More than 10 years ago, while I was still in college, a close friend of mind suggested me to come for a meeting of sorts, of some community of people: eclectic/elite people. I honestly don’t remember much of it, but one thing stood out. One of the guys was like, you should know what you want, and work at 110% towards it. I had a question. What if I don’t know what I want, and just was planned or prepared for anything in life.

He replied saying that I sounded like a guy who randomly jumped into a bus and hoped it took me to Delhi. I was amazed at his response, as it made sense to me. Back then.

Not now. Now I realise the folly in his answer. I never wanted to go to Delhi in the first place. I just wanted to jump into a random bus, and let it take me wherever, however long it took. I’d keep getting down at multiple stops, look around, and getting back in. One day, I won’t get back in. I’ll not want to get back in, because I’d have arrived. I can’t know when, until I’ve arrived. That’s the magic of it. The unknown. I would be happy at that place I have reached. Probably even more happy than Delhi, who knows?

It’s been almost a month on the road now. So many things were planned, and it was a exciting journey I felt would be life changing. Cue in today, nothing much has gone according to plan. A lot of the experiences I had planned for were quite disappointing. You could compare this to the stops on the bus. I was supposed to cover 3 states in 20 odd days on the bike. I’ve currently spent over 15 days, just in 1 state. Is it safe to say I’ve found the bus stop I was looking for?

These shots were taken after a gruelling off-road trail up an undisclosed mountain, with Mount Kanchenjunga in the backdrop, and the clouds below us. To give you scope of the distance, we are at the eastern most point in Sikkim, and the mountain is in the western most point. The picture quite literally spans across the whole state.

Thanks you for pictures of a lifetime Pavan Biddappa. Quote by J R R Tolkien