ve year was 1969, Four friends One dream...tosee the world The pit of adventure was alive and well among the youth all over, the world, including four young men from the steel city of Jamshedpur The paths of $.€ Sharma (23), Ashok Kher 29), Manmohan Singh (38), and Sampuran Singh (36), four employees of the Tata Engineering & Locomotive Company at Jamshecpur, ftom very different background sintersected to makethis dream a reality Forty two years ago (in the summer of 1969), one morning | (S.C Sharma) was having a conversation with a couple of my friends about traveling the ‘motorcycle was the best mode of transportation for such a venture. That is how the idea of seeing the world cn motorcycle sparked my mind, ford, After 3 spirited debate, we concluded that | proposed this idea to three of my friends. They all agreed enthusiastically to join the team of four, Once I started the process of ‘getting information, | realize that. with our meager resources, it was ‘very difficult, if not impossible, to clevant papers ‘government permissions, taking leave of absence from TELCO, Convincing family members, and purchasing motorcycles, quire all the ‘Aftera few months, two ofthe original team members gave up, Now it ‘was up to me and Mr Sampuran Singh to keep this dream alive, Our familyand friends idn'tbelieve that we would everleavethe country. In the fall of 1969, we applied to Mr. Sarosh Gandhi, Foundry Division Manager of Tata Engineering & Locomotive Company, for leave of absence to undertake this epic journey which could carry the TATA Dagger to the remote parts of the world and spread the message of .goS8will on behalf of our country: It tcok the management a few weeks todecide upo! \we vere granted the coveted leave of absence, with pay, for a year anda-half he fate of our application nthe winter of 1969, In January of 1970, we came to know that for such a trip, we needed permission rom the Minisry of Education of the Government oflndia, Text & Photos: Subhash Sharma, Manmohan Singh Bhuie, and Sampuran Singh Sandhu 18 months 108,000 kilometers 52 countries Countless memories Thiswasthe most cificulttasktilldate because itrequired the bes of the Bihar State Sports Council before the Ministry of Eduatie) Would even consider the case, After many trips between Jamshed Patna and Delhi, and knocking on many doors, we did rei permission from the Bihar State Sports Council. Alter that wa submitted the finalapplication tothe Miristry ofeducation. We wali 2 couple of months before we received a letter from the Miniy Education. To ourgreat elation, permission was granted! i Detailed planning took a year and a haf...before the fist mile Wa even logged - imagine ne GPS, no maps no Internet. no cel phone no clue about what snow i There were many pial: and ‘opportunites to give up the dream: the tedious process of te ecessary government permissions and sanctions slogging thous bureaucracy, acquiring vidas, and finally acquiring the motores began to seem an insurmountable task considering ur mesg resources farly support from our family and friendsbegantaware {iv May of 1970 Me Ahsok Kher joined our team. He was a veryhal ‘working person and a dear friend. By now most of the pieces of el puzzle were falling into place. Now we were concentrating acquiring motorcycles. Around this time, we approached the known sportsman Mr, Manmahoa Singhto see the could get ust funds from the Sports Department of TELCO, To our surprise amazement, he expressed his desire to join the team, We were jul ‘accept him as the fourth member ofthe team, Not only did he Royal Enfield motorcycle, he also brought in his resources By company endothisfarily. We bought an cld Army surplus 1964 Royal Enfield Bulle: 3 ‘motorcycle at an auction. We dismantled both molorcycles a rebuilt them ourselves under the supervision of a master who wasalso Mr Manmahon Singh'scousin,[rfook extreme perseverance, dedication, vision, and a bit of good is tour happen. Help from many people, including Government Ministers, sports icons, political leaders, and Management at the Tata Engineering & Locomotive Company Bayedanimportantiolein making the dreama reality er last minute preparations and final goodbyes, on January 29, 9971, we arrived at the front gate of Tata Engineering & Locomotive empany. Uanuary 29, 1971 Iter aheartfet sendoff from the main offices of TELCO, many friend flowed us upto thecityimits on their mororcyclesand ars | iter afew days, we arived in Dethi With barley any dirt on our bkes, Wwe were informed we could not 90 through Pakistan because of polticalcension withindis. Anindian Airlines plane washijacked to Lahore on January 30, 1971. We were not granted peimission to 05s so further arrangements had to be made toleave India by ship. com Bombay. From Delhi we traveled to Bombay and met a Me Nerhu from Tata sports, who helped us make arrangements for passage on an East From left to right: Mr.Sampuran Singh, Mr.Subhash Sharma, late Mr.Ashok Kher and Mr. Manmohan Singh German cargo. ship carrying buses from Teta Engineering & Locomotive Company that were headed for Kuwait Wealso met the then ice Chairman, of Tatalndustiies MrA@oigaoker. Aiong with his encouraging words, he also gave us achandsome amount 3s spending money onbehalfof Tataindustries. March 10, 1971 ‘Our ship set sail from Bombay for