BIKING FROM INDIA TO NEPAL WITH A MESSAGE TO CEMENT INDO-NEPAL FRIENDSHIP

Indian bikers traveling to Nepal with a message of cementing Indo-Nepal friendship. Photo: Read 2b Happy. 

By LB THAPA for Read 2B Happy

Three bike riders from India have just arrived in Pokhara. Led by Ajay Tiwari from Bhopal and two other friends Jasbinder Singh aka Kaku Bhai from Amritsar and Karan Sodhi from Dehradun have covered over 1102km distance by their ostensibly impressive motorbikes.  

 

Speaking with this scribe Ajay Tiwari, who is from Bhopal said: “Over the last decade or so I have been regularly going for long distance traveling by motorbike. In the beginning, I used to bike alone but later two of my soul mates joined me and now we are three on the road. We are intimate friends and we have a wonderful understanding of each other. Most of the time we travel with our wives but this time we decided to travel without them”.    

 

From left, Ajay Tiwari, Bhopal, Jasbinder Singh, Amritsar and Karan Sodhi, Dehradun. 

Ajay Tiwari who hails from Bhopal is now 54 years old and he mounts on his gigantic BMW 1200cc motorbike, which weighs about 500kg. “Of course the bike is heavy but it does magic on the road. The bike is ideal for a long-distance ride. Maybe this is the reason the BMW 1200cc bike is considered the best adventure bike in the world”.

 

Having a reminiscence of his early biking forays, Ajay Tiwari’s first solo, long-distance ride was from Lucknow to Jhansi about 450km. The very first trip that he undertook from Lucknow to Jhansi was without his parents’ consent. This was in 1988 and the bike he rode was Kaswasaki 100cc. After completing a successful trip to Jhansi, Tiwari’s confidence level reached another level. Thereafter he went on several trips to numerous destinations. Ajay Tiwari has already completed the India tour two times on his motorbike.

 

“A desire to see my country coaxed me to take my motorbike and move on. Over the years, I have reached almost every nook and cranny of my country covering hundreds of thousands of kilometers. While I have already visited several states across India, now my intense desire is to travel to neighboring countries as well. Now we are glad to have reached Nepal”, said Ajay Tiwari with a broad smile across his face.

 

Mr. Tiwari and his friends have dedicated this trip to cementing Indo-Nepal friendship. By undertaking this trip, they do also want to encourage young Indian people to travel to Nepal.  According to them, what they can find in Nepal is fun, adventure, and tons of excitement like never before.

 

“The people of India and Nepal are not only connected by their borders but also by their cultures, traditions, and religions. Unlike other neighbors, we do also share our gods and goddesses. This is something very rare to be seen in the world. For instance, look at my friend Ajay Tiwari. He is a diehard devotee of Lord Shiva and he is much excited to receive blessings from the Lord Pashupatinath in Kathmandu”, revealed Karan Sodhi who is from Dehradun.

 

Speaking with Jasbinder Singh yet another rider from Amritsar, said: “Right from day one when we entered Nepal through Tanakpur border we have meandered through several towns and cities of Nepal. However, during the course of our riding, we have never felt like we are away from home. People here in Nepal are amazing. Wherever we reached but the people have received us with their open hands and open hearts. I must admit that people’s response to us was just overwhelming”, said Jasbinder Singh.

 

Ajay Tiwari and his friends spent one day in Lumbini and visited several monasteries built by different embassies. “Splendid. This is the only word I want to use for those amazing monasteries. Every monastery has been built with so much care and precision that those monasteries are capable of drawing every passerby’s admiration”, opined jubilant Karan Sodhi who is from Dehradun.

 

Ajay Tiwari, Bhopal, India

Karan Sodhi, Dehradun, India

Jasbinder Singh, Amritsar, India

Ajay Tiwari, Bhopal, India

“Seeing the Ashoka pillar in the middle of the holy site was a tremendous experience for me. This great historical monument is enough to certify that Lumbini is the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha. Then we saw a sacred pond and finally the exact location where Lord Gautam Buddha was born. We stood in a serpentine queue and finally, we found ourselves standing in a place that was next to the birthplace of Lord Buddha. This was a great moment for me. I felt so fortunate to see the exact birthplace of Lord Buddha. My eyes welled up with tears but I controlled my emotions and restrained my tears with great effort”, said Jasbinder Singh with an extreme degree of reverence.   

 

The bikers have already reached Kathmandu on 25 February where they have planned to stay for two days. When this scribe was writing this story, I received a text message from Ajay Tiwari from Kathmandu informing me that they had to leave Karan Sodhi, one of the bike riders, in Pokhara.

 

“Possibly we have to bring a change in our program because we had to leave Karan Sodhi in Pokhara. Sudden muscle cram in his thigh and foreleg made him unable to ride his bike and we did not want him to take unnecessary risks. We, therefore, advised him to take a rest in the hotel in Pokhara and later he can join us in Kathmandu or Janakpur. It is because our next destination is Janakpur. We want to see Janakpur temple and sightsee the places of historic importance”, informed Ajay Tiwari.

 

The present bike ride from India to Nepal is a testimony to the fact that Nepal is the perfect destination for Indian adventure seekers. Nepal has been a perfect destination for the Indian people as a whole. Nepal not hold only amazing stock of natural beauty but also several temples like Pashupatinath, Suyambhunath, Manakamana, and Vindhyabasini. These temples hold the utmost significance among Hindu believers in India. 

Within the next week, most probably, Ajay Tiwari, Jasbinder Singh, and Karan Sodhi’s Nepal bike journey might end but their friendly gesture and high esteem for Nepal and the Nepalese will always remain in the hearts and minds of the Nepali people.

The author (right) is seen with the Indian riders. Photo: Read 2b Happy. 

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