The tour was an insightful experience for Fujiwara.
Hideki Fujiwara, MD, YMRI (Yamaha Motor Research & Development India) went for a ride on his Yamaha MT-15 between December 25 to 28, 2020.
"The experience was quite exciting as it was my first road trip in India and that too, a total distance of 1500 kilometres. Distance was the most challenging part of the trip as we had to cover it entirely on our bike. However, we kept the whole idea in a light momentum in order to enjoy our trip to the fullest. Also, we had prepared some checklists like riding gears and a GoPro in order to film movie shots of the entire trip. It had been a truly amazing experience. We realised the beauty of India and learned from the famous monuments while savouring South Indian foods at local restaurants," he said.
Other trips
In Japan, Fujiwara did go out on road trips but only sometimes. "The similarity is the motorcycle which I have used both back home and here. Riding a bike on long road trips gives me immense thrill and excitement and my experience till now has been wonderful. Also, what I found similar in both these places were the people who were very friendly to the rider. The difference is the road condition. In Japan, most of the roads are made of asphalt. But in India there are many types of road," he shared.
During his tour, Fujiwara binged on Indian food including biriyani, curry, dosai, and so on. Learning The tour was an insightful experience for Fujiwara. Through this tour, he witnessed the beauty of southern part of India and learnt about some of its rich history and diverse culture.
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"I feel there are many famous places in the country where we should visit and try varieties of tasty foods that outlines the richness of such culture. During this trip, I had the opportunity to visit Kanyakumari, Vivekananda Rock memorial, the southernmost tip of India and ‘Brihadeeswara temple’ along the tour. Exploring new places is not only a great stress buster but also an opportunity to re-invent oneself. Long tours or road trips improve our sensibilities a lot. I have always learned something new while on a road trip and have always tried to impart the learnings and experiences to my family members and colleagues. They also enjoy listening about such encouraging experiences," he said.
The challenges and the adversities that you face in a road trip and the way you plan to overcome such obstacles in order to keep your ride smooth is what Fujiwara has learnt and applied to his professional life as well.
Food During his tour, every meal which Fujiwara had was Indian food like biriyani, curry, dosai, and so on. "I was completely satisfied after having these different delicacies. Of all these food items, I was highly impressed by the ‘prawn biryani’. It was so delicious. Basically, I like Indian food very much," he said.
Early December last year, Fujiwara had a light discussion with his colleagues as to what he should be doing during the annual holidays in the last week of December.
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"We thought to go for a tour, but couldn’t decide where to go. That’s when one of my colleagues suggested to ride to the southernmost tip of the country. I really got excited upon hearing the advice and thought it may also become a first-time record of covering such a long distance on a motorcycle by Japanese citizens. So, we finally decided to take a ride to Kanyakumari which is approximately 750 kilometres from Chennai, totalling a riding distance of 1500 kilometres including our return to Chennai. I rode a Yamaha MT-15 and my colleague Inagaki San rode a Yamaha FZ 25," he said.
Fujiwara says he will definitely plan such trips in the near future as well. "I am yet to decide any destination," he ended.
