Riding and travel have to be two of the most addictive hobbies for the adventure-loving mortals amongst us. So when Harsh Man Rai swung a leg over a bike and travelled to mystical Ladakh with his friend Vir Nakai, he simply could not get enough of it. Having discovered his true calling, he didn’t waste any time, as he founded Helmet Stories along with Vir. What started as a travel blog soon became a platform for biker-travellers to explore parts of the sub-continent in the most enriching way possible. Here is Harsh Man Rai's story, the man behind Helmet Stories, in his own passionate words.
How was the idea of Helmet Stories conceived?
In the autumn of 2008, Vir Nakai and I rode together for the first time. For almost a month, we roamed across Ladakh while being filmed for ‘The Road Trip’, a multi-episode show that was telecast on NDTV Good Times. We were bon vivant and budding motorcycle travel evangelists then, wide-eyed and excited by the joy of exploring geographies on two-wheelers, and shared passions that cemented our friendship. Helmet Stories had its humble origins from a blog about our travels, our own motorcycle diaries.
How did you get into motorcycle touring?
Between the Helmet Stories blog and The Road Trip on NDTV, we caught a lot of attention from people seeking new frontiers in adventure motorcycling and travel junkies who liked our idea of slow and immersive journeys through some of India’s most magnificent landscapes. We started to get many inquiries from people wanting us to take them along on our rides. The sheer volume of people writing convinced us to start the touring arm of Helmet Stories, for doing curated rides in India. Our first rides were in our playgrounds of Ladakh and Himachal, and now our tours have expanded to include our current obsession with the frontiers of the Indian North East and Nepal. Once the current situation abates, we hope to foray deeper into Myanmar and Thailand.
Can you share some of your most memorable journeys on motorcycles?In November 2020, I travelled to Arunachal Pradesh to be featured in a serial called ‘Cruising Legends’ along with three of my riding buddies. The show will be aired on the OTT platform of MX Player in April 2021. This was our first multi-day ride of 2020 in a world still in the throes of COVID-19 and was a strange but wonderful experience as we rode towards the village of Dong to see the earliest sunrise that one can witness in India. This was also a deeply personal journey for me, as I got to ride over my father's battlegrounds, who as a young Major in the 4th Garhwal Rifles fought a heroic but doomed battle in the India-China war of 1962.
Can you name some people who inspired you to do what you are doing?
I come from an era where people read books and magazines to know more about this world and writers and photographers like Michael Palin, Robert Byron, William Least Heat Moon, Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, Ira Block, Lee Friedlander, and the whole roster of Nat Geo photographers introduced me to a life less ordinary, creating masterful tales around their physical and personal geographies. Add a motorcycle to the mix to take you to places that are just names on a map, and it becomes magic.
What would your favourite journey route or destination be, where you're ready to ride to at any given point in time?
Well it is difficult to pick one, but the journey home that brings me back to family after a long, arduous trip is the route I always relish the most. Apart from that, I enjoy every route especially ones with of dirt and gravel, and that leads to the mountains.
What are your plans going forward?
Plans are in flux given the current situation. Still, I would love to complete the 2020 plans of riding across Tibet from Manasarovar to Lhasa, ride to Thailand via Myanmar for the Phuket Bike Festival during Songkran, the Thai New Year. Destinations apart, there are so many friends who I have not seen for over a year, and it would be great to ride just to see them.
Lastly, any message for our young budding passionate riders?
Riding is a lifelong passion, so take it slow and make it a meaningful experience by incorporating your other desires into it. Find better ways to ride and travel and learn about the land, the people and the culture you are travelling through. It will make your experience richer, more personal, and leave everything better than you found it.
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