During his trip on his Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 350 that he has fondly named Champa, he travelled from Thane to Pune to Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Pratapgad, Kolhapur, Bangalore, Mysore, Madkeri, Mangalore, Gokarna and Goa and then back to Mumbai via Pune.
This was his first adventure with the bike and while he has already made plans for his next journeys to others parts of North and Western India , there was a special reason why he chose Goa to be part of his first expedition.
I first visited my cousin who lives at NOFRA, Vasco. Her husband is a commander in the Indian navy. We reminisced about the old memories of parents. My mom used to work in Panjim in 2005-06 as the director of Doordarshan Kendra at, at Altino Hill,” said Kanishkha adding that Panjim was always a special city for him.
Kanishka recalled how he had learned swimming in my vacation at the Sports Authority of Goa’s swimming pools in Panjim. He spent the day in Panjim visiting his mom’s old colleagues and old residence. After that I had to do what I had come to Goa for. I had to eat fish and went to this kickass restaurant called Cafe Ritz ,” added Kanishka. However as his fog light had given out and he could not find anyone willing to fix them in Panjim, he spent the night in the city. At every city Kanishka visited, the food and local cuisine were the highlights of his trip.
While he spent the next day visiting the churches at Old Goa and being a product of Jesuit education, Kanishka felt a special connection.
“ I visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus, where St Xavier’s remains still sit in a box. I had never been there before and it is simply stunning to see the grandiose architecture,” said Kanishkha.
During his tour in old Goa, Kanishka admiration for the crowd and culture in Goa grew. “ Interestingly, I didn’t have to carry my luggage and walk around. I just left it there, tied to the bike and somehow no one touched it. I do respect the crowds in Goa, this would not have been possible in Mumbai,” said Kanishka.
The rains played spoilsport though and he decided to check in at a hostel in Calangute till the weather conditions improved. “For all those of you who keep saying that they’d like to do a road trip like mine, I’d like to offer some advice. A backpacker hostel is way more fun than a hotel. You’ll get to meet loads of new people and have fun,” quipped Kanishka
The only part of Goa that troubled Kanisha was the bad quality of roads. The second thing that annoyed him through the journey was the barrage of questions everytime he stopped for food. “I had to answer around 20 questions every time I stopped for food. Where are you from, where are you going, where have you been. What kind of bullet is that, how much did you pay, why the electra, did you take it on finance, oh, do you know if finance is available. Where is your group, why are you riding solo, don’t you get scared of riding alone, what if someone tried to hurt you,” quipped Kanishka.
There were a lot of silly moments as well. “ There are tons of fun stories along the way. Outside Pune I stopped next to a roadside stall that sold sunglasses. The guy selling it also offered his daughter for marriage. In Kolhapur, I was looking for a pair of sturdy ‘chappal’s my size. Sadly it was not available. But one guy did wanted to know if I wrestled (kushti). I don’t. But then he said the guy was training for some competition and wanted a big guy like me to practice with. Then he told me that the wrestler had a sister who was looking for a tall husband. I declined that offer too,” said an amused Kanishka.
“ I ate really spicy food at Pratapgad so I had an upset stomach. With no options I stopped to defecate in a farm. The owner caught me, and he had a large, scary sickle in his hand. I had my pants around my ankles. I was scared but the owner left me alone,” laughed Kanisha.
While there were many issues such as the bike’s electrical wiring getting messed up due to a fault of a mechanic leaving him with no indicator, horn or lights on the Pune highway, the most scary part was when he was in Bangalore at the time of the riots over Cauvery river.
“I learned to say “kaveri nammadu” (the kaveri is ours) in kannada, to get out of trouble. Most people were very happy to hear that.
I shoved a bunch of protesters near belgaum who were blocking the highway. They got out of the way and I kept riding on the emptiest highway ever. From belgaum, to yashwantpur, a suburb of Bangalore,” said Kanishka.
Bangalore was not all that bad though, he celebrated Ganpati Visarjan and even joined a group dancing on the road.
Kanishka said he lost weight on the journey but what he gained in terms of experience are memories that will last a lifetime.
