Royal ride, moving message

'Solo ride across India by a woman on Bullet to raise awareness against suicide and depression’, reads the plate fixed on the rear end of the bullet. Sana Iqbal, a 27 year-old girl from Hyderabad, who is on a ride with a mission, has just landed in Kochi. She must be tired of the long journey, but that does not reflect in her voice. She is eager to meet a group of students at SCMS College, Kalamassery.

“I reached Cochin just seven minutes ago!” she quips and adds that the journey so far has been really good. Sana kicked off her journey from Goa on November 23 on her modified Royal Enfield and so far, has covered 10 states and four union territories. She reached Kerala two days ago. At one destination, she had a session with a group of architecture students, which, she says was really good. “Students are overwhelmed to see the way an ordinary person like me going on an expedition like this.”
   

Besides, Sana is quite happy about exploring places she had admired only in pictures.  “A most-awaited visit, in fact. I had admired the beautiful backwaters of Kerala and now I feel happy to see them in real. Last day, I have been to the Kozhikode beach, which was wonderful. For me, it is not the place but people there that matters the most. If people are good, obviously, the place would be good,” says Sana bringing the conversation back to her ride.

It was her own experiences that encouraged Sana to set off a bike expedition. “Both personal and professional experiences I have gone through in the past 10 years triggered this initiative,” says Sana. Initially, she had only one intention—to visit major tourist spots. How did a cause get tied to it then?

“If I ride for myself, I would be the only person benefitting out of that. I have visited many places before. But, in the long run, only the pictures of the journey remained. This time, I wanted to make a revolution in my life so that it will have a long-lasting impact on me. Interacting with people is the best path to have long lasting memories. And thus, the idea of interacting with students took shape. I chose students as they try to understand things in a better way. The lessons would help them throughout their life,” explains Sana, who is sharing her knowledge to society through this ride.

“This journey is a combination of my passion, profession, and education. By profession, I am a corporate trainer. It makes me easy to relate to a large number of people. I am doing my masters in psychology. And, bike riding is my passion,” says Sana. She counsels students through her Facebook page ‘Suicide is not the solution’. She often gives lectures to students in colleges.

“In life, during different phases, we confront various types of challenges. But, the biggest challenge is that we don’t know how to come out of it. This is one reason why I chose ‘suicide and depression’ as a theme of this ride,” says Sana.

“In India, the concept of mental health is alien. I am trying to create awareness about it through my classes. I tell the students I meet what depression is and how to tackle it. I am not just telling them about the destination but showing the path too,” adds Sana, whose love for bike riding started at class VII.

It is like a meditation to her. “It is a feeling that is beyond words. You must experience it. My first solo ride was to Gujarat. However, this is the longest one,” says Sana, who will be travelling through northern and eastern states of India in the coming days. Her next destination is Thiruvananthapuram.   

Is the journey challenging? “I wouldn’t even want to use the word ‘challenging’. It is all about the experience. Meeting new people and new places. It is a learning experience. During the journey, I had met with an accident once and many times my bike broke down. But, I could manage to find help from others,” she concludes.