know mechanic called Shaanu who owned a garage called Shah Automobiles. Both the bikes were sent in for a complete overhaul !
Incidentally, a few passerby from Nagpur who are strongly involved in wildlife conservation work met up with both Aashish and Aseem and suggested places where Tiger movement is more in Maharashtra ! With that, the routes to be taken around forest zones to access tribals and witness tiger movements etc...were handed over to our riders. A few reference contacts in and around Nagpur were also handed over to them in order to seek help. So, the original waypoint map had to be tweaked to accomadate these new changes. Rest of the day was spent planning to factor in the extra few places to be visited enroute. The plan to travel directly to Agra from Nagpur had now been changed to -> Nagpur - Wildlife places in MH - Agra !

Day 2 - Riding on their own...

0100 hrs, both Aseem and Ashish had left their family and friends behind and started their motorcycle expedition... This was it... no looking back ! For the rest of us from team BMC, just the media gathering, crowd, enthusiasm of both the riders, had us on high for the day and we headed back to our retreats. With drowsy eyes and high spirits, both the motorists hit the road (NH-7) towards Hyderabad (Hyd - first waypoint of their journey). It wasn't long before both of them realized they won't be able to make it Hyd, overnight !

About 100kms from BIA (and 350 kms from Hyd), the guys stop at a dhaaba on NH-7. A cup of chai and cigarette in their hands, both of them finally decide to take time off to rest for the night. Wise decision they had made ! Thankfully, the owner of the dhaaba agreed with them and asked them to sleep there till dawn and also promised to look after the duo's expedition bikes overnight. 0300 hrs - both the guys woke up and decided to hit the road again ! They still had a 300 km stretch to cover to reach Hyd...

Around about 80kms into their journey towards Hyd, they hit a bad patch of road torn apart from the recent rains that lashed the region. Both the guys decided to park their bike for a while on the road side and then - the first mishap happened ! Aashish's bike (parked on side stand) couldn't hold all the extra weight burdened upon it and it just slowly tipped over to the left. Result - front windshield broke and the head lights damaged ! Rains, bad roads, and now - no light on Aashish's bike... things couldn't get any worse for our riders !! But, this was just a small test for both of them and they knew that the REAL CHALLENGE was yet to come. Aseem decided to switch on all 6 lights on his bike and Aashish would trail em. So, they moved on...

Riding through the night and next day, both of them reached Hyd at around 2130 hrs on 6th-June-08. Aashish's cousin (Mr. Naresh Jain) was eargerly awaiting the duo at the outskirts of Hyd. They met up and Naresh took them to Aashish's uncle's place in SBI Colony. Once they reached, both the guys breathed a sigh of relief and freshened up themselves. It was a much needed break for them as they had ridden the whole day in bad weather ! It was way past dinner time and the duo were greeted by an ecstatic/exotic variety of traditional marati feast. Now i don't have to exaggerate on this anymore ! we all know how good it feels to be fed good food at the end of a tiring day :) Post dinner, the family was curious to hear from the guys about their experience of the journey from Bangalore to Hyd.

So, a quick chat session with the family to end the day...

Day 1.... Journey begins !

The residents of BTM layout were amazed to see a two wheeler mech working overnight till the wee hours of the next morning. Little did they know the driving force behind him was none other than our troop leader Mr.Aseem.

This was the scenario at Track Wheels a day before the ride started. Last minute checks, tweaking and tuning all the extra fittings on Aseem's Coffee Queen and Aashish's pulsar. It was 0330 hrs on ride day (5-June-08) and we were just 4 hours away from the flag off when the bikes received the "Thumbs UP" approval from Aseem & his team at Track-wheels. It was all but natural that our K2K riders were tensed and exhilarated at the same time as they decided to take a quick nap before heading to Bannerghatta national park for an official flag off !

Just a few hours of sleep and the phones start ringing again at 0700 hrs.This time, it was the media who were after Aseem and Aashish. Both the guys woke up with heavy eyes and reached Bannerghatta at around 0730 hrs where they were greeted by the National park chief ranger and his team. A photo session followed and at that moment, Aashish's family too landed there to
witness the event. Customary pooja were carried out by Aashish's family members and good luck wishes were bestowed upon both of them. At 1000 hrs, the riders stopped at the campus of Honeywell Technologies on Bannerghatta road. Aseem's sister, Ms. Hajira Nousheen working for Honeywell technologies had informed the company employees about the forth coming ride and they were all eagerly awaiting their chance to talk to the duo ! We wish to thank Ms. Hajira Nousheen for her thoughtful approach in conveying to Honeywell Technologies employees - the message and importance attached to this trip. Couple of Honeywell Technologies employees pitched in and did their bit by promising to give away cash which would help fund the trip expenses. We wish to thank each and everyone at Honeywell Technologies, who've supported our cause ! With that, it was time to move on. The riders next moved to Airlines hotel on Lavelle road, Bangalore. They were pretty hungry by this time as they had skipped breakfast.

