Music Hang-out Tonight!

The riders are back and the musicians are ready! Come join us tonight for an amazing evening of music (good), food (good) and people (gooooood). Here is the map to our venue! Address: House 133, 2nd floor, Lane 1, West End Marg, Saidulajab, ND-30.

"Whatever It Takes"- celebrating relationships, celebrating standing up for a cause!

Bengali Basti

Driving down the main road of Vasant Kunj in Musoodpur you may notice the faint smell of garbage as you pass a slum area on your left (that's if you're driving from Saket). It's quite hard to see from the main road as it is a way in; most probably you wouldn't have noticed it at all especially if you're in an ac car with your windows up. In fat the only reason I know it exists is because there are people I know who work there. It doesn't actually have a name but Rajan, who starte a school there calls it the Bengali Basti; which makes perfect sense since most of the people living there are refugees from the borders of West Bengal and Bangladesh. With no way of earning a living in their home towns they made their way to Delhi with the hope of a bette future. Adn were they successful? I don't know...

Delhi, according to me, is such a difficult city to live in, If you've been to places such as Cehnnai, Keralal, or Shillong you notice that people there, live in community; they look out for each other, they are involved in each others lives; neighbors know each other's names; which isn't the case in most oarts of Delhi. Well at least not in my neighborhood. The other day my colleague and I went to meen someone in an Adventure Equipment Company and in the course of our conversation, we found we lived in the same neighborhood, three houses apart! That's Delhi.

So if you're poor and in need, where does that leave you; pretty much nowhere. I mean, how many of us are actually happy to see a street kid come and beg at our window. It's pretty annoying isn't it? Especially if you're in an auto-rikshaw...sweltering in the heat. The other day I was doing some research on why there are so many refuees entering Delhi and learnt some stuff that made me think. many of these people have actually been displaced, meaning kicked out of their homes. And why...well one of the reasons is so that big cities like Delhi, can be supplied with electricity or water-through dam, power plants, etc. Isn't that weird; and isn't it kind of ironic that though we find these people so annoting, we wouldn't be able to survive withouth them. I mean seriously, we've got maids (in other countries only the rich and famous have maids), we've got people who will build our houses, our malls, our roads...for hardly any wages at all. Isn't it strange that they build our malls and would never be allowed to step in.

So, what is the Bengali Basti like? Well, pretty much like any other slum. It's built on a rubbish dump (hence the smell), with houses made of cardboard boxes. The people living here sort garbage to earn a livelihood. So it you live close to the area...you now know where your garbage ends up.

Rajan, works and has worked a lot with the poor and underprivileged in Up, Uttrakhund and Delhi. After visiting them a number of times, parents in the Bengali Basti asked if he would help start a school for their children. Maybe the better future they had dreamed of could be got for their children.

At the moment four people teach in the slum school five days a week. Rajan rented two small cardboard box rooms and these have become the school, 'Apna School'. The children learn basic literacy and a few, who have had little more education have been enrolled into the National Open School.

Rajan wants to start a community college here, so that children can develop vocational skills, especially some of the older student; they long to learn to use computers, that magic world of cyber space which is way out there, beyond their reach. He wants skilled teachers who give these children an amazing education. He w ants the children to be able to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Why aren't there more people like Rajan?

We hope that with the money that this bike trip has raised, the Bengali Basti School will be able to grow in the way Rajan has desired.

Hello everyone! Sorry we haven't been updating for some time. Here is what has happened with the men so far.

After the below entry (day 3) we lost touch with the bikers for 3 days. They were in areas that had no coverage for telephone services. It was slightly worrying as they were meant to reach Leh on Friday afternoon and we expected to hear from them then.

Finally, late Friday night, we got a call from a guy in Leh who had met them in a place called Pang (picture on left). As you can see, it's not exactly what you would call hospitable Apparently their jeep had broken down and was refusing to budge. They asked him to get in touch with us. We were relieved!

It was a tough time in Pang as two of the men, Ashish and Rajan, got altitude sickness and had to be given oxygen.

Saturday afternoon we got our first phone call from them. Four of the riders, Martin, James, Steph, and Jeff had carried on to Leh while three, Sanjiv, Rajan and Ashish made a difficult decision to head back to Mainali with the broken down jeep in a truck. There was no way to repair it in Pang. I think Sanjiv and Ashish are enjoying being together in Mainali and getting some of the father son time they were looking forward to,

The group will reunite tomorrow and begin their journey back to Delhi day after. The Jeep is still in the workshop-with a major engine job required.

The men will arrive, Thursday afternoon, and be there for the music hangout, Friday evening! So if you're free we would love to see you there too.

Day 3

Checked the bike yesterday-rear brake drum rubbers melted, brake shoes smooth as ice, brake drum dented! no wonder we had no brakes-they started to jam today but the nearest mechanic is 360 km ahead at Leh-just hve to use the gears and front brakes!

Ashish and James like pillion riding-even though their bums must be sore bounced around like crazy. Sons and fathers, we must be crazy. None of us still believe that this is for real!

Started of 5 am today-wet roads which got progressively worse until it was just mud, slush, rocks, stones for a 25 km stretch. We stalled 5 times, but just about managed not to fall-I had to keep repeating loudly 'don't look ahead' and 'keep the bike handle straight', psyching myself on! Didn't have time to get scared, but am petrified thinking of going downhill in slush and stone on the return trip.

