Sidhraj Salgaonkar - This biker from Goa rode alone across India’s 29 states, despite an accident

Sidhraj Salgaonkar

When Sidhraj Salgaonkar set out on his dream trip across the 29 states of India in the summer of 2015, he wasn’t prepared for what life would throw at him. Four months into the trip, he met with an accident, which not only jeopardised his journey, but also left him with injuries that he took two-and- a-half years to recover from. Fast forward to 2018, he restarted the trip from where he had left off — on the same day when he met with the accident three years ago. Using that same spot as a starting point, he completed the trip — crossing several state borders, collecting experiences and making memories to last a lifetime.

THE ACCIDENT


In 2015, he started riding towards the east coast and stopped at Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh, which is known as the Grand Canyon of India. “I started in March 2015, with a plan to go to all 29 states. I drove to Hampi, Karnataka, and headed towards the east coast and started riding from Gandikota. It’s non-touristy and beautiful. Then I crossed Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata before I entered the North East. After completing the seven sisters, my plan was to go to North India,” he shares.

Four months into the trip, on his journey from Varanasi to Agra, in mid-July, he met with an accident in Chambal Ghati, Madhya Pradesh. “I was unconscious for a while. When I regained consciousness, I was wondering if I was sleeping on the road. I made an effort to get up, but I couldn’t. My right side was numb. I could see cars passing by, but nobody stopped. I was later told that many suspicious incidents, including murders take place there, hence people think twice before stopping to help,” he says.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

Sidhraj spent months in the hospital before returning home. “I couldn’t walk as I had three major fractures and a nerve injury. I hardly had any bruises, because I was wearing my gear. But there were several internal injuries because of which I couldn’t complete the ride. I had to undergo a surgery after six months. The entire recovery process took over two years,” he says.

This year, on July 12, he went to the exact accident spot and started again, travelling through Punjab, Zanskar Valley, Ladakh, Spiti Valley and several places in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir before passing through Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, a bit of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. From there, he drove to Pondicherry via Hyderabad and Chennai. Next on his itinerary was Kanyakumari, and finally back home to to Goa via Kerala and Karnataka.

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES

“When you travel, you realise that there are really nice people everywhere. When I would put up my tent in deserted areas of Spiti Valley, people would serve me food and make sure I was okay,” he says. Talking about his fondest memories, he recalls, “One of the nicest feeling was to reach Kargil on Kargil Vijay Diwas. I reached the LoC on Independence Day. It’s very difficult to describe the feeling. I saw a flag at one of the posts in the distance and it gave me goosebumps.”

Arunachal Pradesh gave him some memorable experiences. “It started raining heavily when I was riding towards Tawang through Sela Pass, and I was totally caught offguard. The conditions got worse in a while. Finally, I reached a village on my way downhill. I met a drunk guy. While he wanted to talk to me about my journey, I kept asking him about a place to stay. He asked me if I had a sleeping bag and when I said yes, he took me to his shop and let me stay there for the night. We bonded and formed an amazing connection. We are still in touch, years later.”