It was on a hazy morning last month that Candida Louis rode into the largely unexplored Gurez Valley in Kashmir on her Royal Enfield.

It didn’t take long for the news to spread about the girl on motorcycle, a rare sight in those parts of the world. The next thing the 24-year-old knew was she in the middle of a mob of girls who had come to meet the brave one. They were awestruck by the adventurous spirit of the Bengaluru girl and wanted to ride pillion, which she obliged. “Its such experiences and people I meet that count more than covering thousands of kilometres,” said the IT professional with Infosys, who is on a three-month vacation to live her dream.

Circumstances conspired to help her fulfil that dream in a flurry. First, Dalton Louis gifted his only daughter with a Royal Enfield on her birthday last November and then seven months later a television channel approached her to be part of a group of ten riders in a programme meant to cover 30,000 kilometres in 22 states.

The supportive parents gave their nod and so did her employer. And before she knew it, she was on the road this July. Though the programme was wound up just in 20 days, Candida declined to be dispirited and continued her journey solo with the same target.

Since then she had covered 8,200 kilometres in over 12 states and till now she didn’t have a single bad experience despite many apprehensions about her safety by her loved ones. She reached Kochi from Munnar and was at Vypeen on Tuesday.

Staying at different hotels and experiencing variety food, the youngster plans to write about her travelling experience for a mobile app, which she said would help her meet fuel expenses.

The end of the journey in Goa in November would just be the beginning of wait for her next big adventure. “I always dreamt of going around the world in a motorcycle and I wanted to start it covering India,” she signed off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home>National> Kerala / by M.P. Praveen / September 30th, 2015