Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Ladakh 2012
 |
| At the GATI office, Mumbai |
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Interview: Joshua John
I have know Joshua since college which as far as I can remember was along time ago. The first time I met him he had a dream of riding cross the US on a Harley (crap I never asked him about that). Lately he started the Delhi Bikers Breakfast Run and actually inspired us to start the Mumbai Breakfast Run (Cant remember the last time we rode though!!!). Anywho we caught up with him for a chat.
Who are you?
People call me Josh, my wife calls me ‘Baby’ and my
baby calls me ‘Daddy’. I am a pastor of Fusion Church in Delhi. Run a site call
headrushART.com that has mostly paintings on motorcycling around the
Himalayas…and I run an inter-club motorcycle group called ‘Delhi Bikers
Breakfast Run’.
When did you first get interested in bikes?
First time? That would be back in ’93. Some rugged
German bikers visited our school on their Beemers to give a talk on their ride
around the world. Unfortunately I wasn’t in the German class so I missed their
talk but I got to pull back the throttle when they started their bikes. I was
hooked! Our school actually had an Enfield club for the staff…
What was your first bike you ever owned?
I bought a second hand ‘95 RE
350 right after college.
What is your favorite bike?
I am an adventure bike person.
So if I could afford any bike I’d go for Yamaha XT Super Tenere or KTM
Adventure fully kitted by Touratech.
What bike would you like to see in India?
Since KTM is already here, I’d love to see their 690
Enduro launched here.
Functionality vs bling?
Kill the Chrome! Bring on the
mud! Tasteful Functionality please.
What is your favorite road to ride on?
The Lahaul-Spiti circuit would be my favorite for now.
The terrain and landscape are incredibly diverse and beautiful. Plenty of
detours to explore and get lost in. And at Tabo they serve a mean shot of
espresso.
You took a road trip from Delhi to Kanyakumari a few years
back tell us about that?
That was quite a trip! Initially there were 3 of us
from Delhi, a friend joined us from Mumbai and then in Cochin I parted ways and
went solo. I wanted to document the ride but having never filmed before I
fumbled along and managed to make a doc about how not to make a bike film.
Besides the sheer joy of riding from north to south
(how can I possibly describe it here!)…there was the tension of riding with those
who held a different philosophy on
riding and life in general. A long trip is always quite revealing and I
realized what a self-righteous jerk I can be at times. But nothing beats the
feeling of standing at the tip of India, knowing that the road really ends there!
What’s the next big ride you are planning?
With a family, I have had to be
wise and reprioritize. (yes we know the feeling)
So the big trips are still
happening but in our Scorpio (Sacrilegious J). We drove to Kanyamuari and back
in January and covered most of Nepal in April. But come June, hopefully I’ll be off
to Spiti on my bike once again!
What prompted the Delhi Bikers Breakfast Run?
I’ve been with a club and seen
many others around and realized there were many incredible bikers unable to
connect because of juvenile club restrictions. There’s this bikers ‘caste
system’ that says the value of the biker is directly proportionate to the worth
of the bike he/she rides. Which is bullshit! (We hear you man) People are more valuable than
what they posses(we like to say we its not what you ride its that you do).
There had to be a platform that
didn’t threaten existing clubs, united people across the brand-borders to simply
ride few hours out of Delhi…for both first timers and seasoned bikers. Which
was possible only by keeping all the cocky ego strutting and brand thumping out
of the picture…and the alcohol & narcotics;)
Hence, DBBR was started. I’ve
been pleasantly surprised to see the turnout growing steadily and this year our
average number has been above 200 bikers per ride.
So now what for the DBBR?
Great question! Our motto is
‘RIDE – RESPECT – RELAX’ and we’re trying to stretch the definition with each
ride. From where we ride and why to how we show respect and the way we relax…
Currently, we don’t organize any
breakfast runs because of the heat and because most of us are focusing on
heading up the mountain.
But we have been doing cause
oriented events (donating blood, building houses for the homeless and
organizing talks on preparing for Ladakh…so DBBR will continue to engage our
city’s marginalized and inspire one another. That’s how we’ll ride and respect
and relax.
We want to stay relaxed and as
organic as possible. Not become an organization that begins to cash in on the
numbers…DBBR, as far as I can help it, wont be for sale…which ensures that we
have the right people for the right reason.
We’re an active community on the
ground and less online and our ultimate goal is to steer an authentic
motorcycling community that’s not simply aping the west but is uniquely Indian
and impacting Delhi in a positive way. Don’t have a blueprint but have some
solid bikers who’re teaming and helping me along the way.
What do you do when you are not riding for breakfast?
Ha ha ha…I am giving interviews like these! Actually,
I am super involved with my church that does its bit in serving and loving our
city. We have a selfless group of people who are my heroes and I get to lead
them. I prepare my sermons for Sundays, I tell people they have hope and eternal
life in Jesus…etc I paint for upcoming shows or projects…I plan and prepare for
upcoming seminars in schools or rides for DBBR, do odd tattoo designs for
friends, drum for the Angelo Daimari Band when I need a free meal at a club. I
laugh with and at my daughter and try to convince my wife that I wont go
sterile by eating Wai Wai instant noodles. No two hours are the same for
me…ever!
How does one get in touch with you?
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Last bike
A nice day to ride
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Parking
Screaming Eagle
H.O.G Bangalore out for a weekend ride
Friday, May 4, 2012
Personal Geography and the Tour of Bhutan
It's been a scant five years since I have known Vir Nakai, the other half of Helmet Stories. We felt an instant kinship, perhaps kindled initially by our inordinate love for red meat and dark rum that was further cemented as we rode countless miles over hills and down valleys, on roads smooth as a baby's butt to tracks blasted out of living mountains that took us on some excellent adventures to new and wondrous places. We have stolen precious time away from our families (thank you Amrit and Amrita) to expand the envelope of our personal geographies.
Meanwhile we are also trying to turn this passion for riding motorcycles into a business. Thus the adventure motorcycling travel company helmetstories.com was born.
We have also tried to share our rides through professional grade photography and writing through this blog. Over the last couple of years the blog has become du jour reading for adventure travel aficionados. We have also caught the eye of some of Indias best magazines and have done our thing with pen and light for magazines like Outlook Traveller and Autocar and their ilk. In fact Vir's story for Autocar on the Tour of Rajasthan was the most read story on Royal Enfields Facebook page.
However, despite common sense and the temptation to do so, we have not promoted our travel company on our blog. Instead we wanted the blog to be an ever growing repository of compelling stories on life on the road riding motorcycles--the simple joy of wind-in-your-face motorcycling.
For us, the touring company and the blog are two different animals serving different purposes. However, for some the perception is that we are tour operators (which we are) who do the blog to promote the business (which we don't).
So this raises a issue. If I'm on a media junket in my professional capacity as a journalist on the Royal Enfield's Tour of Bhutan, is it ethical to post on our blog since Royal Enfield is arguably also the biggest tour operator in the country?
So, to preempt any silly questions I'm going to post updates whenever I can on my personal blog at harshmanrai.tumblr.com
So see you there and cogito ergo zoom!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)