At first glance, Jalesh and Kaustubh Raut strikes one as two
buddies with their comfort level. They work and travel together but each care
for the other and show a lot of concern as father and son. So when Jalesh
presented Kaustubh with the idea of going on an India ride, Kaustubh was more
than just excited. He obtained his motorcycle riding licence as soon as he
turned 18 and was all set to embark on a journey of a lifetime with the best
partner, his own father. But the pandemic shut the whole country down and their
dream had to take a backseat.
On June 16, there was nothing to stop
their determination, not even Roshan, his wife and Kaustubh’s mother’s pleas of
cancelling the trip, as they started off their trip from the Bodgeshwar temple
in Mapusa. “It was my dream that as soon as Kaustubh turns 18 on April 2, 2020,
we would ride together covering the length of the country. I even bought the
bike, Royal Enfield Himalayan Bs6, for him and we were all prepared for it but
unfortunately, the lockdown was declared on March 21, 2020 and we had to delay
our plans. I am proud that we could finally complete the ride and we entered
the Limca Book Of Records as the father-son duo who completed a total of 12,000
kilometers in 23 days,” says Jalesh, owner of Raut Rent-A-Bike in Mapusa.
Kaustubh, a second year Commerce student at Saraswat College,
Mapusa, planned this trip during his holidays. “It was my father’s dream to
take me for a whole India ride at a young age. He wanted me to be the youngest
Goan and Indian to hold the record and so far, no one has completed the ride
even at 20 years. I am still the youngest but there is a chance that someone
younger than me might break the record. This was my first trip, while my father
has already covered this trip twice before with a biking group,” says Jalesh,
who runs a helmet shop in Mapusa. Both, the father, a professional mechanic,
and son, are well versed with the workings of a motorcycle and had no major
issues along the way.
They embarked on the journey on a rainy day from Mapusa to
Shirdi-Maharashtra and travelling on a Royal Enfield Himalayan Bs6 and Royal
Enfield Classic 500cc rode through the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir before reaching Kargil, Leh,
Sarchu, Kullu Manali, Panipat, Agra, Sagar (MP) and travelling south to Nagpur,
Hyderabad, Anantapura, Salem (Tamil Nadu), Kanyakumari, Kerala, Karnataka and
back to Goa. “We travelled to 12 states of India and we trained for it with two
road trips to Adiyogi Shiva statue in Tamil Nadu and Statue of Unity to Rann of
Kutch where we used to cover nearly 850 kms/day”, says Jalesh, who has been
riding for over 22 years.
“We started the India ride with the longest stretch on the first
day itself from Mapusa to Shirdi but the most difficult ride was the 350
kilometres ride while returning to Goa from Mangalore. There were gusty winds
and heavy showers on the end trip. It would usually take us 6-7 hours, we had
to ride for nearly nine hours in the heavy rains,” adds Jayesh, as he speaks
about the challenges of the 12,000 kilometer ride over 23 days.”
Kaustubh enjoyed every bit of the journey, “We took only one
rest day at Kashmir as it was raining heavily and there were landslides in the
area. My most memorable experience was riding on the mountains, through the
narrow roads covered with snow at low temperatures. Even the Kargil War
Memorial gave me goosebumps. We went through rain, snow and the few sunny
days.”
Jalesh always allowed Kaustubh to ride ahead of him so he knew
that he had his back. “He rides like a professional rider and I was following
him closely. We had customized our bikes with special sidelights so if I wanted
to stop the bike, I would only put my lights off and he would get the signal.
There was no need to press the horn. We followed all the safety protocols.
There were many hiccups like punctures but we took care of it. We documented
the whole ride on Instagram with daily updates and on a biker app. Compared to
my earlier rides, the network has improved across the country. We used to
seamlessly speak over Wi-Fi with our friends and family everyday to tell them
about our whereabouts,” says Jalesh.
This
trip was a gift from the father to his son and Jalesh spared no expense. It was
completely free of sponsors. “What value would I have as a father if I received
money from others to gift this ride to my son? We are now planning for a trip
to Bhutan next year and we are going to work extra hard to collect money,” says
Jalesh with a satisfied smile.
