Radhika Rao, a 26-year-old freelance photographer based in Chennai has been on a solo ride across India since April 9. She has completed 22,500 kilometres on her bike as part of her solo motorcycle ride across the country. Starting from the North, she has traversed East, West and Central India and is now in Kozhikode on her way from Bangalore to Thiruvanathapuram.

Radhika said that it was her dream to cover all 29 state capitals and 9 union territories and experience the divergent culture. She was very keen to interact with people and understand the customs and traditions of different regions.

Her motivation came from her passion for photography. This passion transformed her from a fragile and underweight girl to a fit and confident rider. Rao said that initially she was dissuaded from making the trip. She was made aware of all her shortcomings including her fitness as well as the challenges of travelling alone.

She was not the one to be discouraged and took all the suggestions positively.She improved her body weight from 44 kg to 53 kg to handle the bike and luggage easily as part of preparations for the ride.

Rao believes that there is nothing that a confident girl cannot achieve. She attended a local workshop where she learned the basics of mechanics. She also took lessons in boxing for self-defense.

All through her trip, she has captured photographs of people, their smiles, customs and traditions. It will take 20 days before she could wind up her ride in Chennai. After that, she plans to organize a photo exhibition of the pictures taken during the ride.
Radhika says, “Language or boundaries never created barriers for me. A true heart is what a person requires to interact with the people of this country.”