DESERT STORM

TVS painted the white desert colourful with motorcycles, mayhem and motorsports

- By Manaal Mahatme Photographs TVS Motor Company

The Road to Heaven looked exactly like its name suggested — almost unreal.

A 30-kilometre stretch of road built on a raised causeway across the white desert of the Rann, it seemed to float through an endless pale expanse. I had read stories about it, seen countless photos and videos, but nothing quite prepared me for the spectacle in person. On one side of the road, the water was choppy, rippling under the morning breeze. On the other, it was calm and still, like a giant mirror laid across the desert. It felt less like riding on a road and more like gliding across a mirage.

I was soaking in the views astride the TVS Ronin, trying to take in the sheer scale of the Rann, when suddenly everything went dark. Not metaphorically — literally.

I had ridden straight into a swarm of flies. Within seconds, my visor was splattered, the world in front of me reduced to a blur of wings and tiny impacts. Judging by the laughter and groans crackling through intercoms, I wasn't alone. Every rider in the group had just encountered a detail that the picturesque photos and travel stories had somehow forgotten to mention. It was an oddly fitting introduction to the Rann — breathtaking, unpredictable and just a little chaotic.

Reaching that surreal road had required a rather unglamorous start earlier that morning. We had left the Tent City at around 5:00 am, well before sunrise. The air was cold and the world still dark as we rolled out onto the narrow road that connected the tourist enclave to the highway.