Beginning from Chandigarh on September 5, they reached Bangalore — the last leg of their journey — on September 20. Metrolife caught up with them to find out more about their experiences during the trip.
While Leon runs an event management firm and Vir is an ex-graphic designer, neither of them hesitated when deciding to go on this trip.
According to Vir it was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed. “I’ve been riding for the last 12 years, and now I own a company that conducts motorcycle expeditions. When we were contacted about this trip, we just decided to go for it. Leon and I knew each other from before, which made it much easier,” he explained.
“Travelling is something we would do any day. When we started off, we were raring to hit the roads. The whole experience was really exciting. We had some ideas about it, but the fact that it was actually becoming a reality was what brought the excitement into it,” added Leon.
Covering 11 cities as a part of their trip, the bikers spent time interacting with people from all walks of life, from truck drivers to chartered accountants and stock brokers, and asking them what money meant to them. They emerged with some startling insights. As Leon said, “We had a few shocks along the way. The meaning of money changes drastically between bigger and smaller towns, and among different age groups. Whereas a teenaged girl in Delhi said that she would spend ten crore rupees on clothes and make-up, a dhaba owner in Gujarat said he’d invest it into his business and convert his dhaba into a restaurant.”
The entire trip, claimed both bikers, was definitely a learning experience. Rather than asking the people they interacted with a standard set of questions, they made an effort to engage them in conversation. Leon explained that this helped keep their answers more honest. “Sometimes, you could tell that an answer was prepared. One of the stock brokers we spoke to told us that given ten crore rupees, he’d give some to his parents and the rest to charity — completely unbelievable. But when we simply spoke to them, we got more honest answers. A lot of younger people saw money in terms of opportunity or the freedom to do whatever they wanted to. The older ones were more keen to invest, save and spend on their families,” he said. Now that their fifteen day trip is over, what more is in store for them? “Back to work!” laughed Leon. Vir agreed, “For me, that means even more riding. I think I’m going to need a holiday after this holiday!