A gruelling tough ride to Rohtang, the cup of tea welcome here.

The ride got better choking now and then in dust thrown up by truks in army convoys which shouldered us aside. Breathtaking scenery-we were in between snow capped peaks above and a raging river below.

Keylong at 1 pm-shower and lunch, then to tthe market for a much needed head massage-Ashish got two from different shops.

Dinner time shortly and we leave tomorrow for the 2nd highest pass in the world-so they tell us.

From the Plains to the Hills

Day 1 August 10 2009
Started at 4:20 am, lost Martin and James by 4:45, found them an hour later, and stopped for alu pranthas at 7:30. Then we sped up to 90 kmph-my bike seemed imbalanced, back brakes barely working-I was using my front brakes and gears to stop. Scary!

But it started to kick in again, an hour later I was back-15 years of not driving enfields faded away.

The heat was killing-my arms burnt red-we stopped in the afternoon only for drinks-couldn't eat.

My bottom felt like someone had kicked it several times, my shoulder muscles were on fire when we finally arrived at Bilaspur to stop for the night, it was 5 pm. It was slow driving, we had to keep stopping waiting for the jeep to catch up.

Any mishaps-just one-almost. Took a bend to find two trucks neck to neck racing madly down on me. No time to brake-managed to squeeze by just a foot away from the edge of the 500 ft khud.

Ashish loved it-just wanted to enjoy the ride. He drove a bit and handed it back when it got too much.

Talked a bit later and we dosed off tired and wiped out!

Day 2 August 11 2009

Set off at 8:00 am-great fun on mountain roads all the 170 km ride from Bilaspur to Manali. We lost each other often-we thought we had lost Steph once and Rajan and Jeff in the jeep were trying frantically to figure out how to phone the UK for his nuber-we forgot to tell them we had found him, 30 kms ahead.
After breakfast at a roadside dhaba 11 kms off mandi, I took off and crashed into another bike who was doing the normal Indian thing-to turn left, first turn right! He was ok after a fall scraped his foot and his bike handle dug into my belly.

My back brakes were almost non-existent by now-so we reached Manali the quickest.

Bikes needed fixing and tuning for the really tough grind ahead-that took 3 more hours and we found time for a quick shower to head off to dinner later.

5 am tomorrow for Kehlong-

Can't believe I'm doing this!!!!

And it has begun...

This morning, at 4am the travelers started their journey! "Whatever It Takes" are now on the road! On Saturday, when all of them gathered for the first time; we decided it was a good time to take a group photo. Good idea- but absolutely impossible to go through with. Seeing the bikes, the men became young boys again... and within a minute they were all gone in different directions and the photographers and supporters were all left behind in a cloud of dust....

But here they are; Martin & James to the left, Sanjiv & Ashish in the back, and Steph and Jeff to the right. Jeff will drive the support car together with Rajan, so Steph will mostly ride by himself.

They are heading for Manali today, in the foothills of the Himalayas. And we are waiting for updates of their first day! So watch out for more...

Get Your Motor Running...

Get your motor running-Head out on the highway-Looking for adventure-In whatever comes our way-Like a true nature child-We were born-Born to be wild-Born to be wild.

These words of Steffanwolf along with a picture of a very laid back motorcyclist from 'Easy Rider' made up the card i received for my 60th birthday from my oldest son James-his way of gently reminding me not to settle down as I approach my more comfortable years.

Not that settling down is something I have ever had in mind but then neither do I have in mind taking off like we did in the seventies when me and my girlfriend, Yvonne (now my wife) attempted to drive overland to South Africa or India, which we did twice.

But getting out on the Highway was something that sounded like a great idea, the only question was which one. Inspiration soon came on a recent trip to India when I thought of riding from Delhi to Leh, 18500 ft high on an Enfield, 500 CC. My wife Yvonne who loved the drives to India was quick to tell me see was not up for this trip, 'risk life and limb on a bike with you' ( our wives can be so dramatic)-so I guess I would have to find someone else who was prepared to get close for ten days and share the small space of an Enfield saddle.

Quick as a flash James came to mind and he was as keen to join me as I was to have him come. James and I have never had a lot of time together; our busy lives and his brother and sister all seemed to demand the time that I could have given to James. So it is great to now have the time together where we can recover some lost time. I am looking forward to filling in that gap the years have created and talking about kids, the future, the planet, the meaning of life, mountains, weather, the beauty of India, chai and where to find a good back massage.

But it's not all about 'looking for adventure', no, the recent trip to Delhi that inspired me about the ride also made me think about the needs of kids who will never grow to the age to ride a motorbike, let alone one. Kids who life seems to have dealt a bad hand to and who this fast world we live in seems to be able to miss. Kids you see on the streets or the slums who will not stand a chance unless someone helps. So this ride is a sponsored one where we are able to raise money to give to a Delhi project that has a real heart for such children and we know will make a difference to some and give a better chance for the future-so if you are feeling generous please give and give big.

So here we are just a few days away from getting out on the Highway, motor running and a few days away from sore bums and aching backs and a lot of fun together.

PS: For a reasonable donation I can tell you Shruti's age and birthday but you might get a better deal from Ashish.