Airlines Hotel...
At 1300 hrs, the duo and team had reached Airlines Hotel, Lavelle road, Bangalore. Here, rest of the riders from team BMC greeted Aseem and Aashish. Very soon, a large audience gathered around the hotel and gazed in awe at the fully kitted up expedition bikes ! Aseem and Aashish spent the next half hour addressing the gathering about their all India trip and the message they were carrying. Then, we all settled down for a good lunch session and chatted for a while. Last minute suggestions, advice flowed in. Aseem's family were the first to reach Airlines hotel followed by Aashish's family aswell. Both their respecitive families had one-on-one chat with both the riders and again wished them good luck as this would be their last chance to talk to them in person before the duo start their 45 day long journey. It was all but natural that some of the family members broke down in tears as they blessed and wished both the riders a safe journey. Then came along a big group of friends of both Aseem and Aashish's ! Elated buddies surprised Aashish by gifting him a brand new set of Cramster riding boots and jackets and wished both the riders - Happy miles ahead...

We had a bit of a surprise in store for Aseem as it was his birthday on (6-June-08)... A b'day cake was brought out and the gathering cheered and wished as Aseem cut the cake. Both Aseem and Aashish were on cloud 9 at that moment ! Never did they expect such a wonderful gathering to flag them off on their epic journey !

Happy and elated, we had a quick photo session with the riders, their families and friends.

Here, we meet Mr. Rajeev Kumar (Google Key Words : Rajeev Agastya Bangalore) a entrepreneur & lead India finalist from Bangalore ! We had a quick chat with Mr. Rajeev as he wished both the riders good luck. Mr. Rajeev was very impressed with the message our team was carrying along and he . June 5th was World Environment day as well as the Start off date for our K2K ride !

We got a call from Mr. Prasanna who had arranged a press meet at Press Club, Bangalore. Both the riders packed their stuff and headed there and to our surprise, a huuuuuge crowd of media personnel had gathered to chat with the K2K riders !!! The onslaught began - question after question flowed in and ofcourse the press cameramen clicked pics endlessly. At the same time, there was a huge gathering outside the club compound waiting to see what was happening inside. It was time for our riders to pack up.... Both of them were already tired and it was 1700 hrs already. So, we promptly headed to Abijit's (BMC Core member) cribb so that our riders could unwind, freshen up and take rest for a while before they hitting the road again !

2100 hrs, Abijit's mom had prepared good food and all of us hogged as if there was no tomorrow :) ... Though the duo riders knew eating such good food in abundance would make them more drowsy (especially because they had planned to reach Hyderabad overnight), they couldn't resist the good food !

So, all said and done, it was time for our K2K riders to leave home and head on one of the biggest journies of their lives. It was 2200 hrs now and last minute checks were done on both the bikes. Other riders from BMC team decide to accompany the duo up untill Bangalore International Airport (BIA) and flag them off one last time. Enroute, we stopped at a cafe coffee day to grab a cuppa cafe and fag. 0000 hrs, all of us wished Aseem a very happy birthday (it was his b'day on 6th June)... At 0030 hrs, we reached BIA and we let the duo finally carry on with their K2K journey. This was the beginning of their 10,000+ kms ride that they had dreampt up for such a long time.

With drowsy eyes, both of them gave the "thumbs up" and rode along the NH-7 (bellary road) towards Hyderbad !

It was time for the rest of us to head back home...

Intro...

Team BMC - Bangalore Motoring Club :

Check us out on Orkut : http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=36623480

K2K - Kashmir 2 Kanyakumari !
One of the biggest, most challenging rides that the club has ever planned for...
What started as just a "Casual Chat" over cafe one friday evening, turned into reality this week (5th June 08) when our riders (M.D Aseem (29), realtor by profession & Aashish (20), Bio-tech student) set off from Airlines Hotel (Lavelle Road, Bangalore) on their way to Kashmir on bikes - sans trailing medical/standby support vehicles.

The ride is ofcourse for a noble cause of saving our National Animal, the "TIGER" and the message carried, echoes the same ! Our K2K riders are on a mission to spread a message across the country to "SAVE TIGERS" !

Mr. YATISH HULKUNTE ( Founder & Trustee : Life Environment Awareness Foundation, LEAF), a Naturalist & Wildlife Photographer who was updated by our team members about the ride, pitched in immediately and helped us plan up for the K2K ride. Our sincere thanks go to him and the many other noble people we've met in the last couple of months, who've believed in the message we are trying to spread and who've stepped in voluntarily and helped us take the first steps !

Thanks to KSTDC, who've pitched in and funded close to 20% of trip expenses and named our K2K riders as their brand ambassadors for the trip !

Thank you Red Bull team for sponsoring energy drinks for our riders, as they ride along across the country spreading their message !

Special thanks to Mr. Prasanna & his team of volunteers from Team Indians, for having pitched in and helped us orgainize our Press meetings on time !

Last but not the least, thanks to all our families for having supported us so well and making this dream come true :)

Our thanks goes to each and everyone out there, who've helped in small/big ways by either sponsoring/supporting us for the trip or by wishing us good luck. We wish to have your continued support :)

We will keep updating this blog as and when we get information from our riders... So, stay tuned !

On behalf of Team BMC..,

Cheers
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