Team Ahimsa Blog Relay, Various Contests

Self Driven - #30DBC

PROMPT November 3rd

You live in a tourist town.
There's always an 'interesting' mix of visitors.
But this year they are especially... In what way?

It was Roger and Betsy Kalter who started the trend. They had a four-year honeymoon round the world, on their bicycles. Yup, yup on their bicycles. When on land, they'd cycle. When not on land, they'd be on ship, their bicycles safely in the hold. They didn't go any place by air. They paid for this extended honeymoon by sending newsletters about their travels to people who wired the subscription money to Roger's mother, and she'd in turn send it to them wherever in the world they were at the time.

Unusual. Tourists who didn't use motorized transport. Tourists who paid for their travel by writing about their travel. When they visited us in Mumbai, I was fascinated by their stories. Meeting them over dinner one evening, my uncle asked them if they caught cold often, riding their bicycles in all weathers. (They didn't.)


They were followed by Ankit Arora, the thin bearded boy (young man, but oh, so young) who wanted to cycle across India before the year was out. His luggage comprised a pair of pants and an extra shirt. Nothing else. Cycle parts, in case the bicycle broke down? Someone always donated them, he declared. He paid for his travels by giving lectures and slide shows. Yes, there was a camera as well. I didn't mention it as 'luggage' because it didn't seem to be, strapped across his shoulder all the time. Ankit either cycled or walked. He abhorred the sound of mechanized transport of any kind. "You need to hear yourself breathe when you're moving," he stated. "You need to hear the wind in the leaves and the chirping of the birds. These engine noises are so intrusive."

On a noisier note, there were Maneesh and Minu Pandey. They were on a big motorcycle. Maneesh at the controls, his wife Minu riding pillion, cuddling against his back, and their sleeping bags tied firmly to the rear guard. They slept under the stars each night. No hotels for them. They carried the ingredients or packets of 'instant' and made campfires.

Independent, self-driven (literally and figuratively) and willing to see famous tourist landmarks from a different perspective. The people I mention are all real, and the stories of their travels are real. They didn't all happen in the same year, but I took bloggers'-license on that, twisting the prompt to write about them. I am happy to have met all of them and heard their stories.


My article about ANKIT:
https://bengalurureview.com/the-man-who-cycled-all-over-the-country-and-made-peo...