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Retd IPKF men end 23-day bike expedition
The expedition started from Delhi on October 12 and traversing Pilibhit, Nepal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh is set to return to Delhi on Nov 3.
Three retired Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) soldiers, accompanied by Maithili Tembe, a travel enthusiast based in Pune, started from Delhi on October 12, traversing Pilibhit, Nepal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, to return to Delhi on November 3.
They rode every day till sunset, sometimes longer, riding on one particular day for 21 continuous hours. They made a stopover in Lucknow at the house of (retd) Major Gen HK Singh for a media interaction, continuing on to their last stop in Agra and then Delhi, before returning to their hometowns.
The riders were Col Anil Vaid, Col RS Sidhu and Major Satnam Singh. Vaid and Singh were undertaking a bike expedition for the first time, and purchased vehicles for this particular trip. The riders were all joined by their significant others on this trip, who travelled in an accompanying SUV.
Col Vaid was the first IPKF officer to land on Sri Lankan soil in 1987. According to him, it was more difficult to navigate urban streets than the mountainous regions they travelled across. “Although there were rocks and boulders in those areas, and we had to ride carefully and slowly, the urban streets were simply terrible. No one has any concern for traffic rules and the safety of others,” he said. He added that people should be taught traffic rules and road etiquette at the school level. Most endearing for him, was that he got to revisit some of the places he had served in, in a different capacity.
“Once the routes are decided then we decide the halts,” said Col Sidhu. “We try not to ride continuously for more than eight hours - so that we can end by sunset,” he added, speaking of the planning of the expedition.
Tembe, who is the daughter of another retired IPKF official, said that at first she was apprehensive of coming along for the trip because of the age gap between her and the soldiers, but that quickly faded after the first day. “I have been travelling for the last 18 years - there is not a single highway that I have spared,” she said.
“The Army teaches a lot, and it is a life-long learning,” said Maj Singh. “In terms of mental strength and endurance - these become a part of you and you hardly realise that strain,” he added, the youngest of the three at 60 years of age.