Kuwait. On March 269 theship Bocsad anal eer Riper Ste ‘We started by seeing Kuvvat, Iraq and riding through Iran toTurkey. It was 2 very new experience driving on the right side of the road as opposed to the left hand side in India. We were amazed to see vehicles driving in their respective lanes as we did not have to worry about oncoming trucks running usofftheroad. ‘While traveling through Turkey, we experienced extreme cola, snow, and freezingrain for the first time in our lives. The dirt roads through the mountains were very treacherous. Compounding the situation, ur biake and clutch leverskept freezing. Snow, ice, and sleet seeped Underneath the protectivecesingof the cables, causing them tojam, Extra Braking Horse Power] Vol 2) Issue 1] 161We found that by keeping the engines running and covering the bikes with a makeshift tarp, the heat generated slowly melted the ice-encased levers and we were on our way, Sleeping outintheopen Under the elements proved to be very difficult as wel, so we spent ‘many nights at petrol stations and small oadside restaurants = the ‘owners were often very generous in allowing us to stay at their establishments afterhours, Reaching Lebanon was a wonderful experience. The very first night in town, we came across young men who owned the petrol station ‘we had eyed as our resting place for the night. They were duly impressed after hearing our story and wanted to learn more. They. invited us to their hme, When we arrived, we realized there was a wedding taking place and we were received with open arms by their familyandfriends. Itwassuch ajovial scene and they even fired guns intheairinourhonor. After enjoying Arab hospitality we left for Beirut and arrived there late in the evening. n Beirut a very wel-dressed elderly gentleman approached us and asked who we were. We explained our story. He shook ourhands and inquired ifwe have a place tostay in thecity. We had not made arrangements forthe night, sohe suggested we stay at ‘eke apartment building he owns for as long as we needed. We gladly followed his large Mercedes to the apartment complex Once we settled in, he invited us to dinner. It was there we found out that he Me. Mullhas, was a very well-known industrialist from the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, To avoid the lsraell-Arab conflict, we traveled from Lebanon’ Alevandria, Egypt by ship. Riding our motorcycles through th luscious fields of northern Egypt was an oasis after our Lexperiencerriding through freezing rainand: When we arrived in Cairo, Egypt, our bikes were in dire need! repairs. Lucky for us, Tata Trucks had a dealership in town, Th allowed us their service shop facilities. Afte a few daysiq the legendary city of Calo and repairing our bikes, we planned togs tGtibya (we weretold by the locals that we would beable to get at the border — as we looked lke Arabs) After riding 800 miles an arriving in Mersa Matruh, Egypt, we found out that the border wa closed to non-Arab foreigners. We had to double back to Cairo a make slight adjustments to our trip. This was the beginning of ou southward journey through countries lke Sudan, Ethiopia, Somali andontotast Africa, The journey through the highlands of Ethiopia was very interesta as 90% of the roads were simple dirt tracks, These unplanned oad through the mountains connecting different villages and tow consisted of hundreds of hairpin curves and dangerously sted gredes. Though riding through the highlands was exter precarious, we really enjoyed the pleasure of hearing our Enfele's sound echoing throughthe canyons. Riding on the dirt tracks and muddy roads posed thelr awn wig challenges. Slipping, sliding and getting stuckin the mud was routine, The motorcycles needed more frequent cleaning servicing, Weenjoyed the gracioushospitality ofthelargeIndiancommur Kenya and Uganda. We then moved to South central and then central Afica. In Congo, I rained everyday for all seven days ne there. All of the roads were mud tacks, the riding and f conditions were very primitive. Mostly we-survived with generosity of the local people as they shared their food and: ‘with us, whether it was their little hut or the barn where they! ‘their cattle ~ we graciously accepted, This is where we also hid one and only camera stolen. The film inside carried some of our precious pictures — forever lost or perhaps a pleasant surpsel Whoever developed the roll. In Congo we also had our first breakdown. The engine valve got seized in one of the bikes. We) to tow the motorcycle to the next town, There an auto med found anold Jeep valve which was close to theonein our moter Hemodified itto make itfit in ourmotorcycle engineand wera stheroad again. We then journeyed north-northwest through countries Ihe” Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, and mosquito-ined Nigeria InNigeria the ditt was so sticky, that spokes ofthe rear wheelaf of the bikes sheared off as we gave it torque, making i roadworthy. Twoof us then went to the nearest town, Kano, fot ‘A day later we returned with help, only to find Mr. Manmohan shaking with a dangerously high fever, We took him 0 the ha where he was diagnosed with a severe case of malaria, We seh few days therewhile he recuperated By now we had run outof our spare spokes for the wheels ai spokes were not available in town, We foun, Y