Reading (Is) An Adventure!

Humans are thrill-seeking.  All of us love adventure - whether we truly indulge in one or not.  It could be hiking up a difficult mountain, scuba diving, or bungee jumping.  Or even motorbiking all the way to Leh and beyond via Rohtang Pass.  What was the last adventure you were on or have dreamt of? Have you ever been on a road trip? How long was it, in terms of days and kilometers?  What was your experience?  Where did you go and was it a trip by yourself or with friends/fellow members of a group?  Even if you haven't done a road trip, they do hold our fascination. Each of us would have dreamt of doing one such trip in life. It evokes nostalgic memories of our own bonding with friends during our travels (even if they weren't road trips), reminds us of cult movies like, 'Dil Chahta Hai' or 'Zindagi Na Milega Dobara' (Did you know that these two movies were directed by brother and sister, respectively? That's the movie-buff in me speaking).  This blog post is about one such road adventure.

It had been a while since I had picked up books.  I hadn't ventured out to buy any.   Covid ensured for a long time we could hardly step out, be carefree, roam about and collect memories.  As the financial year drew to a close at the office, my deputy reminded of the monies that still lay unspent in the allocated budget.  Among other things to facilitate work flow easily at office, I chose to order books online.  

I ordered five books in total, and four of them were by woman authors.  This was not planned.  For someone who reads escapist fiction and cheap thrillers most time (even though I claim to be interested in most genres except romance), the choice of books/titles was surprising.  Unsurprisingly though, the first book I chose to read was, 'The Inugami Curse', by Seishi Yokomizo (a Japanese work translated to English). Needless and yet I mention, this book purchase was influenced by my reading of other Japanese authors.  It left me deeply dissatisfied.  

With great reluctance I began reading Piya Bahadur's 'Road to Mekong'.  I had never heard of the author before (it is her first book, and a travel adventure at that).  I had not known of this event - women bikers on an international road trip.  But since it talked about something out of the ordinary, my curiosity was certainly piqued.  And, soon the preface itself had me hooked.  The book narrates the experience of 

Road to Mekong - as the cover itself clearly indicates - narrates the adventure of four women on a road trip across different countries.  And, it is no ordinary road trip.  The four women rode on 400-CC two-wheelers (Bajaj Dominar) across India, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, a phenomenal 17000 km distance in 56 days.  It narrates the experience of the quartet of JB (Jai Bharathi), Piya Bahadur, Shanthi, and Shilpa Balakrishnan on a trip of their lifetime from the perspective of the author (Piya).  

The book not only shares the triumphs and travails of traveling on the roads seen and unseen but also gives us the background info regarding how the quartet set about going on the trip.  It brings into focus the time that one needs to overcome bureaucratic hurdles and red tape - not just in India but elsewhere while on the road - and what it takes not to give up one's dream.  While JB and Shilpa are experienced roadsters, Piya and Shanthi aren't.  Piya believes she's the least experienced of the lot since Shanthi - a policewoman from Telangana - is a decade younger and fitter. 

The entire travelogue (if one could call this so) is enriched not just by the happenings on the road, but also the insights the author gives regarding the people they encounter and their behaviour towards women riding all by themselves on tough roads.  There are also great musings about women, empowerment, rights, and life goals.  The book culminates as a life-enriching experience for the author where she learns to not give up, and yet let go (a contrast of sorts).  It is a journey that takes the reader along faithfully.  A journey where the reader experiences the thrills and toughness of the sojourn, and the life lessons it offers.

I strongly recommend this book to everyone who reads - both women and men.  Do not read it expecting glorious descriptions of the tourist places the riders stop at or what different sites they visited while on this great trip.  Read it for the sheer joy of a person opening up her mind and expressing herself eloquently.  This book surely is a leg up for women's empowerment.  

I do have some grouses too with the book.  One, the author is in a hurry to narrate her experience, and I sincerely wished the book lasted longer.  At less than 200 pages, it feels like a disservice to all the experience she might have had.  Also, the rest of the riders remain pale shadows and do not emerge as persons in the book, beyond the basic introductions (barring JB to a certain extent).  I truly wish the author had taken time to construct their sketches too.  But that does not take away anything from the writing.  It's just my desire that there should have been more!

If you are into reading at all, go grab this!