The Hindu : National : From Vizag, around the world

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Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
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From Vizag, around the world

Madhur Tankha

— Photo: V. V. Krishnan

Globetrotter: Bharadwaj Dayala in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Bharadwaj Dayala, a 37-year-old adventurer from Visakhapatnam, has just travelled across the globe on his Indian motorcycle, seeking to highlight India’s achievements — and dispel some myths about it. He claims to have travelled 50,000 km across five continents — Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia — without any corporate support.

The tour was flagged off from Hyderabad by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in April 2006.

Mr. Bharadwaj reached the national capital on Wednesday, and is set to take a celebratory ride covering Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai before finally arriving in his hometown by the end of the month.

Sharing his experiences here on Wednesday, Mr. Bharadwaj said riding across the world was easier than doing all the paperwork to travel abroad. “I found Europe very interesting. Australia had some beautiful spots. [But] America, according to me, had only a few places of interest.”

Mr. Bharadwaj met a number of non-resident Indians and spoke to them an others about India’s achievements.

“I wanted to promote tourism and took with me pictures of our beautiful country. Wherever I went, I stressed the fact that India is improving in technological and infrastructural terms. People often asked me whether we still had elephants and things like that, but I emphasised that we were improving in every area day by day.”

One of the aims of the expedition was to emphasise the need to drive safely. “I have driven across the world on an Indian bike. At times I did the servicing on my own. I carried spare parts with me. So it is not difficult to ride a bike across the world — provided you dare to dream and care to achieve.”

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