Trans Himalayan - Scooter Run...

TAKING THE TINY HONDA NAVI TO PLACES IT WASN’T BUILT FOR!

- Arunabh Majumdar

WHY the ride? And the cause behind it?

We live in a country where farmer suicides are the norm. We share the misery of people dying feel content assuming we have done our part. The farmer suicide issue in India has been raging on a for a while now and the Tamil Nadu droughts have been the worst in the last 160 years.

What prompted me to action was the fact that not enough people were aware that there was a problem to begin with. During the Chennai floods, the people worked as one and help poured in from all sides. A large part of the seamless coordination was due to social media. With regular updates from various help groups, the Chennai floods are a prime example that a difference can be made if we want to.

A particular photo of a farmer holding up the skulls of his dead relatives during the 100-day protest of the farmers at New Delhi made me realise that the main reason the farmer issue was largely being neglected was awareness. Not enough people knew that there was an ongoing issue. It was one of those also-ran news blips which we all are too familiar with.

The TVS Bangalore-Bangkok Moto Run 2015 was my first foray into the understanding of how social media can make apparent simple things go “viral”. A nation wide ride has been done to death by too many people. Nothing new about that. The primary reason the Bangalore Bangkok ride gained traction was the fact that it was on a 100cc commuter motorcycle.

That’s when the idea of a tri-nation ride came up. But not just any tri-nation ride. Across the toughest off-roading sections of the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Bhutan. And to make it more difficult, to do this on a 100cc gearless scooter. The main agenda was to turn heads.