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Bike tourism for the brave hearted
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Sanoj Rahman has put bike cruises on the road map of Kerala tourism. PRIYADARSSHINI SHARMA chats with this young, free spirit
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ON THE WHEELS OF ADVENTURE Biking has been exciting and the best learning experience for Sanoj Rahman PHOTO: MAHESH HARILAL
With the wind teasing his hair and an attitude that accelerates beyond the regular Sanoj Rahman has just completed a long road show. From Kochi to Leh, Ladakh, on a bike and back in three rainy months, Rahman's adventures on the motorcycle are not any less than Sindbad's. And though his lean frame belies the 15,000 km or so of gruelling journey it is the entrepreneurial spirit of the 26-year-old that deserves a pat.
Bike cruises
Sanoj ferries backpackers to different parts of Kerala and India and thus earns a livelihood. Bike cruises that are common in other parts of the world but new to Kerala is what Sanoj Rahman does. He has wonderfully combined his love for life, for travel, for learning and for earning in this venture. And also put bike cruises on the road map of Kerala tourism.
Coming from a poor, orthodox Muslim family in Mattancherry what made the young lad take to a life that's so unusual or rather what made him step on the gas?
"I come from a poor family. My father works for a rubber company. After completing my tenth standard at LLCH School in Mattancherry I worked in a handicrafts store. Then I became liaison officer at a Kashmiri store in Fort Kochi. I used to meet a lot of travellers. My ambition was to speak in English and so I watched a lot of English films and heard Western music. But I could never muster up the courage to speak in English to my local friends for Indians would ridicule my incorrect language. So I stared speaking in English to the tourists who come here. They were kind and helped me brush up my English," says Sanoj in a distinct, acquired drawl.
If his accent and language are self-taught so is his dressing. Influenced by Western culture and with a drive to prove himself in his limited and closed world, Sanoj dreamt of learning beyond the precincts of the classroom. He wanted to learn and learn quickly. The walls of his home, of the classroom and the curio shop were limiting while he could see travellers from across the world lead lives on their own terms. He too wished to do so. He wished to have wings to fly and see, to live his dreams and so he stepped on the starter of his bike and zoomed off to places he had heard of and not seen. He met strangers and made friends. He met with mishaps and overcame them.
His confidence grew by leaps and bounds and he sought to make a vocation of his experiences. He began taking backpackers to places in and around Kerala. Last year he crossed the borders and went right up to Delhi. An Englishman was his pillion rider and the two had a safe and sound journey, highly educative too. After their return the tourist who found Rahman responsible and reliable asked his daughter, Miriam to follow suit. Soon Rahman was on his second trip to Delhi cruising safely with co-passenger Miriam. And so began his trips with tourists. Now back after travelling the length and a bit of the breath of his motherland, says Sanoj, "This is the best learning I have had. I am so proud to be an Indian. You can't imagine my happiness when I entered Leh. I went on this journey with my friend from Holland, Marja."
And this long journey was not without its share of perils and presents. "In Rohtang Pass I met a Malayali, an army man. When we reached Udaipur we were caught in the floods. In Manali, a group of local tourists were trying to harass a group of German performers. I took the girls to an Internet café and we waited inside for a long time till the teasers left us alone," recounts Sanoj.
And Kashmir, the Paradise on Earth: "What paradise? Kerala is paradise. I stayed at my friend Zafar's guest house. Zafar is here in the Kashmir store. There are lots of snow and pine trees in Kashmir.Dal Lake is full of boats and tourists are heckled a great deal. I witnessed a shocking incident in Srinagar, something that we read only in the papers. At the bus stand three army men were shot dead by militants using silencer pistols. The whole thing was done so quickly and quietly. Nobody knew what happened. After that the shops were closed for four to five hours and then it opened with business as usual. It was horrible."
From Kashmiri friends Sanoj was given a Himalayan shepherd dog, named Beon as a present. Fluffy Beon even fell off the bike as Sanoj negotiated a pot-holed road in Rajasthan. Sanoj now revels in the peace and comfort of his homeafter being on the road for three months.
But his success has yet to get parental approval. "My parents don't understand my life, my work, my joys and my dreams. They are at odds with my dressing; my ways and I only hope that in times to come they will find out that this too is a new and good profession," says Sanoj hopefully.
Dressed in smart biker boots, heavy clothing, chains and friendship bands that he collected from his friends from all over, this journey has been a defining one for him.
Love for India
He sees life in a new colour. "I look at my country in a new light. Everywhere there is good and bad but in India there is more good and in Kerala, the most. There is no need for fear in India," says Sanoj in patriotism discovered the hard way. With Bob Marley and Reggae music to give him and his fellow traveller company, with a canister of extra fuel, with a tent and a sleeping bag, and a few clothes, Sanoj Rahman rides on his 350cc Enfield to unseen places.
His next venture is to go to Holland with friend Marja on a mobike! After that, he will be back to ferry tourists who want to bike around anywhere in India.
Rohtang Pass meet
Sanoj Rahman's motor bike has taken him through much of Bharat.
In his yatras, many pleasant surprises were interspersed with bad ones. But what he cannot forget is his experience in the snowy Himalayas.
"In Rohtang Pass, I woke up with a headache. A small walk and my breathing was laboured. There I saw an army man, who was having a drink in the morning. He took me to his tent, gave me hot coffee. And can you believe it, he was a Malayali. His name was Santosh. He told me all about high altitude problems and how to overcome them."
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