Pic: Vincent Braganza
Keeping our country safe from enemy attacks while daily putting their lives on their line is one of the toughest tasks ever. Yet, how often do we express our gratitude to these brave men for their selfless service to our nation. The most that we may do is put a post on social media about our respect for them, posts that they are not likely to actually see.
Determined that they do get their much deserved gratitude Jaipur based Ravi Verma, decided to go on an unique bike trip on his Royal Enfield across the country to collect personal messages of gratitude from Indians all over which will later be handed to the soldiers in person.
“ I was inspired after watching a documentary on the lives of Indian Army soldiers serving the sensitive LOC area,” reveals Verma, an IT professional, who quit his job to become an organic farmer. “ I remember I was feeling a quite cold in my room at that moment and it made me wonder about the severe chilly conditions that they had to manage in. This got me thinking that just like me there must be others out there like me who are also extremely grateful to the soldiers for all that they do.”
As an avid biker, Verma had previously undertaken long bike trips to Goa and Uttarakhand previously and was eying Leh. “For a biker, Leh is the ultimate destination. However instead of doing the trip just for my personal pleasure it became a trip with a mission as I decided to use it to go and thank the soldiers in person and also take along thank you notes from people,” says Verma, who wanted to begin his trip on August 15, 2015. However, an accident interfered with those plans as Verma found himself confined to bed for 7-8 months. During this time, he decided to expand his plans and turn it into a pan India trip. Thus on August 15 this year, Verma set out on his journey titled ‘Riding Solo Along Soul’ with an aim of visiting all the 29 state capitals of India and 5 union territories. In each state, Verma has been visiting different schools and colleges to collect messages from children and locals in the form of posters, greetings, letters, notes, paintings, videos for the soldiers stationed at Drass, Kargil and Leh. He also plans to make a documentary of the experience.
“Students in particular have been the best as they are very happy to contribute to this cause. Their little minds are more patriotic as they learn about these things in school,” says Verma. However, some people have passed comments that he is only doing this because of PM Modi's recent initiative Sandesh for Soldiers, but he clarifies that this is not so and his plans began much before Modi's announcement.
Uptil now he has done 22 state capitals and 2 union territories and covered a total of 18,000 kilometers. “The goal was to do 23,000 kilometers in all but it is most likely to go up to 25-27,000 kms in all. This was because I re planned the trip while I was in Bangalore recently so that I would be able to attend the Rider Mania in Goa ( happening from November 18 to 20 at Vagator). My friends from the biker community have made arrangements for me to interact with some schools here. After November 22 I will then be heading South.”
The sudden demonitisation of Rs 500 and 1000 notes however, has caused a few problems for him along the way too. “ I am unable to waste time standing in queues at ATM's as it will eat into my time for completing the trip. So I have been managing with funds from friends mostly,” he says. But there have been a load of other memorable experiences that more than make up for it.
The latest incident was a couple of days ago while he was on his way to Goa from Bangalore and had left his charger behind. “ I appealed to my biker friends on Facebook, many of whom I have never met to find out whether there was anyone heading from Bangalore to Goa around this time and was put in touch with a guy who was at first reluctant to do so,” narrates Verma. However, on learning Verma's name, things changed. “ He was like, 'You are THE Ravi Verma? ' This took me by surprise and I asked him what he meant. He told me that he had been following my trip on social media and greatly appreciated my cause and then told me he would get anything I wanted at any cost.” Verma admits that this touched him a lot. “I am just a normal person but because of this many people have come to know and respect me. It is humbling that one small gesture on my part can mean so much for someone else,” he says and then adds, “ I don't need appreciation. I am not doing this to become famous. I will instead appreciate it if you send a thank you message to the soldiers instead.”
