Originally Posted by antz.bin

Motorcycling, though has taken a backseat these days, it will be back with a vengance once the healing is complete. Thanks for the writeup.. there is one pending from my side.

Originally Posted by sunilg

So enter the flashback: Some 2 years before the aforementioned day, I was a small town, happy-go-lucky kind of guy who was happy making money working in a BPO and was steady on a track to change the career and become a VFX/3D (visual effects) artist. I had a small circle of friends. I hardly had any hobbies, except occasional movies on weekends and hanging out with friends. I was happy and content with that when ‘tragedy’ struck. Suddenly my personal, professional, and social life was in turmoil. There were repercussions of problems in one aspect of life onto the other. And before I could realize, I went into deep depression. I had forgotten the last day when I laughed or slept properly. I had brought myself to a point where I was about to be kicked out of a company I gave my blood and sweat to. I was absent from work for many days without informing anybody. I would get up in the morning and get ready to go the office, but would veer off midway and wander on the streets. I had stopped taking my animation classes even after paying a hefty sum for fee. I wouldn’t eat properly for days and had lost a considerable amount of weight. I was afraid to be alone as whenever I was alone, I had the most disturbing thoughts. Every day I would wake up with a single-point agenda to somehow see that day off, as only the fall of night would give me some relief when I would get some sleep; and the same cycle would begin all over again the next day. I had become a classic case of anhedonia. There was a constant feeling of guilt. Life seemed worthless and my self-esteem and confidence had reached down to a level where I couldn’t see my future. Luckily, there were some friends who stood by me through all this and gave me strength to move on.

Time passed by and I was struggling hard to come out of it as I knew that I wouldn’t survive if I lived like that, but I couldn’t see any way out. It was then that a former colleague of mine showed me some pictures of a bike trip he had recently done from Delhi to Uttaranchal. I was amazed to see those pictures as I didn’t know anyone previously who had done long trips on bikes. I asked him if he could take me as a pillion when he goes for his next ride. He refused, saying that it would be too uncomfortable for both of us. Also he asked me to do the trip on my own bike rather than as a pillion with somebody else. And that was it. I had sort of found a goal in my life. I wanted to go on a long ride on my own bike. Now all that negative energy had converted into a positive one and egged me to somehow do it.

Now when I meet someone who is going through a similar negative phase in his life, I suggest only one thing that this is not the end. The world is more beautiful than you think. Whenever you have doubts on your own abilities, just kick start your bike, go on a ride, and find out that lost happiness; it is there only, hiding somewhere on the highway. Chase it down!

And before I sign off, let me tell you that all my team members who were part of my first long ride are still there with me. The friendship has stood the test of time and has gotten even stronger. Thank you guys, I owe this to you!