21-year-old biking around the world
CHRISTINE MACHADO
PANAJI
Study. Get a job. Get married. Have kids. This seems to be the life cycle that most people tend to follow. But 21-year-old Chennai boy Rohith Subramaniam was determined that his life story would be different. “I read an article written by an American who wanted to do a lot of exploring in his 20s but chose a corporate life. The piece was filled with a lot of regret. And it made me wonder how different my story was going to be,” said Subramanian, who started his own crowd sourcing project 'Fund my Dream' at age 18. “Everyday I do the same work, meet the same people. And it made me ask myself, 'Do I want to do do this for the rest of my life? So why not undertake an entire country tour on the bike?'” says Subramanian.
Thus was born the idea of a 25 million meter ride which will see Subramanian touring round the 29 Indian states and 9 union territories in 150 days. However, while other parents may have baulked at this ludicrous idea, Subramanian found ample support in his. “Their reaction was 'Are you mad? If you want to do something like this why not make it big and go around the whole world!'” reveals Subramanian. And that is how he then decided to extend the journey to three legs “ The Grand Indian tour, The South East Asia tour and The European tour. All in all, he aims to cover over 40 countries by July 2017.
But Subramanian began his trip on January 15 on a Royal Enfield Desert Storm 500 and is currently enjoying his stopover in Goa.
So far Subramanian has had a load of interesting experiences along the way. “What I have learnt is that people are the same everywhere you do “ be it in Kerala, Hubli or Goa “ there is so much unconditional love and they have treated me like family,” says Subramanian, who has made the decision of not staying in hotels. Subramanian plans to do a documentary, a book and a coffee table book on his trip upon completion.
